Until such time as we could figure out how to refurbish the tainted systems on OpCon the massive vessel was shut down completely. The crews were scanned for imposters and then transported to the Suppressor. The vast array of automated systems on OpCon were stripped away one by one and destroyed. The gutted shell of a station sat empty for two months.
After the second phase of cleansing was complete and the Admiral’s ships restored to operating condition the crews were returned. As a precaution the ships remained at their location while continuous scans looked for beacon transmissions. Two such systems were found and repaired before the fleet was moved to a new position and the deep scanning once again began.
By the time the Admiral’s fleet had been certified as clean nearly four additional months had passed. The rebuilding of OpCon had begun, but it would be a lengthy process. The shell of a station had been moved from the Fasture after being stripped. Soon after that move a number of Durian destroyers had been detected moving in and about the nebula, looking for their prize Admiral and his ships.
During that time we had word back from the Delvin sector. Our recon fleet had found 26 Milgari systems where their fleet ships were being constructed. New estimates placed their ship numbers at more than 20,000 strong with nearly 80 of them being massive cannon carrying globe ships. If they were to assemble and attack they would be unstoppable. The Torrians however, seemed to be content at the moment with solidifying the hold on their territories. They were squeezing the Dakar for resources and in return granting them peace. I could only guess that arrangement would be temporary.
Our own Hawk construction had continued at a torrid pace. We were now turning out 350 ships a month and our ship numbers had swollen to more than 2,000. But our force of 2,000 ships was incomplete as we were in need of pilots. The Admiral soon ordered 3,000 trainees to begin readying themselves for combat in a Hawk. We were able to draw 500 pilot volunteers of our own.
While the training continued the Admiral’s ships were brought into our docks for retrofit. They would be receiving all of our upgrades and advancements. The Admiral himself was a relentless worker and his staff worked well with the staff of the Colonel. The Admiral would take over the management of all ships and the Colonel all Marines. At first we were all on edge as the quasi-Grid military force was integrated into our own. But the true professionalism of the Admiral’s men and the patriotism of our own meshed well. The nation of Defiant was growing ever stronger.
With the addition of the Admiral, his men and his ships I felt like a great weight was being lifted off of my shoulders. These were people who knew how to run large operations, they also knew how to conduct a war. The time was approaching where we would be putting our newly combined forces to the test, a test of Man’s ability to adapt and survive. In the meantime I was enjoying our moment of peace.
It did not take long before it became clear as to why the Admiral had risen in the ranks of the Grid military. He was an organizer, a diplomat, a motivator and a brilliant strategist. He was also Human, which he had shown after his capture by the Durians. He was bringing efficiencies to our operations and doing so without stepping on any toes. I was glad we had taken the time to approach him.
By the time our new pilots were trained to the point of being battle worthy our fleet of Hawks had grown to more than 3,500. They were fast, they were powerful, and with our latest computer updates a pilot only had to focus on flying to keep themselves alive. Our computer teams targeting algorithms continued to improve.
With our new force ready the Admiral and the Colonel thought it was time we brought an end to the burgeoning Milgari ship production. The Milgari ships numbered close to 24,000 and continued to grow. I set up a meeting to discuss our upcoming mission.
The Admiral spoke, "First, I would like to once again thank you all for what you are doing, we can make a difference. Now, let’s get down to business. We have now identified 32 star systems that support the Milgari ship production." The Admiral displayed a chart of the Delvin sector. "They have four main production hubs, here, here, here and here."
"I believe our best strategy is to hit one of those hubs hard. They will then pull in their defenses to support the other large hubs. That is when we start taking out all the feeder production. Those major hubs rely on production from the many smaller ones. While they spend their resources defending the majors we cripple the minors. When we have that accomplished their production will grind to a halt."
"Now, phase two will be to take down those hubs one at a time. We will feign attacks on the other hubs while readying for a major assault. If they take the bait they will have forces evenly divided amongst the three. The wildcard here is whether or not they choose to commit more forces to their productions defense from their front lines. We may need a few diversions there as well to keep those ships locked in place."
"The Colonel and I have estimated the campaign to last a total of 17 days. This is a fluid situation and estimates of such should not be heavily relied upon. As new data is available we will update the command boards as quickly as possible. When fighting a war of this manner you want to be an active force and not a reactive one. We have to drive their reactions."
I will be guiding our ships from a flagship while the Colonel directs planet-side assaults. We are going to kill as many skilled Milgari production workers as we can. Once we leave they will begin to rebuild. If they have to retrain people it will only work to our favor."
The Admiral looked around the table, "Does anyone have any questions?" I raised my hand, "Admiral, what about me and the Defenders, do we have a role in this?" the Admiral nodded his head, "You not only have a role, but a vitally important one. You will be flying with a group of Raider ships to assault a small station. It is in orbit around one of the hub planets, the one we plan to attack first, and we are unsure of its use."
"Your goal Don will be to lead an assault onto that station to find out what its purpose is. Take prisoners, don’t take prisoners, those decisions will be left up to you. And just so you don’t think this is a milk run, the station in question looks military and as such is heavily defended. It is comparatively small but not tiny. You will have 52 cubic kilometers of ship to capture and 320 men to do it with."
I raised my hand, "Can I pick my crews?" The Admiral looked over to the Colonel who nodded in agreement. "You can pick your crew. You will have your eight Defenders along with eight Raiders to command. The information we have on the station is in the data store, you and your team can begin your planning after this meeting."
After the meeting adjourned I got the Defender pilots together in a room with Captain Jarrod and the seven other Raider commanders. I asked for ideas, "OK, if you haven’t already heard we are going to perform a raid on this station. I am looking for any and all suggestions. Lieutenant Markum over here is from the Admiral’s team, he will be our strategic advisor."
"Our mission will be to attack this vessel and gather information on its purpose. We need to find a way on-board and also a way out, we won’t be taking any prisoners, but plans can always change. If we come across a situation where we think interrogation will work, by all means try to make use of it."
"My own thoughts are that we use the Defenders to take down any initial defenses, giving the raiders a pathway aboard. Can anyone add to that?" Smaller discussion began in the group before Jarrod spoke up, "From looking over the data I think we should deploy our breach tubes in this area. The deep scans show thin outer walls. We will need the Defenders to take out the gun turrets here, here and here."
"It will also be up to the Defenders to keep any other ships away. If they take down our Raiders we are then stuck on their station. I might ask that we keep a transport cloaked nearby in case we need a second escape route."
Our assigned strategist then spoke, "My name is Lieutenant Sandra Markum. The Admiral asked that I be here to assist in any way I can. I would like to talk a bit about what we know of the station. If you take a look at the markings they do not appear to be of any species we have encountered. One of my concerns is that we are not familiar with the cannons on those turrets. Are those light or heavy cannons?"
"Another concern is this exterior plating. It seems unusually thin, but at the same time our scans of its makeup were inconclusive. Deploying breach tubes would not be advised if we have no way to breach that exterior plating. We don’t want to get caught with our necks sticking out."
"Now it is possible that this station is left over from a species that was overrun and it was put to use as a resource. It may also have been captured from another species and brought here. And another alternative is that we have a new species working with the Milgari in some capacity. Perhaps they are here to trade commodities or technologies. This is one of the major questions we want an answer to."
The planning session lasted most of the afternoon. Our initial plan was as follows: the Defenders would approach in their cloaked state, taking out the gun turrets on a particular quarter of the station. Negative ion bombs would then be released as the Raiders settled into breaching positions on the exterior plates. Breaching tubes would be deployed and the Marines would board the vessel with their conventional weapons.
If all went well I would join Jarrod’s team on the station as the remaining seven Defender craft, along with Frig and the Swift, would keep the space around the station clear. With the meeting over we each headed off to spend our last evening on the Suppressor for some time. Frig and I would be riding with the crew of the Helix.
The ride out to the Delvin sector would take three weeks. We had been on the journey for two weeks when I rose from bed and joined Jarrod and Frig in the mess hall for some coffee. Frig spoke, "Sir, I forgot to tell you before we left. The third key of the crack for your father’s data store came through. It is not much progress, but it is progress none the less."
I sat back and sipped the steamy nectar from my cup. "Well, I guess there is not much hope of cracking that before we die. I was discussing my father with the Admiral. He was of the opinion that he was working on something big, something that could change the outcome of the war. Others have speculated that it was something political. Whatever it was, nobody has much to offer besides speculation."
Jarrod leaned in to join the conversation, "Hey, maybe he had the plans to a new weapon. It would be nice to not have to hit these other ships multiple times to break through their armor. Targeting those weapons has worked out so far, but I get the feeling that is not going to last."
Frig replied, "Well if we were wishing for something to be stored on there I would prefer that it be plans for a wormhole generator. That could be used for transportation as well as for a weapon." I responded, "Weapon? How so?" Frig continued, "Imagine opening a wormhole in the middle of a Milgari battleship. A large portion of the ship could be immediately transported to a distant location. It would make quite the weapon actually."
I nodded in reply, "That it would. Personally, I would hope it contained information that told of why the Tantilis surrendered. I was mad at my father for a long time, but from every story I have heard I had no reason to be, his record from those who knew him says something much different than that of the public record. It would be nice to know the truth."
The talk put me in a foul mood for the remainder of the morning, but there was planning details to resolve for our upcoming mission and my mind was soon moving down hallways with my AK-47 in hand.
When we arrived in the Delvin sector I prepared the Swift for its mission. Every system was checked and rechecked as usual. I then broke down my AK and rubbed down all the parts with a machine oil that Jeb had given us. That was followed up with a thorough cleaning of the barrel. I generally attempted a cleaning at the end of each engagement, but it was done again beforehand just in case I had forgotten.
The star system where the station was located had 12 planets. Two of the planets were used for mining while a third had numerous factories in orbit, including the station. The system was guarded by 26 Milgari warships. Aside from our station group of eight Defenders and eight Raiders we had 50 Hawks, four Raiders and two ground assault transports.
Our goal was to be in and out of the system in less than a day. The attacks would be coordinated so that the assaults on the warships, station and ground garrisons happened at the same time. I grew anxious as the countdown timer ticked away. When the timer hit zero we began our assault.
I pulled back on the throttle of the Swift as we came close to the station. Frig's first shot burned deep into the nearest cannon turret. There was no explosion. I pulled up and circled back just in time to dodge a bolt from a nearby cannon. It was laser fire.
I relayed the information to Frig and the others, "We got laser fire coming from those cannons! Keep an eye on your shields as I'm not sure how they will hold up. These Defenders were built to withstand ion energy strikes not the heat that comes from those cannons."
Frig blasted a hole in a second turret as I again turned the Swift away from the station. We then took our first hit, "Whoa! That thing just burned a hole through our port wing! Teams! If you have your visors up you better flip them down. A direct hit on your hull and you will depressurize. You don't want to be scrambling for air while fighting!"
Barg responded, "Phew! Good call Chief! We just took a hit right through the cargo hold. In through the top and out through the bottom. They have some wattage behind those beams!"
Another 45 seconds of fighting occurred before we had our goal of one quarter of the guns silenced. The Raiders moved in for the boarding. Breach tubes were deployed and troops began to move through. The external plating of the station had proved to not be an issue.
With our initial mission complete I pulled back on the throttle, spinning the Swift around for a hard but safe landing on the deck of the Helix. I pressed the button to open the rear hatch, grabbed my AK and satchel full of ammo and sprinted out onto the deck. I cut through the mess hall to the breaching hall and ran down the first tube I came to. The negative ion bombs had just been set off.
Corporal Killings waved me forward, "Come on up Sir, the power is out, but these hallways are lit with a chemical backup. I'm guessing we will have to be a bit more careful as they can see us." I slapped the Corporal on the back as I stepped around him, "Let's go!"
When we arrived at the first cross hall I could hear footsteps followed by voices that did not translate through our universal dialect units. I passed the information back, "Listen up, I just heard alien talk up ahead, they don't have translators or our systems don't recognize them. It looks like we are dealing with unknowns."
I turned back to the hallway and held a small mirror around the corner. Two individuals were coming our way. I held the AK out around the corner and pulled the trigger.
Ak-ak-ak-ak-ak-ak-ak!
Two bodies hit the floor. When I held out the mirror again to check a laser bolt struck it, burning my fingers as the bolt sliced partway through my gloves. "Gaww!"
I stepped back and our medic immediately hit me with a painkiller. Corporal Killings then stepped up, "Nade coming out!" He waited several seconds and then tossed the grenade around the corner. Another laser pulse hissed by as the grenade exploded.
Booom!
Killings then sprang around the corner catching two injured aliens by surprise.
Ak-ak-ak-ak-ak-ak-ak!
He then moved across the open hallway, "It's clear! Looks like our friends are four-leggers with an upper torso. Let's press forward!"
The hallways of the alien vessel were a dull gray metal. The air was foul with the smell of rotten fruit. I checked the air quality on my arm pad, it was breathable, but I kept my vents closed just the same. I called forward to the squad leader, "Killings! Air is good if we need it. It’s showing a rancid odor though so I would keep the vents shut unless we have to." Killings replied, "Copy that Chief!"
When we came to the first door Killings stepped back and came hard at it with his boot raised. The light hinges on the door gave way sending the thin buckling metal deep into the room. A quadra-ped in the room then fired his weapon striking Killings in the upper right arm. Killings instinctively pulled the trigger as he fell to the side.
Ak-ak-ak-ak-ak!
One of his rounds struck the alien in the hand; it dropped the laser pistol it was holding.
I lunged past Killings and put my shoulder down as I came to the four legged creature, driving it hard into the back corner of the room’s walls. I could hear bones crunching as I pressed in with all the muscle I had. The alien slumped to the floor.