Chapter 10

It was a day later that the 4^th and 5^th Fleets launched their attacks into the Reton system. The news from the planet itself was grim, with a lot of shelters having been breached and others about to be. There had been no contact with the Ground Force Battalion since the enemy had launched a major offensive against them. The worst was feared. Also of note had been the enemy turning their attention to the off-world settlements and installations, though these had, in a sense, held their own by resorting to placing themselves into vacuum, thus making it far harder (or not worth the time) for the enemy to get at them.

The 4^th Fleet, with its enhanced Ground Force contingent, had been tasked with liberating the planet whilst the 5^th was to take the fight to the enemy, along with the 4^th once it had protected the landing attempt.

Also with the two fleets were the Heavy Fighter contingents of Home Fleet who were also on their way to help but were still half an Imperial day out. Arguments in Fleet had raged about waiting for the resources of Home Fleet to be made available, but eventually the desperate straits of the planet had come first and the 4^th and 5^th had been sent in.

Once in the system, it was plain the enemy were expecting some form of counter-attack and were arrayed near the planet, though not in a position to be trapped against it. Also it appeared that they had been reinforced as well, though not greatly, just enough to make up their losses, plus a few heavier vessels.

The Heavy Fighters immediately attacked. Both the 4^th and 5^th launched their bomber contingents, followed by their fighters for close-in defence. Meanwhile the Assault Carriers of 4^th Fleet closed in on the planet and began launching their assault craft and drop carriers.

The Healer team were in the first wave to drop to the planet. It was also highly noticeable that we weren’t the only ones toting some form of hand weapon in the shape of a polearm, sword or spear. There were even a few of our direct assault types toting battle axes.

“Beginning drop,” the AI informed us in flat, harsh tones.

“Gods protect us,” I murmured reverently as, despite the grav-control, I felt my stomach lurch at the sudden release of the drop carrier; nor was I the only one if the other voices I heard were to be believed.

A drop carrier is a simple enough transporter (for given definitions of simple). It’s designed to get Troopers down to a planet from orbit and later back up again or spew them out independently if it is damaged. It isn’t armed for air combat, but did have two heavy assault hyperbeams mounted for ground defence, which we all knew now weren’t going to be that useful to us.

They were also extremely fast as well as insulated against orbital injection friction, relying on speed to avoid counterattacks from ground defences, only using their grav-drives to halt momentum in the last few rotations to bring us to a still-stand.

There was a distinct thump as the carrier came to its sudden stop and three of the sides just opened up at the same moment that the restraints on our bodies lifted. That was the signal for us all to move out, to set up our aid station and then prepare to see what the enemy did.

Meanwhile the regular Troopers raced to take up their assigned positions, advancing towards the centre of Correne to try and evacuate the people in the still intact shelters, but running into stiff resistance as the enemy tried to prevent them.

Soon enough casualties started coming in, most due to the alien weaponry and were swiftly patched up and sent back out again. Others though showed signs of being fed upon with their front armour ripped open and a series of puncture holes surrounding a much larger one.

“Nanites,” I said as I examined a fallen trooper who was barely alive. “They inject nanites, which then convert the victim’s body’s resources to what they want and suck it out.”

“Horrible way to go,” Healer Torun sighed as we both used our wands to stabilise the Trooper in preparation for evac.

“We really need to try and grab a few alien corpses for post-mortems to find out just what they are too.” I suggested.

“We’ll get some if we win,” she nodded. “If not, you might get told to get some.”

“Might be too busy. According to the comm chatter, our guys aren’t finding it any too easy.”

In the system, the Imperials were struggling again; trying to avoid having their ships boarded whilst landing a hard enough punch on the enemy to fend them off. The main problem being that Ground Force was mostly fighting on Reton, not from the ships of the Fleet.

It was, in a sense, like watching an elaborate dance as the Imperials tried to get off salvoes and the aliens tried to close. That said, the Imperials were landing some heavy blows with their physical weapons, though were vastly outnumbered otherwise.

“Stalemate,” Admiral Hratt stated to Admiral Tret of 4^th Fleet. “That gives them the advantage as we can’t remain here forever and I can’t see Home Fleet giving us that much of an advantage ... though they are bringing several more Assault Carriers.”

“I suggest we use them to draw in their boarding craft and begin extirpating those aliens who do board whilst bringing in our heavies to destroy their tethered vessels,” Tret proposed.

“Risky, but we are running out of options.”

“Yes, we need them to withdraw. We aren’t going to beat them with our current forces and things are not going any too well on the planet either.”

What reports we were getting over the comm channel suggested that the aliens were far more numerous (and deadly) than was first thought and that they had stopped our primary assault teams short of their targets. We had got hold of a few alien corpses and had done a rudimentary autopsy on them then sent them up on a shuttle to fly the gauntlet back to the Fleet.

The really worrying thing for us was the extent of our own casualties as the aliens were deadly in combat, killing as well as feeding. Some of their physical weapons were coated with some very nasty neurotoxins that when introduced into even the slightest wound could swiftly kill a Trooper.

We were, however, gathering up a few of the routed garrison Battalion and getting them back into shape as well as using what little experience they had, although that was mostly about what didn’t work. It was rapidly becoming apparent that individuals didn’t stand a chance and only groups armed with physical weapons could hold off the aliens, though even they had to be careful not to get overwhelmed.

We were now also being troubled by alien infiltration units as they broke through our lines in dribs and drabs and had discovered their ... skin could act like natural camouflage and blend in to a degree to their surroundings. They could not however avoid the proximity sensors around our and other encampments of the support troops.

“Advanced units have now reached the main defence bunker in Correne,” we were informed. “They’re pulling the civilians out, then beginning a retreat.”

“Those civilians aren’t armoured. They’re at serious risk here!” I commented to the rest of the Healer station.

“True, but they’d die if they remained where they were,” Torun replied, dark shadows under her eyes.

“Yeah, that’s true too,” I replied as a series of Assault Carriers swept over us to strafe the encroaching aliens with beam weapons, hopefully to enable us to bring some of the people out.

“There is no way we can get that many people out,” Admiral Tret warned. “Nor dare we bring in civilian liners!”

“Ground Force will just have to hold,” Hratt sighed, banging her fist down upon a flat surface in frustration. “Home Fleet will emerge in a few rotations and we’ll have a better idea how things will go from there.”

The column of terrified civilians finally made it to the main defence line of the Regiment despite coming under increasing, if sporadic, attacks by the aliens, most of who were chopped down by the physical hand weapons the Troopers were carrying. That said, all we appeared to have done was paint a massive target on our position as all alien forces were now streaming our way with the clear intent of getting at the massive ‘food supply’ we represented.

The order came through that we were to ‘hold the line’ by any means possible as the civilians (mostly women and children) were (over-) loaded into our landers and taken up into orbit to board the Assault and Medical Carriers currently protected by the slowly reducing Heavy Fighter squadrons. For the rest of the planet, the various cries for help slowly silenced and the governor ordered the last resort devices to be activated on the continents presumed to have been taken. What we didn’t realise at the time though was that the shield the creatures used also protected them from the nanite storm.

Home Fleet burst into the system having sorted out its dispositions en-route and proceeded to directly attack the large ‘mother’ ships of the aliens with three Assault Carriers leading the way in an attempt to board them and take the fight to the enemy as well as massive missile strikes on the others. All their ships were also packed with Troopers to prevent boarding as finally the Empire seemed to get its act together.

What the Troopers found though when they boarded was an enemy all too willing to fight it out with them as well as being well developed enough to do so in the narrow confined spaces where often enough the Troopers didn’t know where they were going, only some guestimates on where the engine room might be. Nor were the Troopers armed well enough for the close hand-to-hand fighting that no one at FleetInt or GroundForInt had ever seen a real need for. Hence casualties swiftly mounted even as the Troopers continued to advance.

There were various attempts to board Home Fleet’s own ships, though the aliens were easily exterminated as they didn’t have the numbers. They were however constant and kept the Fleet busy.

Elsewhere 4^th and 5^th Fleets took the fight to the aliens and tried to keep the pressure off Home Fleet but were in no position to prevent the ‘reaper’ ships that were on Reton from taking off and fleeing the system.

On the planet, the pressure finally came off our lines as the enemy made a swift retreat back towards their remaining vessels. The Troopers naturally tried to keep up with them, but ran into a different sort of alien that seemed to be some form of rear-guard and would not stop fighting until it had been killed. Hence our medical station was kept busy as we treated the survivors of these encounters who, more often than not, had horrendous injuries and, at one stage, were coming in faster than we could treat them.

“Looks like they’ve decided to leave,” I said to an exhausted Torun.

“Yeah, we chased them off ... not,” she replied in sorrow.

“Wonder what the hell it was all about? They came, killed everyone and left,” I mused out loud. “There has to be more to it than that!”

“Just be thankful they did leave. We were outnumbered, out-matched and our primary weapons were useless,” she retorted.

“True, and I somehow think this isn’t the last we’ve seen of them.”

“It would be nice if it was, but I suspect you’re right. Now, back to work, another batch is coming in.”

“Yessir!” I chuckled morbidly.

With the ‘reaper’ craft all leaving the planet, the rest of the alien vessels also began to withdraw, pulling back to those vessels designated by the Imperial Fleets as ‘motherships’. Nor did they appear to be bothered by the Imperial attempts to stop them and would, if challenged, change course and attempt to ram any Imperial ship in their way. They also attempted to destroy any and all of their vessels disabled in the battle as they withdrew. The three Imperial Fleets though were having none of this and were surrounding various vessels in an attempt to gain some technical knowledge of the invaders. The Assault Carriers which had been leading incursions of the ‘motherships’ were now being pulled back as it was believed the Troopers would be doomed if the ships chose to jump whilst the Troopers were still on board.