The Landfall Campaign (The Nameless War) (67 page)

“
Coms, have we had any word from
Thoth
?
”
Crowe called out.

“
Yes sir. Her bridge has been wiped out. She
’
s now under the command of her number two. They report as still combat worthy.
”

There was a time when a report like that would have been accompanied by a pause, even a momentary one, just to acknowledge the men and women wearing the same uniform who didn
’
t exist any more. But
Deimos
’
s
crew were too hardened for that and their focus on the job in hand didn
’
t waver.

“
Sensors, bridge!
”
came a fresh shout,
“
multiple fresh contacts have just jumped in bearing one, nine, three dash zero, one, one. Range, one point two light seconds.
”

On the main holo a tight cluster of blips appeared relatively close to the icons of the retreating Heavy Cover.

“
Tactical. Can you I.D. the fresh contacts?
”
Crowe asked.

“
Yes sir. We
’
re reading three capital ships, seven cruisers and ten escorts, sir.
”

“
That
’
s a bad blunder for them. They
’
ve come out way too close,
”
Crowe commented to no one in particular. Admiral Hyland had seen the chance to close to gun range and unencumbered by the convoy,
Fortitude
was leading the charge. The Nameless were turning away from him, and the convoy.

___________________________

10:33 Hrs Douglas Base time

Eulenburg forced himself to remain in his office. The last thing the personnel in Four C needed to see was their commander roaming around like a cat on hot bricks. The orbital jammers had come back online when the Nameless reinforcements arrived, so now they were back to an occasional radio transmission. It was not enough to get a clear picture, but sufficient to know that at least some of the supplies they so desperately needed weren
’
t going to make it.

“
They
’
ve lost at least two ships so far, sir,
”
Captain Gillum said,
“
maybe more, but we
’
ve definitely picked up radiation spikes from two reactor breaches.
”

“
Thank you Captain. Are we ready up stairs?
”

“
We have work parties mustered in the surface dugouts. There are a couple of other things, sir.
”

“
Well?
”
asked Eulenburg asked sharply.

“
The troops at the frontline are reporting increased activity, mostly shellfire and mortars.
”

“
Which sector?
”

“
All of them, sir,
”
Gillum replied grimly,
“
They aren
’
t going to break through anywhere but…
”

“
It makes recovery of the drop more difficult.
”

“…
and that
’
s not the worst of it. The orbital jammers are definitely increasing their output on the radio bands. They
’
re starting to blot out the guidance beacons. If the convoy can
’
t pick up our homing signal, the supplies are going to be spread across half the contin
…”

“
I know Captain!
”
Eulenburg snapped as he glared at Gillum,
“
How long until the convoy arrives?
”

“
It will make orbital insertion in two hours, forty minutes, sir. It looks like they
’
re going to the Chinese base. I guess then the Americans and us will be last.
”

“
Launch the fighters in two hours. Deliver a message by laser link that they
’
ll have to take out the jammers.
”

___________________________

11:09 Hrs Douglas Base time

“
Skipper, we
’
re getting a transmission from the flagship. The space gate is shifting position to put Breaker
’
s Rock between us and them,
”
Schurenhofer reported as Dubious accelerated away from the hangar of the auxiliary cruiser
Buffalo
, her missile racks and magazines refilled. Astern Curious was just clearing the hatch, while off to starboard another pair of fighters was holding station, waiting for their turn to rearm. The space around the convoy was periodically lit up by spasms of firing.

“
Signal from the flag skipper. We
’
re to sweep the blind side of Breaker
’
s Rock and take out the gate.
”

“
Understood,
”
Alanna replied.
“
Curious, form up on my wing.
”

The two fighters crossed through the escort perimeter, weaving to avoid the starships
’
firing lanes. Several times they got close enough to see damaged ships with the naked eye. On her tactical display she could see a handful of Nameless ships still keeping pace with the convoy. Although it had taken losses, Nameless resistance hadn
’
t been as strong as she
’
d expected. The aliens had warning of the convoy, so surely more ships should have been present? Still the day was young and the two fighters continued to angle away from the convoy.

“
Skipper, I
’
m getting an anomalous reading from that lump of rock,
”
Schurenhofer said suddenly.

“
What kind of anomaly?
”
Alanna asked sharply. The last anomaly had nearly ended badly.

“
Err, heat. Residual heat. Not much though,
”
Schurenhofer replied.

“
There shouldn
’
t be any. That rock was parked months ago,
”
Alanna said before flicking on the radio.
“
Dubious to
Deimos
, we have detected an unusual reading from Breaker
’
s Rock, we
’
re going to investigate it.
”

“
Could be trying to pull the same trick they tried at Junction,
”
Schurenhofer pointed out. Twenty thousand kilometres off to Dubious
’
s port, transports continued to file passed. Alanna made no reply. If Schurenhofer was correct, then no problem - the range was too long for those little missile packs to be a problem. The trick might be spotting them. Ravens didn
’
t carry surface mapping radar and a visual inspection would mean holding a straight course for several minutes. She was still thinking when Dubious
’
s threat detection system went off.

Alanna didn
’
t waste time wondering. Instead she threw Dubious into a violent corkscrew. On her radar screen fresh contacts appeared, all coming from Breaker
’
s Rock. But they weren’t the small dual-purpose missiles she’d expected - many of them were cap ship missiles!

“
I think we
’
ve lost Curious!
”
Schurenhofer shouted.

“
Deimos
! There are weapon batteries on Breaker
’
s Rock!
”
she shouted into the radio as the first missiles flashed past. Dozens more streamed out of the asteroid as she desperately worked the controls. Beside her Schurenhofer worked at an equally frantic pace as Dubious
’
s turrets spat fire in all directions and the dispensers laid down clouds of chaff. On her screen more missiles appeared and headed straight for Kite String.

All across the convoy escorts found themselves faced with a sudden wave of new contacts. On every warship fire control computers attempted to reprioritise their targets as gun turrets swung to bear. The process took seconds. It took too long.

The heavy cruiser
Horus
, flagship of Light Cover, was on the starboard side of the convoy. Her main guns were still swinging to bear and her single flak gun had fired less than a half dozen rounds before four Cap Ship missiles slammed in. The ship, Admiral Kennedy and his entire crew disappeared in a flash as both its reactors breached. Yet this was only the start of a ninety-second long holocaust. On board
Deimos
, Crowe watched in horrified disbelief as the storm broke on the starboard flank. The icons for
Horus
, the auxiliary cruiser
Buffalo
, the destroyer
Cavalier
and the transports
Tradewind
,
Bengal
,
Van Ellen
,
Keying
,
Nooth
,
Omach
,
Jupiter Star
and
Horizon
all disappeared within seconds of each other, to be replaced by the icons for wreckage.

“
Bridge! Sensors! Skipper, that was eighteen Cap Ship missiles and twenty-five dual purpose missiles.
”

“
Bridge, tactical. Reload time on those missiles is four and half minutes.
”

“
Tactical, sensors, understood,
”
Crowe snapped back as he stared at the waking nightmare on his holo. The escort on that side was completely gone and with it the convoy commander. The surviving escorts were floundering without command, some holding position, others like the auxiliary cruiser
Wildebeest
trying to fill the gap. Suddenly a horrible realisation struck Crowe that for a moment froze him. With Admiral Kennedy dead, he was now in command. As he stared at the holo he saw where the next part of the crisis would unfold. With the starboard flank destroyed the troop transports
USS New York
and
HMSS Courageous
, two of the most important ships of the convoy, were completely exposed, with nothing between them and Breaker
’
s Rock.

“
Helm, engines all back full! Put us between Breaker
’
s Rock and the troop transports,
”
Crowe shouted across the command net.
“
Fire Control, direct all fire onto Breaker
’
s! Suppress those missile batteries!
”

Deimos
two plasma cannon turrets were the first to respond to his commands, to be joined seconds later by the flak guns pouring fire onto the asteroid. There were some secondary explosions but the sheer bulk of asteroid meant all they were achieving was forcing the Nameless missile batteries to remain buttoned up.

Breaker
’
s wasn
’
t some inert lump of rock like they
’
d assumed. The bloody Nameless had fortified it, probably to protect their space gate. And now Battle Fleet had gone and obligingly sailed a convoy within striking distance of what was effectively a star fort! Yet as he looked at the carnage that had been wreaked upon them and
Deimos
’
s
guns continued to hammer away, it dawned on Crowe that they
’
d been lucky.

The Nameless ships were virtually out of missiles. Their reinforcements had been forced to scatter. If they reached the convoy it would be as individual ships, not an overwhelming force. If they
’
d had ships in a position to press the advantage, it could have been a massacre.

12.50 Hrs Douglas Time

As Kite String made orbital insertion the convoy shifted from cruising formation into drop stations. In high orbit the escorts formed an umbrella with
Deimos
at the apex, their engines straining as they strove to hold position over the transports. A handful of fighters from the two shelters rose from the planet and joined the battle, slotting into position with the rest. Starting ten kilometres below the escort were the ships whose cargo was destined for the other shelters. At the bottom were those ships that ready to deliver.