Attack Butterfly (Rust Bucket Universe)

by Atk. Butterfly

  ***

  "Sensors have got them! If they continue to drift in, they'll be here in an hour!" one sergeant hollered out for everyone in the room to hear.

  Dave asked, "They're in the pattern I guessed at?"

  "From the ones we've got reacting, yes sir!" the sergeant responded. "You pegged them on the nose!"

  Dave relaxed some for only a brief moment.

  The sergeant exclaimed, "They're activating! You spooked them!"

  Dave made his way to the sensor screens and looked at the pattern of ships suddenly giving away their positions by engaging their engines for their attack.

  "Notify all fighters and squadron ships that they're coming in fast!" Dave ordered.

  He needn't have bothered. One of the sergeants was passing on the information to all the ships in the area of the sudden enemy activity.

  ***

  Susan watched the transmitted images of the enemy locations as she signaled Joe to start the engines. The enemy was scattered over a broad front. There was no specific formation she could think of to engage them all. She switched on her communications and instructed the fighters in her command. "Butterfly command, split up into wings. Wing commanders, seek out your own targets and destroy! Good luck!" Then she said, "Butterfly wing, follow me!"

  Her fighter led four other fighters in a V-formation towards the incoming enemy warships. As her wing reached a damaged enemy warship, an enemy transport hidden on the backside of it from her wing suddenly spurted past toward Echo while the enemy warship engaged the fighters with its weapons. Susan's and two other fighters swept around the warship on one side while the remaining two fighters went on the other side

  "Flaming Moth, take after that transport!" she ordered, trying not to let any of the enemy reach the planet. She watched it leave the wing and hit full speed as it sped out in pursuit of the transport.

  Meanwhile, Joe and the other fighter pilots were maneuvering on their own around the damaged warship as they found positions permitting their fighter commanders to get in good shots on the enemy warship. A few minutes later, the warship was in ruins. Her four fighters looked for more targets.

  ***

  Admiral Oden watched the sensor screens display the status of the multiple skirmishes going on almost around the planet as the sixth wave came in almost everywhere while his forces were concentrated in two locations. Despite the bad positioning, his forces were doing their best to make up for that by moving quickly and decisively against the enemy as soon as they could get to them.

  The two squadrons had each gone in different directions and were wiping out single enemy warships with ease using their concentrated and overwhelming firepower. They weren't getting victories without some payment, though.

  The fighter commands split up into wings almost everywhere. They were fighting warships and pursuing transports down to the surface whenever they could catch up to them.

  Already, reports were coming in of successful Malakin transport landings on the surface and of warrior robots moving out swiftly in the light gravity of Echo to menace the countryside. Had the fighter commands not already sent fighters down to chase after the transports and robots, Dave would have been compelled to issue a similar order. However, issuing an order wouldn't have made the threat disappear, even if it was from him. Instead, he could only let his men and women do their jobs without interruption, since they knew what they were doing and were on top of the situation as best as could be expected.

  Admiral Nick came over from communications and stopped beside Admiral Oden. He tapped Dave on the shoulder to get his attention.

  "Yes, Nicky?"

  Admiral Nick said, "Reason wants you off Echo. Now."

  "You can't be serious! We're winning!" Dave exclaimed.

  Admiral Nick said, "He doesn't want his chief strategist and tactician in the line of fire without any space marines around you. He said for me to have you either sent out or put on a dreadnought."

  Dave said, "A dreadnaught? No way! Give me a few moments and let me talk to him."

  Nick nodded and let Oden go over to communications where Admiral of the Navy Reason was brought back on line. He listened as Dave pleaded for it to at least be a cruiser and not a dreadnaught. For once, Dave couldn't win. It was either a dreadnaught or leave Echo. Dave said, "All right, Nicky, put me on something out of here. You already know how I feel about dreadnoughts."

  Nicky asked, "You sure? How are the men and women going to feel with you leaving? Wait a moment! No, you're not! You're not going to say you're leaving and then get on board a cruiser anyway."

  "You going to stop me?" asked Dave. "Remember, I outrank you, friend."

  Nicky replied, "I have authority from the admiral to put you on one or the other, so don't try to pull rank on me."

  "Do I get my choice of what I'm put out on if I leave?" asked Dave.

  Admiral Nick answered, "No, Dave. Now decide and make it quick."

  ***

  Rear Admiral Oden strode onto the bridge of the Waynescotia, named for a continent on Beulah.

  "Admiral on deck!" one of the officers shouted.

  The Commodore came over and looked at Dave's double-stars on his shoulders and saluted. "Sir, welcome aboard and congratulations on your promotion."

  "Thanks. Now Carol, how do we stand?" asked Dave.

  She said quietly, "We're doing all right. Wish I was back on a cruiser, though."

  Dave leaned close and whispered, "I know just how you feel."

  She grinned and walked with him towards the sensor screens. As they walked, a slight vibration could be felt through the deck plates as the dreadnought took a hit from the enemy. They reached the screens. Dave took a glance at them. From some views, he could see the other ships of the squadron. Most of them were untouched, except for the other dreadnought and the heavy cruisers. They were receiving the brunt of the return fire.

  Dave said, "Have your destroyers sweep round and flank the enemy ships quickly as you engage them."

  "Right away!" she said and then went to issue orders to the squadron.

  Within a minute, several destroyers raced to flank the enemy ships they were fighting, giving the squadron a sudden advantage. The enemy became caught in a crossfire and had to divert some of the return fire on the destroyers. Then almost as quickly, the skirmish was over as the two enemy ships went silent from the deadly accuracy of the squadron's warships.

  Carol was back beside Dave. "Why didn't I think of that?" she asked.

  Dave replied, "You saw you had obvious superiority of firepower and probably forgot finesse can also work in a situation like this. Don't let it eat at you. Now let your destroyers start making first contact and use their initiative. You'll find that you've got some pretty good skippers in those ships."

  "I will," she answered and went off to issue the orders.

  Dave didn't worry about it any further. Some officers only needed a reminder that there were other officers they could depend on in tough situations and whom the Navy had already given responsibilities and authority to. Once she let them help her, she would find that her job would become easier. It didn't mean that she would worry any less, however.

  ***

  Susan saw the approaching squadron ships and used them to entrap her latest enemy victim. Now the enemy was between her wing and the squadron while most of the fire was aimed at the squadron. Her fighters quickly charged the busy enemy warship and disabled the engines, leaving the enemy ship without power for its weapons and an easy target for several destroyers that moved in quickly to take advantage of the sitting duck. She only caught a glimpse of the last moments of that action as her pilot immediately sought out another enemy target.

  There was a flare-up next to her fighter. She turned quickly to see only debris where one of her fighters had been on her flank. The three remaining fighters went into evasive maneuvers before another of them could be shot by the newly found threat. At the same time, she reported the Lepidoptera as hit and destroyed.
/>
  ***

  Despite the efforts of the squadron destroyers, the dreadnoughts continued to receive the lion's share of return enemy fire. Finally, Commodore Carol Steele realized that she needed to transfer her command. Carol said, "Come on, Admiral, time to change ships."

  "Go on. Regulations forbid both of us from being in the same shuttle. This is your squadron. You go first," he replied.

  She replied, "Yes sir."

  Before the shuttle could return, the Waynescotia was hit again. Further transfer became impossible. Its engines failing, the captain ordered the ship to land on Echo and requested a destroyer escort from the commodore until the ship was on the surface.

  Commodore Steele thought hard before replying, "Sorry, I need the destroyers, but I will give you fighters."

  ***

  Moments later, Susan received the call for a fighter escort from the nearest fighters. She reluctantly broke off her attack and led her other two fighters to escort the Waynescotia to the surface. She wondered why the ship was so important that it needed an escort in order to land.

  A small Malakin warship, about the size of the Union dreadnought, suddenly changed course to pursue the escorted and damaged Waynescotia.

  Susan heard the Commodore's voice a moment later. "Malakin warship breaking free to pursue the Waynescotia. Stop that ship before it gets the Admiral!"

  Oh god! Susan thought, Oden's on board that ship!

  She picked up her communications and hurriedly gave out instructions. "Tango and Harley, break off and attack! We'll block his fire!"

  Joe looked back at her and saw the determination and fear on her face.

  "Admiral Oden's on board that ship," she said quickly.

  Joe understood the situation and nodded as he turned himself toward the task of trying to fly between the oncoming Malakin warship and the dreadnought.

  "Keep us between the enemy and the Waynescotia's engines," Susan instructed.

  ***

  On board the Waynescotia, the gunners resumed their attentiveness as they strained to spot the oncoming warship and fight back in their own defense.

  Dave stood next to the captain, an experienced officer whom he trained in the academy. He said, "Dennis, it's your ship, but have you considered letting gravity help you?"

  "Think she'll hold together?" Dennis asked.

  Dave replied, "They build our ships well and we sure can't outrun the enemy in our present condition. Three fighters aren't going to be enough to stop that enemy ship in time to make a difference, either."

  "Well, I guess if we don't survive, they can't do much more than court martial me posthumously," Dennis remarked. "Helm! Take us straight down and level off at the last possible moment!"

  The Waynescotia changed attitude and shoved itself with its damaged engines straight at the surface of Echo.

  ***

  Susan caught sight of the sudden change in the Waynescotia's course. She thought for a moment that her engines failed. Then she saw that the ship was deliberately heading straight at the surface to evade the pursuit. She instructed, "Keep us in the way of the enemy so that he can't follow!"

  Off to the sides, her two fighters were busy firing at the enemy, trying to cause enough damage so that the Malakin warship couldn't follow without crashing. The Malakin warship continued its pursuit. Susan's pilot barely avoided a collision that wouldn't have even bothered the enemy ship, but would have sent them spinning down out of control.

  "Okay, put us into position to shoot him since he's trying to run over us. I want him to know who he's messing with!" Susan said loudly.

  The fighter dove out and then swept into a turn to charge at the huge Malakin warship which easily filled Susan's crosshairs. She fired her Mark VI gun and kept it firing. Bolt after bolt seethed out of the barrel at the enemy ship. Hit after hit occurred until one of them or a bolt fired from one of the other two fighters suddenly found something and ignited it. The Malakin warship, now in an atmosphere, blew up into millions of pieces of falling debris leaving a fireball and smoke to show where it had been. Susan's fighter flew through much of the debris, unable to avoid it all, taking damage to itself. It rocked horribly as it powered through.

  "Lieutenant, steering's almost jammed. I can't get us back up!"

  "Can you get us down?" she asked.

  "Yes, but not easily. It's going to take a while unless you want me to just shut off the engines."

  "Naw, I feel better with them running. Take your time. Everyone else, keep alert for anything else." A moment later, she was calling the other two fighters, "Harley, we're out of it. Our steering is jammed. Take over the wing and link up with another wing as soon as the Waynescotia is safely on the surface."

  ***

  The Waynescotia shuddered and rattled as it plummeted towards the surface of Echo. At not quite the last possible moment, the helmsman powered the ship back into level flight and looked for a suitable landing place before the engines failed altogether. He was more worried than the officers since he had a feel for the ship and how it responded. It felt worse to him than probably anyone else suspected. Deliberately, he let the ship get closer to the surface in case the engines suddenly failed in order to lessen the impact on everyone.

  "Captain," the helmsman said, "it might be a good idea to evacuate the lower gunners and decks."

  Dennis listened and then grabbed the intercom handset quickly. "All hands evacuate the lower decks and all station B guns. Move to the decks serving station A and C guns. Be prepared to evacuate the ship after we land."

  Dave said, "Dennis, maybe we should keep those guns in operation after we land if they still work. If a robot comes near, we can fight back then."

  "Uh, yeah. I guess we could." Dennis toggled the intercom back on and said, "All gunners serving station A and C guns are to report gun status after landing."

  There was a sudden lack of vibration throughout the ship as the engines failed completely. The helmsman was almost helpless as he tried to get the ship a little lower with what power he could catch and maneuver with. He yelled a warning, "We're going down!"

  Dennis called out over the intercom, "Brace for impact!"

  The Waynescotia half-fell and half-skidded to a stop on the surface. Personnel inside were thrown against bulkheads and equipment. Equipment was ripped loose by the sudden force. The debris was thrown across open cabins and down passageways, maiming and killing some of the personnel unfortunate to be in the path of the objects. Whole sections of the hull were stripped away, leaving part of the interior open to the outside while making it easier for a few of the personnel to get out when the time came to evacuate.

  Dave grabbed hold of his chair, wondering if it would break free of its bolts and catapult him into a bulkhead. He felt himself thrown forward against the safety straps, but the chair and straps held.

  Dennis caught hold of a stanchion and managed to hold on even though the stanchion bent.

  For the most part, the ship held together, another testament to the shipbuilding skills of the men and women who built the Navy's warships. The Waynescotia came to a crunching, screeching halt in a cloud of dust.

  Communication cables were ripped apart in many locations. The gunners reported their gun station status using the emergency radios hanging on nearby bulkheads. Dennis listened to them and was satisfied with the reports from them. He replied, "Okay, gunners are to remain at their stations to repel any attacks on the ship. All other personnel are to check for any fires and wounded personnel. Let's get those taken care of. You've all done a great job so far!"

  ***

  Joe fought against the controls, getting just the barest amount of downward control. Slowly, the Attack Butterfly flew downward toward the surface.

  Susan managed to see the dreadnought land on the surface amid a huge amount of dust and some debris tossed out by the impact. Her fighter circled in a wide curve. She spotted survivors with the zoom lens of a camera she activated. Moments later, confirmation radio messages ca
me from the Waynescotia that most of the personnel were doing well and prepared to assist in their own defense.

  Susan ordered, "Joe, keep us on a wide circle around them. We might be able to warn them of any approaching robots or enemy warships."

  "Right, Lieutenant," he answered. "You want me to try to land near them?"

  She replied, "Uh, yeah, that might be more convenient for the rescue and salvage teams. Go ahead and do that when we're low enough."

  ***

  Inside the Waynescotia, Dave monitored the ongoing battle at the sensor screens using information relayed from other sources. He could see that the fighters had taken a beating this time in fighting off the enemy who seemed to be nearly everywhere. The fighter losses during the sixth wave had already equalled the entire losses suffered during the first five attack waves. Only about a third of the fighters were still functioning, but none of them were giving up any ground that he could tell. They went about re-organizing themselves in the heat of battle to keep their attack strengths up and continued to ravage the Malakin ships.

  The squadrons, he could tell, were doing much better. He expected them to with their superior firepower and ability to keep fire on the enemy while maneuvering, something the small fighters with their fixed guns couldn't do. The fighters had to attack head on and the squadron warships didn't.

  A quick glance told him that the battle in space was nearly over. Most of the Malakin warships were dead or severely damaged enough to be out of action. The battle on the ground was still shaping up. Way too many of the robots were loose on the surface. Far too few fighters were hunting them down.

  ***

  "There's a robot!" shouted Joe.

  Susan said, "Damn! We don't have a shot at him!"

  She switched on her communications and called the Waynescotia. "Attack Butterfly to Waynescotia, over!"

  "This is Waynescotia, over."

  Susan said, "Malakin robot ten kilometers south of your position. Moving in your direction. Do you copy?"

  "Acknowledged. Enemy robot ten kilometers south coming our way. Thank you, Attack Butterfly."

  ***

  Captain Dennis Trong received the information and relayed it to the gun stations. Then he turned to Rear Admiral Oden. He said, "Guess you were clairvoyant on that one. One robot already coming our way."