Koban 6: Conflict and Empire (22 page)

Mirikami had the remedy. “Fortunately, that’s something I can have delivered in a half day, Henry. We started producing copper mesh several months ago, for use in shelters on Koban and Haven. We have hundreds of rolls, fifty feet long and ten feet wide, that we can send you. Your people would have to assemble their own protective covers from that, but there are templates loadable into a standard fabric and clothing cutter. It will use a body scanner to measure each trooper, and then a laser cuts the mesh sections for assembly in just minutes. They’ll have to hand stitch them onto a lightweight uniform, or something like long underwear. I understand it’s a thirty-minute task once the technique is shared by Mind Tap. The rolls will be there later today.”

“OK. But how many more people in protected suits can you send to join my nine thousand Kobani? I doubt the PDF already on Tanner’s can hold out for long, and the spec ops I can send aren’t nearly enough. I can give them shoulder fired anti-tank weapons from Poldark, and we have thousands of war surplus tri-barreled ladybugs parked in long rows there. I don’t know if the PDF troops on Tanner’s have any equipment like that for fighting armored vehicles.”

Mirikami agreed to pick up the equipment. “I’ll divert some of our ships to Poldark, if you’ll have people ready to drive two hundred of those ladybugs onto them. We can deliver them when our next wave of reinforcements reaches Tanner’s world.”

Then he had a sudden thought. “Hey! Won’t you get in hot water for stealing the ladybugs? Aren’t they army property?”

Nabarone snorted in derision. “Ain’t I a general in that army? I’ve recently decided, just seconds ago in fact, that I want my spec ops to conduct live fire exercises with mobile tri-barrel plasma guns. Besides, most of them were to be turned into scrap, before any of them could disappear and make their way into some black market weapons deal, sold to Rim world crime lords or a wannabe despot. Screw the paper pushers. Can’t you take more than a couple of hundred with you?”

“I doubt it. The lower holds on the next ships I send will be nearly filled with a single Shadow space plane in each of them. One per ship is all that fits with the portals closed for stealth. I’m sending all four hundred thirty-two that survived the war. Like your mothballed ladybugs, they’ve been parked on dome tarmacs at Koban and Haven, taking up room.

“Before you ask, I have to tell you it’s too late to put that equipment on the first ships I sent to Tanner’s. I promised to send two thousand more ships as soon as possible, and they Jumped twenty hours ago, so they’re only ten hours from arrival. When they get there tonight, twenty-two hundred of our fleet will be there with the original flotilla. The Shadows, ladybugs, and antitank weapons will go on the next thousand ships, and there are at least a thousand more ships scattered around Human Space and the Federation, which have to deliver passengers or unload cargo before coming home to arm up for a fight.

“I’m holding back five hundred ships here to guard Koban and Haven until the stragglers arrive, but we’re stripping the Federation bare right now, sending most of what we have for our own defense to Human Space. We’d better have as detrimental an impact on that invasion fleet as we expect, because we won’t have a chance at another first impression with the Empire.

“We have to convince the Thandol and Ragnar, if not to leave us completely alone, to at least tread cautiously and go slower. We need more time to prepare, and to convince the PU to fight alongside of us.”

Two hundred fresh Kobani ships arrived from the colony of Paradise, and the Prada home world of One Land, which was being resettled. As directed by Mirikami, they joined Athena Christopoulos’ command group, which was now too large to be called a flotilla. However, at two hundred eighty-six vessels, the group wasn’t nearly powerful enough to be called a fleet under the present circumstances. It couldn’t fully engage the Ragnar fleet, with its two thousand Ravagers and six hundred Shredders. In roughly twenty-five hours, they would be joined by two thousand more ships from Koban, and Thad Greeves would have overall command at that time.

Athena had been updating the two inbound groups in the fifteen minutes before their exit from Tachyon Space. She told them the latest events as they formed up around Tanner’s world, spread out to avoid presenting a concentrated target before they were ready to engage.

“Captains, the Ragnar’s actions reveal they can sense our presence even when stealthed, probably by our mass concentration, since we’ve detected no low frequency radio signals, which can weakly reveal us. This was an inadvertent revelation on their part, because I gathered my flotilla on one side of the planet, just before you made your exits; in order to leave you room to spread out more. The Ragnar shifted three hundred Ravagers to positions approximately below us, and they have just micro Jumped them more evenly around the planet in the last few minutes, after you appeared. They sensed your masses suddenly appearing. Bear that in mind before you think you can sneak in and sit undetected in their midst.”

“Commander, this is Cal Branson just in from One land, what are they up to right now? It looks like they’re about to land more troop ships.” He knew she was perfectly aware he’d led the flotilla that came from One Land, but this was a general open link, and not everyone in the link knew that.

“Cal, the second wave of Pounders are about to enter the upper atmosphere, and the orbital rail guns will go active at any time, with programing to focus mainly on their Ravager escorts, and to fire on the armored Pounders only if they are extremely close. There’s a chance they can hurt some of the damaged and hastily repaired troop ships, but the heavy explosive slugs are a greater threat to the more lightly armored Ravagers, and might even disable or destroy a Shredder. Planetary Turbulence control guided dozens of their heavy missiles towards the first wave of landers, which being undamaged came in fast, with Ravager escorts for cover. The PDF managed to bring down only four landers, and they didn’t use the Rail guns at all. They saved them for use on this next smaller wave. It looks like there will be sixty-three damaged landers making the attempt.”

Cal asked, “Are we going to be involved in discouraging them this time?”

Her answer was cheerful sounding. “I’m happy you asked, Cal old buddy. You bet your sweet ass we are. I just had my AI send all of your AIs the codes for your Identification Friend from Foe IFF systems, to make us immune from being targeted by PDF weapons. We’ll independently micro Jump to the edge of atmosphere and fire on the descending Pounders and their Ravager and Shredder protectors, while the rail guns blaze away at the same time. There’ll be more heavy missiles climbing up to intercept the landers in particular, and aircraft launched smaller anti-ship missiles. If we can keep the Ravagers busy dodging the combined attacks, they can’t take out as many missiles going after the landers. The Shredders tend to stay at the periphery of their fleet, as if they expect us to fire missiles from a distance, which they try to destroy. Or that we’ll charge in at them in a mass attack, instead of Jumping in among their closely packed ships on our own. It’s obvious they never faced an enemy like the Krall, and definitely not like us. The Empire must have had very orderly wars, from the generally non-hostile species they annexed.

“We’ll go in independently, when each of you feels ready. I’m Jumping twenty seconds after I stop talking. Remember, their AI’s coordinate their joint laser and plasma fire, so keep moving, spinning, and micro Jumping. They aren’t very good at navigating and fighting like that. Good luck.”

****

“Braslat!” Hitok cursed. “Thond, I thought your FLC said only another two hundred human ships had appeared? They fight like deranged garvals, and they’re everywhere, biting, clawing, and ripping at us. It’s like there are three times as many.”

“Yes,” Thond agreed. “The humans accept high risks of appearing inside another ship at every Jump, and they Jump often and everywhere. On the other hand’s knuckles, I ordered the escorting Ravagers to stay close to the landers to defend them, and they’re being hurt more often because they can’t leave them to maneuver freely. The Shredders, positioned at the edges of the fleet formations, are frequently unable to launch missiles or fire energy beams into our formations for fear of striking our own ships if they miss. We’ve never engaged an enemy as reckless as this.”

He also admitted to an error in his own judgement. “Those small satellites I foolishly ignored on our arrival are now firing thousands of explosive projectiles at Ravagers and Pounders alike, and they have killed five Shredders that attempted to defend Pounders. They completely ignored us on the first wave of landers.”

Hitok had a revelation. “I think they saved the railguns specifically for this second wave, because our damaged Pounders can only travel at half the usual velocity as they enter the upper atmosphere. Two of my group already lost their welded patches, and the ionic plasma of reentry widened the holes and reached inside, killing the Ragoons too near the openings. When the pilots slowed their descent, to reduce friction causing ionization, the large ground based missiles found them. They have us in a vicious trap, and it’s no safer to return to orbit now than it is to continue with the landings.”

“Commander.” An urgent call, from a sensor technician on the Pounder’s Bridge, demanded Hitok’s attention.

“Speak.”

“Two heavy missiles are tracking us, Sire. I’ve discharged decoys yet they somehow continue to follow us, our tail lasers are encountering highly reflective surfaces, and they alter course so frequently that our two rear firing plasma cannons have missed them three times. One or both of them will overtake us at our present speed, before we can reach the surface.”

One of their three Ravager escorts had fallen by the wayside a short time ago, destroyed by a combination of a string of rail gun projectiles into their Bridge, a damaging near miss of an aircraft launched anti-ship missile, and several plasma bolts from enemy spacecraft through open weapons ports, which had damaged the Normal Space drive. The Ravager had nosed over towards the surface of the planet, and started to tumble, streaming friction generated plasma behind them.

The other two escorting Ravagers had also suffered damage, but both were easily able to stay with the ship they were assigned to protect. This particular command Pounder had been assigned three Ravagers as escorts, two more than any other Pounder in Group 1 received, which marked it for greater Kobani attention. The Pounder was likely to be blasted from the sky within minutes from the multiple attacks, and the two massive warheads on the pursuing missiles were the greatest threats because of the Pounder’s slow entry.

Thond, having been provided an acceleration couch at a backup console, one configured as a communications position for him, used his access code to reach Acting Space Force Commander Grudfad through the flagship’s AI.

“Grudfad, Group 1’s command Pounder is about to be lost. If the Ravagers are unable to intercept the incoming missiles, I will order Commander Hitok to enter escape pods with his staff. I will remain with the ship. You will continue as Space Force Commander for the duration of combat here, and Commander Hitok will assume Ground Force command.”

He was clearly placing the preservation of the commander of a Ground Force group ahead of his own safety, and knew he was putting Grudfad in a tight spot. This was, of course, a recorded call. Failing to protect his superior, who had voluntarily exposed himself to greater risk wasn’t anything he would be disciplined for, but his future in the Space Force would stall at a level somewhere below his present acting position.

Grudfad, engrossed with how the overall fight was being waged, was forced to focus for a moment on one small aspect that he’d neglected. He instantly understood what was about happen. “Sire, I have a possible solution. Standby.”

He linked to the flagship AI, and authorized it to assume emergency control of the Pounder’s two escorting Ravagers, via their ship’s AIs, thus taking total control from both of the Captains and their crews. This was a step normally reserved for a functional craft with a dead or disabled command crew. He’d have to justify his actions later, but an inquiry would clear him of wrongdoing if what he did succeeded, and advanced the goal of the mission.

Suddenly, the two damaged but mostly operational Ravagers fell back from the command Pounder, turned nose on to the incoming missiles, firing their forward laser and plasma weaponry, and decelerated their reverse tracks via their Normal Space drives. That swiftly narrowed the gap with the enemy missiles. The ploy saved the Pounder, but sacrificed the two Ravagers and crews. Therefore, the commander of Group 1, and coincidentally the Force Commander, both survived. Grudfad knew he would now receive a positive recommendation from Thond, which would say he was a competent combat leader, with a willingness to do whatever was required to assure a mission’s chance of success.

Hitok, who in his own sealed armor was unaware of Thond’s communication, had never once considered using an escape pod, certainly not to leave his beloved Ragoons to die as he fled their destruction. It was unlikely that Thond or Grudfad would ever mention their conversation outside of a closed inquiry, if one were held. Thond had clearly said he was staying with the doomed ship, and intended to save the valuable life and skills of the experienced Ground Force Commander and his staff. But Grudfad knew that the Force Commander knew exactly what the result of his words would be. Therefore, Thond knew he would survive if Grudfad valued his future in the Space Force.

Hitok, when told the two Ravagers had been destroyed when they turned to fight a valiant defense on their behalf, complemented their crews for their presumed sacrifice. He mixed his words of praise with the bias of a Ground Force soldier’s terminology, for an action fought in space.

“Our brothers held fast and fought nobly against this unpredictable and brash enemy. None of the human ships have yet stood their ground this way and fought to the death, as our two brave escorts just did. The humans appear, launch a missile, fire a plasma bolt, and flee in a swift Jump. Then, appear on the other side of the same target, launch another missile, fire a laser. And then Jump to a far distant ship, to repeat their frantic hit and run attacks. Another enemy ship soon appears behind the target the first attacker just abandoned, and hits and runs again. They do this repeatedly. It isn’t a way I chose to fight.”

No,
thought Thond,
but it’s a way they can inflict considerable damage on an enemy that outnumbers them.

He reconsidered how this relatively small and weak looking species had defeated the hordes of large Krall warriors, which the Thandol had avoided meeting for so many millennia. Perhaps the humans adopted strange tactics when they were forced to win against great odds. After all, what was the purpose of a war, if not to win?

****

“Athena, your method of attack has proven to be a winner, so I’m all for staying with what works.” Greeves fleet was only minutes out from joining her. They’d been discussing the randomized Jumps and slashing attacks her small force been using for the last few hours.

“Thad, it wasn’t without casualties. I lost five more ships, and suffered eight with enough damage to their stealth that they can’t go in and mix it up with the apes.”

“But you told me you took out twenty-one of sixty three previously damaged Pounders, and thirty-one Ravagers in the process. That’s over ten thousand enemy soldiers that didn’t reach the ground alive, and eighty armored vehicles they won’t have.”

She still wasn’t happy with what she’d achieved. “It appears they still managed to deploy close to a hundred eighty thousand Ragoons, as they call their soldiers. And are now forming up four columns of their armor, each with about three hundred fifty to three hundred seventy units, depending on each group’s losses. Those have started advancing towards four cities, three of which have negligible ground defenses. They also have sent down at least several hundred space-capable atmospheric fighters in support, with hundreds more probably on the eight large carriers, which promptly Jumped out of harm’s way when we started our attacks. They’ll be back, if they capture spaceports where they can be based and maintained.”

“When we join you shortly, their space bombardment of the planet is going to end,” Greeves assured her, “because that part of the enemy fleet will be trying to stay alive. You’ve proven we’re better at this sort of fighting than they are. Shortly, the PDF forces will be able to focus mainly on the ground attack. I hope they can tackle those damned Stranglers, which will be advancing with their armor.”

“Colonel Gaffigan, who’s in charge of the PDF here, says they can repurpose some of their heavy lasers from orbital defense if we remove that pressure. They’ve lost about twenty percent of the three hundred batteries they had deployed at the four cities targeted for occupation. That must leave them with about two hundred forty potent heavy weapons to oppose the armored columns.”