Mike's War: Sequel to Jesse's Starship (18 page)

Mike slammed his fist on the table, “So you’re telling me we don’t have anything in our inventory to counter those Beamships?”

Jeanette said, “The Warthogs can take them on but none of them are armed to do it.”

“For God’s sake, why not?”

Jesse was listening in and said, “Mike, the A-10’s have been undergoing training to prepare the young pilots to fly them in combat conditions. All of them are currently armed with training weapons and it would take time to convert them to actual weaponry.”

Mike looked at Jesse, “How long?”

“I contacted the General in charge of their training and he tells me it would take at least three days to even start the conversion.”

Mike lowered his head and said, “This is my fault.”

The speaker on the wall activated and they heard General Dunlov say, “No it’s not.”

Mike looked up at the speaker and said, “Alex?”

“It’s not your fault. Even if we had the Hogs ready to go they wouldn’t have been sent. We didn’t know that Beamship existed. We’d be scrambling to find a way to get the Warthogs there in time and, since we’ve not developed how they will be transported, we’d still be in the same situation.”

Mike looked at Tilly and she said, “I started sending the feed on the operation out to all the forts as soon as the drop started.”

“Why?”

Tilly looked at Mike, “I was inundated with requests for information and it seems to me that we don’t have anything to hide from those that are going to go out and fight for the cause. I’ll stop it if you want but I believe it’s the right thing to do.”

Mike took a deep breath and blew it out, “Alex, I should have waited until all of our assets were ready.”

“If you did that, we’d never leave the planet. Your original idea was correct; we had to see what we were up against. Now we know and can plan accordingly.”

Mike nodded and looked at Tilly, “Get General Daniels on the channel.”

The troops at all the forts on Sparta were crowded into their armories listening and watching what was happening. They all saw their brothers were trapped on a planet with no escape. All of them refused to leave until the operation played out.

• • •

“General Daniels here.”

“General, I don’t have good news. I have no way to get a carrier down to the planet to take out your command. My staff is looking at every possible contingency, but at the moment, we’ve not been able to find anything that would do it.”

“Have any of the other regiments started training Fliers?” Mike shook his head. “If you’re confronted with this again, Commandant, you could leave a company of fliers in high atmosphere and have them drop in on those ships and take some out. Our fliers are on the ground now, so that is not an option. However, I am working on a way to save a portion of my command.”

Mike looked up, “How are you going to do that?”

“We have the thirty carriers that delivered the tanks. According to my readouts, as long as we don’t put more than ten people on them, they are as fast as the ships overhead. They will need a head start to stay out of range of the beams, but I think we can distract those ships long enough to give them a chance.”

“What do you need from me?”

“I need a transport in orbit waiting for them.”

“We’re expecting a response from the Gracken Navy shortly.”

“I understand and I’ll get them moving as quickly as possible; however, I want that transport waiting for them, Sir.”

Mike stared at Derek and said, “It will be there, General.”

• • •

Derek ended the call and looked at Halley, who had been listening in, “I want you to assemble all the Fliers and have them get on the tank carriers. You should go with them.”

Halley stared at Derek and said, “If any officer goes, it will be you.”

“Halley, don’t make me order you to do this.”

“I’ll ignore the order and appeal it to the Commandant; who do you think he’ll order to leave?”

Derek was angry but knew Mike would force him to go with the transports. “I’ll not leave you behind, Halley.”

Halley reached and hugged Derek, “We will live, or die, together.”

Derek sighed and nodded, “How are we going to get the most important members of the regiment to leave?”

Halley smiled, “There has to be a good reason for them to do it.”

Mike stared at her and thought about who needed to go. After a moment he smiled and activated his combat computer, “Give me a list of the thirty best sharpshooters in the regiment.” The list appeared on both their visors and Mike nodded. “Major Romanov.”

“Yes Sir.”

“I want you to remove all the fifty caliber machine guns from your tank’s storage and have them mounted on the rear of the thirty carriers. Get moving.”

“Yes Sir.”

Mike activated the main channel and announced, “I am sending a list of personnel that are going to be manning the machineguns we’re installing on the carriers. Report to the carriers and get the guns ready to fire.”

Derek looked at Halley and held up five fingers. He dropped one, then two, then three, and their communications channel erupted, “Sir, I will not leave my battalion.”

“Nor will I; my place is here.”

Derek allowed the shouts for five seconds and said, “You will all shut up.” The thirty shooters never heard their commander speak to them in that tone and they instantly grew silent. Mike hit the general frequency so the entire regiment could hear what he was saying. “It looks like we are trapped on this planet and the Gracken are mobilizing more than two hundred thousand of their warriors to come and introduce themselves. We have looked at all the possible ways to save us but unfortunately, none have been found. My computer informs me that I can put eight hundred kilograms on each of those carriers and they should be able to match the speed of those ships overhead. The computer tells me that equates to five of our heavy infantry or ten of the fliers. I choose to save as many as possible. The Fliers are not as heavily armored as our standard warriors and won’t last long once the enemy opens fire. Our brothers back on Sparta need them to train new warriors how to fly their personal shields. The Fliers are ordered to report to the carriers and I expect you to train those that will come and avenge what happens here.” Derek paused, “Do not let me down.”

The Fliers were all ready to disobey the order until Derek charged them with making the Gracken pay. They reluctantly moved out of ranks and started walking toward the carriers. Their comrades patted them on the shoulder and told them not to feel bad.

Derek saw them start walking and said, “The thirty of you ordered to man the fifties were chosen due to your ability to fire a weapon. You are our best shooters. Check your computers if you doubt me. The fliers are going to have to remove their armor to lighten the load and you and the transports light force field will be their only defense against the ships giving chase. I also have three Alliance Engineers who are my guests and I am not going to allow them to be harmed if I can prevent it. I know most of you want to stay, but I need you to defend your brothers. Do a good job.”

Majors Rizzo and Jennings walked up and Derek said, “Halley and I will take your commands and lead them in your place.”

Rizzo stared at Derek and walked forward and hugged him and Halley, “Make them pay, Sir.”

Derek smiled, “I suspect we’ll make a good show, Major.”

Derek activated the general frequency, “I want the survivors of Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie companies to go back through the city and burn any of our warriors that were killed taking the city. Use your standard hand blasters to make it happen. I know how you feel about doing this but the Gracken can’t tell what species is attacking them. They’ll know their attackers are bipedal but there are too many species in the Alliance to know which one is here. They have had a probe at Earth and we can’t leave a body behind for them to see; it would endanger Earth. You will join all the other companies at the beach near the force field generators when you finish your task.”

Halley looked at Derek, “I didn’t think of that.”

“Let’s hope it works. The next order none of us are going to like.” Halley looked Derek in the eyes and he said, “I want the self-destruct modules taken out of the tanks and distributed to all of our warriors. I want them attached to their leads and activated.”

Halley stared at Derek and then sighed. “I’ll issue the orders.”

“Thank you, Colonel.”

The seriousness of the situation came home to the Spartan forces when they were issued their self-destruct modules. Now it really began to sink in that death was not far away.

• • •

The hundreds of thousands of warriors watching the exchange on Sparta saw the bravery of the men on Fippen. Something stirred inside them and they wanted to be there with them. A warrior watching in the armory at Fort Athens yelled, “I want to be there with them!”

Alex looked at the soldier and said, “As long as you watch their actions, you are there and you honor their sacrifice.”

• • •

Derek looked at the head engineer and said, “Is there any way to modulate the force field?”

“What do you mean?”

“The force field complex is next to the shoreline. Could it be reduced in size to cover just the beach and surrounding area?”

“Yes, but you would open the rest of the city to their beams.”

“If we remain in the city, what do you think would happen to the inhabitants still here when the force field finally fails?”

The engineer shrugged, “They would all be killed.”

“But if we move to the beach and reduce the size of the force field before those ships start their bombardment, what do you think they would fire on?”

The engineer nodded, “They would focus on your forces. There would probably be some collateral damage around the area, but they should ignore the bulk of the city. You’re the ones they’re after. It would also strengthen the force field if we reduce the coverage and extend the time it will remain active.”

“Will you make those changes and get out here so I can get you and your team to safety.”

“If it’s all the same, I would prefer to stay. The other two members may leave, but I see my duty is to be here to modulate the field and keep it active as long as possible.”

Derek looked into the engineer’s eyes and smiled, “You surprise me. I didn’t think anyone in the Alliance possessed this much bravery.”

“My name is Gremel, and I’m here fighting for my family just like you and your brave fighters. I trust the community to take care of my family if I don’t make it.” Gremel turned and sent his two friends to the carriers. He then went inside the force field complex and sent word he was ready.

Derek watched the engineer go back inside the complex and shook his head. Halley said, “They are more than I thought.”

Derek nodded and said, “Get the tanks set up to defend the beach at the dunes. Space them out so our companies will be under their force fields when the main field fails. Let Gremel know when the three companies burning the bodies have joined us so he can reduce the field.”

Halley nodded and began sending a platoon between each of the thirty tanks. The tanks’ force fields were as strong as a Q ship and could cover a hundred foot radius around them. The tanks would be the salvation of the warriors firing at the enemy when the battle began.

Derek looked at his tactical and saw that only eight hundred and fifty three of his heavy infantry would remain behind. More than five hundred had been killed taking the city and sending the three companies of Fliers out only left a platoon sized force to place beside the tanks. He looked behind him at the ocean and then turned back to the city. At least they were not trapped out in the open. They would hold their fire except for the mortars and tank cannons until the main field failed. Then they would start the dance. He walked over to the carriers and saw that the fifties had been mounted. He looked at Captain Bolton and said, “Keep them off your carrier.”

Dave nodded over his shoulder, “I have three surprises for them.”

Derek looked in the carrier and saw three stinger missiles, “Where did you get those?”

“One of the tank commanders saw the supply when his tank was serviced and he said he couldn’t resist taking a few.”

“Do you think they will work?”

“I’ve charged one briefly and pointed it at one of those aircraft and the seeker activated; the missile does see them, Sir.”

Derek thought a moment, “I don’t believe they’ll make it through their force field.”

Bolton smiled, “Only the parts that use energy will be stopped, Sir. All the electrical circuits, circuit boards, wiring, fuel controls, guidance boards…”

“That’s most of the missile,”

“Notice I didn’t include the warhead.”

Derek smiled, “Yes, but the missile will slam to a stop at the force field.”

“And the debris will continue forward. I’m hoping the warhead will be part of that.”

“You need to get the staff working on modifying them when you go back.”

Dave slowly nodded his head, “I will, Sir.”

• • •

Mike listened to them and yelled, “Tilly!”

“I’ve notified the engineers. They’ll start looking at the issue now.”

Mike turned back to the display.

• • •

Derek looked at the carriers and said, “Go to full speed and start moving toward orbit quickly.”

Rizzo shook his head, “Sir, they have the high ground and we can’t make the escape too steep; they’ll be on us.”

“Just get my men to safety. I’m counting on you shooters to keep them off their backs.”

Derek hit his communicator, “Are you ready?”

Naomi answered, “Yes Sir.”

“Where are those aircraft now?”

“They’re holding position four miles up just west of the city, Sir.”

“I’ll launch the carriers and you fire as soon as those ships start moving.”

“Yes Sir.”

Derek looked at the thirty carriers and said, “On my mark…three, two, one, MARK!”

• • •

The thirty carriers took off at their highest velocity over the shoreline and started picking up speed as they began moving higher. The gunners on the back of the carriers could see the large Beamships holding position about four miles away and were initially elated that they didn’t appear to see them escaping; but then they saw fifty of them start accelerating toward them. They were in thinner air and their speed was much higher. Suddenly, three of the oncoming ships exploded and the others turned and moved horizontally to the mortar barrage being fired above the city. The carriers moved higher on their long arch over the ocean looking to reach the safety of orbit. The surviving Beamships made it around the barrage and the chase was on. It was going to be close.