Worlds at War (A Captain's Crucible Book 5) Page 19

  The target vessel was roughly a hundred kilometers away from the next closest scavenger, and five hundred kilometers from the Elder ship itself, which was still located on the other side.

  During the approach, the nine members of the breakaway fleet used a circuitous course meant to confuse the enemy as to which scavenger was their actual target. However, when the allied ships closed to fifty thousand kilometers of the surface, the three scavengers visible on that hemisphere lifted from Vesta and turned around to engage.

  At the forty thousand kilometer range, the breakaway fleet split into three equal groups. G1, composed of the Reign of Terror, an SK, and a Raakarr, steered toward an imaginary point off the southernmost pole as if intending to skirt the asteroid—and the scavengers—entirely. Meanwhile, G2—the Dagger, and another SK and Raakarr—changed course to intercept the two northernmost scavengers. G2 fired mortars and nukes at the two, and then pulled away slightly. Their intent was to draw off those two by goading them into pursuit.

  As Jonathan watched the computed trajectories update in realtime, he saw that it seemed to be working: the two northern scavengers moved to intercept G2.

  The remaining three ships in G3 continued toward the initial scavenger, which had fired fragmentation and disintegration bombs at them.

  “The scavenger is starting to eject minerals,” Ensign Lewis said. “And is gathering them in front of its nose to act as a shield.”

  Jonathan nodded. His eyes were on the incoming fragmentation and disintegration bombs. “Miko, instruct G3 to begin decelerating. Launch nukes. Eliminate those bombs.”

  On the display, Jonathan saw the dots representing G3 slow down. Yellow dots indicating nukes emerged from them.

  “The target just fired its gravimetric wave at G1,” Lewis said. “The SK ship in the group is breaking up.”

  “Damn it,” Jonathan said.

  G1 had continued on its circuitous course around the asteroid, which had brought it into a flanking position of the target.

  A moment later Lewis announced: “G1 has a clear shot at the engines and gravimetric weapon.”

  “Take it,” Jonathan said. “And have them pull away before they’re in view of the Elder on the other side.”

  While Bridgette hadn’t been able to ferret out any further weak spots regarding the vessels from the captured Neanderthal, Miko and Maxwell had identified potential target points on their own: they’d spent hours pouring over video and EM recordings captured during the previous engagements, and based on the resulting damage inflicted by striking various portions of the enemy hulls, they had compiled an external blueprint of the weapon mounts and engines. The latter resided inside two distinct protrusions near the craft’s aft section.

  G1’s the Reign of Terror fired two separate banks of Vipers, concentrating on each engine; meanwhile G1’s Raakarr ship focused its particle beam into a precision burst targeting the gravimetric beam turret. Both ships then changed course to move away from the asteroid.

  “Tell me we got those engines and that beam.”

  “It appears so,” Lewis said. “The target is not exhibiting signs of any further motive force, and the beam turret appears to have completely melted away, along with a large portion of the hull in that area.”

  “Could the MOTHs use that as an entry point?” Jonathan asked.

  “I believe so,” the ensign said.

  Jonathan glanced at the tactical display. G2 continued leading the other two scavengers from Vesta. That was good.

  He saw a flash on the external camera: several nukes had detonated, taking out the incoming bombs meant for G3. A few of the fragmentation variety had gotten through, but the Raakarr with G3 engaged its particle beam, eliminating them.

  Two nukes hadn’t detonated, and continued toward the scavenger as planned.

  “Does G3 have a clear shot at the fragmentation cannon?” Jonathan asked.

  “No,” Lewis said. “The minerals are blocking it.”

  “The nukes should take out both cannons,” Miko said.

  Jonathan nodded.

  The two remaining nukes moved into position, edging past either flank of the mineral shield the scavenger had placed in front of itself. The proximity fuses of the nukes were set to detonate early: the trick was to set off the warheads at just the right distance, causing enough damage to fuse shut the cannons and hence disable the weapons. The Raakarr could repair simple fusing damage to the disintegration cannon, but the hope was that the nukes wouldn’t do so much damage as to render the weapon completely unusable. If that did happen, the removal party would have to allow the enemy nanobots—thought to reside upon the hull—enough time to repair the cannon before cutting away the compartment.

  Two more flashes came.

  “Well, did we get them?” Jonathan asked.

  “I think so,” Lewis said. “They’re not launching any more bombs. Wait... G2 has a line-of-sight view behind the mineral shield. The Dagger confirms that both cannons are fused.”

  “Good,” Jonathan said. “Tell the Salvador to assume a tow position, and as soon as the target is grappled, get the Dragonflies out there.”

  The members of G3 decelerated rapidly, and soon the Salvador had grappled the scavenger and was towing it back toward the main fleet. The tips of the grappling hooks were equipped with portable charged field devices designed to keep any enemy nanobots from cutting the cord. Meanwhile, three Dragonflies had launched from the destroyer; they were also equipped with the charged field tech. Two of the shuttles mounted shortly to the hull of the scavenger, near the target cannon, while a third fired its own anti-nanobot grappling hooks directly onto the area that was to be removed.

  “The Salvador is reporting signs of extremely fast repairs to the scavenger, as expected,” Lewis said. “Apparently, the hull breaches near the engines have sealed up, and the gravimetric beam is half rebuilt.”

  “Have G3 utilize the necessary countermeasures,” Jonathan said.

  Those countermeasures included repeatedly firing their Vipers at close range, along with the occasional kinetic kill, to keep the enemy vessel stripped of the beam and its engines. The Raakarr ship meanwhile would also fire its particle beam at reduced power levels.

  Jonathan glanced at Robert. “The gravimetric beam is half rebuilt. Those damn nanobots work fast.”

  “But not so fast as when they first transform a ship,” Robert said.

  “True enough,” Jonathan replied. “I wonder how that works...”

  “I’m guessing the original nanobots fired by the Elder beam are imparted with a higher amount of energy,” Miko said. “Allowing them to achieve a quicker transformation. But all of that energy is expended by the time the transformation is complete.”

  Jonathan pursed his lips. “Makes some partial sense.”

  He glanced at the tactical display. By then the pair of farther scavengers had given up their pursuit of G2 and turned back toward the asteroid. Their course lined up with the Salvador.

  “Looks like the remaining two intend to intercept the Salvador,” Miko said.

  “Tell the MOTHs to hurry up,” Jonathan said. “In the meantime, Miko, send G1 and G2 to intercept those scavengers. Also, dispatch the designated support group from the main fleet. Let’s just hope we don’t attract the attention of their friends on the other side of that asteroid.”

  Jonathan thrummed his fingers impatiently on the armrest.

  Now it’s up to the MOTHs.

  twenty-nine

  Rade waited inside the cabin of the Socrates for the hull breaching group to give the all clear.

  Two shuttles, the United Systems Socrates and the Sino-Korean Fang, had mounted to the scavenger vessel near a fresh gash a Raakarr dart ship had cut into the hull with its particle beams. The location of the gash was near the target compartment the platoon needed to cut away, and was far from the sites of the enemy engines and gravimetric beam weapon, which were subject to continual bombardment from the escorting starships. The mounted
Dragonflies kept their specialized charged fields active at all times to prevent any hull-side nanobots from attacking the shuttles.

  Outside the Socrates, three Centurions formed the hull breaching group; they wore jumpsuits equipped with similar charged field emitters, and utilized laser cutters to enlarge the hole the Raakarr had made. The robots had placed portable charged field devices around the damaged area to keep the enemy nanobots from repairing it while they worked.

  Another United Systems shuttle, the Aristotle, floated above the landing party—it had applied grappling hooks to the area demarcated for removal. Once again, the tips of those hooks were equipped with portable charged fields.

  Rade stared at the down ramp, waiting for the go-ahead from the cutter robots. Outside, flashes in the void above told him that the fleet warfare was ongoing. Though the borders of his helmet physically restricted his vision to a narrow tunnel, his Implant compensated for the obstruction via the external cameras, so that as far as his eyes were concerned he wasn’t wearing a helmet at all.

  The tenseness and trepidation he had experienced before the mission were mostly gone. Sure, he still felt a slight tinge of fear, and would continue to do so until actually inside the enemy ship, but the feeling had been far worse aboard the Callaway while he was waiting for the operation to actually begin. The worst of it was over, though. At the moment, mostly he felt reflective.

  Will I die on this mission?

  In the past, fate and luck had always favored him. But what if his luck had run out?

  If I die, what happens to Sil?

  He already knew the answer to that. She didn’t need him watching over her. She could take quite good care of herself. She always would.

  He was reminded of one particular time—of many—when she had demonstrated her remarkable capacity to handle whatever the universe threw her way. It happened back in his mercenary days, when he had temporarily retired from the navy to run his own security consulting firm. He and his MOTHs had gotten themselves into a bit of a jam, stranded on the surface of a planet in the middle of a regime change situation. Surus and Shaw had been running the show from a secure location on the surface, and were trapped on the planet, too, leaving Sil alone with the robot crew aboard their ship in orbit.

  When a group of hostiles surrounded the vessel and began boarding operations, Sil, then a child of only eight years old, rallied the onboard robots and organized an effective defense. She had help from the Praetor unit, of course, but she was the one who had come up with the strategy that saw the hostiles driven from the ship with their tails between their legs.

  He smiled widely at the recollection, feeling the tears of pride forming in his eyes. He had known from that moment forward that he wouldn’t ever have to worry about her.

  And yet still he had insisted on rejoining the navy so he could “watch over” her.

  Gritting his teeth, he quickly dismissed the memory.

  I’m in the middle of a mission. Focus damn it.

  Rade really was getting too old for this.

  “Entry point is open,” Unit C transmitted from the breach group.

  Rade turned toward the remaining robots waiting in the cabin with him. “Go go go! Secure the passageway!”

  Four suited Centurions hurried down the ramp. Like the rest of the team, they carried no jetpacks, instead hauling energy sources on their backs to power the portable charged field devices they harbored. But they didn’t need jetpacks: supermagnets embedded in their boots varied in intensity with each step the robots took, holding them to the surface despite the zero-G.

  Rade watched on his overhead map as the four made their way inside the rent.

  “Secure!” the Centurion on point transmitted.

  For now, Rade thought.

  “Get the HS4s in there,” Rade said.

  Beside him, Helium launched the eight void-capable HS4 scouts. A moment later, Helium said: “We’ve got artificial gravity. One point four Gs.”

  “Why would an autonomous ship need gravity?” Rade asked.

  “Beats me,” Helium replied.

  Rade shook his head. Aliens.

  On the map, he watched the helmet-sized drones enter the enemy vessel and fan out into the breached passageway. Two of the HS4s moved eastward into the passageway, while another two maneuvered westward. The passageway terminated in T-shaped intersections on either side, with corridors branching away to the north and south. The HS4s assumed observation positions facing either direction at both intersections. Their purpose was to function as early warning sentries if any anti-boarding units engaged.

  The passageway had a recess near the center, where a sealed hatch led to the compartment housing the inner portion of the cannon, its firing mechanism, and bomb inventory. Of the remaining four HS4s, two waited within the recess, the other two just outside it.

  “Join the HS4s at those T intersections,” Rade said. “I want those four approaches covered.”

  “Roger that,” one of the Centurions returned.

  Rade watched the four robots spread out on his overhead map. Two each moved to the far sides of the passageway, joining the HS4s. They covered the north and south approaches at each intersection.

  “Breach group,” Rade said. “How is the rent looking?”

  “The portable charged fields are keeping the nanobots at bay,” Unit C answered. “I don’t think any of us are needed to maintain the opening.”

  Rade considered that. “I want A and B to remain at the opening anyway, just in case. C, D, move inside and breach the hatch to the target compartment.”

  “Affirmative,” Unit C said.

  On the map, the dots representing the two robots from the cutter group hurried inside and assumed positions in front of the sealed hatch.

  Rade switched to Unit C’s point of view and watched the robots apply their laser cutters to the hatch. No atmosphere of any kind misted out from the perforations.

  Tense seconds ticked past.

  Finally the hatch broke free and tumbled inside the compartment.

  Unit C announced: “We’re through!”

  “Get back,” Rade said. “And send in the scouts!”

  The robots withdrew from the recess containing the breached hatch, and two of the HS4s flew forward to map the compartment.

  Rade switched to one of the drone camera feeds and observed the firing mechanism, the bomb inventory, and the inner portion of the cannon.

  “Looks clear in there,” Helium said.

  “It does.” Rade dismissed the feed and glanced at the six combat robots crouched in the cabin with him and the LPO. “E, F, G with me. The rest of you, with Helium. Let’s go.” Over the shared comm: “Chief Pung, we’re moving in. I want your team to hold the hull opening behind us.”

  “Affirmative,” the man in charge of the SKs replied.

  Rade double-checked that his own charged field was active, then he stamped down the ramp. The supermagnets in his boots worked to keep him secured to the surface, though they made it feel like he was trudging through a quagmire.

  Helium and three combat robots assumed a defensive position at the bottom of the ramp, and waited for Rade and the other three to cross to the opening. The LPO scanned the surface of the enemy ship for signs of any incoming enemies.

  Rade surveyed the outer landscape, too, as he crossed to the opening. The hull was uneven and dented in several places, he noted, perhaps to increase the surface area exposed to any potential micrometeors, and thus helping to distribute impact damage. Then again, maybe the odd shape was a side effect of having the original hull transformed by nanobots.

  He saw the third squad of United Systems Centurions working nearby, affixing M117B-1 bricks to the hull around the area slated for removal. The robots planted portable charged-field devices beside the explosives. Several more of the anti-nanobot devices had been placed around the fused cannon itself, to prevent it from reforming. In the distance, he spotted similar devices situated upon the second fused cannon—th
e one that fired the fragmentation bombs. Everything was going as planned. So far.

  From the nearby Sino-Korean shuttle he spotted the main group of SK troops emerging; they hurried past the defensive perimeter their Centurion equivalents had formed around their shuttle.

  Rade took in all of that in a matter of seconds, and then he was entering the rent in the alien hull.

  When he stepped into the inner passageway, he found himself under the expected influence of the 1.4 Gs of artificial gravity. He repealed the supermagnets in his boots, dialed up the enhanced strength setting of his jumpsuit, and trudged grimly toward the recess.

  The inner passageway was far smoother that the surface hull, and was more akin in that sense to a United Systems craft. There was no lighting at all, however; the only illumination came from the headlamps of their jumpsuits.

  He waited at the edge of the recess. Helium joined him a moment later, along with the remaining robots.

  Meanwhile, Chief Pung’s platoon of soldiers and robots deployed near the entrance. On Rade’s tactical display, he saw their dots form a wide circle of troops outside the rent, with a smaller half circle of three nested inside. Pung resided at the center.

  If he could help it, Rade intended to keep the SKs deployed at the entrance the whole time, and out of the way of his own team.

  “Set up,” Rade said. He assumed a guard position just inside the recess, on the righthand portion, while Helium took the opposite side.

  Meanwhile four of the remaining six Centurions bolstered the ranks of those guarding the two T-intersections at the ends of the passageway. The final robot pair joined units C and D and began to work: they placed M117B-1 bricks protected by portable charged fields at key points along the bulkhead surrounding the target compartment, while C and D used their laser cutters to carve guidelines in the metal and weaken certain areas for the coming detonation.