The first day, p.13
The First Day, page 13
part #1 of Vanguard Series
“Tarim, tell the gunners to fire at will, have them randomise their targets. I don’t want the bastards to have chance to breathe.” He paused. “Concentrate missile and artillery fire upon their capital ships.”
“Aye, sir.”
“Captain, I’m detecting a large number of craft descending upon the planet, they look like landing craft,” Friestar stated.
“Sir, I’m picking up a strange signal from the planet, I don’t recognise the protocol,” Dillon interrupted.
“Let me see,” Jennings said. Moving to the comms console, he looked at it for a minute. “It’s a marine code cap, signalling that a planet is under ground attack.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive, sir. I invented it,” Jennings confidently replied.
“It’s too hot to launch transports in this shit storm, can we get a transport lock?” Hunter said.
“Affirmative, sir. We can link with the transport hubs on Vanjellise,” Hixxs confirmed.
“I’ll take the battalion groundside and report on the situation as soon as I can,” Jennings said, then turned and raced off.
“Good luck,” DeLancy said as the ship shuddered.
“Sir, shields are taking heavy punishment, but they’re holding firm,” Hixxs stated.
“What’s the status of the Starburst array?” DeLancy asked.
“Forty-two percent charged,” Tarim replied.
“Captain, I’ve been able to establish a secure channel to the colony.”
“Put me through.”
“Governor, this is Captain DeLancy of the Vanguard, do you copy. Over.”
“Good to hear you, Captain. With the network down, we didn’t know if anyone had heard us.”
“We did, just…” DeLancy paused. “How’s the situation down there?”
“Enemy forces have already landed and are advancing towards the colony. I’ve mobilised the garrison, but I doubt they will be able to hold them for long.”
“Understood, Governor. We’re transporting our marines down now to secure the colony.”
“Thank goodness,” he said with relief.
“What orbital defences do you have?” DeLancy asked.
“There’s the lunar post with two planetary defence batteries, another seven on the planet and a squadron of twenty Nebula fighters currently covering the evacuation of the orbital research facility.”
“Copy that, we’ll continue to engage the enemy, out.” He paused. “Hixx, let me see the colonies ground defences”
“They are not the best,” Hixx replied, bringing up a detailed image on the ops table. “The bunkers themselves are well built, but most of the defence lines are little more than trenches.”
“Weaponry?”
“Barely half of it has been installed.” She shook her head.
“Ok, launch a couple of planetary assault drones. They can support the marine until we can get their heavy equipment down.”
“Can’t guarantee that the drones will make it, sir.”
“Vector some battle drones to provide cover for them.”
“Aye, sir,” she replied over the sound of detonations upon the shields. DeLancy watched on the holo-table as the two drop pods fell away from Vanguard and raced towards the planet surface, covered by several battle drones. Instantly several enemy fighters raced to intercept these planet-bound pods.
“Backstab, take Vertigo and intercept those fighters and cover the drop pods,” Commander Black, leader of Vanguard’s fighter group, said.
“Copy that, boss,” the reply came as the two fighters dived towards the enemy fighters which were engaged in a dog fight with the drones.
“Vertigo, take the two on the left. I’ll get the others,” Backstab ordered.
“Copy that,” he replied, banking to port coming out right on the tail of two enemy fighters, which tried to break away from him, but one of them was slow to pull up and was ripped to pieces by the hail of fire coming from Vertigo’s cannons. The second fighter did not escape either. As he pulled up, he flew right into the flight path of a battle drone, and both were destroyed. Vertigo then headed towards Backstab who was being chased by four enemy fighters, weaving and rolling in a vain attempt to escape their sights.
“C Nine and Fourteen, form up on my wing,” Vertigo ordered to two of the drones which took their places beside him one on each wing. Backstab used the Venom’s incredible agility to execute a reverse barrel roll, coming up behind his former pursuers. A short burst from his guns ripped into one of the fighters, which spun away uncontrollably. The remaining three broke in different directions. Following the closest, Backstab weaved left, and firing a burst which just missed, he pulled back right and fired again. The enemy fighter instantly exploded ahead of him, too close for him to evade, and his fighter was struck by debris.
“Shit, I’ve been hit!” Backstab cried across the intercom. Vertigo watched an explosion rip out from the underside, blowing half of Backstab’s left wing away and sending the fighter spinning towards the planet in smoke and flames. As Vertigo and the drones chased the remaining two, several more fighters dived down, heading straight towards the drop pods which were just entering the atmosphere.
“Boss, this is Vertigo. We’ve lost Backstab,” he said, firing furiously at the enemy fighters.
“Understood, cover those drop pods till they’re clear out.” He flicked a button on the console. “Alpha Leader to Control, copy.”
“Go ahead,” Gibbons gasped in reply.
“Launch Charlie wing as soon as possible, we’re getting swamped out here.”
“Roger that, we’re prepping them now. Five minutes.”
“Fuck five minutes, I need those fighters now, out!” he bellowed, rolling onto an enemy fighter and destroying it with a short but intense burst from the plasma cannons. He banked around coming back into the fray, and as he did he saw a single Venom fighter freshly emerged from the port out-runner come barrelling straight into the battle attacking and destroying five fighters in a stunning display of piloting and skill. He knew that it was Sugalips, the best pilot he had. “Tori, copy.”
“Go, boss,” she replied.
“I want you to take command of the Nebulas covering the evac of the orbital station.”
“Copy, but we won’t be much use against anything more than fighters,” she replied, banking towards the planet.
“Planetary defences are keeping the enemy ships at bay.” He paused. “So, watch you vectors over there.”
“Copy, boss,” she replied.
Jennings arrived in the first wave that transported down into Fort Djukas. The two large transport hubs could each accommodate twenty men plus equipment each. The massive fort had been built inside the mountain next to the city and stretched out encompassing a huge area of the mountain with tunnels and bunkers. He was met by Governor Charlis and his assistant.
“Good to see you again, Governor.”
“You too, Colonel. It’s been a while,” he said, shaking Jennings’ hand. “This is my assistant, Dr. Ariadi Moebus.”
“Pleasure,” Jennings smiled. “So, what's the situation?”
“Much better now that you've arrived. Follow me, I'll take you to the command post where Commander Shaef is directing the defence forces.”
“Very well. Doix, get down the mountain and take charge, get us ready.”
“Consider it done,” Doix replied, gesturing for the marines to follow him.
“Lead on, Governor,” Jennings said. They walked a short distance through the steel lined tunnels to the command post. As they entered, the mountain above was rocked by a direct strike from orbit. The lights flickered, and some equipment fell over, but other than that there was little damage.
“It'll take more than that to crush this fort,” the Governor stated. “We've got two miles of rock above us to get through first.”
“The rock won't protect you if we can't hold them, Governor,” Commander Shaef stated.
“But we will hold them. They may have caught us off-guard, but we shall be victorious.” Jennings announced.
“Sir, I didn't mean we wouldn't be, I…” Shaef saluted.
“Never mind that, Commander. What’s the situation?” Jennings asked, returning the salute.
“Sir, the enemy have landed about three miles away in an area of the jungle they blasted from space. I assumed they were stray shots; I didn't realise they were creating a landing zone.”
“Doubtful you'd have been able to do anything even if you had, Commander. What else?”
“I've been organising our troops down to hold a defensive line around the base of the mountain,” he said, pointing at the holo-display. “But it’s taking some time. A large number of them are coming from a rehearsal for the five hundredth year anniversary parade in the centre of the city.”
“Well, they'll have to be fed into the line piecemeal as they arrive.” He paused, quickly evaluating the position. “I want you to get down to the forward command post and take command of the GalInf troops along the southern coastal flank.” GalInf or Galactic Infantry were the Alliance’s regular troops and made up the bulk of Alliance forces. They wore a basic version of the Warfighter armour known as the Phalanx variant. The GalInf were good quality solid troops; however. they paled in comparison to any of the elite corps, like the marines, airborne or guard’s units.
“Yes, sir.” Shaef saluted, grabbed his weapon and exited through one of the tunnels.
“What's the status of the Planetary Defence Bases?”
“One of them took a direct hit in the initial bombardment, the other six are operational,” a private reported.
“Can they support our ground forces?”
“Sorry, sir, but they’re currently covering the evacuation of the orbital habitat.”
“Very well. As soon as the evac's complete, redirect their fire to support the battle.”
“Aye, sir.”
“Where are your combat drones, Governor?” Jennings asked. “Isn't this mountain also a drone factory?”
“Yes, but the main stores are another two miles below us. They are en-route, but it'll take time before they can get into battle.”
“Okay, also I need you to send any volunteers with medical or technical experience. I have a feeling this is going to get very messy.”
“Of course, I'll make an announcement.”
“Thank you, Governor.”
“I’ll leave Dr Moebus here to liaise, if that’s ok.”
“Certainly.”
“Good luck, Colonel,” the Governor smiled, then left.
“Dillon, deploy Malinea and her sharp shooters to the lower mountain side,” Jennings ordered, staring intently at the holo-display, taking in all its detail.
“Where you need us?” Jones asked, leading another group into the command post.
Vanguard weaved her way through the enemy fleet pouring the full weight of her gun power into the ships she passed, while missiles streaked out heading towards the large capital ships that were hiding behind the escorts. Around the huge bulk of Vanguard’s hull enemy fighters buzzed firing continually at her, but were unable to penetrate the powerful shield, and the PDT’s were taking a heavy toll on them. As Vanguard passed into the middle of the enemy fleet, she began firing her Starburst arrays. From the six arrays across the ship hundreds of bolts of phasite streamed forth, exploding upon the enemy shields and leaving a residual energy burning away. With several of the ships shield-less from the phasite, Vanguard’s secondary batteries easily finished them off. Five of the ships were destroyed in this attack while several more limped off, bellowing smoke and fire from gaping holes in their hulls.
“Starburst array is recharging, sir,” Tarim announced.
“Understood,” DeLancy replied. “Baxter, bring us about. Try and stay within half an AU from the planet.”
“Copy that,” Baxter replied.
“Sir, I'm detecting the Brezan entering the system,” Friestar said.
The Brezan was an older model cruiser, outdated and nearing the end of her service life, but she was still a powerful ship. She was a ship of some twelve hundred metres, and for the most part she looked similar to Vanguard; however there, was two key differences. Firstly, like all older ship the nose lacked the armoured barbs, and secondly but most noticeable, her out-runners were actually part of the main hull rather than independent like Vanguard’s.
“Put me through to their captain.”
“Sir, Captain Hodr on screen now.”
“Captain, good of you to join us.”
“We picked up the distress call, what's the situation?” he asked.
“We're heavily engaged here but holding. Hornet has drawn a small element of the enemy fleet away to the far side of the moon, and Cerberus is under cloak and hunting.” He paused. “The enemy has also landed a sizeable force on the planet.”
“Understood, where do you need us”
“Reinforce Hornet’s position, try and drive them away from orbit”
“Copy, moving to position now”
“Good luck. Captain out.”
Hornet emerged from behind the moon with the aid of the lunar defences and battle drones destroyed the six ships, losing only a couple of the drones. As she headed back toward the main fight, more enemy escorts moved to engage her. Knowing that he couldn't pull the same trick twice, Captain Koranshu ordered the helmsman to take them straight at them. Heavily outnumbered, Hornet engaged the enemy, hitting a number of the ships. Her drones were just catching up as three of the ships on the port flank began to get hit from the unseen Cerberus who was closing in to help Hornet. The drones swarmed over Hornet and fell on the closest ship, engulfing it in a torrent of plasma. The other enemy ships veered off back toward the main fleet as the Brezan began to make her presence felt and threatened to cut them off.
“Sir, I've got Commander Hakir online for you.”
“Hakir, your timing is exceptional. Follow up with us, let’s roll up this flank.”
“My thoughts exactly,” she grinned in reply.
The fighter battle was still intensifying as more and more fighters on both sides joined the battle.
“Madcap, copy. Over,” Boss said.
“Go ahead,” Madcap, a female Borian, replied.
“Have your Hammerheads begin strafing runs against their flanking escort vessels.”
“Understood, but we’ll need cover against those fighter swarms.”
“My Venoms will cover you,” he replied.
“Copy that boss, setting up attack run now,” she replied. Vanguard’s secondary fighter class was the Hammerhead, and these fighters were T-shaped. The forward wings contained two twelve-barrel rotary guns, whilst on the wing tips were mounted the ionic pulse cannons (these cannons can disrupt most shielding). The fuselage contained the cockpit and a vertical line twin engine. They were also equipped with a rear mounted automated point defence turret, larger and less manoeuvrable than a Venom. They were, however, more heavily armoured.
On the planet surface Jennings stood looking out from a parapet on the mountainside towards the sound of approaching enemy in the distance. Beside him two marines were setting up a SCREW gun (Super Cooled Rapid Energy Weapon) mounted on a tripod. Using his NAD linked to his helmet camera, he eyed the coming battlefield. At the foot of the mountain lay an open plain broken up by several rocky formations, the largest being a ridgeline of some sixty meters long and around five metres high roughly halfway between the mountain and jungles edges. Less than thirty meters from the jungle’s edge there was a small isolated outcropping of trees. The jungle itself stretched from the spurs of mountains in the north in a wide curve until it fell away to the beach of the southern coast. At the edge of nearest spur, there was a promontory overlooking the jungle. Along the mountain side there were a series of trench lines carved into the rock, and dozens of paths snaked along joining the whole system together. Several large bunkers were positioned at strategic locations along this trench system, and although they were powerful, most were still not fully operational and lacked several key systems, including weapons. Behind him and the mountain the city lay under the protection of its shield which was now no longer under bombardment.
He turned and walked back through the opening, down the tunnel and into the operations room. A number of consoles were dotted around the chamber, and in the middle stood a large holographic operations table which showed the city, the fort and the positions that they occupied. GalInf troops in blue and green for marines, whilst at the edge of the table, small red dots began to appear one by one, but within a minute the red dots had turned to a large blob, which just kept growing.
“Dr Moebus,” Jennings said.
“Please, Colonel, it’s Aria,” she replied.
“Aria, what is this here?” Jennings asked, pointing at the spur on the holo-map.
“That’s a construction site for another planned PDB,” she replied. “Right now, it’s little more than a foundation pit.”
“We’ll need to occupy it,” Jennings ordered. “That spur puts them in perfect defilade from our weapons. Soon as they figure that, they’ll hit it hard.”
“I’ll deploy sergeant Usaul’s team to it,” O’Malley replied.
“Sir, Captain Jones online,” Dillon announced.
“Put him through,” Jennings ordered. “Go ahead, Jones.”
“Boss, we’ve sighted the enemy. They’re approaching our first positions.”
“Can you ID them?”
“Negative, Boss. I’ve never seen creatures like these fuckers before, uploading holo-images to you now.”
“What the…?” Jennings paused, looking at the hologram. The creature was over seven feet tall, four legged, with two pairs of arms. The first pair were large with pincers whilst the second were small with three fingered hands. The creature also had a tail with a large stinger. “Dillon, forward this footage to Vanguard. They’re not gonna believe this shit.”
