Star Crusades Nexus: Book 09 - The Black Rift (27 page)

“Yes!”
Lieutenant Takeda shouted.

Captain Garcia said nothing; he was more interested in holding onto the cockpit brace brackets as the craft spun about. The magclamps easily held him into position, but with all the buffeting and shaking, he felt much more comfortable using his hands to maintain some semblance of being in control.

“You know this thing was designed as a heavy landing craft, don’t you?”

Two kinetic rounds punctured through the port side of the hull and clattered about inside the empty cargo area behind them. The breach alarms blared, but neither seemed particularly concerned. Takeda laughed, and she twisted about once more.

“Yeah, well maybe they shouldn’t have fitted her out with thick armor, formidable weapons, and the most powerful engines this side of a frigate! At least we’re not hauling passengers today.”

It was true; being as they were operating as heavy torpedo bombers, there was no need to carry marines. If they had, then many of them would have just been killed, due to the breach in the hull.

span style="font-family:"DIHGEK+TimesNewRoman","serif"; font-weight:normal">“Get us in closer to the Ravager; I’ll bring the others in a column behind us. Be ready to slide.”

She nodded and altered the configuration of thrusters to bring them incredibly close to the flank of the nearby Ravager. This ship was massive, easily the size of a full Alliance ship of the line and bristling with weapons. They moved fast and close, doing their best to avoid as much of the enemy gunfire as possible. Two more Maulers fell in behind, and soon all of them were moving in a loose column down its length. A handful of Biomech fighters turned to attack, but every shot that missed simply crashed into their own ship. A number of rounds did manage to penetrate the armor of two, but the rest kept on. At the same time, the Maulers were able to combine their turret fire to create a wall of metal that destroyed seven more of the enemy.

“You ready? Captain Garcia asked.

Lieutenant Takeda nodded.

“Good.”

He pressed the button to communicate with the Mauler squadrons.

“On my mark, slide strafe at my target.”

Captain Garcia had already selected the key known weak spots of the Ravager into the computer. The targets appeared on the main display in front of them all.

“Mark!”

The Maulers continued on their present course but spun about so that they faced the flank of the ship. Each opened fire and continued slowly rotating so that they could continue to blast apart the storage tanks, gun systems, and personnel. At the same time, the Maulers maintained their existing course, so they looked like a long line of ice skaters spinning about their axis. They would be unable to destroy the ship, let alone even cripple it. By the time the squadrons cleared the capital ship, they’d left a trail of destruction and scores of turrets destroyed. The data was automatically passed on to the command ships that then sent the modified data to the targeting systems and commanders of the other ships.

“Where to now, Sir?” Lieutenant Takeda asked.

Captain Garcia had already selected the next waypoint. It flashed up bright and clear in the primary display in front of them.

“Are you sure, Sir?”

He nodded slowly.

“Oh, yes, it is time.”

The formation of battered, but still operational Maulers pulled away from the damaged warship and made for the opposite side of the Micayan Shipyards. Every few seconds, a missile would streak toward them, but the defenses on the Maulers, as well as the nearby Liberty destroyers, made missiles all but useless. The navicomputer selected the best possible route through the hundreds of kilometers of shattered gantries, wrecked ships, and broken cargo units. Waypoint after waypoint appeared until there was a total of fifty-two of them.

“That’s an interesting course, Sir.”

The Captain nodded.

Green rectangles moved about in the display to show the projected route. Even Lieutenant Takeda was surprised at its complexity. She didn’t complain, and in less than thirty seconds they were moving through the first of the markers. The vessel continued its bizarre corkscrew maneuver, and then they were back in the middle of the maelstrom. The entire section of the vast shipyard’s complex was burning. Large structures were wreathed in flames that burned the compartments from within. It was the scores of ruined civilian and military vessels on this part of the facility that caught both officers’ attention. Captain Garcia sighed.

“Incredible, and to think that all of those burning ships were already mothballed or partially scrapped.”

More of the Maulers joined them through the wreckage and on toward where the fleet was waiting hidden and dormant nearby. Every single one of the ships had powered down and hidden deep within columns of ruined vessels. It was the cool, dark part of the massive facility, and so far it had been completely avoided by the ships of both sides. A light flashed on the console indicating a flash communication from High Command.

“This is Admiral Anderson. Commence Phoenix in T-minus ten minutes. I repeat, T-minus ten minutes.”

The two looked at each other at exactly the same time.

“How did you know?” Lieutenant Takeda asked.

Captain Garcia tilted his head a fraction and looked over to her.

“Look at the battle. The tide is turning in favor of the machines. They are heavily engaged, and our reinforcements with Anderson are already moving through the outer defenses. We look weak and desperate, and they know it.”

Takeda wiped her brow and then pulled on the controls to perform a complex series of twists with the control thrusters. The g-forces as they slowed and then moved about were incredible and pushed both of them firmly into their seats. Then came a violent shudder as the main engines activated and blasted them off toward the next waypoints. Captain Garcia spotted the targets just as they moved out from cover.

“Three fighters at point five.”

He moved his hands over the controls while tagging each of them via his retina. He selected them, and right away the vessel’s turrets tracked and fired on them. Even when the fighters moved away from one, they would simply be hit again from another turret.

“All I know, Sir, is that they are inside the shipyards, and the Ark is leading its main force on a wide orbit that will take them right to the planet. All that stands in front of them is the last Helion line. Seven ships won’t hold back an Ark. Are you sure we should be heading away from the fight?”

He smiled back at her.

“Trust me. They are going to want us there. The Biomechs want us kept busy, and right now they have a chance to strike a killing blow. What better way is there to keep us busy than by wiping out our fleet?”

* * *

ANS Conqueror, Micaya Shipyards, Helios Sector

Admiral Lewis lifted the glass of water to his mouth and took a sip. His hand shook slightly, and a drip of water fell from the side before he could catch it. He lowered the tumbler and placed it on the counter next to his seat and again found himself shaking. He’d refused to wear the newly issued PDS protective suits and instead wore his Naval dress uniform. That wasn’t enough to keep him warm, so he’d pulled on an old and battered great coat. The effect was to make him look like a staff intelligence officer.

We can’t stay shut down like this forever. What if the powerplants take too long to come back online?

He’d been watching and waiting for what felt like an age. Since he’d taken refuge on this remote spoke of the massive shipyards, he’d been forced to watch the destruction of dozens of ships. Now the Maulers and fighters of the Alliance were busy attacking the Biomech ships as both sides ran amok through the wreckage. There were so many burning ships it was hard to even find a vessel that hadn’t already been smashed to pieces by guns and missiles.

“How long till Anderson and his ships get here? It’s looking like a scene from Dante’s Inferno out there.”

Lieutenant Vitelli, the ship’s tactical officer pointed to the IFF signatures on the tactical display. Each of the Alliance ships carried the important transponder to ensure there would be no cases of mistaken identity.

“At their current speed, they will pass through the outer docking clamps in three minutes.”

The officer looked up at the mainscreen and altered the focus of one of the external long-range cameras to point directly at ANS Warlord.

“They are already under heavy fire. The Biomechs know Anderson is here.”

The display confirmed what he was saying as they watched the vast fleet. At the heart of the force was the infamous ANS Warlord. Around this ship moved scores of other capital ships, and every single one of them was firing as they advanced through the shipyards. The older Crusader warships put down a hail of railgun fire in a constant barrage. Fiery streaks flickered out from them as point defense turrets operated as interceptors. Only the particle beam projectors appeared impotent as they released their invisible blasts of energy at the Biomech ships. As this great fleet surged into the fight, it was joined by squadron after squadron of Avenger, Lightning, and Hammerhead fighters.

“That is a lot of ships,” said Captain Marcus.

Admiral Lewis shuddered from the cold and turned his attention back to the display. Moisture was already forming on the glass-like surfaces, and every few minutes a crewman would wipe off the excess with a cloth. Captain Marcus joined him and looked at the formations of ships.

“Apart from those in hiding, we’re now fully committed. This is going to be very close.”

Admiral Lewis nodded, but before he could speak, Lieutenant Vitelli spun around in his seat, his face transformed to something close to elation. He coughed as he spoke, cleared his throat, and then repeated himself.

“The Ark, it has changed course.”

Admiral Lewis couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“To where?”

All three of them looked to the tactical display where the great battle was taking place. Long lines with subtle curves showed the projected course for the Ark and its escort; every second it altered and moved a fraction closer to the shipyards before finally settling just off to the side. The number indicated the huge vessel would be just over a hundred kilometers from the outer limit of the orbital facility. In orbital distances that was point-blank range.

“So, what are they doing, then?” Captain Marcus asked.

Admiral Lewis nodded as if he’d just worked it out. He put his hands over the display and concentrated on the route the Ark was taking.

“The Ark has changed course so that they can pass within gun-range of the shipyards. They can’t risk a direct route, and there’s no chance of major course changes, not now.”

He then moved his hands to the lines of mothballed ships.

“They surely intend on hitting anything that is left as they move by and then on to the planet.”

He straightened up and looked to his executive officer.

“You know what this means?”

Captain Marcus looked at their dispositions and back to the Ark.

“They will be close enough to tear out the guts of our fleet, for starters. You remember the firepower of the Ark over Helios Prime. We hit it time after time, and not once did we come close to destroying it.”

“True, but this time we have twice the numbers and a few extra surprises.”

Admiral Lewis pointed to their position inside the far off section of the shipyard. Icons showed the Alliance ships even though none were transmitting.

“Over half of our ships, plus the entire Byotai contingent is waiting for the right moment. We will stay offline until the Ark is at this point.”