Merkiaari Wars: 02 - What Price Honour

by Mark E. Cooper

  “I see.”

  Meyers didn’t like what it said of her other Captains. They were here and not on their ships during a Red-One alert. Red-One was as close to war as the Alliance ever came short of the first missiles being fired. These men and women should be aboard their own ships. Their execs could have paid their respects in their places.

  “I expect you all to attend a briefing in one hour,” she said then looked to Hanson to show her to her quarters.

  “This way, ma’am,” Hanson said, and led her to the elevator.

  “Inform Captain Fernandez of the meeting, Commander, and I would appreciate a copy of that Red-One.”

  “Certainly ma’am, there should be one on your comp.”

  “Good,” she said, thawing a little at Hanson’s obvious competence.

  Once in her quarters, she made directly for her office and its comp to bring herself up to date. Keying in her I.D and pass phrase, she read the Red-One alert message, and nothing was ever the same again.

  “My God!”

  “Ma’am?” Joshua asked from across the cabin.

  “Merkiaari have attacked and wiped out the Shan fleet. Our survey ship, Canada, came in badly shot up with the news.”

  “Our mission is scrubbed then, Admiral?”

  “Looks like it—” she began, but lost her train of thought when a password request popped up on her screen.

  Meyers frowned in consternation. Why require a second phrase when the message was already decoded by application of the first? Obviously there was more to the message that met the eye, and more to the point it was directed specifically at her and not Captain Fernandez. Only officers of flag rank had the clearance to decode this message further.

  “Leave the room for a moment, Joshua. I’ll call.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Joshua said, his puzzlement obvious.

  Meyers turned back to her comp after she heard the hatch close, and input her second pass phrase. The screen cleared and another more extensive message was revealed.

  “Oh, boy,” she hissed as she read the communiqué.

  The bulk of the message detailed a revised mission for TF19 including threat assessment and detailed notes on the system as well as planetary targets the Merkiaari would be interested in. The destination was the same as her original mission, but the objective…

  Admiral Meyers. You will, upon the receipt of this message, assemble TF19 and jump out system immediately. Your destination is NGC 1513-4964. Upon arrival, you will rendezvous with your ground force and immediately jump out system to fulfil your mission within the target system.

  The Shan have been declared an allied power and will be protected to the utmost of the Alliance’s ability. Seek and destroy all Merkiaari in the system preparatory for arrival Fifth Fleet. Fifth Fleet will be augmented heavily with divisions comprising: Alliance Army, Alizon Rangers, Alliance Marines, Bethany Airborne Rangers, Faragut Airborne Strike Force…

  Meyers whistled at the list of units being sent in the second wave. Was that because they thought she would fail, or was it precautionary? She was determined not to fail, but maybe HQ knew something she didn’t.

  She keyed her comm. “Computer: page Captain Fernandez,” she said and smiled as he appeared on screen. “I assume you’re having trouble decoding the Red-One, Captain.”

  “How did you—yes ma’am, I am. The stupid thing keeps requesting a second phrase.”

  “I’m aware of that, Thomas. The second portion of the message was addressed to me, but you need to see it. Meet me in the briefing room in…” she checked the time. “In thirty minutes. The others will be there.”

  “Yes, ma’am, I’ll be there.”

  “Good, until then,” she said and cut the circuit.

  At the appointed time, Meyers entered the briefing room followed by a harried Joshua carrying a case full of compads that he had hurriedly updated with their revised mission. Thomas stood as she entered as did her other captains.

  “As you were,” she said, and they all took their seats. “Pass those around, Joshua.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Meyers found her place at the head of the table while Joshua handed the compads to her captains. Captain Monroe of Invincible was on her left, third from the end. Meyers watched the Captain’s face as she received her compad from Joshua. There was shock at first, and then puzzlement. Monroe looked around at her fellow officers then turned to her admiral.

  “You cannot be serious!”

  Meyers smiled. “The First Space Lord is very serious, Captain, and so is the President. The Shan are our allies now. The Council ratified a treaty with them and signed a mutual defence agreement just a few weeks ago. If we are successful, they will become full members of the Alliance.”

  “I understand that ma’am,” Monroe said. “I applaud the decision, but eight ships against the Merkiaari?”

  “That is one of the problems this meeting will address.” Joshua had finished handing out the compads. He was waiting at the holotank controls for her. “If you would, Joshua?”

  “Yes ma’am,” Joshua said, lowering the lights and activating the tank. “The plan was to extract Canada from the system without firing a shot. As you can see that is no longer the mission. This data was obtained by Canada while in system and fighting for her life against a squadron of Merki ships.”

  Everyone leaned forward to study the new data. They keyed personal compads to life and began making notes, but all eyes were on the battle raging in the tank. The Shan cruisers were dishing out horrendous storms of missiles, but few of them were reaching their targets. As many as eighty percent were decoyed off target or destroyed by point defence.

  Meyers watched one brave ship battered and barely making way trim her course and ram a stupendous Merki dreadnought. Both ships blew up in spectacular fashion, but more ships were coming. The holotank blanked for a moment as another log was uploaded. This time there was a gasp from all those watching.

  “Hold the playback, Joshua.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “This data gentlemen, was taken from the log of a heavy cruiser. The Shan call them heavy fangs by the way.” Meyers aimed her wand at the figure at the centre of attention. “This is Tei’Varyk, Captain of Naktlon. I am told the word Tei means leader or commander. This portion of Naktlon’s log begins just as Tei’Varyk makes his run against the Merki ships. They outgun him four to one. Canada and Naktlon are the only friendlies remaining in system.”

  “Excuse me ma’am, but where is Canada?” Thomas Fernandez asked.

  “Captain Colgan has withdrawn his ship at this point. Canada has taken critical damage to her aft shields and engineering. I might add that Canada is a survey vessel ill equipped to fight a concerted Merkiaari attack. Colgan believed otherwise and fought his ship with distinction. He destroyed two ships outright—destroyer class I believe. Am I right, Joshua?”

  “Yes ma’am. Two positively identified as kills. One or two more that were heavily damaged and later destroyed by our allies. She also finished off a heavy at the close of the action, ma’am.”

  Meyers nodded. “Captain Colgan had planned to rescue the contact team and jump out system, hoping to bring the Fleet back to help. That was the plan, but fate dictated otherwise—observe.”

  Joshua activated the holotank and everyone sat still to watch. The audio was frighteningly real and made Meyers jump as warning sirens blared from the speakers. Crew yapped and barked orders, sounding like a pack of hunting dogs on a scent, but over it all came a translation in quietly spoken English.

  “I hear,” Tei’Varyk said. “Open fire!”

  Meyers smiled grimly at the hisses of shock coming from her captains as Naktlon erupted in fury. Torpedo launchers went to rapid continuous fire attempting to saturate the defences of Tei’Varyk’s chosen target. As the range closed, his beamers and particle cannons spoke.

  The Merki heavy cruiser blew apart, but even as it did, missiles infinitely more powerful than any Shan torpedo hamme
red Naktlon closer to destruction. Closer and closer, but finally the fire ended and he was still there. Though battered and bleeding atmosphere, he continued to pour fire into the remaining enemy ships.

  “Magazines destroyed or depleted!”

  “I hear. Continue with all remaining weapons. Kill them all!” Tei’Varyk snarled as his ship slowly died around him.

  The holo image became shaky and hard to make out as Naktlon bucked and reared at the centre of nuclear fury. Fires had broken out in some of the bridge consols, but no one took any notice except to close helmet visors to keep the smoke out. Meyers kept one eye on the scrolling damage report on her compad. She was trying to keep it coordinated with the holo tank. Naktlon was blinded to starboard, and nearly so on her portside, but her great engines continued to propel her into the heart of the storm to kill her enemies even as she was hammered into uselessness.

  “Take out those honourless light fangs!” Tei’Varyk snarled as they pecked away at Naktlon’s armoured hide.

  Naktlon’s particle cannons swivelled and targeted first one, then a second light unit. Both blew apart as energy beams designed to strip the hide from a Merki dreadnaught ripped through them.

  Meyers made a note to find out more about Shan particle cannons. They seemed similar to an Alliance PPG, but the output was much higher. She wanted some of them for the Alliance. BuShips was working hard to increase the numbers of heavy cruisers, notably the new Washington class. She was sure BuWeps would jump at the chance of adding such powerful particle cannons to their arsenal.

  “Target the next—” Tei’Varyk began, but that was as far as he got.

  Naktlon, broken and barely making way with a single drive, was hit amidships. The beam sliced through deck after deck killing Tei’Varyk’s crew and severing control runs. His particle cannons locked and fell silent as power cables were turned to slag. His remaining torpedo launchers, had they ammunition would have been useless as power runs to the launch rails were cut. By far the worst damage was to Naktlon’s fusion room. The beam reached the core of its reactor and Naktlon erupted with super hot plasma eating everything in sight. Blast doors slammed and alarms screamed, but it was all for nothing.

  Naktlon broke in two.

  Groans of anguish filled the room as the holotank froze on the image of Tei’Varyk being thrown out of his command station. Meyers had the benefit of knowing what would happen next, but this viewing was the first time for her Captains.

  “At this point things become disjointed,” Meyers said into the silence. “Naktlon was destroyed as you see, but the two Merki heavy cruisers have taken critical damage. Captain Colgan decides to change course and intercept them. He destroys them both while sustaining heavy damage to Canada. He loses thirty-eight crewmen plus the dead from the earlier action. All told, he has lost over half of his crew. Continue playback please, Joshua.”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  Tei’Varyk flew through the air and would have crashed to the deck had not the internal gravity field failed. It failed because Naktlon’s aft section including fusion reactors and power generation had just been destroyed. Naktlon’s forward section, bleeding atmosphere and crumpled almost beyond recognition, was ejected from nuclear fire like a cork from a bottle.

  Tei’Varyk hit his helmsman in the back and was grappled to safety, but others were less lucky. A scream of anguish was cut short as another crewmember, a female this time, smashed into the viewscreen with crushing force.

  “Tarjei!” Tei’Varyk yelled in fear and pushed off to reach the limp figure floating a few metres away. Blood floated on the air and the figure seemed lifeless.

  “Tarjei is Tei’Varyk’s mate,” Meyers said as the holotank blanked. “The next log is approximately an hour or so later. Canada has engaged and defeated the remaining heavy cruisers and is closing on the wreck of Naktlon looking for survivors.”

  “Contact!” A voice announced, but there was no answer from Tei’Varyk. He was strapped into his station holding his dying mate in his arms. “Contact Tei!”

  “What contact?”

  “I have a contact bearing two-zero-five degrees. I cannot be certain Tei, but I think Tei’Colgan has come for us.”

  Tei’Varyk sat in silence, staring at his one operational monitor. On the screen he watched Merki troopers running through city streets and killing everyone they found. Fires were leaping up and people were falling in heaps or fighting back with nothing but their claws.

  “Have the elders responded?”

  “No Tei, they cannot hear us.”

  Tei’Varyk held Tarjei and rocked her gently.

  Kajika reached across his consol to operate an empty station’s controls. A moment later, a fuzzy and rolling picture appeared on the damaged viewscreen. The blood running down the screen did not obscure the image too badly. A worried Human face peered at Tei’Varyk from a smoky bridge.

  “Tei!” Colgan said in relief. “Hold on, I’m coming to get you out!”

  Tei’Varyk blinked and seemed to come back to himself at hearing a Human voice. “Tei’Colgan. You should have left when you had the chance,” he said in a dead voice.

  “It’s okay, we killed the last of the ships for you.”

  “And what of the ones landing troops on Harmony?”

  “What?!” Colgan looked aside at his own screens.

  “Do not Canada’s sensors reach so far? Naktlon’s are all but destroyed, but we are still receiving transmissions of the landings.”

  The holotank blanked and the lights came up. “That completes the relevant portions of the logs given us by Captain Colgan and Tei’Varyk,” Joshua said.

  “Thank you, Joshua,” Meyers said. “We do have some more data, but none fit for direct viewing. Your compads have been uploaded with what we know about the target system, but I will go over it with you now.

  “Firstly, the Merki squadron was completely destroyed, but those ships merely constituted half the screening units for the Merkiaari landings, which I’m afraid went ahead unopposed. We will be facing troop transports and light screening units. All of the heavies and the few dreadnoughts they sent along were destroyed by Shan fortresses and ships, but I don’t trust the thought that this mission will be easy.”

  “They may have been reinforced, Admiral,” Commander Svenson of Neptune warned. “May I make a proposal?”

  “Go ahead, Commander,” Meyers said leaning back in her chair and smiling encouragement. She had already planned the mission, but encouraging juniors to participate in these sessions was part of the job title—besides, she wasn’t infallible. Valentin might have a good idea.

  “Thank you, Admiral. Vigilant and my own Neptune are our fastest units. I propose the task force jumps short and we two go in to recon the system.”

  Meyers smiled. It was a simple but sensible precaution. She had already planned to do it that way, but the task force would not jump short. Instead, she had planned to hang back at the system periphery while her destroyers reconnoitred the system. That way she could receive scan data directly rather than waiting for her scouts to jump back to her.

  “Vigilant and Neptune will advance into the system ahead of the task force,” Meyers agreed. “Sutherland will use her wings in a wide deployment on the off chance that the Merkiaari are lurking so far out. As soon as I a have definite scan data, we will move in and take out their screening elements. With luck we will catch them napping, but lucky or not we will take them out and give our ground forces a chance at the Merki on the surface.”

  “About that, Admiral,” Thomas said. “Am I right in assuming we will be met by more ships on route?”

  “That’s correct. Our rendezvous is an uninhabited system known simply by its catalogue number: NGC 1513-4964.”

  “Do we know who we are picking up, ma’am?”

  “Not specifically,” Meyers admitted and she was uncomfortable with that lack. “Admiral Rawlins simply stated that our ground force would be waiting. I’m sure it will be sufficient. Once we have
the system secured, Fifth Fleet will jump in to hold it against further attacks while helping the Shan rebuild their defences.”

  “That’s a long term project, Admiral. Very long term.”

  “Agreed, but the Merkiaari have been a long term problem for us and the Shan both. They won’t just disappear because we want them to.”

  “Shame,” Thomas said.

  “That it is,” Meyers agreed. “Now then; regarding ship readiness. On my way to Victorious, I noticed some maintenance ongoing in Vigilant’s number two missile tube…

  * * *

  Chapter 20

  Uriel, Snakeholme system

  Beep!

  Pamela dropped her feet from her consol and put aside the romance novel she had been reading. She was just getting to the good part too. Oh well, no rest for the wicked.

  She punched up the live feed from her sensors. “I have a contact, sir.”

  “Location?” Giles said, looking up from his own book. He had always been partial to a good fantasy adventure.

  “Red sector…” she said frowning and refined her data. “Red six. It’s a drone. Should I make contact?”

  “Go ahead, Pam. Shunt the message straight to my consol; it’s probably routine.”

  Pamela nodded and did that. “I’ve notified SysSec to pick up the drone, sir.”

  “Good. I—”

  Pam turned and found Giles punching keys rapidly. He looked shaken, he looked afraid.

  General Burgton’s office, Petruso Base, Snakeholme

  General George Burgton shuffled the compads that were beginning to pile up before him on the table into order, before finishing his coffee. He could have accessed data far more comprehensive than this, via his processor and an uplink to the regiment’s database, but he wasn’t interested in the recruit’s assimilation of their biomech and cybernetics at the moment. Neither was he interested in their scores on the range, or any of the other hundred and one bits of statistical information he could access. He wanted a more personal take on things, and that could only be supplied by people, not computers. Hence this meeting, and the pile of compads containing notes and personal observations of the recruits, written by their instructors.