Star Crusades Nexus: The Third Trilogy

by Michael G. Thomas

  The 1st Jötnar Battalion

  A group of four Helion soldiers inched their way past the hundreds of dead Thegns and shattered machines. One of then stopped and vomited before being helped by the other three toward the Jötnar. Behind them moved a pair of Animosh warriors, but both groups kept a wary eye on each other as they moved toward Gun. It was the Animosh leader that spoke first. Like the overwhelming majority of Helions, he had to speak via a translator.

  “Colonel, our forces are taking heavy casualties. We cannot...”

  Gun placed his armor-plated foot on the head of a fallen Thegn foot soldier. He was balanced precariously atop the shattered remains of a ruined Bioray lander. Dozens of dead Thegns lay around the exit points, the few still alive hastily finished off by his bodyguard. He looked at his prey and pushed down hard with his foot. There was a sickening crunch, and the head tore off and rolled to the ground. He bent down, picked up the head, and raised it to the sky. Explosions off in the distance lit the face of the thing with frequent flashes, and he roared. It was a bloodcurdling howl filled with excitement and bloodlust. The Jötnar around him lifted their arms and weapons and joined in, much to the confusion of the NHA soldiers moving to new positions. As they filed past, they watched the monstrous warriors waving their weapons and then kept on moving, each trying to avoid catching the gaze of the super-human fighters.

  “Don’t tell me you cannot. If you can breathe, well, then you can.”

  He pointed to the barricades being hastily improved.

  “Get the Khreenk back here to assist. I understand they have equipment we can use. This world must stay under our control. Do you understand?”

  The Helion looked to the others around him and then back to Gun.

  “The Khreenk, they are…”

  Gun reached out and grabbed the Animosh leader by the arm.

  “They are helping us. Now, are you in charge of this district or not?”

  The Animosh struggled, but there was little chance of escaping the grasp of somebody like Gun. Finally, he relented, physically exhausted from his short ordeal.

  “Yes, Colonel. I am in charge of all NHA forces in this sector.”

  “Good. I am sending you Khreenk forces. Establish a defensive line one kilometer from the chasm in a semi-circle. I want everything our side reinforced and dug in.”

  “What about the other side of the line? There is much cover for the enemy to use, and they are sending in troops through the tunnel system.”

  Gun sighed.

  “Everything that side is to be flattened. Use thermite charges and breacher units to collapse every tunnel. I want a wall of steel and stone.”

  The group of Helions looked horrified at this suggestion.

  “Destroyed, Colonel? That is most of the city.”

  Gun pointed out to the north, then the west, and finally to the south. There was smoke in every direction, and the sound of battle could be heard everywhere.

  “This city is already destroyed. This battle will finish what you never did in the last war.”

  “Colonel!” called out one of his bodyguards.

  Gun looked back to the raised visor of his comrade. Like the rest of his Jötnar bodyguard, he wore a matt black variant of the standard JAS armor. This more primitive armor was still Gun’s favorite and offered very heavy protection, as well as plenty of points for ammunition and weapons. Even as this battle continued, he felt strong and secure in this equipment. Even better, he knew it had been fabricated on Prometheus by the Alliance under the watchful eye of his own kin. All his guards wore this, and even the Vanguards had styled their equipment on this unit.

  “What is it?”

  “Have you seen the reports from Helios Prime?”

  Gun had been so busy with his own battle that he’d forgotten to check the general reports on the war effort.

  “No, why?”

  “The enemy is due to arrive any moment.”

  “I know that.”

  The Jötnar shook his head furiously.

  “No, Sir, it is much worse than that.”

  Gun looked at the reports on his visor and spotted the last general broadcast from Commodore Hampel, the acting Admiral for the Spascia Fleet. It was short and confirmed he was conserving his forces to assist when and where he could. It was the last part of the message that worried him the most, though.

  They are sending some of their warships to the Helios Rift. Why?

  * * *

  ANS Conqueror positioned herself at the head of the inter-species fleet of now more than two hundred ships. It was a polyglot collection of vessels, with the majority being of cruiser size. Admiral Lewis surveyed his forces from the tactical display in the CIC. Some might have thought they were impressive, perhaps the largest a human had ever commanded in battle, but not him.

  “What about the reinforcements? The Helions do understand the gravity of this situation?”

  Captain Marcus, his XO nodded in agreement.

  “They do, Sir. At least that is what they are telling us.”

  He then pointed to a number of blue icons in a lower orbit around the planet.

  “There are eleven Byotai merchant ships moving in around the defense stations. It would appear the Khreenk have done the same and are sending armed civilian ships to protect them.”

  Admiral Lewis raised his eyebrows, more in irritation than surprise.

  “So, they send ships to say they are doing their part, but don’t send me enough to fight this battle. You’ve seen the reports coming in from Spascia, and we are facing the full weight of this comet. Who knows what they have buried inside? I think we all know though, don't we?”

  He placed his hands on the tactical display and then rubbed his tired eyes. The unit showed the disposition of his forces. The bulk of the fleet was based around the remnants of the Narau contingent, with the largest number coming from the Helions. Their advanced cruisers provided the first layer of defense for their world. Behind them were the squadrons of Byotai warships. These large, black vessels were as different to each other as they were to the ships of the other races. Designed to match the shapes of creatures from their world, they looked much like the ancient sea monsters of old Earth. The XO walked around the board and then stopped.

  “Sir, the message from Commodore Hampel said that the enemy was sending at least nine Biomanta ships through to the Rift. Are you sure you do not...”

  He shook his head.

  “No, that is a distraction, nothing more. The Helions have an entire station positioned right alongside the Rift. If any make it past them, well, we have more than enough ships to deal with them.”

  The XO had moved away and was now looking at the imagery of their primary target.

  “Uh, Sir. Have you seen this?”

  Admiral Lewis looked at the imagery intently. It showed the comet, the one that had arrived in the system to cause much calamity. The object was the focus of all their attention. The fleet had been positioned so that they would move in alongside the object as it entered a high orbit around Helios Prime. From there, he expected the battle to be fought, in and round the dense debris field that would make the battle more akin to combat in an asteroid field.

  “Are you sure about this?”

  Captain Marcus nodded.

  “Completely, Sir. The comet has made a final course alteration. I don’t know how they were able to gather so much thrust. We could never have managed to do that, not even with half the fleet providing the energy. All of our calculations for the last three months have shown it heading for a high orbital path around Helios Prime.”

  “Yes, I know. The comet would move into a high orbit just like the Ark over Spascia. What are you telling me? Is it moving away?”

  “Sir, a section approximately one quarter the size of the comet has detached and has shifted its course by more than ten degrees. We are detecting massive gas emissions between the two parts. The rest of the comet is continuing on our previously calculated route. It appears t
o match the course pattern used by the Ark around Spascia, though much, much larger.”

  He then pointed at the larger object on the screen.

  “The smaller fragment, along with a substantial debris field has been ejected away from the primary mass and is no longer moving into the same path. There are also spurious indications that there might be ships within the field itself. According to my calculations, it will head right here.”

  A red line running through the comet shifted slowly until it was positioned directly into the path of the planet itself. Admiral Lewis almost choked at the imagery he was looking at.

  “How much remains of the comet?”

  “The original core was over eleven kilometers in diameter, but the outer sections expanded well beyond this. But after the sections broke away, we've found our projections were way off. The core estimate was correct, but the debris field surrounding it hid smaller sections, as well as some of these Arks and ships. There is just as much flotsam around the core as there is to the comet itself. This new target, designated C34-1 is being aimed as a weapon, right at Helios Prime.

  “The object, Captain, just give me the numbers. Also, Object C34-1? Are you serious?”

  “I think we need to speak with the science team on this one.”

  The Admiral placed his face in his hands and sighed.

  “This cannot be true. It just can’t. We've had months to get the fleet into position to intercept this comet and now, at the last hour, this happens?”

  Captain Marcus didn’t know how to be more reassuring, so he fell back on what he knew. Sticking to the facts.

  “Admiral, Captain Perry has also confirmed the trajectory changes and is the same as ours, to within three meters. Comet C34 has changed, Sir. We now have two targets, Comet C34 and the new secondary object on a collision course with Helios Prime. I've designated it Object C34-1 'Thunar' in our database.”

  Thunar? Well, it's good to know the computer has a sense of sobriety.

  Most probably wouldn't understand, but he knew full well it was a regional variation of the old god Thor, the hammer wielding warrior famed for lightning, earthquakes, and other destruction. The ship’s science officer began to panic and moved his chair along a line of panels as he checked the information from their sensors. Eventually, he turned around to face his senior officer.

  “Admiral, the computers are working hard, but the variables…well, they are much larger than expected. I think…”

  Admiral Lewis raised his hand.

  “I don’t have time for this; just give me the short version.”

  The science officer wiped at his brow and then moved back to the screen showing the comet imagery. Even after looking at it so many times, he still found it as fascinating and terrifying the hundredth time. Admiral Lewis took in a long, slow breath.

  “Well, Sir, Object Thunar contains a core of approximately three to four kilometers in diameter. If it strikes at its present course, it will cause massive casualties on the ground.”

  Admiral Lewis didn’t seem impressed.

  “I need numbers, how much power are we talking about?”

  “Power, Sir? Well…”

  The man scratched his head and tapped at the screen before bringing up a model of the planet.

  “Helios Prime is heavily urbanized, and the approximate impact center is within this area of the capital. The conservative estimate is approximately a forty terratonnes of TNT. It is the next thing down from what used to be known back on Earth as a Planet Killer. Depending on the angle, we might just be talking about massed devastation, rather than the destruction of all life on Helios Prime.”

  He’d heard the term before, and it conjured up horrific images of death and planet-wide destruction.

  “What can we do?”

  The science officer gulped a little at this question. He opened his mouth three times, but nothing came out other that something closer to a mutter.

  “Well?”

  “Uh, that’s not really the issue, Sir. At this distance, there is nothing we can do other than break it up into smaller objects. The trouble is, even if we can shatter the core, the total energy will not change by much. The damage caused to the atmosphere and ecology will be devastating either way. By braking up the core, we simply create smaller targets. Only by reducing them to much smaller chunks would we be able to rely on the atmosphere itself to destroy them.”

  The emergency alert sounded, and the lights instantly dimmed to red.

  “Admiral, new contacts coming through the Spascia Rift.”

  He looked up to the mainscreen.

  “What, is it Commodore Hampel?”

  A black shape shimmered and then lurched out from the gaping tear in space. It was shaped almost like a large bat and was quickly followed by many more.

  “Biomech warships, Sir. They are preparing their weapons.”

  “Battlestations!” called the XO.

  The Admiral looked back at the tactical screen, and the shape of the comet moving ever closer to Helios Prime.

  You cunning bastards! You present me with an impossible problem, and then hit me with a distraction.

  “ANS Kopis can send in a squadron of fighters to assist. Do not alter the disposition of the fleet. We have to maintain our position to intercept this…thing. Leave the warships to the Helions for now.”

  He moved his attention back to the screen and noticed something odd. The computer system had also picked it up and was tagging shapes and patterns around the core itself.

  We need a way to deflect or break this thing up.

  “How small do we need to make this thing to protect Helios Prime?”

  The science officer heard him talking and lifted his hand as though in a classroom.

  “Sir, if anything approaching the size of the comet hits Helios Prime, then the casualties will be catastrophic. The comet is moving at a little over fifty kilometers a second. A direct impact will create something like…well, a sixty to seventy kilometer diameter impact crater, followed by earthquakes, shockwaves, and fires for thousands of kilometers.”

  Admiral Lewis opened his mouth, but the science officer was too caught up in the explanation.

  “It isn’t the impact that will cause the real damage though, it’s the debris thrown into the atmosphere that will darken the skies. These are known in history as extinction events, and for good reason. Our science teams disagree on the long term complications of this impact.”

  “Okay, so we make it smaller. What damage are we talking about?”

  The officer looked confused and looked up as he made a number of quick calculations in his head. The XO spotted him and stepped closer.

  “Use the computers. That’s what they are…”

  The man shook his head and stepped away from the XO.

  “No, this is quicker…just wait…”

  Captain Marcus would have pushed him again, but the Admiral signaled for him to back off. After a few more seconds, the man lowered his chin and looked back at him.

  “Sections of comet under a kilometer will cause substantial damage to urban areas. The impact craters would be enough to wipe out a city the size of New Carlos, or even the Helion city of Spascia. The subsequent fires and damage would be substantial, but survivable. Smaller sections would destroy city districts, no more, assuming they made it through the atmosphere. Most would explode earlier, sending shockwaves to the ground. Some of our scientists disagree on the multiple target solution though. They say it would be better to let the planet take the impact rather than the worldwide bombardment that could potentially kick up even more debris to the atmosphere and block out sunlight.”

  The images in his head were of burning cities, destroyed buildings, and millions of casualties. All of this now rested on his shoulders, and it almost made him feel weak at the knees. The lives of the crews aboard two hundred ships paled to insignificance, next to the near loss of the entire population of Helios Prime. He approached one of the panels and brought up the l
ist of personnel on the ground. Most were military, but there were also a significant number of politicians and scientists down there. He spotted a name almost immediately.

  Sanlav Erdeniz, he’s the man that developed the short-range railgun ammunition back in the war, wasn’t he? What’s he doing on Helios Prime?

  He brought up the name, but for some reason the system was unable to connect directly. He had no time to waste and so called out to his communications officer.

  “Get me General Daniels, immediately!”

  The officer was fast, and in less than fifteen seconds a video stream was live between the two men. Colonel Horst Brünner had taken the 4th Heavy Battalion with him to Libuscha, but it was General Daniels who commanded the ground forces on Helios Prime, and he was the man that would definitely be able to make things happen down there.

  “Admiral, I’ve been receiving regular updates. What is the problem?”

  “The comet, a section of it has split away and changed its course. It’s on a course putting it directly toward Helios Prime. Our numbers have been way off. It will make contact in less than fifteen hours.”

  There was something strange about the General, and it took him a moment to realize the man was wearing full tactical armor. He wore his standard Alpha armor rather than his dress uniform, a measure of the gravity of the situation on the planet. Around him were the vast government buildings, all multiple levels that reached up to the sky with their massive spires and platforms. Groups of NHA soldiers marched about in the background, and the odd vapor trail marked the passage of various ships and aircraft.

  “What can you do?”

  Admiral Lewis swallowed and then spoke as calmly as he could manage.

  “Right now, not a lot. The change of heading and velocity has completely thrown off our planning. My forces have been positioned to match their orbit upon arrival. Staying closer to the planet will allow the orbital station to provide additional firepower and air cover.”

  Come on, you fool. You have just hours, there has to be a military or scientific option available to us.