by Matt Novotny
It was a credit to the designers of the station that while many were destroyed and the underlying armor warped and buckled under the onslaught, it maintained structural integrity. The damage done to Hope’s End accounted for only a small, but important, percentage of her total defense.
Second, the initial wave of missiles detonated behind the wave of shattered rock created by the REX’s railguns. Directed nuclear explosions created an expanding shockwave aimed at the station. The EMP and radiation from the blasts slammed into the station’s shields only slightly ahead of the masses of rock carried on the shockwaves.
Hope had been designed to withstand the hazards of the belt, to shrug off the impacts that were frequent in her environment. To not only survive but thrive in the occasional storm.
The REX hit Hope’s End with an avalanche.
As the barrage of rocks entered within range of the station’s point defense lasers, Hope’s End responded with a storm of her own, filling the space near the station as her secondaries and PDLs, point defense lasers, blasted the onrushing stone into dust. A percentage of the debris was destroyed, and more was deflected by the armor, but the barrage still struck the station hub and habitat rings broadside, some passing through the wheels to continue unimpeded into the space beyond.
In ship-to-ship or, in this case, ship-to-station combat, the universe almost always favors quality over quantity; the side with the best ship wins. Lorm watched as the wave struck the station, swamping the defenses and scouring whole sections clean. The station shuddered under the impacts and began to wobble, thruster plumes firing frantically around the rings to stabilize the station.
In this case, quantity has a quality all its own, she thought. Mass matters.
“All ahead full!” ordered Lorm. “Tactical, missile status?”
“Second wave detonation in ten seconds.”
“Re-target primaries on the bay doors, fire all tubes. Fire secondaries when in range.”
The REX rapidly closed the range to the station, the sound of the REX’s laser secondaries joining the thunder of her railguns and the whine of the point defense lasers. The railguns slammed round after round into the tough station bay doors. Lorm watched the countdown for the missiles reach zero and saw another wave of fire strike the shields of the station, flashing sun-bright as the energy bled off.
As well as the REX had done, though, Hope’s End was simply too big and powerful. But, from the beginning, the goal had been to get the REX into the one position where the station’s massive weapons couldn’t destroy them: inside the station.
The second round of missile detonations should have swamped the station’s defenses with another follow-on wave of debris. The REX had shattered every sizable asteroid between the ship and the station with rail gun fire.
It wasn’t enough.
The remaining debris shattered against the station’s armor or was picked off by the defenses, giving the REX little cover beyond what the missile detonations provided. Of twelve high-energy missiles fired at the bay doors, only two made it through what was left of Hope’s End’s PDLs. What should have been a devastating barrage strong enough to breach the heavy doors only started the job of breaking through the tough armor.
The REX shook like it had been slapped by the hand of God as it finally came under the withering fire from the station’s remaining batteries. Alarms screamed as it lurched again. Explosions detonated throughout the ship, along with a creaking, tearing sound. The damage control board lit up like a pinball machine on double-ball night.
“Damage report!” Lorm snapped.
Lattimore slapped off the alarm klaxon. “Shields down! Hull integrity at eighty percent. Forward missile launchers bay destroyed. Rail gun one destroyed. Rail gun two disabled. Rail gun three still firing. Half the secondaries are gone. Power output is sixty percent.”
“Divert all fire to the bay doors!” Lorm demanded.
Lattimore tapped his tactical display. “Analysis shows not enough power to breach the station.”
“Keep firing!”
“Aye, aye, Captain. Firing!”
Lorm hit her comm button for engineering.
“Achatina,” the Bakulu answered, and she could hear various alarm chimes going off in the background.
“Chief, what are the chances of getting rail gun two back online?”
“Power main is down in that section; we are running a bypass. Ten minutes.”
Not fast enough, thought Lorm. “Can you get me more power?”
“Yes, if we stop working on the bypass and concentrate on the reactor.”
“Get me more power, Chief.”
“On it,” Achatina replied and cut the channel.
The weapons fire from the station stopped. The sudden quiet was deafening.
“We’re being hailed by the station, Captain,” said Bev.
Lorm nodded and gestured with her tail. Bev had taken over the comm station to coordinate the CASPer assault once the station was breached. “Put it through. Audio only. Fill our outbound channel with static.”
“Rains,” Kr’et’Socae’s voice said over the open comms. “Are you still with us, Rains? It was a good effort. Surrender your ship. Give me the files and you can still have your family. I will even let you live.” There was a pause. “Can you hear me, Rains? Stop firing and divert, or do you mean to ram the station? You will only die.”
Lorm watched the power levels rise on her status board. Seventy-two…eighty-six percent.
Stars bless you, Chief! Lorm thought. She ran a calculation on her slate, then updated the REX’s tactical plan. There were grim smiles and nods all around.
“Helm, all stop, braking thrusters only. Slow the approach and standby to maneuver.”
“All stop, aye. Braking thrusters firing. Maneuvering on your command.”
“Cease fire. All guns aft. Maintain point defense,” said Lorm.
“Cease fire, aye. All guns aft, aye,” replied Lattimore.
“Ms. DiMara. Get me Colonel Nolan,” said Lorm.
“Aye, Captain.”
“Nolan here. What can we do for you, Captain?”
“We’re going in, Colonel. Commander Sebastian’s surface team should deploy immediately after maneuvering is complete. Your own deployment will be through the aft bays. You should have the updated tactical now.”
There was a pause as Nolan absorbed the data. “We’ll handle it, Captain. If this works, the drinks are on me.”
“That’s a date, Colonel. Two minutes. Brace yourselves, it’s going to get rough. Lorm out.”
She switched her comms. “Chief Achatina, in a few minutes I’m going to need all the power you can give me. Are you monitoring?”
“Of course, Captain.”
“I’ll want to make a nice REX-sized hole. What do you think our odds are?”
“I’d give it sixty-forty,” said Achatina.
“That good? I must be slipping.”
“Did I say that wrong? I meant forty-sixty,” Achatina said.
“See you on the other side,” said Lorm.
“And you, Captain.”
The REX had cut thrust but was still approaching the station rapidly. The breaking thrusters slowed the ship, but to miss the station the REX needed to maneuver to go through or around. The original plan had counted on them doing enough damage to the station defenses to decelerate while the CASPer teams captured the docking bay.
“Very good, Rains. I’ll send a shuttle for you,” she heard Kr’et’Socae say.
The REX still had one good rail gun, the aft missile launchers, four of the six heavy laser secondaries, and the point defense guns, which alone would probably not be enough, but the REX had one more weapon.
Lorm grinned. “Time to ruin Kr’et’Socae’s day. All hands, secure for high-G maneuvers.”
The bridge crew tightened their restraints.
Bev’s voice rang out through the ship over the high-G alarm. “All hands, secure for high-G maneuvers! Repeat, all h
ands secure for high-G maneuvers!”
“All right, Daniel, as soon as we are on target, target the rear tubes and fire at will. Don’t wait for the command.”
Lattimore swallowed. “Aye, Captain!”
“Helm, pitch one-eighty. Line us up on those doors!”
“Pitch one-eighty, aye! Maneuvering.”
Kr’et’Socae shouted over the comm. “Rains! What the hell do you think you’re doing!”
Lorm couldn’t resist; she hit her comm, “Wrong again, asshole!”
“Lorm!” Kr’et’Socae roared.
Captain Lorm gave Bev the “kill it” signal.
“Launch CASPers!” Lorm ordered.
“Olympian Three. Deploy, deploy, deploy!”
Through the sounds of the REX’s weapons fire, they could hear the whump! of CASPers launching. Once in space, the pods oriented on the station, thrust toward the designated surface targets, then broke apart to allow the CASPers to fire. The landing zone for Commander Sebastian’s troops would be the edges of the zone cleared by the REX’s point defense.
“Lined up,” said the helmsman.
“Target locked. Firing,” said Lattimore.
“Pour it on!” shouted Lorm.
The REX’s remaining weapons didn’t have the power to breach the massive, armored doors, but they broke them down. Bit by bit cracks appeared, the plates began to warp and split.
“Helm, all ahead, emergency full.” Lorm keyed her comm. “Now, Chief! Bev, sound collision.” The collision alarm echoed through the REX.
The REX’s engines roared. Brutal pressure pushed them into their couches as the REX’s fusion torch reached across space to the doors still being hammered by the ship’s lasers and railguns, shredding what was left of the armor to molecules in a holocaust of fire.
“We have breach!” Daniel Lattimore shouted.
The ship’s weapons stopped firing as the escaping atmosphere from the station hit the REX with a whump! and the fusion torch cut out. Daniel screamed as the lurch broke his harness. A few seconds later there was a huge jolt as the armor belt for the laser secondaries crashed through the molten edges of the hole the REX had created and crunched into place, flinging Lattimore across the bridge where he landed in a messy heap against the far bulkhead. The REX was wedged tight, the cork in a very large bottle.
Bev grasped the console, looking at Captain Lorm. She could barely breathe, but she nodded and gestured with her tail. Blackness closed on the edges of the Cochkala’s vision. She heard Bev’s voice. “Olympian One and Two. Deploy, deploy, deploy!”
As she drifted off, someone—Remington, she thought—let out a yell. She heard Colonel Nolan shouting over the comms. “Junkyard to Olympians! Do you want to live forever? We’re on! Go! Go! Go!”
* * *
Survey Ship Ptolemy
Hope System
Rains held on to the exterior of the Ptolemy and waited for all hell to break loose. Silent and dark, the assault pod containing the Cajuns and Rikki, Tikki, and Tavvi were also watching the mission clock. He fought not to fidget, squirming a bit as sweat trickled down his back inside the gator-skin suit.
So much for temperature control, he thought. Number one hundred and seven of things I need to follow up on if we survive this.
Hours ago, the Ptolemy had made a slow, careful journey around the debris field to their current position. Like the REX, they had snuggled up behind some debris, but they were resting much nearer to the station. Cargill had chosen an ancient freighter for their hiding place. While the REX was “down” in order to engage the primary hangar bay doors and the habitat ring defenses, their hiding place was “up” and off to one side, with a three-quarter view of the station edge-on.
The mission clock clicked over. That meant the REX would be starting her run. Sporadic flashes lit space in seemingly random directions.
That would be the decoys. At least the wait is over, Rains thought.
“Quit complaining,” said Vannix. “You’re just mad Lorm’s going in first.”
“I’m not. The station’s a monster. I’m just hoping this plan doesn’t get us all killed,” Rains muttered.
“Too much to risk for a little girl, an old woman, and a treacherous Equiri?” asked Vannix.
I love you, Uncle Jackson.
“No. And no one else feels that way, or they wouldn’t be here.”
Their target was a station spoke where the plans they had said the station had cargo elevators as well as warehouses and maintenance tunnels. They were far enough out of the way that they shouldn’t be hit by the REX’s fire. Rains’ job was to fly over with a squad of Cajuns and plant charges to destroy any weapons emplacements that could target the landing pod’s landing zone.
Space beyond the station erupted with a series of too-bright flashes. Moments later, the space below the station lit up like the galaxy’s biggest fireworks show as a hail of rock crashed over the station in a wave. The station shuddered and wobbled.
Bruno’s sensors showed nothing coming toward them, and if they wanted to be in position before the follow up…
“Go!” said Rains, and the five machines set off across the field. Bruno danced through the field almost without effort, but the Cajuns had difficulty maintaining position. The Mk 8 suits weren’t optimized for space; Bruno was. An alert sounded. One of the station’s gyrations had sent small rocks spinning in their direction; they were big enough to disable a CASPer, and they were headed right for the team. Rains accelerated ahead, trying to get under the most dangerous projectile. Thrusters firing, he was able to nudge it just enough to redirect its path.
This is taking too long, Rains thought. We really want to be in the station’s shadow when round two hits.
“Goddamn it! Help,” Landry said over the comm. Rains’ helmet projected a virtual display for him. Landry was falling ass over teakettle toward the station, his thrusters firing wildly.
“Everyone, get to the LZ, now. I’ll get Gabe!” If he hits the station, he’s a target, but if he misses…Rains ran the projection. Landry was headed for open space. Rains fired his thrusters.
“Gabe, stop firing your thrusters so you stay on a predictable path.”
“Roger that. Hurry, Jackson!”
Laser fire flashed by as a point defense turret on the station began firing. The squad was sitting ducks. If he went after the turret, he’d lose Landry, and if he went after Landry, he’d lose the others. He watched Landry drift off into the darkness.
Rains chose. He altered his course toward the turret, opening up with both MACs.
“Where’s Lucille when I need her?” he cursed.
<
“What! Lucille—How?”
Rains hit the station and started to bounce before the magnets and thrusters kicked in to keep him in place. A few quick steps brought him to the turret. It turned toward him, and he fired his MAC straight down the barrel, destroying it. The spin of the station caught him, and it felt as if he was fighting a steady one-G wind. He spun toward Landry, ready to launch.
“Lucille, can you stabilize Landry?”
<
Landry’s thrusters fired in rapid sequence, spinning his Mk 8 into an upright posture and hurling him toward the rest of the squad. “Whoa…” he said groggily as BC and Hebert caught him.
“Everybody, brace!” Rains said, moving to join them. “Here it comes!” The squad knelt in the sheltered area next to the spoke. They felt a deep rumble as the inner habitat ring rotated, and sharper vibrations as the REX’s weapons fired through the armor of the station. There was another series of flashes, and seconds later the station shuddered as it was struck by a second wave of rock.
“Let’s hit those weapons!” Rains ordered. For once they had caught a break. Of the five emplacements they had targeted, two were already destroyed, and a third was the one Rains had taken out. Attacking from the station’s surface, the other two were unable to fire on them. “Keep an eye on your scr
eens for drones; if they have surface defenses other than the turrets, we’ll probably be seeing it soon.” Moments later, both emplacements were smoking ruins. Rains keyed his comm. “Peacemaker Six to Cajun Six. You are cleared in hot,” Rains said.
“Roger, Peacemaker Six. Inbound now,” Amos replied.
Rains kept a wary eye on his scanners as the pod rushed across the distance from the Ptolemy’s hiding spot.
“How are you here, Lucille?” Rains asked.
<>
Rains shook his head. “I wish you had let me know sooner, there were times we definitely could have used your help.”
<
“We can talk about that later, Lucille. Going forward, if you are present, please let me know as long as you can do so without revealing your presence generally.”
<
“Are there any other versions of you present?” Rains asked.
<
Jackson’s heart skipped a beat. “Can you communicate with ‘Bastian?” Rains asked eagerly. “I mean, other than the carrier wave?”
<
The assault pod came into the LZ with a crunch.
