Ambush

by G J Moses

  Entering and exiting the shuttle in Marine armor was never easy, there was just never enough room. Stepping into the shuttle with his helmet in his hand, Zeke slowly made his way towards the seats next to the cockpit. The Marine armor was bulky so Zeke maneuvered slowly so as not to cause any damage.

  Karter, the last one boarding, moved to each of the Marines where he indicated they were to put their helmet on where he then checked the suit status lights on their right upper arm. Once he verified the suit was registering green and ready to go, he would tap the Marine on their helmet before making his way to the next. Watching Karter move so effortlessly, Zeke wished he could move with the same assurance.

  When Karter reached Jeanne and Zeke, he signaled for them to put on their helmets. It was not more than a few seconds afterwards that Zeke heard Karter do the tap on the side of his helmet. Once on, a tech came by to connect their air supply to the shuttle so their air tanks would be full when they left the shuttle. They were connected with magnetic snap connectors so no further assistance would be needed later when they left.

  “Captain, this is Caspian, the enemy ships have slowed down. Wait… they look to be changing course… unless I am mistaken, they are reversing course. It will be a few moments before I have confirmation…” came through the helmet speakers.

  “Caspian, keep me updated on their progress. Patch me to Isolde, Gunner and Selena.”

  “Isolde here Captain. Orders?”

  “Change course to match. Send myself, Karter, Hawke and Jeanne the updated course intersection and when we are in firing range along with the projected time for launching the shuttles.” ordered Zeke.

  “Estimated another forty seconds before confirmation of new direction. But the AI computes the probability is that they are reversing direction as each second passes. We will send you the detail you requested once the AI confirms their direction.” Caspian updated.

  “Captain Kinsley, you knew they would reverse course, didn’t you? Do you mind me asking how and why?” asked Karter through their communications link.

  “Please call me Zeke, dislike titles a majority of the time. But to answer your question. If we were successful in getting past his two destroyers, I suspected that the Sovereign would try and escape in the same direction as the other vessel came from.”

  Shrugging, Zeke sighed before continuing. “I do not believe the two destroyers’ ultimate goal was to destroy us, but to delay or damage us enough to make us reluctant to engage with him and the transport. Our move to head him off without stopping to finish off the destroyers surprised him. His last hope was that once we saw he was leaving orbit; we would head to the planet and ignore him.”

  “Since we did not, he only has a few options left. Engage us, which I doubt he wants to do, as that would leave the other ship unprotected. The only other option is to try and hide around the planet until reinforcements can arrive. The ore container vessel is too slow and cannot outrun us. Does that answer your question?”

  “Yes and no. What is so important about the ore con…” but Karter did not have time to finish his question.

  “Caspian here. Update information being relayed. Captain, the enemy ships are reversing direction. We should intersect…”

  “Caspian? Lost you there.” queried Zeke.

  “Sorry, Captain, but the course projections took me by surprise. We should intersect… damn… we should intersect just a few thousand miles from where the ships originally orbited. Damn… how…” an exasperated Caspian came across the helmets.

  “Gunner here Captain, Hawke is starting to make his run. Estimate before he arrives in firing range is twelve minutes. We will be firing in ten.”

  “Isolde, patch me in with Governor Reynolds please.” directed Zeke.

  “We have Governor Reynolds on another line. Bringing her on now.”

  “Governor Reynolds, have they kept you up to date on the enemy movements?” inquired Zeke.

  “Yes, they have. Looks like you were correct in your assumptions. Zeke, is the plan Sovereign still on target?”

  “Looks like it is. Hope this works. Tell Corporal Algernon, good luck, hope his ‘surprises’ work. Well, we have to go meet our guests. If we survive this, hopefully, we may get a chance to meet. You take care, Governor Rayna.”

  “You too Zeke. And you take care of this Captain Jeanne de Clisson. I reviewed the data you sent to us from Governor Muldane, and I would like to meet this brave young woman and her crew. We owe them a great deal.”

  “I will do my best Governor, I will try. Although it would be a lot easier if she would just stay on the Lucky Strike polishing her nails.” quipped Zeke with humor in his voice.

  “Hi Governor Rayna, this is Jeanne. It will be a pleasure to meet you sometime in the near future. As far as polishing my nails, I have already done that, I cannot wait to show my ‘claws’ to the Krogs.” stated Jeanne.

  “Krogs? Who are the Krogs? Are they allied with the Chohish?” a puzzled sounding Governor Rayna asked.

  “Ha-ha, no Governor, the Krogs is a nickname for the Chohish given by Jeanne’s people. Just go with it for now, we can explain later. Till later Governor, good hunting. Wait on our signal.”

  With that, communications went quiet. All took the next few moments to recheck their equipment, get what little rest they could, or reflect on what the next few moments will bring.

  Pinging Karter, Jeanne asked him to join her in a private communications link.

  “While we have a moment, Karter, I want to ask you about Major Khaleesi Richards. I know she did a great job at Niflhel but one battle does not make a career or a person. Khaleesi is about to lead our people in another battle and this action will be much more dangerous along with we will not be present to oversee. Are you familiar with Khaleesi and what are your thoughts on her?”

  With a heavy sigh, a contemplative sounding Karter responded. “Captain, I do not know Major Richards personally, but I have heard of her. Mostly from an action that took place several years ago. Almost every Marine in this sector has heard of this action, be they RGN or not.”

  As he leaned back against the wall of the shuttle, Karter relayed what he knew. “The RGN was putting down a small alliance of planets that was terrorizing their neighboring systems, one of whom was a member of the Galactic empire. There were half a dozen planets in this alliance. In preparation of an RGN task force arriving over the largest, most heavily populated enemy planet, Major Richards and her Marines were given a clandestine assignment.”

  “From what I heard; her orders were to lead an over strength company of five hundred Marines to surgically take out two surface-to-air missile platforms on the planet. The primary target was their planet’s main defensive platform situated next to the capital city. The nearby secondary target, though not as large, was still impressive. Intelligence had informed them that the enemy defenses at both installations were manned by a combination of Navy and Army units but something they should be able to handle. No major impediment in either area. As the RGN intelligence reportedly told her, should be a ‘cake walk’”.

  The change of tone was obvious to her when Karter spoke the last few words. “From the way you said that, sounds like Intelligence was not correct. What happened?”

  “An amazing story. Khaleesi had broken her force up into two separate forces. She would take three hundred Marines and attack the primary target while her second in command would take the other two hundred Marines and attack the secondary target. Both groups were inserted in the dead of night, undetected, successfully.” Karter went on.

  “Each of the groups were successful in their objectives, taking no casualties except for some minor injuries. Excellent planning, execution accomplished flawlessly by both groups. But the group under her second in command ran into an unexpected force when trying to get back to the extraction point. Intelligence had screwed up, big time!”

  The volume of anger in Karter’s voice surprised her. They went back many years and she could not r
emember a time when his voice showed as much emotion as she now heard. Knowing this was not the time to interrupt, Jeanne patiently waited for Karter to continue.

  “Seems, unknown to intelligence, the enemy had landed a full division of troops the month before. These troops were stationed close enough to the secondary target that they caught those Marines in a box trap as they were making their way to their extraction point. The enemy troops were not regular Army, but special forces put together from all the planets in the alliance. They were going to be the lead shock troops in making their wishes adhered to on one of the planets in the system next door.”

  The silence in Jeanne’s helmet was deafening while Karter paused for a moment to gather his thoughts.

  Shortly, she heard Karter’s voice come through her helmet again, but strangely, it sounded like he was whispering and full of sadness. “Two hundred Marines surrounded by close to fifteen thousand elite troops equipped with heavy weapons and no way to escape. And the enemy was not about to offer surrender terms.”

  Turning his head enough so Jeanne could see his face grimacing through his tinted faceplate, she now heard Karter’s voice strengthen until she watched her helmet control display indicate it was auto adjusting the volume down many decibels so Karter’s voice was kept level and easily discernable.

  “Upon hearing the situation, Khaleesi knew she only had two choices. One, abandon the other group of Marines and get her group of Marines to their backup extraction point. Two, attack the enemy from the rear and try to extract the other group of Marines. The first choice had a good chance of success and would save three hundred lives. The second choice had near zero chance of success and more than likely, all five hundred lives would be lost.”

  Again, another long pause.

  “What did she decide? I can guess which option she went for since she is here now. At least she saved three hundred men and women, right?” asked Jeanne.

  With a strong, proud, commanding voice, Karter continued. “Khaleesi attacked from the rear. The battle was ferocious. It went on for many hours. I have seen the recovered videos from the Marines helmets that were in that battle, many times. In fact, I use many of these feeds to show our own marines what to expect in battle, how to fight, and finally, how to die! The RGN Marines were outnumbered and outgunned but they put up a fight that will be talked about by all Marines with pride for centuries.”

  “When the RGN task force finally arrived to pick up the Marines, unaware of what fully happened, there were seven RGN Marine survivors left on the battlefield. Four hundred and ninety-three Marines had perished that day. One Marine, Khaleesi, had collapsed due to her injuries, barely alive, surrounded by six injured but still standing Marines. Bodies and burnt corpses were everywhere.”

  Again, a pause before her helmet speakers relayed Karter’s now calm voice. “The enemy forces had been devastated. Less than two thousand had finally withdrawn, almost all of these were injured in some way. But the RGN brass was not pleased and ordered a court martial for Khaleesi for incompetence. They believed Khaleesi should have abandoned the two hundred Marines and not risked, and consequently lost, the other three hundred Marines.”

  Hearing another pause, Jeanne asked softly. “What was the outcome?”

  “After Khaleesi recovered from her injuries, she was brought up in front of a court martial to explain her actions for ‘Why she did not order a withdrawal?’ Khaleesi said only four words in her defense. ‘I am a Marine.’ That was it, four words, no more. It did not take long for them to reach a decision.”

  “That was it? No other defense? Nothing like she thought she could get some out? What was their decision?”

  “They stripped her of her rank down to private first class. Only due to her prior unblemished service record, was she allowed to stay in the service. Khaleesi is too good a marine not to keep. For your information, the alliance that was causing all the trouble, sued for peace unconditionally immediately after the loss of their elite force. Seems they did not want to meet up with any more RGN Marines.”

  Now confused, Jeanne asked “Then how does she hold a rank of… does not make sense… do you know?”

  “Well, it seems there was a newly promoted captain looking for a crew for his brand-new ship. This particular captain invited her onto his bridge where, without ceremony, promoted her back to the rank of Major. When asked why, this captain notified her that he felt an injustice had been done and he had a unique opportunity to rectify it.”

  At first, she thought she heard some low chuckling, but then realized it must be static in their communications link as Karter never laughs when armored up. “Seems there is a unique regulation on the RGN rule books that allows a captain to give promotions without a superior’s approval, besides temporary battlefield promotions, when filling positions on a brand-new ship. Only time that can be done.”

  “Anyway, it is reported by others that were on the ship’s bridge at the moment, Khaleesi asked this captain, ‘what if I do not want to join your crew?’ whereupon she was informed that she could leave after staying on board one day. That was so she could be reported as having served on the ship, thereby able to retain her new rank. After which, the captain would wish her the very best and assist her with getting on whatever ship she desired. But he hoped she would think hard about it before deciding, as he really needed someone of her caliber.”

  “’What if I cannot recruit any Marines due to my record?’ Khaleesi then asked the captain who laughed and said he would take his chances.”

  “Okay Karter, I have an idea what she decided but where does that take us? Is she good enough for our people?”

  “Captain, you have to be a Marine to fully understand. ‘A true Marine, never, ever, under any circumstance, abandons another Marine for personal safety only.’”

  He moved his head so he was looking up at the ceiling while leaning his helmet back against the bulwark. “Khaleesi knew what would happen when she made her decision to attack. For her career, to her company. I doubt she expected any of them to survive, the forces against them were just too overwhelming. But she would not abandon her fellow Marines and made what I am sure she thought would be her last command. Khaleesi upheld the Marine tradition to the utmost. Khaleesi is known to all Marines, be they RGN or not, as the ‘Marine’s Marine’.”

  “To sum it all up Captain, Major Richards decided to accept the position with that brand-new captain and ship, namely the Lucky Strike. And as for Marine recruitment, it ended up not being an issue. The number of Marine applicants wanting to serve under her was unheard of, to say the least. Khaleesi was able to fill her entire Marine company with the very best Marines available. And yes, she is qualified to lead our people, most definitely.”

  Enthralled by Karter’s rendition, Jeanne gasped when she heard who had recruited Khaleesi. “Lucky Strike? Then Zeke must have been the new captain. You did not explain what happened to the other six surviving Marine’s. Whatever happened to… oh my god, her officers?” and upon seeing Karter nodding affirmatively, finished with “Oh, as I live and breathe, what other twists and turns can life throw at us?”

  Operation Sovereign

  Even within the shuttle, they could feel the vibrations caused by missiles being fired. Sitting uncomfortably in her armor, she thought over what she had just heard from Master Sergeant Karter. The relationship between Jeanne and Karter went back to her early teens, and if he was satisfied with Major Khaleesi leading their people, then she was good with it too.

  Just as Jeanne was about to ask when they would be leaving, she could feel the engines powering up. In just a few seconds, the shuttle started rising off the bay floor and making its way out the doors to the space beyond.

  Silence descended into the shuttle as it exited the bay. All watched the overhead screen as it started to display the blackness of space and the faint light of the stars shining in the distance. This was something Jeanne loved her whole life, the beauty and majesty of space. One of Jeanne’s fondest
memories was when her father, for her twelfth birthday, took her out in a fighter with her sitting in his lap. Many regulations were broken that day, but as her father said, sometimes they were justified.

  It was a memory that Jeanne hung onto as it was the last time that she saw her father alive. Her father was killed the very next day trying to rescue a family trapped by an earthquake. Even though Tortuga had come a long way in being terraformed, earthquakes were unfortunately still common.

  The display on the monitor changed to show the tracking of the missile icons from the Lucky Strike as they made their approach to the enemy destroyer, closely followed by the fighters.

  It was only a few minutes later that Jeanne felt their engines ramp up to maximum. Finally, they were on the move. The screen showed the two enemy ships trying to regain the false security of the curvature of the planet.

  Watching the screen, Jeanne saw the icons of the first volley of missiles arrive. The destroyers point defense and electronic countermeasures make short work of the six missiles. The second set arrived shortly after but Gunner had learned a bit of their countermeasures and one got close enough to deploy its payload.

  When the light dissipated, it was obvious that one of its engines had taken damage. They all watched anxiously as the third missile volley was closing in with the fighters just a short distance behind. All six missiles went into their evasive patterns. It took many seconds before the defensive fire finally took out all of the missiles.

  But the missiles had accomplished their main mission. Gunner had kept the missile volley just in front of the fighters and the Chohish responded just as Gunner had hoped. The enemy ships AI and personnel had concentrated their defensive fire on the danger closest to their ship and ignored the fighters until too late.

  Just prior to the last missile being destroyed, the fighters fired all their missiles at the same time. Several of the missiles were taken out by the AI defense, but not enough. The missiles, though not near as large nor as powerful as the ones from the Lucky Strike, were still designed to push through ship force fields and armor if they got close enough. They did as they were engineered to do. The port side, already impacted, erupted in flame. The engine was left a smoking wreck.