Ambush

by G J Moses

  The command center was alive with the sound of activity. But not with the normal hustle and bustle. There was no laughter, no idle conversations. There was a palpable tension in the air.

  Seconds passed… a few more… then a few minutes… until they were getting close to the entrance. No communication from Airman Delahaye, the fighter was still there, just no communications. It wasn’t like she disappeared from their screens due to the special tracking module placed in her fighter, but had reached the point where her presence was now able to be detected by any other ships present. Their ships were not visible yet to the outside, but hers was.

  Within seconds, Senior Airman Delahaye fighter came online. “Airman Delahaye here, no ships detected. Powering up, will let you know if there are any changes.”

  Seconds passed… and more seconds… still nothing.

  The rest of the fighters followed through with the Lucky Strike just moments a minute behind.

  Nothing… another minute… nothing… another minute… nothing. The Lucky Strike was out of the tunnel. Nothing.

  “Isolde, see if you can connect with Nocuous.” ordered Zeke.

  “It will take a moment…”

  “Also, get the Fox on.”

  “Fox on… still working on Nocuous.”

  “Captain Kennedy, we have not detected any hostiles at this time. Side note, I will be placing a letter for a medal recommendation for Senior Airman Delahaye for her extraordinary actions here, even if she is not in the Royal Galactic Navy. My recommendation will be for the RGN medal of ‘Courage Extraordinaire’. I expect I will have quite a few recommendations by the time this action is resolved.” informed Zeke.

  “Thank you, Zeke, Jeanne and I are doing the same for our service. And we will also be doing one for Gunner.” Meghan responded.

  “Captain, Governor Reynolds about to be connected.” interrupted Isolde.

  “Place her on the ship’s spe…” Zeke was instructing Isolde when the ship’s speakers burst into life.

  “Governor Reynolds here. We have been anxiously waiting your signal. Any problems getting through?”

  Signaling Isolde thanks, Zeke replied. “Hi Governor, we met some hostiles that caused additional casualties and damage, but we are still in fighting shape, hopefully anyway. Can you give us an update on your current status? Enemy ship deployment?”

  “Well, Captain Kinsley, not much has changed except for an arrival of another ship. Corporal Alexandre Algernon and crew have been keeping tabs on what radar we have available. The Corporal notified me that a new ship has arrived where it is now stationed over one of the mines. The mine that they have been working since they arrived. Very large ship, maybe an ore container vessel or troop transport? One of the three destroyers moved to escort the new ship. The other two are still in their same position above our main entrance.” Governor Reynolds reported.

  Isolde, Gunner and Will looked at Zeke with surprise.

  “Well, that sure puts a crimp in our plans.” quipped Will.

  “Do you think the Sovereign will be on the destroyer that moved?” wondered Gunner.

  “Governor, have they taken any further action against you?” a serious Zeke asked.

  “Strangely, no Captain. Nothing, no attacks, no nothing. It has allowed us to prepare additional defenses so we are not complaining.” answered Governor Reynolds.

  Standing and moving closer to the main screen, Zeke had a thoughtful look on his face with a blank stare in his eyes. Seeing this, Isolde smiled. Having seen this look before, she knew that Zeke’s mind was in overdrive.

  “Well, this should be interesting. I wonder what mad plan he is dreaming up now.” Chuckling softly, she glanced over the at one of the side monitors where Hawke could be seen. He was calmly sitting in his fighter where she recognized the slanted smile on his face through his faceplate. Hawke had also recognized the look. “Get ready my friend, we will soon be going on a ride to write about if I know Zeke.”

  With a shake of his head, his eyes now refocusing, Zeke looked up at the main monitor before speaking.

  “Corporal Algernon, I would like you to confirm some information before I make changes to our current plan. How far can you see out in space? And are there any areas in that space that you cannot see? And please repeat again what ships are in orbit and forces on the ground. Sorry for the repetition, but this changes dramatically what we planned on meeting.” requested Zeke.

  “Captain Kinsley, I totally understand. Let me answer your questions in the order you asked.” Algernon responded back.

  “First, we can clearly see about a quarter of the way to the tunnel in a circle around our world using ground-based sensors and telescopes. I wish it was further, but that is the best we can do at this time. There are several areas we cannot see into, but we have not seen any traffic going into or out of those areas. We have been monitoring all of those areas closely since the invasion. Before then, well, that is anybody’s guess.”

  “Second, there are four enemy ships. Two ships that are comparable to destroyers in size that are stationed over our main entrance. No enemy action against us has been taken from them since we went underground. The other two, one ship is the same size as the other two, and a second ship of humongous size, which makes me believe it is an ore container vessel. I say ore container vessel over troop transport due to the size. It is so large that I would find it hard to believe it can all be pressurized to support life.”

  “Third, there are two separate ground forces on the planet. Both are stationed in a mountain side. One group is camped by our main entrance and the other group is camped by one of our mines. The only troop movement has been by the ore mine, which they have been working on, since the invasion.”

  All watched as Zeke walked around the edges of the bridge, absorbing the answers to his questions. “Corporal Algernon, when did the new ship arrive and where was the destroyer that moved to join that ship positioned in relationship compared to the other two destroyers? And when did it start moving to join it?”

  “The new ship arrived just after we talked with you last. The destroyer that joined it, was originally positioned a good distance away from the other two. It started to move towards the mine several hours or so prior to the new ship being detected. It did so in a leisurely manner, so we were quite surprised when the new ship showed up on our sensors. We initially thought they were just going to check up on the crew at the mine.”

  Suddenly, Jeanne, jumped in. “We’re the destroyers always in the current positions? If not, when did they move? Where was the destroyer that moved in relation to the direction of the asteroid tunnel? Further away or closer? And could you tell if they are loading the new ship? Is there any unusual ground traffic?”

  “Well… now that you mention it, the destroyers repositioned just after our last call. Before that, they were close together, with the one that moved, closer to the asteroid tunnel than the others. After repositioning, that particular ship was then the furthest away from the tunnel and the other ships, much further away from it, now that I think about it.” an intrigued sounding Corporal Algernon responded.

  “And the ground troop movement?” asked Will.

  “I wish I could help there, but they cleaned up most of our sensors in that area. I can only say that they are supporting the mine in some fashion. They have taken a good number of casualties there due to the severity of the weather, but they do not seem to care.”

  “Captain de Clisson, we only know that much due to a scouting expedition that we sent out to try and find out what the Chohish were doing at the mine. We almost lost all four of the scouts when the ground lifted under their feet and threw them twenty feet. Thankfully, even though most were injured seriously, they all made it back, although one may still succumb to his wounds” Governor Reynolds explained.

  “Sounds like you and Gunner are in sync with what I am thinking. My hypothesis is the following. The ship carrying the Sovereign moved when he did not hear from the ships in the
asteroid tunnel at their regularly scheduled time. He then signaled for the new larger ship to get what had been mined before we arrive. I would bet we arrived faster than he hoped we would, or even more than likely, the ore container vessel was already on the way” explained Zeke.

  “They would not have had to do any actual mining, just pick up the ore that we had already mined. We had it staged in storage areas underground. There was enough to fill several ore containment vessels” Algernon interjected.

  “I cannot think of anything else that covers all the bases. Have you decided on what you want to do with all these changes?” a curious Jeanne asked.

  “Based on this new information, we will have to modify our plans. The Lucky Strike will make full haste towards where the two destroyers are with all but six of the fighters. We will engage but will not stick around to finish them off. We will continue on at full speed onto the new position of the destroyer and the ore container vessel. We must stop that transport at all costs.” Zeke announced.

  “Are you sure? It seems such a long shot on all this, no? What is so important about the ore container vessel?” interrupted Will.

  “No, I am not sure, I cannot be sure of anything right now without additional information but we have to go on what we know. The Fox will follow up and finish off the two destroyers, if possible. Hopefully the Lucky Strike will have done considerable damage on her way through.” responded Zeke.

  “We may be able to assist you with the ore container vessel.” mentioned Governor Rayna.

  “How so?” asked a surprised Zeke.

  “We have a lot of old ground to space missiles from when we first settled here prior to the space station being completed. The mining operation here was and still is, the lifeblood of both planets. We were counting on our space station and fighters to drive off any raiders, same setup as at Niflhel. These old missiles would be useless against a modern warship, they are just too slow, they would not be able to get past a good point defense. But against an ore container vessel, if that is what it is, they may actually be effective. These missiles are very large and pack quite a wallop. The only issue is, will they work? They should, but with everything else we have been doing… the last maintenance on them was a good while ago. But, in theory… they should work.”

  “I will take everything I can get. Based on that, Hawke, let’s leave another half dozen of our fighters with the Fox. We really do need to clear the area so we can get some rest. Gunner, coordinate with Governor Rayna and Corporal Algernon on how we can make use of their missiles.” Zeke ordered.

  No one missed Gunner standing up a little straighter with a glint in his eye along with a smile on his face. He was finally back on duty, limited, but back where he could be of some use. “Aye Aye me Matey.” he responded to Zeke.

  Isolde startled, went red in the face and wide eyed.

  Looking at Gunner in amazement, Zeke was about to say something until he saw Masson on the screen, who was giving his wife a high five. “Aye, Aye me Matey? Never in all my time with Gunner have I heard anything other than ‘Yes Sir’. It had to have been Masson putting him up to it. Damn, even Gunner is falling under their influence. If he starts wearing a pirate outfit…”

  “Captain Kennedy, how long before you reach our position? Any update on the engine damage?” asked Will.

  Raising her hand to show she heard, Meghan, looked over at one of the techs, turned and responded. “Our estimate is around thirty-four minutes. Afraid to push it any harder. And no, still checking the engine out.”

  “We will work with what we got for now. It will be necessary to reposition staff and resources. Major Richards and Master Sergeant Reaney will need to move their Marines, equipment and other staff members between our ships. And considering what you will need to do, Hawke, work with Meghan on who she wants to manage the fighters assigned to the Fox.” updated Zeke.

  Continuing, Zeke twirled to point at Khaleesi, “Major, get with Captain Kennedy once you are on the Fox and let her know your plans on getting to your designation on the planet. The Fox will have to lay down some covering fire to cover your insertion. Will, you better pack up and go with her.”

  As Will was about to make an objection, Zeke headed him off by waving his hands. “Will, Isolde and Gunner will still be on board the Lucky Strike. Between the two, they will manage until Jeanne and I return.”

  From out of nowhere, came a female voice. “I am glad to see you have not changed my role in this upcoming adventure Zeke. I have some payback due me and mine. For a moment there, I thought you were going to push me out of having some fun. I did a lot of Krog hunting back home and looking forward to doing a lot more real soon.” quipped Jeanne.

  “No, we still need to take a stab at getting the Chohish Sovereign. You need to be on the Lucky Strike when we go through. Master Sergeant Reaney, we will be expecting you and your Marines on the Lucky Strike with their equipment in short order once the Fox arrives. Please make sure you are ready.”

  “Captain Kinsley Sir, we are already packed and ready to go. In fact, all the Marines I will be bringing across are already in the shuttles or stationed in the shuttle bay waiting for transportation.” replied Sergeant Reaney.

  “Excuse me Master Sergeant, Khaleesi said you were top notch, and not many get that distinction. I should have known better.” Zeke apologized.

  “No concerns Captain, Captain de Clisson apologized too when she reminded me of the same thing a few seconds earlier.” replied Sergeant Reaney with a straight face and stony voice but the crinkle in his eyes betrayed his amusement.

  In the background you could hear the chuckles of a good many people. Zeke did not begrudge this as most ‘by the book’ officers would be. He knew that they were all going into a situation that they would be lucky to survive. Many would die, that was almost a certainty. Having a little humor now was great for their morale. He knew this would not affect their performance. Besides, it was really funny!

  “Ok people, unless we have something else to review, we need to end this call. I have some things I need to check out.” Whereupon seeing no one spoke up, Zeke had Isolde kill the call.

  It was forty-four minutes before the Fox arrived at the meeting point. The engine impacted had shut down halfway to the meeting point.

  Once there, the transfer of personnel and supplies started while Zeke, Will, Jeanne and Meghan reviewed the Fox’s status.

  “Hi Meghan, once notified of your engine failure, I had Lieutenant Commander Jax Andrews pack his gear along with some spare parts. I have him on the first shuttle headed your way. Should be there in just a minute or so. From what I understand, based on the data you supplied, Jax believes he can get your engine back online. Not fully functional, but back to where you were when it failed.” Zeke reported to Meghan.

  “Thanks Zeke, any help you can provide on this would be helpful. It does not look like we can be of much assistance to you before we get to Nocuous.” a stressed sounding Meghan replied.

  “Well, I hope I can reason with Meghan on the need to finish off the destroyers over the main entrance at Nocuous. We desperately need time to rest and make repairs. But to ask her with one impaired destroyer, even with some fighters, to go against two is an awful lot to ask. Odds will definitely be against her. Well, here we go.” mused Zeke”

  “Actually, your speed, hopefully, will not be too much of a hindrance if we do our job right when we go through their destroyers. We will just have to make sure we ‘soften’ them up enough for you so all you will need to do is clean up. With the additional fighters, you should be able to decide if you are up to the task when you arrive. They can give you cover to get away if necessary. What say you, up for a try?” proposed Zeke.

  “Well, Masson, did say you would make life interesting. That you do. And I really would like another stab at the Chohish if the opportunity is there. So, I concur, let’s give this a try.”

  “Really, that was it? I had expected convincing Meghan to be a lot harder than that!
Was that applause and laughter in the background? And unless I am mistaken, I would swear I heard Jeanne’s laughter above all there at the end. Was I being played? Boy, did the Chohish attack the wrong group of people. I have a deep feeling the Chohish will come to regret this.” reflected Zeke.

  Battle Beyond the Tunnel Exit

  It was another hour before the Lucky Strike was ready to go. The Fox’s damaged engine was operating, although not fully. Jax had identified the issue and unfortunately, it would take a Navy shipyard to get at the part that needed to be replaced. Still, though, he was able to get it working again in a limited fashion.

  With Jeanne now on the bridge, strapped in the secondary command seat, Zeke stood to address both ships.

  “Ok people, let’s get this ball on the road. The Lucky Strike will take the lead, followed by your fighters Hawke. Hawke, I will need each of your fighters to save one missile for when we reach the destroyer by the ore container vessel, which I believe it is after seeing the data supplied, so you are to conserve armament, if possible, during the first engagement. I want to make sure we are prepared for anything. But, under no circumstances, do I want to lose someone at the expense of armament. Each pilot is to make their own judgement call.” ordered Zeke.

  “Understood, Captain, will do. We are ready and will be waiting for the Lucky Strike to take the lead. Hawke out.”

  “Ok Meghan, here we go. Unless I miss my guess, once the two destroyers see us on the way, they will come out to meet us. I may surprise them when I go straight through and not stick around to fight it out with them. I am haphazardly guessing though that they will turn and follow as their top priority will be to protect the sovereign. If I am right, and if we time this right, you may then be able to take advantage of this.” communicated Zeke.