Koban: Rise of the Kobani (22 page)

The ship’s lasers were seldom held on a single point on the gleaming white surfaces for long, as the drivers pivoted and turned, all the while closing on the clanship. The Krall were also firing towards the other Dragons or Transports, which were still out of view of the cliff observers.

The first plasma port slammed open and fired a bolt that glanced off the side of one of the Dragons, and it pivoted away just as a heavy laser tried to strike it on the same place. If they could overheat the ceramic quickly as the nearby surface remained cool, there was a chance it could be cracked. The cannon port slammed shut as a medium power hand laser from the tank lanced into the opening before it could fully close. All of the tanks were firing, using whichever front or side laser would bear as they drove madly towards the clanship. Tank lasers were reflecting from the other gun ports, as they slammed closed, or were opening. Other beams were scattering from the edges of the large portals at the base of the ship.

The Dragon drivers were suppressing plasma rifle fire from warriors inside the clanship, shooting back at them through a foot high slit at the base of each of the big doors. The drivers might not be having luck with the gun portals, using the lower powered lasers, but it appeared that they hit some of the warriors at the base. The rifle plasma bolts from the base reduced, and several bolts went wide of any reasonable target, suggesting the shooters or weapon was hit as they fired.

Finally, two of the Dragons approaching from the opposite side came into view, via the deep-set openings in the cliff face of the observation rooms. They now were within a couple of thousand feet of the ship, as were the three Dragons that had started from closer to the observers. Thus far, the Dragons had fired only the lower powered hand controlled lasers, and spent most of their time turning and adjusting speed to prevent plasma bolt hits from being matched by heavy laser strikes. The main guns of the tanks had remained sighted on the clanship, the turrets swiveling as needed and gun elevation changing, apparently holding aim on some selected target on the ship.

The plasma fire from the ship shifted direction, and was firing over the Dragons approaching from the other direction, and all three were now far enough across the valley to be visible. The six mini tanks were forming an arc as they neared the ship. The plasma bolts were barely over those far Dragons, apparently directed at the Transports, still just out of view of the observers.

Suddenly, as two of the ship’s plasma cannons were firing in the direction of the presumed transports, two of the Dragons fired bolts simultaneously, while both gun ports were wide open. The port covers slammed shut, but neither gun ever fired again. Two down.

The remaining plasma cannon that could bear on the attackers grew silent for a time, apparently being saved. However, the maxim was that if you can’t use it, then it is useless definitely applied here. A heavy laser port slid open and started firing on the front of a Transport that was headed directly at the clanship. One of the three other Dragons fired, and the pulse instantly died, the port staying open. For good measure, the same tank fired again, making sure. Three down, three to go.

As the big Transports closed to within a thousand feet, they split, two turning right, two went left to arc around the ship. The Krall laser gunners leaped at the opportunity to see if they could penetrate the accordion pleated flex joints between segments. As soon as the ports opened, four of the double plasma cannons fired together from the two that turned left. The last plasma port cover froze open, although a bolt still lanced out from its weapon. The two remaining heavy lasers went dead, each cut off in mid shot with a spray of molten pieces and smoke. One of the other Transports used a single pair of its cannons to blast into the open plasma gun port, silencing the last main weapon that could be brought to bear on the attackers. The laser and plasma cannon facing the cliff were useless.

Two tanks, with covered muzzles, had yet to fire. They lowered their barrels to point right into the foot-wide gap at the base of one of the main portals and fired from less than eight hundred feet. The secondary explosion, which that double blast caused, sent wide jets of black smoke, mixed with orange and purple flame spewing out all four sides of the clanship at its base. They must have ignited some pistol ammunition or spare rifle power packs.

The Link suddenly filled with an unintelligible mix of cheers and shouts from what had to be Carson, Ethan, and Conrad, all screaming in victory together.

Smoke surrounded and billowed around the base of the ship. From their higher vantage point, the cliff observers were looking down on a spreading ring of black smoke, left behind as brightly colored orange flames quickly died. One of the spec ops men in the room called out to Longstreet.

“Backside, by the cliff, Sir.”

Thad and Sarge only saw the black smoke billowing upwards, as it was diverted by the rock face.

Longstreet peered intently for only a second, and reached into his slit pocket, then spoke over the Link he’d only been monitoring. “Carson, Ethan, or Conrad, five Krall have slipped out of the rear portal by the rock face, and they each have shoulder fired rockets. You may be able to hit them under the base of the ship. Don’t wait for them to shoot.”

Two of the D2 Dragons promptly fired blindly under the ship, the bolts passing easily through the dense black smoke that would refract or disperse a laser. They fired their front lasers anyway, which were quickly attenuated by the heavy obscuring smoke particles.

Longstreet gave them an update. “You got two of the five. They are separating to either side, staying in the smoke. Three going to the right side, watch out!”

Suddenly, a short streak of slender yellow fire lanced out of the black gloom, and struck a Dragon of the D1 group, right at the turret and lower body, blowing its turret into the air.

Sarge’s shout followed. “The driver may be alive. Protect him before the warriors try to finish him off.”

The two D1 companion Dragons turned towards the damaged tank, lasers flashing into the thinning but spreading gloom and one fired a plasma bolt through the darkest region. A warrior with a half burned off black uniform ran out of the smoke, plasma rifle leveled at the disabled tank. He fired at the open top even as two lasers virtually cut him in half, his upper torso and arms trying to fire again, as the upper body toppled off the collapsing legs and lower body. He didn’t get a last dying shot, as his flash broiled brain made his head explode, from the heat generated by two intersecting laser beams.

“Where are the other two?” That was Carson’s voice, sounding even and calm.

In an equally calm voice, Longstreet said, “Both are coming around the back side of the ship, on the side away from the valley entrance. They are following the rock face in the dense smoke, looking to get clear.”

One of the Transports continued around the ship in a narrowing spiral towards where he was told the Krall were going. The four plasma cannons fired down into the smoke, aiming for the base of the cliff, firing one barrel at a time, taking four rapid shots, then had to wait a few seconds for a plasma build up for the next shots.

“Both are down, but one is able to move. He has a tube up and he may fire,” warned Longstreet.

A second shaft of slender yellow flame shot out of the gloom, and the small missile struck the front right section of the Transport at a sharp angle. The hypervelocity missile and its shaped charge scoured the armored side with a green glow of molten and burning copper. It glanced into the less angled second section, but had lost its less-than finger sized core of molten metal on the initial impact. It had been fired from too close for maximum effectiveness, and struck at an oblique angle. The next four plasma cannon shots finished the job of cauterizing its Krall targets. The hot carbonized Krall molecules would only be dangerous if someone ran up to breathe them.

Carson’s voice, strained, but not panicked came over the Link. “Uncle Thad, the TGs we carried out here will start on clearing the ship as soon as we can see, but if you have a med kit, or whoever that was helping us has one. Please get it out here now. The first missile hit Ethan’s Dragon. I hope Sarge was right.”

Thad’s throat was tight, as if his heart had risen to block his effort to breathe normally.

Ethan regained an agonized and fragmented awareness as he was being placed on a stretcher. He was surprised to see his father by his side, speaking with a man Ethan didn’t recognize. The stranger wore an odd camouflage system, which shifted colors as if it had small live Tri-Vid images in thumb nail sized pixels. He nearly vanished, except for his bare face and hands, when the suit blended with its background anytime he held still for a few seconds.

He heard his dad speaking. “Captain, if you can help us get my son and the other three most seriously wounded to med labs at Novi Sad, we…, myself in particular, would be extremely grateful. If we have any more casualties before the clanship is cleared of Krall, the shuttle can bring them over to the Mark as well.”

“Thad, Colonel Trakenburg has already promised to provide you with the best medical assistance we have. I was told General Nabarone has offered that as well. Our problem for your son is the speed with which we can get him to that care, and the route we need to take.

“My men and I infiltrated through Krall lines to reach our old base, and that is our hazardous route back to Novi Sad, through dirty water filled ditches. It will be difficult even to take your less serious casualties, but your son here can’t wait, or tolerate being submerged in the foul waters. We can’t get any airborne rescue craft over the Krall lines out to here, and they would follow them to you even if we could.”

Ethan reached out to grasp his dad’s hand. “Dad, did we take the ship?”  He was startled at the wheezing sound of his own voice, accompanied by a lancing pain in his chest that made him gasp.

Thad knelt quickly beside his son. “Ethan, you have a penetrating chest wound and a severe burn on your left side. Don’t try to speak or you might separate the Smart Bandages. You have one covering the hole in your chest, and one on your plasma burn. Hold my hand, and see what I see.”

The images of the damage to his body, and his father’s concern and hope for treatment and recovery flooded his mind. He was shocked at the depth of the two-inch wide puncture in his chest and into his collapsed right lung. That came from fragments when the Dragon’s turret was blown off by a shoulder fired Krall rocket. The burn he realized was the result of a dying warrior rushing the open topped mini-tank to make sure he was dead. The plasma bolt struck the inside of the tank, and deflected into his left rib cage. That explained the burned flesh smell, and accounted for most of the steady pain he felt.

He knew from his dad’s mind, that this damage was repairable in the modern med labs available on Poldark. However, reaching that medical treatment was a problem from here, located so deep inside Krall controlled territory. There were several other seriously wounded among the TGs, and he learned that four had been killed. The lower three-quarters of the clanship’s decks were in their hands now, but the operation wasn’t over.

He sensed his father had blocked the information about who had been killed and wounded. This wasn’t an easy operation, as the raid on K1 had been. He worried about his friends still in the assault. All of the TG’s were friends to some degree, but many were mainly acquaintances from their two relatively small communities. He had some friends he couldn’t bear to loose.

He sent back that he knew his dad was doing all that he could, and that they would find a solution. They always did. Then the painkillers and sedatives he’d received made the world start to fade away again. His last view, one of great relief for him, was when he caught sight of Sarge, talking with Carson and Uncle Dillon next to one of the large transports. Now he could let himself sleep.

Dillon was trying to explain to Carson what the problem was. “Son, the Krall probably would not fire on one of their shuttles, and we can coordinate with General Nabarone to allow us to pass over their lines unmolested, and land near a medical facility. Except, when Krall field commanders see one of their shuttles enter enemy territory unmolested, they will check out where it originated. They have this area well covered with radar. They certainly know that two clanships landed here, but that isn’t anything but clan personal business. If a shuttle leaves this area to safely land at Novi Sad, or anywhere in human territory, we will have intensely curious Krall visitors, warriors and clanships, coming to the Mark’s doorstep.”

“Dad, we can’t let Ethan die because we won’t try to get him to help in time. Besides, how do we know the warrior holdouts on the top decks haven’t already reported that humans are taking over their clanship?”

Even as he said that, his experience with Mind Tapping the ship’s commander and the previous captive Krall made that possibility very unlikely. None of them would admit to the dishonor of losing to the human prey animals. They would fight to the death, but they were incapable of surrender, or of admitting to other Krall that their prey had beaten them. They were being beaten here in straightforward combat.

A TG, Deigo Chin, ran over with a message. “Captain Mirikami was informed of the mission status, and our casualties using the shuttle radio. He asked about the Link problems, and now he knows about the twenty captives those guys are holding.” He hooked a resentful thumb towards the fading in and out view of the spec ops soldiers, clustered behind the cover of one of the other four Krall transports. Captain Longstreet had led Thad and Sarge out of the labyrinth of tunnels and across the valley to the clanship, once the internal assault had started.

Longstreet heard the boy, a
nd noted his tone of voice. “I have Linked with my men, and your friends have been released and allowed to pick up their weapons. They should be back to your ship within minutes. Until we knew you were not Krall collaborators, we took no chances.”

That didn’t fully eliminate the sullen look he returned to Longstreet, but he nodded and ran back to the shuttle to relay that information.

Dillon patted his son on the shoulder, and promised to try to find a way to speed up their departure. He joined Thad and Captain Longstreet.

“We have an old med lab on the Mark,” he reminded Thad. “It will be better than his laying on that stretcher while we talk, and it will start treating the burn and internal bleeding. It has copies of the nanites Sarge over there showed up with, when we restored his arm.”

Longstreet made an offer. “I have an injector for nanites we carry for our own wounded on missions, but it’s tailored specifically for use on spec ops troops. I’m told it has some severe detrimental side effects for people that do not have the same technological enhancements and implants we have.  His eyes could be severely damaged for example. It might save his life, but leave him blind, and there are other potential side effects I can’t discuss.”

“Thanks, Captain. If it appears necessary, I’ll accept that risk before I let him die.” It was hard discussing your own flesh and blood as if they were some random casualty.

Carson, still technically in charge of the mission to clear the ship had a proposal. “We don’t need any additional support to finish clearing the ship. Why don’t you load the shuttle with our injured and take them to the Mark? If we have any more wounded, you can return to get them, Dad.”

Dillon accepted the sensible advice from his son, and the shuttle soon held the four wounded, with a couple of TGs with minor cuts and burns to carry Ethan’s stretcher.

As he turned towards the shuttle, Dillon made a comment to Thad. “I’ll radio Tet when we’re on the way. I wish the Link worked this far out.”

“Mr. Martin,” Longstreet called to his back. “I removed the block on your Links, and my portable AI now understands your old com system mixture of equipment and software. We have more signal power than you do if you wish to allow our system to relay for you. It won’t be private, but you’ll have the range.”

“Really? Thanks. I had tried earlier and it didn’t work. Let me try again.”

“Jakob, Link to Captain Mirikami please.”

“Yes Sir,” was the familiar reassuring voice.

“Tet, I’m bringing in four wounded. Have the chief set up the med lab. Ethan will have to go in as soon as we arrive.”

“Dillon,” he sounded surprised. “I have tried multiple times to Link with you. I now understand from the shuttle radio talk with Diego that we were actively blocked by spec ops. Are you airborne so I’m able to receive you now?”

“Not yet. The
spec ops commander, Captain Longstreet, is using his portable AI system to relay our Links. It has more power and greater range than do our transducers. He’s told us he can’t get our wounded back to Novi Sad any faster than they can infiltrate back through the enemy lines. We need a more advanced med lab, which Longstreet says can handle worse injuries than what Ethan has. We have to get one to him out here, because moving him the way spec ops arrived is all but impossible.”

The pause that followed brought an image to Dillon’s mind of Tet pulling at his lower lip while thinking. The analytical response, when it came, suggested he had been right.

“We need to trade information, get modern com equipment and armor, obtain new med labs, get training for the TGs, and give the PUA a Krall prisoner or two. We will donate Krall equipment to them that we don’t need from that clanship, after we show them how to activate the equipment. Their spec ops teams also need to return home safely. Why is everyone talking about walking and using tunnels?”

“OK. You must mean for us to use the shuttlecraft, requiring several trips. It was pointed out that its use has too high a risk of the Krall back tracking it to the Mark.”

“If the Mark isn’t here, and the shuttle craft is parked inside its bay, let the Krall back track all they wish. Whatever arrangement we make with the PU forces that would serve to get the shuttle through to Novi Sad, will get the entire ship through. Right?” He let that sink in a moment.

“Uh, excuse me a moment, as I kick myself in the ass all the way back to speak to Captain Longstreet.” Dillon answered.

Another voice spoke up on their Link. “Captain Mirikami, don’t be offended, but our AI feeds me everything it relays to your AI, as I informed Mr. Martin. This is Captain Longstreet.”

“Nice speaking to you, Captain. I assumed you were probably listening, or your superior would be. Colonel Trakenburg is his name I was told earlier. Who has the authority to arrange for a clanship to lift from here and fly to some safe location? Is it Colonel Trakenburg, or General Nabarone?” He knew what the answer had to be, but went through the motions.

“The planetary defenses are under General Nabarone’s control, and it involves atmospheric and near space defense against clanships. He would be the only one able to coordinate that, and to decide where you might be able to conceal the ship.”

“I’d strongly recommend some place much farther away than Novi Sad to the general. After the Krall see us get a non-hostile reception crossing the front lines, and discover the wrecked clanship back here, they might seriously try to find out who we are. I’d like to set down where their spy satellites won’t find us. How do I get to speak to the general?”

To his credit, Longstreet’s hesitation lasted only a half second. “I can Link you Sir. Please give my AI a moment to work its way through his chain of command.” His boss
did
say cooperate, and Trakenburg was destined to lose control of these people anyway, as soon as Nabarone decided to push. Leaving these people with a positive feeling towards spec ops was a good idea, and they were promised they could share in the intelligence trove offered.

While they waited for the Link to be established, Tet wanted to get things moving. “Dillon, please return with our wounded, and tell Thad we will likely be pulling out before nightfall.

“We want to take the operational Dragons with us, since they will fit in the lower hold, and perhaps take a number of the plasma cannon carts. However, they seem too exposed for the way the kids used them this time, so we can decide later if we have room for them. I don’t want to dismantle things and cram them in as the Krall did. The big transports we will leave parked in the canyon when we leave, unless we decide to use them for target practice.”

Dillon continued walking to the shuttle, as Longstreet informed Mirikami the Link with General Nabarone was ready.

Mirikami heard a gruff voice. “Captain Mirikami, Henry Nabarone here. I’m pleased to have a chance to help you, and return some favors I’ve owed Thad for over twenty years. What can I do for you? I’ve been told by Colonel Trakenburg that your young troops have all but completed their takeover of the other clanship. What’s next for you?”

“General, we have some wounded, one of the most serious is Ethan Greeves, Thad’s oldest son. I’m sure I can speak for him on this. Your most important favor for Thad is to help get his boy into a modern med lab. Our old model will keep him alive until then, we think. Sergeant Reynolds and Captain Longstreet both tell us your units can repair quite severe damage, instead of simply patching the holes. Rapid transport is the issue. I propose we move my ship, a modified clanship we call the Mark, out of this no man’s land. We need some place safe in human controlled territory, where it can be hidden from the Krall. That gets everyone out of here at one time. Then your scientist and technicians can start studying the Mark, with our help. We even have a live clanship commander you might want to interrogate.”

“Damn, Captain. You do know how to get a tired general to jump. How high and in what direction?” He laughed soundly at his own joke. “When will you be able to lift?”