Koban 5: A Federation Forged in Fire

by Stephen W Bennett

  From his large command screen, Thond called up smaller versions of the fire control screens of that Strangler. Their missiles were away, and the ten from the Strangler were ground attack missiles, which fed back visual feeds of their target areas.

  The twenty anti-ship missiles from the two Ravagers were hypersonic, without cameras, and they reached their targeted coordinates ahead of the heavy and slower ground attack missiles. Even so, the impacts happened quickly, but it was obvious from even the small visual images that the first pairs of missiles struck empty surfaces and exploded, as the ten visual feeds suddenly filled with the dirt and debris as the cameras flew into the dusty points of impact and detonated. There was no defensive fire, and no exploding ships either. Slower playback of individual camera feeds confirmed that only the landing jack impressions in the dirt were there when the first missiles struck.

  As a side note, Thond also didn’t see the throngs of civilians working on the basic infrastructure for the new colony, which their scouts had observed earlier today. Other than temporary tents, there was nowhere close for them to hide. Only a few buildings had sides as of yet and just one had a roof. It couldn’t hide more than a handful of this species.

  They had chosen a large island for this new colony, with wide grass plains at the end where they had landed, suitable for agriculture. There were numerous streams flowing from higher terrain to their west, and one large one passed close to the new town, flowing towards a sediment rich delta fan, and a brown stained deep blue sea beyond that. There were islands of wide crowned trees dotting the grasslands, but none of them was close enough or large enough to have swallowed thousands of those bipedal aliens. The land had the appearance of rich agricultural soil, with a nearby ocean full of sea life to harvest. Thond had seen terrain like this on many worlds. His own included. Exactly where had these Glack-droppings people gone?

  He briefly wondered if humans had personal camouflage ability, and were hiding in plain sight, as some small reptiles that lived on many planets did to conceal their presence. Of course, their IR scans would still see them, so the best answer was they had hidden in the missing ships, and possibly some were inside the ten freighters still seen on the ground. He ordered one of the unarmed freighters destroyed.

  The Strangler and its two escorts were hovering on normal Space drives, staying clear of the new colony site, which seemed too quiet, too much like a defenseless and inviting trap. Besides, where was the city they were supposed to destroy, the population they were supposed to leave writhing painfully in the dirt, most of them dying and left as an example?

  Fortune was with the Stranglers at the other three colony towns. The populations were trying to hide in their completed buildings, but they had no defenders that were not in orbit. In those towns the Debilitaters would cause the deaths and pain Thond needed to cause on this Federation planet, and in truth, what he liked doing to any species that he felt should be paying homage to the Ragnar anyway.

  One of the freighters exploded, at the end of the hypersonic missile trail that led to it from a Ravager. Like insects from disturbed nests, humans were seen running from the other ships, not many, only about the number expected for their crews. Except for one ship that apparently had elected to try to lift off. It had just ignited conventional reaction thrusters, but needed to warm the engines a moment and had not throttled up to start rising. Thond was about to specifically order it destroyed, although his standing order called for that action anyway, if one of the ships tried to flee. Instead, he encountered a distraction.

  Suddenly, both Ravager escorts fell under extremely heavy attack from orbit, with lasers and plasma bolts hitting them both repeatedly, as they started accelerating and twisting to try to avoid the hits. The attackers, in orbit of course, were themselves subject to attacks from the Empire fleet elements there, but they were rapidly micro-Jumping, alternating with other human ships to maintain a steady onslaught on the two Ravagers. There were at least six ships doing this, with others of the thirty-nine aloft furiously attacking the nearest enemy ships, forcing them into a defensive posture.

  With attention focused on this drama and the freighter, which had started to lift, apparently no one noticed something that happened near the surface, but away from the new town. In seconds thirty missiles total were launched, apparently from ten separate points, fired from nearly ground level, and not from orbit as might be expected.

  The two Ravagers, already desperately preoccupied with escaping the punishing bolts and beams from above, were initially unaware of the incoming anti-ship missiles until they were too close for them to knock all of them out of the air. They died in two billowing balls of flickering actinic light, as at least five missiles made it through each of their defenses.

  The Strangler, not under attack from space prior to the missile assault, fared better. But it wasn’t left unscathed. The larger Thandol ship was specifically designed to ward off low altitude attacks, primarily by defenders in cities that it planned to irradiate. It managed to defend itself well from all ten of the missiles that had come directly at it, from a place that was beyond the colony site, giving the ship forty miles of distance as a buffer, because it had lagged slightly behind the Ravagers.

  What it didn’t have, was enough time to react to both smart missiles that originally were directed at the now destroyed Ravagers, particularly the one closest to the Strangler. That missile’s AI recognized that its primary target was already destroyed, and selected the next closest alternate. Surviving the passage through twisting debris from the explosion, it emerged on the other side of the fireball only two miles from the Strangler, already at hypersonic velocity. The Strangler fired on the farther missile, seeing it sooner and knocking it out. Not the closest one, however, from the nearer fireball.

  That one slammed into an armored side, penetrating deeper than the Thandol had designed for, and then it exploded. The Jump drive was instantly disabled, which fed power from any of three tachyon traps to the reactionless Normal Space drive. It abruptly lost lift and inertial drive thrust.

  The Strangler’s AI automatically initiated the reaction thruster system, even as the big unwieldy craft listed with its nose dipping down. It was as aerodynamic as a bluntly pointed brick, relying on immense tachyon power to negate its inertia, and the planet’s gravitational pull. It took a moment for the thrusters under its belly to counter the brief fall that had started, and then to raise the forward pointing nose as it resumed its inexorable course towards a town it had no idea was called New Mombasa.

  Commander Vastol doggedly intended to complete his mission, and he ordered the Debilitater projector switched on, generating a cone of oddly modulated, nerve shattering, jittering electromagnetic radiation, which preceded it by as much as thirty miles.

  Thond, his mouth open and his canines exposed by lips pulling back as he roared his displeasure, watched the fragments of the two Ravagers plummet onto the grasslands in large flaming sections. He had no idea where the missiles came from. The computer backtrack showed they appeared to come from beyond the largely undeveloped town, but all that was visible in that direction were grasslands and a wide river. He had a guess however. He shared it with Grudfad.

  “I think the ten vanished warships are sitting in grasslands on the other side of the river, with their stealth active. They fired thirty missiles, clusters of three each based on the divergence from roughly where they originated. They did that while we were watching the dance the orbital attackers made the two Ravagers perform while under attack from above. We focused our sensors on where the orbital attacks originated and on the freighter’s departure, while the real attack came from somewhere on the surface.”

  “How do we get them to reveal themselves, Force Commander?”

  “Fire on the freighter with low powered lasers. That will take longer to destroy them, and it may encourage the warships to act foolishly to protect the unarmed ship.”

  ****

  “Trevon, that would be a foolish risk
to take and you can’t save them anyway.” Mirikami was backing up Gundarfem’s orders, that all ten Kobani ships should remain hidden for now.

  “You had a smart idea son, and it’s still a good one. Your lifting alone would reveal not only where you’ve been, but also give away the other ship’s locations. Unless it’s to defend yourselves or the colonists from direct attack, I think you need to remain concealed.”

  Caldwell had proposed to launch on his own, to draw fire away from the Rim World freighter, at least until it could climb high enough to trap a tachyon and Jump.

  “But Tet, they aren’t simply taking them out. They’re using low power lasers on that thinner hull, roasting the poor bastards. They’re begging for help.”

  “So the Empire’s no better than the Krall. Does that surprise you? This is clearly a ploy to get you and your ships to reveal yourselves, because you represent a threat. Your plan already cost them two more ships and a serious hit on that odd flat triangle craft. You advised the freighter crews to join the evacuation into the storm drains. They refused, and now those that fled their ships will reveal where the colonists are hiding, by running right to them where the enemy can see them. You might be needed when that beam ship arrives, if that ray is actually life threateningly dangerous.”

  “OK.” There was reluctant resignation in Caldwell’s Comtap thoughts.

  Gundarfem warned the Kobani below ground that the enemy ship was now within thirty miles, which was the beam’s claimed maximum range. The fleeing freighter crews were still above ground, running for shelter at the closest storm drain opening to them. There were close to seventy of them, when suddenly they began to stagger and run erratically, slapping at exposed skin and their own faces. Several stumbled and fell, fighting to get up again.

  Kasiem Palliser was the Kobani waiting below that nearest storm drain grate to the landing field, when he reported hearing sounds of screaming. “The beam must be hitting them. Good Lord, the screams are horrible. I’m going up to help them reach this drain cover. They sound close.”

  Confident of his strength and speed, he didn’t wait for confirmation, and was fully prepared to endure the same pain he heard in the voices he wanted to help. He made a graceful and powerful leap through the center of the meter wide opening, soaring ten feet high, and started a tuck and flip so he could hit the ground running.

  What he did, was hit the ground face first, screaming horribly, and writhing in violent twisting contorted motions, as agonizing waves of pain and imaginary flame coursed through every nerve in his body. He felt like his brain was literally about to burst into flame. His uncontrolled limb and torso twitches flipped him repeatedly into the air, and his screams were the agony of someone being skinned alive with red-hot knives, while Koban kants stung him over every square millimeter of flayed and exposed tissue.

  His involuntary Comtap screams, for the unfortunate Kobani with whom he’d been linked, were the rawest emotions and transmission of pain they had ever experienced. They instantly shut down their Comtap link with him simply to escape sharing the impossible to block level of his pain. His screams mercifully ended after about fifteen seconds. A lone colonist risked raising his eyes over the rim of the opening, and she told the other Kobani nearby in the culvert, that his body was still twitching and flipping into the air from powerful muscle spasms.

  That colonist peeping over the rim instantly felt a tingle and burning on her exposed skin, but her long hair shielded the back of her head some. She claimed the sensation was painful and burned, and her facial muscles had started to twitch. However, it wasn’t as intolerable for her, as it had been for Kasiem, at least at the present intensity of the radiation. She saw some of the freighter crewmembers shuffling or crawling towards her, even as they screamed and called for help and twitched. Those below ground assisted the first dozen of the freighter crews to reach the opening, pulling them in by their jerking arms or legs.

  Even when out of the direct radiation, the only thing that faded for those that had been exposed was the twitches and spasms. The pain and burning continued unabated, and they couldn’t stand being touched. Most tore off their clothing, and chose to try to stand, if they could, to reduce skin contact with any surface or substance. Yet, the skin of their fully exposed bodies didn’t even look red under artificial lights, which a few people had brought with them.

  After that however, the beam intensity grew so great that those unfortunate enough to still be above ground, were no longer capable of any coordinated or controlled movements. Their voices became so ragged from hoarse screams that the sounds were diminishing. They continued to twitch even after they appeared to lose consciousness. When the Strangler was only several miles away, the force of their muscle spasms, for those that had not torn their muscle attachments from ligaments and bones, was so violent that they sometimes snapped an arm or dislocated a joint.

  This was observed from orbit with horror and revulsion, and the torture was repeated at every colony town, although the ship at New Mombasa was flying lower. For the Kobani, their attention was largely focused on how their own people had unexpectedly been the most adversely effected.

  The mental contacts were terrible for those not directly in the radiation, but nothing compared to what Kasiem had felt, or those below ground were starting to feel. Kasiem’s presumably dead body was still jerking violently, his bones were too tough to break, but some joints appeared dislocated, from the odd angles of limbs.

  The Kobani below ground had been forced to pull as far back as possible from the storm drains. Those openings leaked the destructive nerve scrambling radiation, and they had scrambled over anyone they needed to knock out of their way to do so. As the Debilitater projector passed over New Mombasa at roughly a mile height, everyone gave each Kobani ample room, more for their own self-preservation than an act of kindness, to avoid the life threatening uncontrolled powerful spasms.

  The colonists themselves were mildly affected eight feet below ground, but the Kobani were completely incapacitated. The fully exposed Normals from the freight crews also appeared to be dead, receiving the full force of the radiation. Due to their constant movements, it was difficult to be certain. Their movements were reminiscent of salted frog legs frying in a skillet. Uncontrolled spasms of dead muscles twitching, as nerves fired randomly.

  Once the Debilitater carrying ship was well past the town limits, it crossed the river and descended to half its previous altitude. Then it slowly started turning back for another pass. The enemy wasn’t going to be content with merely punishing on this raid; they wanted everyone dead, at least at this site, suffering as much pain as possible in the process. They were not making a second pass like this at the other three towns.

  Gundarfem cut Caudwell loose. “Trevon, this isn’t a hit and run, not at your site anyway. I don't think they intend to leave anyone at your site alive, because that’s where our ships were spotted on the ground. If all of you agree to do it, kill that son of a bitch and make a run for orbit. We definitely underestimated that frigging super Jazzer. We’ll do our best to cover you as you climb.”

  “Thanks Macy. What about our people in the culverts?”

  Mirikami stepped in to absolve Macy from the responsibility that he was certain she was prepared to accept. “Trevon, they’ll have to accept the same fate that awaits the other colonists today. If they can hold out for a half-day longer, we’ll have another four hundred ships at Zanzibar, pulled from guarding our other colonies that are close enough to help. If that ship and the other three Debilitater projectors are taken out, the survival rate for thousands of colonists will go up, I’m certain.

  “At least a thousand additional ships are enroute from all around the Federation, but most of us won’t be there for a bit over a full day. I’m with them, and we left an hour ago. Good luck son. You, Macy, and all the rest of you there; Stay alive and give them hell.”

  ****

  Thond was finally feeling he was gaining the upper hand with this raid. The fo
ur colony settlements were effectively subdued, if not destroyed yet, although he continued to lose ships. Twelve of them now, versus only four of the hard to hit Federation ships. His losses included four of the escorts he sent down with the Stranglers. He knew he couldn’t risk troop landings as long as he didn’t have complete control of the space above the planet. The humans could pick off his ground forces from space or even their Ravagers when they were unable to maneuver fast or Jump. He was forced to keep fifty of his ships near the Smasher that carried the Emperor’s Observer, to ensure he stayed safe. His loss would be impossible to explain.

  From the pass of the Strangler over the newest colony town, he now had detailed images of the area where the human warships had been, and of the layout of the town that they had started building. There still was no sign of those ten ships, and they wisely had made no move to save the hapless cargo hauler. The low power lasers had managed to fry that crew alive before they were high enough to trap tachyons, or perhaps they had elected to commit suicide. The ship had suddenly nosed over to fall back and crash, but due to drift, it fell into the sea rather that where it had departed. The other eight supply ships were empty now, most of their crews visibly dead near the edge of the dirt landing area, having fallen there after they fled.

  One of his image analysts promptly contacted him with information he had requested, even as the Strangler finished its pass. Where had the newest colony’s population gone? They hadn’t had time to board the missing ships. His analysts found traces of dirt and damaged grass that ran parallel to the freshly formed streets, which suggested that something was buried. They may have gone underground, and if so, they may have had enough soil overhead to shield them from effects of the radiation.