Ep.#15 - "That Which Other Men Cannot Do" (The Frontiers Saga) (17 page)

Ten more flashes of blue-white light could be seen in the distance around the airbase. From where the flashes had been, now small, armed shuttles dropped from the sky, riding quickly down to the surface on fiery tails of thrust from their four upturned engines. They came to hover only a meter or two above the fields that surrounded the training base, pausing just long enough for four men dressed in black combat armor to jump from the shuttles’ open doors to the ground below.

Once their passengers had landed, the shuttles began to climb into the brightening sky, each of them disappearing seconds later behind more flashes of blue-white light.

“Eight total inbound,” Mister Navashee reported. “More contacts downrange! From at least seven more launch sites!”

“The inbounds are damned fast,” Jessica said. “I’m going to have to engage them before they even clear the stratosphere.”

“I’m starting to understand why the Jung didn’t feel the need to send more ships to protect this world any time soon,” Nathan commented. “Mister Riley, keep a ten-click escape jump ready, just in case we need to skip ahead a step to avoid the inbounds.”

“Aye, sir.”

“How long until the CNS-sat network is online?” Nathan asked.

“Three minutes.”

“Comms, dispatch a jump comm-drone to make sure the Celestia is on the lookout for those missile launchers,” Nathan ordered.

“We now have twenty-seven total inbound missiles!” Ensign Kono warned from the Celestia’s sensor station. “Nearest ones will reach us in thirty-seven seconds!”

“I’m already targeting them down in the mesosphere,” Luis said. “Recommend having a short escape jump queued and ready.”

“Mister Sperry?” Cameron said.

“Already on standby, Captain,” the navigator replied.

“Comms, warn the Aurora…”

“Jump flash,” Ensign Kono reported. “Comm-drone.”

“Inbound message from the Aurora,” Ensign Souza announced. “They’re warning us, sir!”

“More jump flashes,” Ensign Kono reported. “It’s the combat jumpers.”

“All ten are inbound to reload,” Luis reported.

“Picking up bandits near the surface,” Ensign Kono reported. “Two hundred kilometers east of the airbase.”

“What? There’s no facility there, is there?”

“Unknown,” Ensign Kono replied.

“Flight is vectoring Falcons Four, Five, and Six toward the bandits.”

“What about those missile launchers?” Ensign Kono wondered.

“Helm, take us higher,” Cameron ordered. “Make our altitude ten thousand. That’ll buy us more time to intercept the incoming missiles.” Cameron tapped her comm-panel. “Flight, Captain. We’re increasing orbital altitude. Warn all shuttles that we’re climbing to ten thousand kilometers.”

“
Aye, sir.
”

“That’s going to decrease our accuracy on the ground targets,” Luis warned.

“All of those launchers are embedded in civilian areas,” Ensign Kono warned.

“As soon as our Falcons deal with those fighters that somehow managed to get off the ground unscathed, we’ll send them after those missile launchers. They’re too fast for the missile launchers to track, and the Super Falcons can take the launchers out with minimal collateral damage,” Cameron reasoned. “Meanwhile, pay close attention to our new point-defense systems, Lieutenant. I believe they’re about to be put to the test.”

Alarm sirens sounded in the distance as dust and smoke swirled about. Men in black body armor jumped out of armed shuttles that appeared and disappeared behind brilliant flashes of light. Upon landing, the black-clad soldiers ran toward the cloud of dust and smoke with amazing speed and grace, both their handheld and shoulder-mounted weapons firing at Jung soldiers as they ran out of the cloud in an effort to escape the destruction. Red-orange bolts of plasma energy struck the disoriented Jung soldiers as they fled the chaos, dropping them in their tracks. Few, if any, returned fire at first. Within the first minute of the assault, those who managed to escape the onslaught looked frantically for anything to provide cover. They ducked behind mounds of dirt, chunks of building debris that had landed in the surrounding fields after the initial bombardment had torn the buildings apart, and vehicles that had been tossed clear by the shock wave, strewn across the ground in unnatural locations and orientations.

It was a scene unlike any other. Clouds of dust and smoke flashed with the red-orange reflections of energy weapons fire exchanged by both sides. Flashes of blue-white light joined as the armed shuttles returned, dropping another wave of black-clad soldiers behind the first wave. Then more flashes, only two of them, but bigger and louder than the others. From behind the flashes, two large shuttles appeared, riding even bigger tails of fire down to the surface. They touched down in the fields, well behind the soldiers in black, their wide aft ramps quickly dropping open.

Hordes of soldiers, dressed differently but wearing the same helmets as those in black who came before them, came charging down the ramps. Fifty or so from each ship. They charged forth to join the black-clad soldiers in the slaughter, splitting up and spreading out to join up with their leaders.

With the addition of more men, the firefight intensified. Ten times more fire blasted into the cloud of dust and smoke than came from it. Men fell on both sides, although the number of fallen defenders far outnumbered those of their attackers.

“This ship does
not
handle as well in the atmosphere as it used to,” Josh muttered angrily as he pushed the Super Falcon into a spiraling left turn. The Jung fighter in front of him broke his turn, rolling back to the right and diving. Josh continued his roll to the left, then stopped it in an inverted position and pulled his flight control stick back hard as he chopped his throttles. The Super Falcon pulled through a dive and then leveled, and Josh rolled the ship slightly to the right as he pushed his throttles all the way forward again. “Crazy eights!” he shouted.

Loki tapped his control pad, then activated the nose turret. “Crazy eights it is!” Red-orange, needle-like bolts of plasma energy spit forth from beneath their nose, fanning out in eight different directions as if shooting at eight different targets, all within a few degrees of each other. The jinking Jung fighter in front of them, try though he might, could not avoid the spread of plasma energy, and took several hits before finally coming apart in a fiery explosion.

“Splash two!” Josh shouted with glee.

“Two, One,” Loki called over the comms, “Break right and dive! You’ve got three on you… Two to port and one directly astern!”

Falcon Two did not respond. Loki watched his display, noting that the other Falcon was doing exactly as instructed. Its icon suddenly vanished, then reappeared five kilometers further down range along its pre-jump course and still climbing.

“They’re changing course to reacquire you,” Loki warned over the comms. “Hold your climb and let them chase you. We’ll broadside them!”

“
Make it quick!
” the copilot from Falcon Two said. “
They’ll have range in ten seconds!
”

“Josh, right thirty and fifteen up,” Loki instructed.

Josh did as Loki suggested, turning and pitching up.

“Two, One. Do an escape jump as soon as you see us jump in. Otherwise, your ass is going to get toasted.”

“Two-click jump,” Loki added, “in three…”

Josh quickly spun the select dial on his flight control stick and chose a jump range of two kilometers.

“
Two copies!
”

“Be ready on the mark twos…” Loki warned. “One…”

“Always.” Josh pushed the selector switch to the jump position and held it there.

“Jump!” Loki ordered.

The canopy turned opaque for a split second.

“Fire!” Loki ordered as they came out of the jump.

Josh let go of the selector switch, allowing it to automatically come back to the ‘Mark 2’ position, then pressed and held the trigger. Triple-shots of red-orange balls of plasma, a group from each side, shot out from just behind and slightly below their cockpit, joined by another blast of the eight-point firing pattern from their nose turret. At the same time, there was a blue-white flash of light, higher and to their left, as Falcon Two jumped away. Three explosions appeared directly in front of them. Josh ceased fire, pulled up hard, pushed his selector switch forward again, and pressed the trigger once more. Their canopy cycled to opaque and back to clear.

“Splash three more!” Loki yelled.

“Unbelievable!” Josh declared.

“
Nice shooting, One!
” Falcon Two cheered.

There would be no congratulations from Aurora Flight Control. “
Falcon One and Two, Aurora Flight. Join up with Falcon Three and proceed to the far side to assist bravo group.
”

“That’s the last one,” Jessica announced, relief evident in her voice. “Remind me to kiss the guys who installed our new point-defense system when we get back.”

“Flight reports all missile launchers on alpha side have been destroyed,” Naralena reported. “The area is clear of all hostile surface aircraft as well. They are sending all three of our Falcons to bravo side. They have twice as many active launchers to deal with, and they’ve now got over twenty Jung fighters in the air.”

“Is the sat-net up?” Nathan asked.

“Yes, sir. It just went live.”

“Pass the word to Telles that alpha side is clear of all air defenses,” Nathan ordered. “Then notify the alpha-group boxcars to begin operations.”

“Aye, sir.”

“I’m picking up a Jung mechanized convoy on the surface, headed toward the airbase,” Mister Navashee reported.

“Where did
that
come from?” Nathan wondered.

“Maybe they were out on a training exercise?” Jessica suggested.

“Perhaps. Backtrack along the roads they likely drove,” Nathan instructed his sensor operator. “Maybe there’s another base nearby we don’t know about.”

“Yes, sir,” Mister Navashee acknowledged.

“What’s the convoy’s ETA to the airbase?”

“Eleven minutes at present speed.”

“Lieutenant Commander, I believe our people on the ground would appreciate it if that convoy did
not
arrive.”

“My pleasure, Captain,” Jessica replied.

Four jump flashes appeared only a few kilometers from the destroyed Jung airbase. It was followed by two more, even larger flashes and, finally, one really big flash. Four combat jumpers dropped to a hover a meter off the ground, pausing just long enough for their Ghatazhak passengers to jump down to the surface. As the four combat jumpers climbed and began to circle, the two troop jumpers set down nearby, dropping their ramps so the marines inside could disembark. Finally, the boxcar descended in the middle of them all, gently placing its massive cargo pod on the ground. Its engines still running, the boxcar disconnected its mooring clamps from the cargo pod, then brought its engines back up to full power, climbing effortlessly upward.

Commander Telles and Master Sergeant Jahal strode confidently across the field toward the cargo pod, as the ascending boxcar that had placed it there disappeared in a blinding flash of light. It illuminated the area, adding to the light of what was nearly a full sunrise on the planet Niorai. A sudden, thunderous roar caused them both to stop and turn toward the sound. Explosions went off as glowing rail gun rounds, super-heated by their hypersonic journey down through the atmosphere, tore into a distant target.

Master Sergeant Jahal put his hand to his helmet for a moment, concentrating on an incoming message. He then tapped his commander on the shoulder. “The Aurora detected a mechanized convoy headed our way.”

“It looks like they won’t be a problem,” the commander said, as he turned and continued toward the cargo pod.

The walls on the cargo pod slid outward, as gun towers on each corner extended upward. Men came running out from behind the walls, carrying motion-detector stakes for deployment around the perimeter. The gun towers reached their maximum height, locked into position, and then came to life, panning back and forth in their automated scans for unwelcome visitors.

The commander and the master sergeant walked briskly to the now operational command center and ducked behind the wall to go inside.

A moment later, Commander Telles and Master Sergeant Jahal entered the command center’s core.

“Report!” Commander Telles barked as he stepped up to the planning table at the center of the dimly lit room.

“Alpha airbase, and the nearby training base are fully under our control,” the comm officer replied immediately. “Our Falcons have been reassigned to bravo side for the time being. However, all airborne Jung assets, and all surface-based air defenses were eliminated prior to their departure.”

“Casualties?”

“Twenty-seven marines dead, eighteen wounded. No Ghatazhak casualties, sir.”

“And the Jung?”

“As of yet, we have found no survivors.”

“At least none that lived to talk about it,” Master Sergeant Jahal mused grimly.

“Any word from bravo side?” the commander asked.

“Not yet, sir,” the comm officer replied, “but the CNS-sats have only been live for a few minutes.”

“There are thirty-two more missiles inbound,” Luis reported from the Celestia’s tactical station.

Cameron couldn’t remember the last time she heard her tactical officer sound nervous. “Recommended safe distance?” she asked her sensor operator.

“Their warheads are all nuclear,” Ensign Kono warned. “If they go off within a couple kilometers, we’ll lose sensors and comms for a few, but we’ll be okay. The radiation won’t penetrate our hull.”

“Five kilometers, Mister Sperry,” Cameron said. “They get inside five, and you jump us, with or without my order.”

“Yes, sir.”

Luis continued monitoring the point-defenses as the thirty-two, quad-barreled, mark one mini-plasma cannon turrets located around the perimeter of the Celestia, on both her upper and lower sides, worked in unison to destroy the incoming missiles.

“Range to nearest?” Cameron inquired, growing impatient.

“Twenty kilometers and closing fast,” Luis replied. “Four more around thirty. Twelve more around forty… They’re coming in waves, Captain.”

“Flight, Captain. We need those missile launchers on the surface taken out, now.”

“
All six Falcons are engaged with more than twenty fighters, sir,
” the flight operation officer replied. “
Those damned fighters are doing their best to protect those launchers.
”

“How long?”

“
A few minutes before we can start targeting them.
”

Cameron turned to Luis. “Pick the launcher that has the least number of civilian structures around it and take it out.”