Ep.#6 - "Head of the Dragon" (The Frontiers Saga) (41 page)

“Sir,” a sergeant operating one of the comm-stations interrupted, “Captain Waddell is down there with only eighty men. They won’t last ten minutes without reinforcement—not even five if the citizens of Answari pickup weapons and start defending their city.”

Cameron looked at the Corinari sergeant. The man had nearly twenty years in the service, and ten more before that in the imperial forces. The only reason he wasn’t down on the streets of Answari right now was because he had been injured during the raid on the Ancot garrison. It had been a lucky break for Cameron, however, as she needed someone with battlefield experience and an understanding of how both the Ta’Akar and the Corinari worked. The elder sergeant fit the bill nicely. “Thank you, Sergeant. I’m well aware of that fact. But we need to find a way to take out those last two guns so we can get those jumpers in and out. We can’t afford to lose any more jumpers or we won’t be able to get troops to the ground fast enough to sustain the battle.”

“Commander,” Ensign Yosef interrupted as she studied the sensor data that had been transmitted from the Falcon’s flight over Answari. “I think I may have an answer for you.” Ensign Yosef pushed some buttons and transferred the images from the scans to the plotting table. A three-dimensional image of the city of Answari appeared on the table. Ensign Yosef moved from the console to the plotting table as she spoke. “The two remaining guns are here and here,” she explained, pointing at the two gun emplacements in the floating image. “If we jump in here, over this plaza, the surrounding high-rises will shield the jumpers from those last two guns.”

“That’s not much room to jump into,” Cameron noted.

“They will need to make a two step jump,” Ensign Yosef explained. “First they jump out here,” she explained as she zoomed away from the image so fast that it rapidly changed into a view of the entire planet. “Then, they change course and turn into the planet, changing their attitude so that they are jumping straight down toward the plaza belly first.”

“They’ll need to have almost no forward momentum before they jump in,” Cameron said, “and they won’t have much of a margin for error, not while they’re going straight at the planet.”

“No, sir, they won’t,” Ensign Yosef agreed.

“I’m not sure,” Cameron admitted as she zoomed the image back in and focused on the target plaza itself. “If there are any shooters in the surrounding buildings, the jumpers will still be sitting ducks, as will the men getting off of them.”

“Put a few shooters on the ramps as they fast rope down,” the sergeant suggested. “They can provide cover fire.”

“They’ll be sitting ducks as well,” Cameron pointed out. “No, we need to get our forces to that plaza and secure it first.”

“That’s not exactly on the way to the palace, sir,” the sergeant reminded her.

“It can’t be helped,” Cameron insisted. “You said it yourself, Sergeant; Captain Waddell needs to be reinforced.”

“Someone’s got to get the word to him, first,” Ensign Yosef said.

“Get the Falcon back on comms,” Cameron ordered.

* * *

“Jump complete,” Mister Riley reported from the Aurora’s navigation station.

“Contact, imperial cruiser dead ahead,” Mister Randeen reported from the tactical station. “Five kilometers out. Still maintaining same course and speed.”

“Actively jamming,” Mister Willard reported.

“We’re still matching his speed, Captain,” Mister Chiles reported from the helm.

“Snapshot one and two,” Nathan ordered.

“Firing one and two,” Mister Randeen responded as he pressed the torpedo launch buttons on his console for both tubes one and two.

“Helm, translate downward hard three hundred meters and maintain course and speed,” Nathan ordered.

“Translating hard down, three hundred meters, Aye.”

“One and two away,” Mister Randeen reported.

“Navigator, plot a jump, ten kilometers forward from our current position, and jump when ready.”

“Aye, sir.”

“Ten seconds to torpedo impact,” Mister Randeen announced.

“Stand by to fire tube five, Mister Randeen, and stand by on the missile pod. A full four shot.”

“Aye, Captain.”

“Target’s shields are coming up, Captain,” Mister Navashee reported from the sensor station.

“She’s turning to port as well,” Mister Randeen added. “Five seconds to impact.”

“Navigator, new plot, a thousand kilometers out, ninety degrees off our current heading,” Nathan ordered. “Helm, hard to starboard, come over ninety. Tactical, as soon as our aft tubes come to bear, snapshot tube six instead of five, fixed yield nuke.”

“Torpedo impact!” Mister Randeen declared. “One only, the second torpedo missed.”

“Keep an eye on our aft tubes, Mister Randeen,” Nathan reminded him, “and lock our missiles on the target.” Nathan turned to the sensor operator on his left. “Sensors, damage report on the target?”

“One moment,” Mister Navashee advised.

“Missiles locked on target.”

“Fire four,” Nathan ordered.

“Firing four,” Mister Randeen answered.

Nathan watched as four missiles streaked over his head on the main view screen that formed a quarter sphere over the front half of the Aurora’s bridge. The enemy cruiser was too distant for any of them to see with the naked eye, and the rapidly accelerating missiles also quickly disappeared from their sight.

“Damage to their starboard thrusters, Captain,” Mister Navashee reported. “Her aft shields are nearly at full power, but they’re weak on her starboard side.”

“Firing tube six,” Mister Randeen reported from tactical.

“Target is spinning up point-defenses,” Mister Navashee added.

“We’re being targeted, Captain!” Mister Willard reported.

“I thought we were jamming,” Nathan said, surprised by Mister Willard’s report.

“We are, but somehow she’s getting through. They may be targeting optically, sir, with lasers.”

“She’s firing missiles!” Mister Randeen reported. “Eight targets coming in fast.”

“She took out three of four,” Mister Navashee reported. “One hit, to her aft underside missile pod, the one she just fired from.”

“Too little too late,” Nathan muttered.

“Ten seconds until their missiles reach us, Captain,” Mister Randeen reported.

“Jump plotted,” Mister Riley announced.

“Jump,” Nathan ordered.

The bridge filled with the jump flash momentarily.

“Range to target?” Nathan asked as the flash cleared.

“One thousand fifty meters and growing,” Mister Navashee reported.

“Helm, come hard about, put us back on course for that cruiser. Mister Navashee, that nuke should’ve hit by now. I need a damage assessment ASAP.”

“Aye, sir.”

“Mister Chiles, new plot. Put us one light minute past the target. We’ll jump there, come about again, and then jump in right in front of her. She’ll have to turn to avoid ramming us.”

Mister Chiles looked over at Mister Riley from his seat at the helm, a look of concern on his face.

“Yes, sir,” Mister Chiles responded.

“Target’s aft shields are down,” Mister Navashee reported from the sensors station.

“We should attack from her stern again,” Mister Randeen suggested.

“If her captain’s any good, he’ll simply flip her end over the minute we launch from behind,” Nathan disagreed. “He’s not going to show us his unshielded side long enough for us to take a shot at him, not now.” Nathan thought for a moment. “If one nuke can take down a shield that’s nearly at full power, then maybe two nukes can take down a fully powered shield. Mister Randeen, reload tube six with a conventional torpedo. Reload one and two with fixed yield nukes, just like three and four. Rig all tubes for snapshot, same as before.”

“Yes, sir,” Mister Randeen answered.

“Sir, there are still eight missiles headed in our general direction. They’re a thousand kilometers away, but they can still reach us.”

“Can those missiles lock onto us?” Nathan asked Mister Willard.

“No, sir, they were laser guided. Unless the cruiser paints us, those missiles can’t find us.”

“She can see us, sir,” Mister Navashee reported. “We’re not that far away.”

“How far out are they?”

“At least a couple minutes, sir,” Mister Randeen reported.

“I’ve got the next jump plotted and locked, Captain,” Mister Chiles reported.

“Might as well jump then…” Nathan started.

“Contact!” Mister Navashee reported.

“Belay that,” Nathan ordered, canceling the jump.

“It’s the Falcon, sir,” Mister Randeen announced.

“Captain,” Naralena called, “CIC reports the airbase at Answari is nonoperational, but two of the eight guns protecting Answari are still active. Two of our jump shuttles have been destroyed. Two flight crews and twenty troops lost. The Falcon has been ordered by C2 to jump back into Answari and transmit orders to the ground forces to secure a protected LZ for the jump shuttles. Josh is requesting to reload so he can engage the guns as well.”

“CAG, Captain,” Nathan called over the comms.

“
Go ahead sir,
” Major Prechitt answered over the comm-set.

“Have you been updated on the situation on Answari?”

“
Yes, sir. We just received the updated sit-rep from C2. The proposed jump plot is risky, but doable. I think we should let the Falcon give it a try.
”

“Agreed. Get the Falcon recycled ASAP. Also, get your first wave of atmospheric fighters ready to launch. We may be jumping back to Takara sooner than we expected.”

“
Yes, sir.
”

“Comms, tell the Falcon we’ve got inbound missiles less than two minutes out, so he needs to get on deck fast.”

“I’m sure he’ll have no problem with that, Captain,” Naralena answered as she queued up the Falcon.

Nathan smiled, remembering his first ride in the harvester back on Haven with Josh on the stick. Landing quickly was not a problem for Josh.

“Copy, Aurora,” Loki announced. “We’re coming in.” Loki switched off his ship-to-ship comms. “You get that?” he asked Josh.

“I got it. I got it. Going in hot,” Josh announced.

Loki looked at the flight dynamics display, noticing that Josh was indeed coming in awfully fast, even for Josh. “Uh, Josh, we want to land, not crash.”

“No worries,” Josh mumbled as the Falcon passed rapidly over the Aurora’s main drive section. “Translating down.” Josh fired the topside thrusters, pushing the jump interceptor down toward the Aurora.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Loki exclaimed as the interceptor nearly slammed into the top of the Aurora before passing forward of her main drive section.

“You’re not going to turn into a whiny little girl again, are ya mate?” Josh teased.

“Funny.”

“Flaring,” Josh announced. He pulled the ships nose up forty five degrees and fired his vertical thrusters at full power, slowing his rate of descent to almost nothing within a few seconds. The angle also slowed his forward speed until it was only slightly faster than the Aurora’s, bring his closure rate to only a dozen meters per second. “Touchdown,” Josh announced as the interceptors landing gear slammed into the deck, its hydraulics absorbing most of the impact. He slammed on the wheel brakes, throwing the two of them slightly forward against their harnesses. The ship rolled forward along the Aurora’s flight apron, coming to stop under the entry canopy that led into the main hangar bay. Had the deck not been rigged as an open deck, they would’ve slammed into the transfer airlock doors before coming to a stop. Instead, they slowed down just enough to roll into the main hangar bay at a safe speed, coming to a stop just before the aft most row of atmospheric fighters.

“That was fun,” Josh declared as they rolled to a stop. The Aurora’s jump flash spilled into the hangar bay through her open aft end as she jumped out of the path of the imperial cruiser’s incoming missiles.

“I still say you have a twisted idea of what fun is,” Loki argued.

Josh just smiled.

“Jump one complete,” Mister Riley reported. “Calculating jump two.”

“Coming about,” Mister Chiles reported as he put the Aurora into a one hundred eighty degree turn.

“Mister Riley, can you plot a hypothetical jump?” Nathan asked.

“A hypothetical jump? I’m not sure what you mean, sir,” Mister Riley admitted.

“I mean, can you plot a jump from a location that we are not yet at, to another location?”

“I guess so,” Mister Riley told him, “but the system won’t let us make that jump until we’re at the proper jump point.”

“Can we override that? Set it to let us activate a short, pre-calculated jump whenever we want?”

“I don’t know, Captain,” Mister Riley admitted.

“Jump control, Captain,” Nathan called over his comm-set.

“
Go ahead, sir,
” Abby answered over the comm-set.

“Abby, can you hack the safeties on the jump drive? I want to be able to initiate short jumps whenever I want.”

“
How short are we talking about?
” Abby asked.

“No more than a few kilometers.”

“
It is possible, yes, but I would not recommend it.
”

“Understood. How long will it take you?”

“
A few minutes, but you must remember that, in order to jump safely, you require a clear path to your destination. You cannot jump through solid matter.
”

“I remember, Doctor. Rig the code and push it to the navigator’s console, please.”

“
Yes, Captain.
”

“New plan, Captain?” Mister Chiles inquired.

“We need to hit her from behind, but he’s going to try to deny us that shot. So we’ll fire on him head on, translate down, then jump ahead a kilometer so that we’re just on the other side of her. Then, we can fire point blank at her stern and jump away before she can hammer us.”

“We’re going to make two mini-jumps? Both pre-calculated?” Mister Riley asked.

“Yup,” Nathan responded confidently. “So far, we’ve been using short jumps to get into firing position and escape again. But before, if we tried to pass by and shoot at their other side, we’d get hammered as we passed. If we jump past, we should have just enough time to fire and jump away again before they can retarget.”