Federation Reborn 1: Battle Lines (32 page)

“Some vacation,” Jim said in disgust.

“Ah, shut up. At least it was something better than staring at an empty star system.”

“True. Hey, you think maybe we'll get to chase down some enemy shipping this time? And maybe
catch
them?”

“Maybe.”

---<>---<>---

"So, they got away?" Admiral Irons asked after Amadeus forwarded the
Hecate
report.

"Yes," Amadeus typed then grimaced. He could use the voice address system or have Marshall take dictation but he felt like an idiot. Besides, his fingers needed a bit of a workout. "In hindsight I should have sent along a tin can and or another warship in case they did encounter the ships. They could have been run to ground. That's on me."

"I see," Admiral Irons replied.

Amadeus frowned. He knew John; he knew the guy was a straight shooter. He didn't have to play games with him. But that simple acceptance had him on edge.

"I understand your covering for Captain Gruber. He
should
have taken one ship down and returned early. Disabled it, left it to drift in the star system, and then returned for help. But you are right, you should have sent along more help." There was a pause. "But the universe is full of would haves, could haves, and such. It's done and over with now; we can't change it."

"Yes, sir. I suppose it is," Amadeus replied. He didn't like wallowing in his mistakes, but he was man enough to admit them. He'd do his best to learn from them too.

"I understand you want to keep as much of your forces together as possible to train them and to respond to threats. Defeat in detail is an issue."

"Yes, sir."

"You're the man on the spot. I'll send you what backup I can. You can keep
Hecate
, at least for now. She's a good ship and has a good crew. But I'll want to tap them and some of your other people eventually. We need to cycle some of the people into new slots as we add ships to our inventory. Ships and basing facilities," Irons said.

"Yes, sir."

"Are you planning on submitting something for Protodon? An orbital base of some sort?"

"I've been thinking along those lines. I'm not sure it is feasible. This star system's asteroid belts have been thoroughly picked over. The Oort cloud has some stuff but even the dwarf planets were broken up."

"Obviously the entries in the Encyclopedia Galactica are a bit out of date," Irons responded.

"Just a tad bit, sir."

"Right. We'll deal with it the best we can. Or I should say you will. We'll ship you what we can when we can. Phil is ironing out his issues. We're starting the cruiser lines here shortly."

"I request a cruiser, oh hell, a squadron as soon as possible, but two would be better."

"To scout? Or as a flagship?"

Amadeus rubbed his jaw and then scratched. After a moment he took a sip of coffee, still thinking. After a moment he shrugged.

"Either or. If possible, both."

"You can't do both with one ship, Amadeus. I know you want to be on the front lines, but that's pushing things."

"Sir, we need to move on Nuevo Madrid soon."

"I know. But they have advanced warning now, and we don't know what is in that star system. I'm not keen about uncovering Protodon to hit that star system."

"Yes, sir," the Neochimp replied dutifully and then grimaced. The marines were having a hell of a time with the planet too. Pacifying it wasn't as simple as some had thought. Losing Captain Gustav early on had been debilitating for the chain of command too. "We need marine support."

"Yes. And if you bite off more than you can chew with Nuevo Madrid, you'll make the situation worse."

"Yes, sir. They've been there a while; they've had longer to dig in."

"Yes, I know," Irons replied. "And the report of a repair yard there worries me too."

Amadeus nodded. "Me too. I was thinking about sending
Hecate
or another ship to scout it when I have additional support. I may not move on it, but I'd like to know what we're up against."

"Good idea. But they'll be wary of a scout. Keep the idea on a back burner for now."

What we should do is wade in there, take the bastards out, capture or destroy the yard, then sit in B-95a3 and squish anything that comes through that star system, Amadeus thought. But he was wary of losing what he'd gained by that sort of roll of the dice. He was a good commander; he knew when it was time to take risks and when it was time to hold and stand firm. They had time, some time.

"I've got to go. I have another meeting with the leadership shortly."

"They giving you problems, sir?" Amadeus asked.

"Only the usual headaches. That Yuzle witch is a pain in the ass. And yes I am aware this is being recorded. Tough. She's been coming on to me a bit too strong for my tastes. I may have to have April along to chase her off."

"Oh, trot out the big guns," Amadeus typed, smiling wickedly. He'd briefly met Miss O'Niell during his stay in Antigua. They'd had dinner, the flag officers and her. She seemed nice but couldn't quite put her reporter persona away to allow them to enjoy the moment. She was definitely more than eye candy. She had quite a beautiful body for a human. He didn't swing that way, but he could see why John did.

"Cute."

"Sorry, sir."

"No, no need. I'll have a chat with Jersey about sending you more troops. He's still integrating the new recruits as well as the sleepers. I'll keep you posted."

"Thank you, sir. Have a good evening."

"Well, I wouldn't call it good until it's over. I'm just hoping I can get through it without wringing someone's neck."

"Tempting."

"Ha ha. May the Spirits protect and guide you, Admiral."

"You too as well, Admiral."

Chapter 17

Captain White Wolf had taken some of the trainers, engineers, and recruiters in at Kathy's World, which had freed up some of the space in the convoy for herself and some of her militia volunteers. They had also stuffed each ship to the gills with volunteers. Everyone was eager to get off the smelly ships, even if it was into the middle of a war zone.

She had assembled two platoons of mixed troops with veteran marines like Sergeant McClintock to lead them. They had trained the troops en route using virtual reality goggles due to the lack of space. It wasn't enough, and everyone knew that.

To supplement them they had Captain Lyon's three Recon squads and hundreds of tons of gear waiting in orbit. Until they could secure the spaceport properly, the navy wasn't about to risk one of their shuttles again. Not after losing so many.

Captain White Wolf refused to be rushed as she assessed the situation on the ground. She detailed drones to survey areas and used her knowledge of her recent guerrilla war on Kathy's World to ferret out a few possible Horathian locations. She was careful to leave them alone. They might be traps, but that could work for her people if she played her cards right.

Her delay and her blunt daily reports to Colonel Forth and Admiral Irons led to the two senior officers to hold a private ansible consultation. The colonel called in over the ansible network. “We don't ordinarily do this, Captain, excuse me
‘Major’
but we're going to do it anyway.”

“Sir?”

“I'm uploading the codes now. Admiral Irons has signed off on it, and Admiral White shouldn't have any problems. Your courtesy frocking is no longer just a formality ‘Major.’ You are hereby promoted to the rank of major. You are in command of the invasion force as senior officer on site.”

“Sir,” she said startled.

“Hang back some more if you wish. You have my authorization to borrow from the marines from the ship's companies,” he stated. He sent her his authorization. “Admiral White may not be pleased about that. But he knows we need to get the ground under control.”

“Yes, sir.” The wolf's ears were flat back. She had never thought she'd make captain's rank let alone major. She shook her head numbly. They must be more desperate for help than she thought.

“There are two sleeper noncoms, and Captain JG Lyon on
Xavier
. All three have been recently promoted. Use them wisely. Like you, they are a finite wealth of knowledge and skill.”

“Aye aye, sir. They are already here, sir.”

“Good. I see your plan is to attrition the enemy since they have superior numbers and can hold the population hostage. To turn their own tactics against them. Approved. The frontal approach isn't working. A grid pattern search will take too much manpower.”

“Yes, sir. This Baroness General Busche is good, sir. She's got her people distributed in small squads in the bush and in the cities and towns. The ones in the cities and towns are holding hostages and have quislings around them for cover and support. They have only a battalion of Horathians but forty times that in quisling partisans. Ferreting them out is going to be rough.”

“And you most likely won't get them all with the forces you've got available. Once they start taking heavy losses, they'll go to ground.”

“Yes, sir. The biggest thing is to push them back away from the spaceport and then keep them back. Once we can assure our supply, we can move people and equipment in and out safely. But the capital is my keystone objective.”

“Get on that then. You have Gunny McClintock. I suggest you use him, his AI, and his armor wisely. He won't be with you for long.”

She nodded sagely. That she fully understood, though she wondered what other front they would shift the panther to.

“We're sending in additional SEAL, Recon, and a marine battalion as soon as we have additional shipping. They are prepping now. However, the major in charge ….”

White Wolf nodded. “Has me by date of rank, sir. I understand. Hopefully, I won't leave them as big a mess to clean up as there is now.”

“I'm glad you understand. Good hunting, Major,” the colonel stated.

“Thank you, sir. May Lady Luck's grace shine upon you,” she stated as he disconnected the channel.

---<>---<>---

Agnosta was indeed planning on sending in a SEAL and Recon team as well as the marine battalion commanded by Major Pendeckle, Jersey mused as he clicked the ansible disconnect. He sat back in his chair. That was a problem. They had
Damocles
and
Bounty
waiting, but the transport large enough to move the group wasn't there. Admiral White was hanging onto every piece of shipping he got so that was putting a crimp in their careful schedules.

Pendeckle was taking charge of 1st Battalion, 2nd Brigade, to be in on the ground first instead of waiting for the bulk of his brigade to move. He was fairly confident the one battalion would be enough to take the planet, but Jersey wasn't so sure, not after some of the reports he had read. And until his convoy got back to pick up 2nd Battalion, they would have to keep it together. At least they had some shorter logistic lines to Antigua, if they got the shipping they needed. So far the navy was hogging all the manufacturing and shipping resources, Jersey thought sourly.

Until the shipping issue was resolved, he had to keep them to training and preparations, which was fine. The 2nd was a good brigade; they could continue to train their own people while also training the other brigades that were starting to stand up.

He frowned thoughtfully. He could send in the SEALS and Recon teams in dribs and drabs or even on the destroyers. It wouldn't be the first time a Special Forces team had hot bunked or even racked out in an armory or boat bay. He played with his lip and then jotted a note out to explore that later if things didn't pick up soon.

What really bothered him was what a lot of the senior officers were expressing. The sleepers and … he exhaled noisily. There I go again, thinking in camps. They may be from a different generation but they are marines! He thought, shaking his head.

Everyone was concerned about the lack of rank and field experience. He knew that. Hell, the major did too. He wished Valenko was available, but the bear was neck deep handling the marines in Pyrax as the senior officer there. There was no time to recall him from Pyrax and then work him up to handle the battalion. The shock and adjustment would be a problem and so would the politics involved. He had no real reason to relieve Pendeckle for the job. The man was looking forward to it. He had Captain Myers and others to back him up. He shook his head. No, everyone would do their jobs where they were. Once he got them there, he thought sourly.

What they needed though wasn't just ground troops to go door to door. They needed support. They needed vehicles, mechs, drones, shuttles, and assault shuttles. Assault craft.
Marine
craft. He made another note to discuss that lack with Admiral Irons in their next scheduled conference. It was time for the corps to grow and branch out properly, not be stifled as it had been.