Chapter 16

Our leave was over far too quickly, though the pair of us were glad of it, particularly as we helped my Dad and Mum sort out some possibilities for our existing weapons. The real good thing about it though was getting to know my new brother and sisters and start creating some real bonds with them. I also know Torun was delighted to meet them again and claim the title Aunt off them, which was spontaneously given and accepted.

In a sense it was good to be back at the 467^th Regiment and begin catching up with those friends who were also returning from leave. The main topic of discussion though was the failure of 2^nd Fleet to give the aliens a bloody nose, along with the new aliens they’d encountered.

“Any thoughts, Kiria?” I was asked by Flinn.

“Empire is looking into electrifying our weapons to the frequency used by the ship builders to form the metal that makes up the armour of those creatures,” I replied.

“It was certainly an eye-opener on the tri-dee feed,” she nodded. “In the liquid form they don’t have to worry about grav changes, meaning their boarding ships can run far faster than ours.”

“I suspect the Fleet ships will be getting more AI-capable close-in weapons to take them out,” I shrugged. “Don’t think I particularly want to meet one of those things at the minute.”

“As things currently are? No, but we can use vacuum on them.”

“Until they produce something new,” I chuckled. “They appear to be good at that.”

“Yes, they appear to be studying us as we study them.”

“Those promised new weapons can’t come soon enough,” I added.

“Tell me about it.”

‘So the Paranc were not as successful as we had hoped?’ the designated leader asked.

‘No, but the second batch have been adapted to withstand vacuum a lot better than the initial batch,’ one of the intelligences replied.

‘This prey fights well, unlike the previous races we’ve culled,’ the second added.

‘They do indeed. It has been aeons since we have faced a real challenge,” the designated leader replied.

‘So we will continue the harvest despite the poor yields on some worlds?’

‘Yes, their tactics have yet to defeat us, merely hold us back,’ the designated leader answered after a short pause. ‘Now let us feast on the nectar of life newly harvested for us, the rulers of creation!’

The now gleaming and almost angelic looking creatures grasped a drinking vessel to quaff their new harvest and make their psionic powers far stronger.

It was three binary cycles later that we were told to hand in our polearms and swords and receive replacements. This came as a bit of a relief for us as the new alien type was making us all a bit nervous, despite no further alien activity. Also handed over was a new pellet firer capable of penetrating the armour of one of the harvesting aliens at range and with rapid fire capability. I’d also been told that our armour had been given an upgrade package to cope with these weapons in that a dot on the visual system of the helmet would give an indication of where one of these pellets would hit.

“Guess the bulk of them are going to the planetary based Troopers?” I posited during some spare time from my medical duties.

“I’d guess so,” Torun replied with a shrug. “I do know we aren’t allowed to use them onboard our ships as a ricochet could potentially penetrate our armour.”

“But we can use them on alien ships?”

“The stuff they think they grow them with is a lot softer and will absorb the pellets.”

“Oh, right.”

“Our polearms now have a frequency generator built into them too,” Torun added.

“And the swords,” I grinned. “I’m hoping the next time we meet the aliens we can really cause them grief.”

“Let’s hope so, though we aren’t all as gung-ho and skilled as you are,” she chuckled.

“Prefer healing, but I’m good at the other as well,” I grinned.

“Yes, thank the gods for that. We could have been in serious trouble on our last mission if you weren’t,” Torun nodded.

“Someone would have come through, there’s always a way,” I shrugged, then paused as an alarm began to sound.

The harvesting fleet dropped into the Telmarb system and began its slow approach as alarms were sent out for aid from both Fleet and GF.

‘Deploy the Paranc. Prepare the absorption craft carriers,’ the supreme controlling intelligence ordered the others.

‘It shall be done,’ came the expected reply.

‘Let us prepare to harvest this world!’

Both the 4^th and 5^th Fleets emerged into the Telmarb system along with eight Assault Carriers protected by the newest Missile Carrier in the fleet with an alien style shield built in. Also protecting the Assault Carriers were three squadrons of Heavy Fighters.

“Seems lessons have been learned,” Admiral Tret observed to his Flag Captain, Nagas.

“Let’s hope so, sir,” Nagas replied.

“Admiral Hratt is calling,” a Comms Officer announced.

“Put her on the cube,” Tret ordered.

“Only the one fleet again ... so far,” Hratt observed.

“Yes, though FleetInt suspects that they are still testing the waters.”

“I agree with them. We have frustrated a few of their endeavours now.”

“Long may it continue,” Tret nodded. “Now, shall we deploy our own Missile Ships and begin the dance?”

“5^th will follow your lead,” Hratt replied with a tight smile.

“Missile Ships will move to the front and begin fire,” Nagas ordered. “Carriers will launch fighters and bombers and deploy them to give close protection to the Missile Ships.”

“Orders sent, sir,” a Comm Officer announced.

“Send the Heavy Fighters in to see if there is an enemy carrier and also to see if they can spot any vessels of the type that had those smaller armoured aliens.”

“On its way, sir.”

The Missile Ships (which essentially were Cruisers with box type missile launchers on them) moved to engage the enemy, relying on speed to dodge the occasional beam being directed at them. This was, however, the easy part; the crews knew that once they launched a salvo the enemy would attempt to take them out before they could launch another.

Targets were carefully selected and at the moment of closest approach the Missile Ships of both Fleets launched a massive salvo directly against a large alien vessel that was leading the way towards the planet. For once everything went to plan and the alien ship was torn apart by the explosions both outside and within, causing several smaller alien ships to dart forward in an attempt to destroy the Missile Ships. This time though they were caught out by the bombers squadrons from six Carriers who made their bombing runs with total precision, destroying four of the alien ships and badly damaging three others, plus enabling the Missile Ships to withdraw into the two Imperial Fleets and prepare another salvo.

“Heavy Fighters have identified the alien carrier, sir,” a Detection Officer informed Tret.

“Have them make sure they only have the one and give its position to the Missile Ships,” he replied.

“Done, sir.”

“23^rd Heavy Fighter has detected over ten of the smaller boarding type alien ships,” a Comm Officer reported.

“Acknowledged,” Tret nodded. “Nagas, direct strikes onto them.”

“Sir,” Nagas answered as Tret went back to observing the battle cube on the bridge.

Fifteen Heavy Fighter squadrons homed in on the alien boarding ships and unleashed their missiles at them causing massive damage to the ships and again catching the alien fleet seemingly by surprise. Other strikes from the reserve squadrons were directed to the survivors as well as probing the alien fleet to track down any known threats.

“Second and third carrier detected,” the Detection Officer informed Tret.

“Plan missile strikes on them and prepare our Assault Carriers to go after their landing ships,” he replied after a moment’s thought.

“Yes, sir,” Nagas replied. “Strike is now going in on the first carrier.”

“Good. I expect they aren’t enjoying this at all.”

The supreme controlling intelligence of the alien fleet and its adjuncts were somewhat in shock. The prey’s tactics had caused severe damage to the primary defence ships and left the leading edge of the fleet vulnerable to a counter attack.

‘Bring forward the carriers and launch a strike to cover our retreat,’ the supreme controlling intelligence finally ordered.

‘So ordered,’ an adjunct replied.

‘Prey has launched a strike at the leading carrier!’ came a report. ‘Severe damage taken as the shockwave has ruptured many of the absorption tanks on the strike vessels and is dissolving the vessel from the inside out!’

‘Order any craft who can to destroy those who did this!’ the supreme controlling intelligence ordered almost frantically.

‘We cannot. After one salvo they withdraw to the protection of their small attack craft,’ an adjunct replied.

‘Lock them with our sensors for when they return to fire.’

‘We cannot. They are shielded by the other prey ships and we lose tracking.’

The Assault Carriers, surrounded by the Heavy Fighter Squadrons and led by the Missile Carrier Princess Royal, approached their launch positions and came to a halt relative to the alien fleet. Landing and boarding craft were launched at the various targets before the Carriers themselves began to move away. The last act was a massive salvo from the Princess Royal at the defending craft surrounding the landing vessels so far detected.

I sat in my usual position in a landing craft, using the displays in my suit to observe our part of the battle. From what reports we were getting, Admiral Tret’s tactics were working and the aliens so far did not have an answer to them.

“Missile strike going in against defending craft,” the shipboard AI announced.

“Wow!” I breathed almost silently as the strike from the Princess Royal went in and seemed to cause massive damage to the defending vessels and clearing the way for us to go in and disable the landing vessels of the aliens.

“Looking good,” Torun added as she sat next to me and watched.

“Yeah, but I’m surprised they want us to board the landing vessels, not take them out with a missile strike,” I commented.

“I was told the Empire wants the corrillium stranding and knows where it is and what to expect on these ships,” Finn replied.

“Oh, kind of makes sense,” I nodded.

“Boarding pods going in,” the AI announced. “Prepare to dock.”

With the AIs controlling it, our landing craft swiftly latched onto the boarding pod. We all hurried through to set up our medical station, or rather assist in the fight with some aliens barring our way. This time though there was no hesitation on the parts of those Troopers who had done it before and the newbies were taking their example to heart. Troopers poured into the vessel, each now having a specific purpose or objective to take care of.