The first day, p.12
The First Day, page 12
part #1 of Vanguard Series
“Unsure at the moment. Until we can establish what’s going on at Vanjellise, priority is just getting there.”
“Sounds fair, but remember we do not have the same speed as you.” He paused. “We’ll probably be about ten minutes behind.”
“Acknowledged, proceed at best possible speed and come into the system from undershot of the planet.”
“Understood,” Kharog replied.
Vanguard emerged out of the field followed in close formation by Cerberus and Hornet one on each flank, with the Narulh bringing up the rear. As soon as they were clear, they jumped to warp.
“Commander, load all tubes and have the gunners ready to engage. As soon as we drop out of hyper-warp, prep A and B wings for launch.” He paused, turning toward the pilot. “Baxter, bring us in as close to the planet as you can, in an over-watch position”
“Sir,” the reply came.
“Put me through to engineering.”
“Aye, sir.”
“Engineering,” the Chief replied.
“Chief, bring all emergency generators online, and get that reactor back online asap.”
“EM generators coming online now, but the reactor will take the best part of an hour, sir.”
“Then don’t let me keep you, Chief. We may need that power.”
“Aye, sir.”
“Let’s hope this turns out to be nothing,” Jennings said.
“We’ll soon find out,” DeLancy replied.
“Either way Cap, we’ll be ready,” Jennings said, taking the safety off each of his pistols in turn before replacing them in their holsters. He then put his hands together, cracked his knuckles, then his neck. The atmosphere on the bridge was tense as they waited.
Jhales raced onto one of Vanguard’s gundecks. He dodged his way through past the other gunners rushing to their positions. He sidestepped towards the ladder that led up to P turret and began to climb up. Reaching the top he hurriedly clambered through the open hatch and into the gun turret. Inside the massive turret, several of the crew were already waiting.
“Sir, is this another drill?” Tuekel groggily asked.
“Fucked if I know, let’s just get ready like it’s not,” Jhales replied, taking his seat in the master gunner chair, as behind him the hatch automatically closed. “Alright, Jade. Arm the priming coil.”
“Copy that,” she replied.
“Tuekel, link us into the TAIP array.”
“Understood,” he replied.
“Seal and lock,” Jhales ordered, pressing a button on his metallic collar. A metal back formed up and around his head, leaving his face uncovered. A forcefield activated, sealing the helmet. When the crew were ready, Jhales depressurised the gun turret. He continued activating the weapons system. When he suddenly noticed the Master Arm button light up, he turned to Tuekel who also saw it.
“Not a drill,” Tuekel nervously stated.
“Looks that way,” Jhales replied. “Arm the priming coils and open the magazines,” he ordered. “Standby to release gimble control.”
Throughout the ship the alarm klaxons wailed, and red warning lights flashed. A rumbling like distant thunder echoed throughout as dozens of plasma intake manifolds opened to power Vanguard’s weapons and defence systems. In Jones's quarters, he and Tori stumbled from his bed and raced around getting dressed.
“I swear this better not be the Sarnt Major fucking with us,” Jones said, pulling his trousers on.
“Ship wide alert. If this is his doing, then we owe him a drink,” Tori laughed. “Spare me some boots,” she said, looking down at her rainbow socks.
“Bottom drawer,” he replied, throwing a handful of tablets into his mouth. “Here,” he said, tossing the bottle to Tori. “Take three of those little bastards, they'll take care of any hangover,” he added, buckling up his weapon belt.
“Thanks,” she replied. “Alright, best get my sweet ass down there,” she added, tying her hair up. “Turae Natoth Imae Quentaya,” she said, kissing him (an Amaronian saying meaning “may fate be kind”).
“Be lucky,” he replied as she left. Seconds later he too was out the door and heading the opposite direction towards the ready room as throughout the ship marines, pilots and crewmen rushed to their battle stations, some still half struggling to get uniforms on. In the barracks, there was a flurry of activity as marines rushed around dressing and arming up. Amid it all stood Sergeant Major McKay barking orders and threatening the slower marines into more speed. In less than three minutes the whole battalion and all two hundred drones were stood ready and waiting for combat, even Jones.
“What’s the Op, Sarnt Major?” Jones asked, locking his armour into place.
“No details, sir,” he replied. “Partial distress call from Vanjellise.”
“So not your doing then?” Jones asked as he took his weapon from his locker. It was his favoured weapon, a DX-9. It looked similar to the standard marine PX-4 but used larger calibre pulses. It had a shorter barrel and a hand grip. Jones not only had his blast gun as a back-up, but he also carried a short assault gun strapped to his right leg, and a pistol holstered under each arm. He quickly tested his small quick-draw pistol that was concealed in his right forearm bracer.
“No, sir,” McKay replied.
“Figures,” Jones stated, pushing the quick-draw back into concealment.
“At least you’ll get to try that Fuska out,” McKay stated, spotting it tucked into Jones’ belt kit.
“Silver linings,” Jones winked.
“Playtime, boss,” an excited Raxs said, clapping Jones on both shoulders.
“Yeah, someone’s day’s about to get fucked up,” Simpson stated, slapping a large box magazine onto his LX-3 support gun.
“Mine already is,” Williams groaned from behind them.
“Hey spikey, you forgetting sumthing?” Serallis said, throwing him his helmet. “Shitting stars, you look rough,” she added looking at Williams.
“Yeah thanks, been blowing chunks all morning.”
“Told you a curry was a bad idea,” Raxs laughed.
“Ram it, chuckles,” Williams replied, retching and causing several to step back. “Anyone got any zobrit?”
“Here,” Jones said handing him his pills.
“Lifesaver, Cap.”
Tori raced across the flight deck and scrambled up the ladder into her fighter. After she clambered into the cockpit, she took her helmet from one of the deck crew and pulled it on. Ahead of her she could see the first fighters begin taxing into launch positions. She continued prepping for launch, whilst the deck crew finished arming and fuelling the fighter.
Chapter 9
Earth Orbital Command was a gigantic space station that orbited between the Earth and Luna (the Moon). Not only was the station the military headquarters of the Alliance and the last line of defence for Earth, but it also served as a space dock and had limited repair abilities. The station itself was around fifteen miles in height and ten miles wide and housed a permanent crew of some two million. At its centre was a large cone like structure with dozens of long docking wharfs stretching out. Around the main structure there were thousands of windows, stood in his office looking out one of these windows was Captain Donald Spence, chief of Operations. It was the beginning of a new day and the sun was just dawning over the brilliant blue of the Pacific Ocean below. He watched as shuttles buzzed back and forth from ship to station and vice versa loading cargo and crew, but his gaze fell beyond those towards the orbital shipyard just visible on the Earth's horizon. His comm beeped.
“Yes, OMA. What is it?” he answered, the holo-image of OMA, the EAI persona of the station, appeared in his office. OMA is an acronym for Omega Military Asset. OMA is the first AI to be classed as an EAI, her program dating back to the Batawallan War. At some point during the Battle of Sol, OMA became self-aware to such an extent she became classed as sentient. It is from her brain patterns that all EAI’s are now descended from. In essence, she is the mother of all EAI’s.
“Sir, we've received a data-stream from Task Force Victor one five,” she stated.
“Good, link it straight to my computer, will you.”
“Yes, sir. Also, I've had Captain Kryn from the Sabretooth on again, asking when will his refit be finished.”
“The man understands nothing of patience,” Spence said in exasperation. “Tell him the same thing I told him yesterday. Once the Excalibur has finished the final phase, the Sabretooth is next on the list.” He paused. “Hell, send him a copy of the schedule too. He can see for himself.”
“Yes, sir.” She smirked. “Data stream is ready for you now, sir,” she said, gesturing with her hand before leaving in the vanishing style of most holograms.
“Thank you,” Spence said as she went. He sat down at his desk and began reading. He'd barely read a few lines when he was troubled. The discovery of another unregistered PAMM was final proof that not all were accounted for, as initially had been claimed, and this was worrying. Even worse was the fact that it came from a Foderian weapon cache. If they had access to this kind of firepower, they would pose a significantly greater threat. The fact the Foderian base had been slaughtered by an unknown assailant didn't concern him too much. There were many species from outside the Alliance that the Foderians attacked; the list of suspects for this was endless.
“OMA, will you get Imeleiya down here please,” he said into the comm before continuing to read looking for signs of the elusive Foderian HQ. A few possible leads, but nothing that looked promising, he thought.
“Sir, Lieutenant Banchent will be here in five minutes,” Oma said.
“Thank you, OMA. Can you access the files relating to PAMM's and transfer it to my computer, please.”
“Yes, sir. It will take a couple of minutes. There are extensive files on them,” she replied.
The system was called Vanjhar, and around its orangey-yellow sun (a typical G-type main sequence star), orbited eight planets. Only one of these was habitable, the fourth planet it was named Vanjellise. Vanguard dropped to sub light as close to Vanjellise as was possible fifty thousand miles out at a high position in the system, followed by Hornet and then Cerberus who instantly activated her cloak. Ahead was a lush green planet with a small moon. Between Vanguard and the planet there were a vast number of unknown ships of several different sizes. A stream of bright orangey-red crescent shaped shots of energy were raining down on the planet below, striking the surface or exploding violently on the city’s shield which rippled a pink-purple colour at each impact.
These ships all shared a similar profile. They were oblong in shape, with large rectangular engines jutting out from their rear, and upon the underbelly were two large openings. These were the ship’s hanger bays. On its top was a short but broad triangle that was the ship’s bridge. From the bows and along the sides of these ships numerous scythes and spikes of metal protruded forth at various angles, the razor-sharp metal glinting faintly, reflecting the sun’s light.
“Shields up, E.D.O.s to maximum,” Hunter ordered.
“Report,” Delancy ordered.
“I’m detecting twenty larger ships and over two hundred smaller craft. The configurations don’t match anything we’ve encountered before,” Friestar paused. “Wait a number of them are moving to intercept and appear to be launching fighters,” he added.
“Open an all channel broadcast.”
“All channels open, sir.”
“Unidentified vessels, you are engaged in an attack against a colony of the Galactic Republic. I order you to immediately stand down your attack, or we will be forced to open fire upon you”
“No response, sir.”
“Target the nearest vessels, full offensive payload, hold for my command,” DeLancy ordered.
“Launch fighters and battle drones,” Hunter stated.
“I say again, stand down immediately or be destroyed,” DeLancy repeated firmly.
The alien ships closed in on Vanguard and Hornet. Each ship seemed to be alive as gun turrets rolled to target the oncoming enemy. From Vanguard’s launch bays the fighters began racing out, while from their domes the battle drones descended. The combat drones looked like missiles at first, but when they were clear of the ship the rear end began to open into eight slender tail fins, each of which had a plasma cannon on the end. DeLancy watched through the view-screen as the enemy ships closed. They began firing at Vanguard volley after volley of orangey-red energy bursts impacting against the forward shields.
“Primary shields holding,” Hixx reported.
“I think we have our answer,” Jennings said.
“It seems so,” DeLancy paused. “Return fire!” he ordered.
All Vanguard’s main gun batteries fired in unison shot after shot of blue plasma, accompanied by dozens of missiles which shimmered with purple light from their propulsion and raced towards the enemy. The leading enemy ships began taking hits, several of which tried to evade the murderous barrage Vanguard had unleashed. The lead ship, however, had no chance and exploded in a quick but violent fireball. Several missiles struck another of the enemy, puncturing its shields and blowing a gaping hole into its hull. Another missile imploded inside the hole, causing the ship to be ripped in two. Vanguard’s artillery emplacements now began the rear of the enemy fleet. Unlike the main cannons, these specialised howitzers are capable of firing energy shots with arching trajectories. Dozens of shots rained down amid the enemy, causing chaos in their formation, with several shots slammed into one of the larger enemy vessels, causing heavy damage.
Hornet, which didn’t have the range that Vanguard’s main batteries did, was now close enough to open fire as did Vanguard’s secondary batteries. Hornet was targeting the enemies’ port flank, strafing several of their ships. A lucky shot struck the bridge of one of them, causing it to veer suddenly to port and into the adjacent ship. They slammed together and dragged alongside each other, tearing chunks of both ship’s hulls away in the process.
More of the enemy ships were now drawing into range and began to fire at Hornet and Vanguard. As they did so another enemy ship guarding the extreme flank was hit with several torpedoes launched by Cerberus hidden under the cover of its cloak. All around swarms of fighters began to engage each other turning areas of space into firestorms as plasma pulses and missiles flew in all directions, incinerating several fighters on either side as they were struck.
A dozen of Vanguard’s battle drones sped towards the enemy fleet, carving a path through the fighter waves for Vanguard to follow. Several drones were destroyed as they came forward, and those that reached the enemy fleet danced through the formation strafing as they went. Vanguard closed upon the enemy fleet following the path the drones had lain, continually firing into the enemy which had lost all sense of formation as ships desperately attempted to evade the oncoming fire. Even as they tried to evade their own doom, the enemy continued to fire at Vanguard, but many of their missiles and energy shots were thrown off course by the magnetic resonance field created by the EDO's. While many more of the missiles and energy shots were intercepted by Vanguard’s defensive missiles and Anti-Matter flak batteries, the brilliant white lines that streaked forth from these batteries vaporised any matter or energy that they came into contact with. The immense firepower of Vanguard had decimated the enemy’s leading ships, but now the rest began to come into range. The battle had well and truly begun.
“Commander Brown, I want a full analysis of those ships,” DeLancy ordered. “Dillon, get me Command.”
“Sir, I’m unable to connect to the network,” Dillon replied.
“Try routing through a different relay.”
“Still nothing, sir,” she replied. “It’s like the relays aren’t there.”
“That can’t be,” DeLancy muttered. “Not even the auto-beat?”
“Nothing, sir.”
“Keep trying.”
Hornet, supported by a handful of drones, began to move off towards the small moon orbiting the planet, attempting to draw ships away from guarding the enemy flank. Six ships similar in size to Hornet took the bait and followed. With the drones in as close a formation as possible to Hornet so as not to be detected, she quickly rounded the moon and disappearing from the enemies’ sight.
“Comms, get me the commander of the lunar outpost,” Captain Koranshu ordered.
“Aye, sir, channel open.”
“Lieutenant, we’re drawing the enemy towards you. Let them pass then open fire, we’ll pin them between us.”
“Understood, Captain. We’re locked and loaded, targets are about to breach the horizon.”
“Copy, out.” The enemy came into view. They were hugging the moon, using it to slingshot themselves after the faster Hornet, and seconds later they began to open fire. Several shots struck Hornet, causing the ship’s shields to flicker at each impact. One shot struck a drone, which spun into Hornet, smashing into her shields in a fiery explosion that rocked the ship.
“Sir, shield strength down to seventy percent!” the Tactical officer shouted over the noise of explosions.
“Reroute power to compensate, standby all weapons.” Through the view-screen, Captain Koranshu watched the enemy ships approach. They passed the Lunar outpost, and he watched as the planetary defence bases began to open fire. The huge cannons were targeting the rear-most ship which erupted into a ball of flames as her engines were blown to pieces, causing a chain reaction that destroyed the ship entirely.
“Fire!” Koranshu ordered, rising from his chair. The enemy ships hastily began redeploying under the heavy fire, trying to cope with the threats from the front and the rear. “Send the battle drones in to pin that flank,” Koranshu ordered as Hornet was rocked by a number of impacts.
Vanguard ploughed forward into the midst of the enemy, seeming to ignore the missiles and incoming ordinance. All around the ship explosions erupted upon her shields. Vanguard now found herself between two lines of ships as the enemy attempted to encircle her, but these smaller ships were no match for her awesome firepower, and their guns posed little danger to Vanguard’s shielding, let alone the armour beneath. The flak batteries were wreaking terrible damage at this close range; their brilliant white streams tore through shields and ship alike. But despite the damage they were inflicting, the enemy showed no signs of withdrawing.
