Ep.#15 - "That Which Other Men Cannot Do" (The Frontiers Saga) (31 page)

“He’ll miss out on some of the group maneuvers,” Master Sergeant Jahal cautioned.

“If he ends up on an aggressor team, he’ll have to unlearn it all anyway,” Commander Telles said. “Make it happen, Sergeant.”

“Yes, sir,” Sergeant Lazo replied. He snapped a salute, then turned and departed, returning to the training line.

“An unusual call,” Master Sergeant Jahal commented.

“Perhaps,” Commander Telles admitted. “But we need more aggressor teams, and sooner rather than later.”

CHAPTER NINE

Nathan stood on the aft end of the starboard catwalk, leaning on the railing and looking down at the first Super Eagle coming off the elevator pad below him.

“Nice-looking ship,” Vladimir said as he came out of the fighter deck control room.

“Yes, it is,” Nathan agreed. “I trained in the original version, you know.”

“How did you like it?” Vladimir asked as he joined his friend at the railing.

“It was an easy ship to fly. Lots of automation, faster than hell to orbit. Maneuverable as well. She could out-turn
and
out-accelerate a standard Jung fighter. At least that’s what we were told at the time. I’m not sure anyone had actually seen a Jung fighter in combat back then.”

“Then it was fun to fly?”

“
Fun
wouldn’t really be the right word,” Nathan said. “It was a good ship, well suited for its task… But fun to fly? No.
Fun
would be my grandfather’s old Carson Twelve-B. Little two-seat aerobatic job. He taught me to fly in it when I was about twelve. Now
that
was a fun plane to fly. Real stick and rudder stuff. Not a single bit of automation aboard. Heck, it barely has any instruments. Just airspeed, altitude, and a few engine gauges.
That
was real flying.”

“You should take me for a ride sometime,” Vladimir suggested, as he watched the second Super Eagle roll off the elevator pad on the opposite side of the bay from them.

Nathan looked at him, thinking. “You know, I’m not even sure if that plane still exists. I mean, it did before the Jung attacked. It was in a hangar on my grandfather’s property outside of Vancouver.”

“Call him and ask.”

“He died when I was in college. Our family kept the property and the plane. My father had someone living there as a caretaker for the estate. I think he imagined that I would live there someday… Raise a family, and all that.”

“Maybe your father knows if the plane is still intact?”

“Maybe,” Nathan said. “I’ll ask him about it next time we speak.” Nathan smiled, remembering his flying adventures in the old plane. “I wouldn’t mind flying her again, that’s for sure.”

Nathan and Vladimir watched as the third Super Eagle rolled off the elevator below them. The spacecraft rolled forward, then turned ninety degrees to its right and pulled into the second starboard launch tube airlock.

“Have you seen the fighter deck control room?” Vladimir wondered, pointing to the large windows along the back wall just to his left. “It’s a lot bigger than I expected.”

“Yeah, they decided to keep the aft observation window, so they could take over as approach control if flight ops goes down,” Nathan explained. “Of course, we lost our observation deck.”

“Like anyone ever had time to use it,” Vladimir commented. He looked across the bay as another Super Eagle rolled off the port aft elevator platform. “How many of them are we getting today?” he wondered.

“Twelve are coming here, and the other twelve are going to the Celestia.”

“That’s it? Twelve fighters?”

“They can only make them so fast,” Nathan replied. “Two squadrons of twelve is all they could get built and get pilots for so quickly. That number will double in a couple months. Within six months, we’ll have forty-eight fighters each. Within a year, we should have another forty-eight stationed at Karuzara.”

“Six months,” Vladimir said. “It is sometimes hard for me to believe that we have been at this for nearly two years now.”

“We’d both be up for rotation next month,” Nathan commented, as another Super Eagle rolled off the elevator beneath them.

Vladimir sighed. “This is where we belong, you and I.”

Nathan looked at his friend. “You don’t buy into all the destiny crap, do you?”

“Not really. What I meant was that you and I are doing what we were
born
to do. What we are
good
at doing. We each could be doing many different things than this, but
this
is what we are best suited for.
You
are a natural leader, and
I
am good at fixing things.”

“So, that’s all we’re good for?”

“Of course not. I am good at
many
things. Fixing things, computer programming, I am an excellent shot, a wonderful cook…”

“I don’t know about that last one,” Nathan teased. “Speaking of cooking, did you have plans for lunch?”

“Why do you think I am here? To watch your Super Eagles roll around on the deck?”

* * *

Captain Nash stepped up to the podium and looked out at the group of new trainees gathered at the Cobra training center on Tanna. “Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the next phase of your training. Each of you has completed the didactic portion of your training, and are ready to enter the simulators. We now have three types of simulators. Flight simulators, which are a complete mock up of the flight deck of a Cobra gunship; station simulators, which are mock-ups of each individual station on board the ship, including the quad turrets; and now the ship simulator, which provides a simulated working environment of the entire interior of the ship. This last addition will allow full crews to run mission simulations together, as a team, to better refine your ability to work together.”

“To date, there are eighteen gunships in service, with the nineteenth gunship launching later today. Twelve of those gunships have seen combat, and no gunships have yet been lost, or even taken serious damage due to hostile enemy fire. I added that last clarification due to a few docking incidents that we won’t talk about today.”

Captain Nash looked at his first eight crews gathered along the back of the room, noting a few guilty faces. He smiled.

“Thus far, Tannan gunships have destroyed twenty Jung frigates, thirteen gunships, and twenty-seven fast-attack shuttles. Not a bad tally for only five combat missions. She may not be big, but the Cobra gunship packs a hell of a punch, and when used in well-coordinated group attacks, she can be even more deadly than a ship ten times her size. Just ask the captains of those Jung frigates,” he added with a grin. “The last two battles at Chi Draconis and Gliese 793 proved that as few as two Cobra gunships could bring down a frigate, under the right conditions. In those simulators is where you will learn how to do just that. You will spend countless hours executing the same maneuvers time and time again, until you can do them in your sleep. That way, by the time
your
gunships are ready, your transition into actual spaceflight will be seamless.”

Captain Nash looked to his right, spotting his second in command. “Today marks an important milestone in the Cobra gunship program. While it has been an honor to personally train the crews who came before you, it is time that I started delegating more of that responsibility to others. After all, while the Cobra gunship may be a combination of Terran, Takaran, and Corinairan technologies, they are built and flown by Tannans. It is high time that Tannans started teaching their own. To that end, my role in your training will become more administrative, and the task of teaching Tannans how to operate the Cobra gunship will now fall on the crews standing behind you. Each of these men and women have proven themselves in combat, and have learned through trial and error exactly what their ships are capable of. It was a journey of discovery that we took together, as I had precious little time in this design, prior to the start of this program.”

Captain Nash looked at his executive officer. “Lieutenant Commander Rano, class three is yours to instruct.”

Everyone in attendance began to applaud, as Lieutenant Commander Rano walked to the podium. He shook hands with Captain Nash, and took to the podium with ease, going right into his opening briefing.

Captain Nash stepped back and moved off to the side of the room. He stood and listened to the lieutenant commander as he scanned the faces of the men and women of Tanna who had been selected as the third group to enter the final phase of training. He remembered what his friend had told him a month ago, when his people had scored their first kill in the battle to liberate Delta Pavonis. He had been correct; the volunteers had started pouring in. They now had more volunteers than they had positions to fill. There was even talk of creating another gunship production facility. This world now believed that they could fight the Jung, and that they could win.

* * *

“Jump to Alula Australis in one minute,” the Jar-Benakh’s navigator announced.

“All weapons show ready,” Lieutenant Commander Kessel reported from the tactical station. “All guns are pre-aimed and charged, forward torpedoes are ready, as are our broadside cannons. Shield generators are on standby.”

“Final go order?” Commander Ellison inquired.

“Coming in now,” Ensign Marka replied. “We are go for attack as scheduled.”

Commander Ellison looked to his captain.

“Initiate attack as planned,” Captain Roselle ordered. “You have the conn, Commander.”

“Aye, sir,” the commander replied. “Ensign Noray?”

“Fifteen seconds to jump, sir.”

“You are cleared to jump. All hands, prepare to execute attack,” Commander Ellison instructed.

“Five seconds,” the navigator warned. “Three……two……one……jumping.”

The jump indicator lights they had recently added to the ceiling of the Jar-Benakh’s command center turned blue, as a severely subdued jump flash appeared on several of the ship’s view screens. Two seconds later, the blue lights went out.

“Jump complete…”

“Shields coming up,” the tactical officer reported.

“Two Jung cruisers, dead ahead,” Ensign Marka announced from the sensor station. “Five hundred meters and closing fast…”

“Nicely done, Mister Noray,” Commander Ellison commented.

“…We’re on course to pass between them, five clicks to port, and seven to starboard.”

“Plasma cannons to port and starboard targets,” Commander Ellison instructed. “Lock on and fire when ready.”

“Target lock to port,” Sergeant Garza reported. “Firing.”

“Lock to starboard,” Sergeant Shugart added. “Firing.”

“Ready on the broadside cannons.”

“We’ll have a solution in five seconds,” Lieutenant Commander Kessel replied.

“Broadsides when ready…”

“Both targets are trying to raise shields and bring their guns on us,” the sensor operator warned. “They’re deploying missile launchers as well…”

“I have a solution,” the tactical officer reported. “Firing port broadside cannons.”

Captain Roselle watched the port camera view screen as red-orange balls of plasma energy streaked away from his ship.

“Massive energy signature in the estimated location of the Jung battleship, sir,” Ensign Marka reported from the sensor station.

“Firing starboard broadside cannons,” the tactical officer reported.

“…Detecting debris consistent with a Jung battleship… Believe the target is destroyed, sir,” Ensign Marka continued. “Direct hits on the port target. She’s lost her starboard shields, all of them aft of midship.”

“Flash, target her back half,” Commander Ellison instructed his port weapons controller. “Continue firing, Lieutenant Commander.”

“Starboard target is bringing her missile launchers onto us. Her shields are… Oh! Direct hits! Midship, walking forward! She didn’t get her shields up fast enough, Commander! Starboard target is breaking apart!”

“Helm, wide circle to port to keep our broadside cannons on the port target,” Commander Ellison ordered.

“Incoming message from the Celestia,” Ensign Jullen reported from the Jar-Benakh’s comm station. “Relay from Cobra One. All Jung frigates destroyed.”

“That was fast,” Captain Roselle commented, as he sat in his command chair and watched his crew continue the attack. “I guess Nash trained them well.”

“Direct hits to port target’s main propulsion!” Ensign Marka reported. “Her mains are down, and she’s venting propellant. She’s trying to bring her aft missile launcher onto us…”

“I don’t think so,” Sergeant Garza muttered as he retargeted two of his thirteen guns onto the enemy cruiser’s aft missile launcher and pressed the firing button.

“Nice shot, Flash!” Ensign Marka reported from the sensor station. “Aft missile launcher is destroyed.”

“What about her forward launcher?” Commander Ellison inquired.

“I think it’s damaged, sir,” Ensign Marka replied. “It’s half deployed and it doesn’t appear to… Wait… Port target’s last shields are down! She’s taking all incoming dir… She’s coming apart as well!” Ensign Marka leaned back in his seat, turning to look at his commander, a big grin on his face. “Port target is destroyed, sir.”

“Any word on the battle platform?” Commander Ellison asked his communications officer.

“No, sir,” Ensign Jullen replied, “not yet.”

“Jump in, fire missiles, jump out. Repeat,” Loki said in a disinterested tone.

“So?”

“I think I’d rather be dogfighting.”

“Not me,” Loki replied. “This is far less risky.”

“And far less exciting.” Josh sighed. “What exciting mission did you fly today, Ensign Hayes?” he began in mocking fashion. “Well, I pressed a button that caused my ship to automatically jump into the atmosphere of an enemy-held planet. Then my partner pressed some more buttons, which destroyed four surface-to-orbit missile sites about a hundred kilometers away. Oh, but I did get to see the Aurora blow the crap out of a few bases from orbit,” he added, pointing ahead and to their right, as two columns of yellow-orange super-heated rail gun rounds streamed down from the sky, slamming into their targets on the surface and sending columns of smoke and dust rising into the air. “Yup, all very exciting.”

Loki sighed. “Stop complaining and jump us to the next group of targets.”

“Confirmation from Jumper Three,” Naralena reported. “The battle platform has been destroyed.”

“First two surface targets have been destroyed,” Jessica announced from the Aurora’s tactical station.

“Multiple jump flashes at low altitude over the surface of Lindera,” Mister Navashee reported from the sensor station. “Combat Jumpers have started the Ghatazhak insertion.”

“That’s everyone,” Jessica surmised.

“Time to CNS completion?” Nathan inquired.

“Two minutes,” Naralena replied.

“Very well,” Nathan said. “Report the destruction of all Jung space borne assets to Commander Telles on Combat One, and let him know when the CNS-sats will be online.”

“Aye, sir.” Naralena replied.

“Next target in two minutes,” Jessica reported.

“Picking up Jung fighters in the area of the next target group. Flight of six,” Mister Navashee reported.

“Relay the tracks to flight ops and launch fighters.”

“Aye, sir,” Mister Navashee replied.