Operation Hellfire (7 page)

The small model of the space station flashed, and then vanished as it was removed from the surrounding area.

"Our secondary objective is to locate and rescue any survivors from the station and its vicinity before withdrawing to join the rest of the fleet. At that point, we will assist as required in the battle."

He placed his hands together with one fist clenched inside the other.

"That, Ladies and Gentlemen, is our role in Operation Hellfire. The first, and hopefully last military operation by the Alliance inside former Byotai territory."

The name received a warm welcome from the officers, as did the bold plan of action.

"As I've already shown you, the primary fleet will enter under full power and continue forward until in position around Ararrh III. This will put our strongest ships amongst the People's Militia vessels so that they can engage them as quickly as possible. The contingent of Helion cruisers will enter through the return Spacebridge approximately thirty minutes before to begin Phase One of the operation."

He licked his lips before getting to the part they were all waiting for.

"Back to us."

The three-dimensional models of Relentless and her escorts glowed bright blue.

"Once in position, we will then arrive aboard Relentless, ANS London and ANS New Berlin providing escort."

The station flashed as the large Alliance fleet moved through the Rift and continued at high speed to the fourth planet. Moments later a smaller group came through and made for the nearby planet of Ararrh II and its orbiting military base.

"Relentless will launch gunship and fighter strikes against any nearby hostiles. Our two escorts will be on hand as needed, and should be more than enough to clear a path for the landing party."

Nate's smile widened as they listened.

"We will then send boarding parties deep inside the station, via Hammerhead Gunships and Mauler landing craft, while the fleet continues to engage the enemy fleet. I repeat; our mission is the station, and the station only. Let the Admiral deal with whatever else comes to the Ararrh System."

He looked to the small contingent of Marine Corps officers.

"That's where you will come in. Two platoons will land inside the station, create a beachhead, and then clear a path for the Prince and his team. A picked unit will escort the Byotai to the Cortex while the remaining marines sweep the facility. As I said, ANS London and ANS New Berlin will be on hand to provide additional gunnery if needed, and to cover your withdrawal. Both also have small marine units on hand, if needed to assist."

"Why the hurry?" Lieutenant Heiskell asked, "It seems to me that if we're lucky, we could take and hold the station, possibly even the entire System indefinitely. This is right on the border and a major transit route between their central worlds and the Alliance. Surely we want to secure it as a beachhead."

Captain Cornwallis grimaced as he moved his hands. The imagery of the System shrunk in size until a group of red triangles appeared.

"You are right. Unfortunately, we have this to deal with now."

The shapes grew in size so that their basic structures could be seen.

"This is a contingent of thirty plus ships, and with them an unknown number of newly launched Star Empire ships, under the leadership of the Grand Battlecruiser Raiukat."

The very mention of that one ship shocked the audience.

"That's right, the First Citizen Tahkeome's personal warship, and flagship of their navy. There's more."

His eyes closed briefly before he isolated several more red triangles on the map.

"Tahkeome has three regional commanders for his fleets. We call them Legates. As best we can tell, there is one for Tahkeome's personal use, and one each for the two empires he's unified."

He paused, ensuring all were listening.

"All three have been spotted heading away from their command centres, and at least two are heading for the Deadlands. That's right. There is a chance all three might be heading in our very direction."

He shrugged.

"Now, this came from only a handful of loyalists, according to Kratha, but the details are sketchy. Maybe they are nowhere near us, but they could just as easily be mobilising for something. So, we have allocated one day for this operation, and one day only to make this count."

As before he looked towards the mapping data.

"We will do what we do best, hit them hard and hit them fast. Operation Hellfire will get a team inside the station so that Prince Kratha can send a wide-area encoded signal to every remaining Imperial vessel. We will then help friendly vessels reach the Spacebridge to the Deadlands. It is nearly fifteen hours from Ararrh II and will take us on our final leg of the journey home."

The map changed once more to show the star system.

"Operation Hellfire is going to be a short and bloody affair. And if we are successful, we will have full access to what remains of the Byotai military, and help thousands of civilians flee the area. This region is already lost, but if we can help the Byotai escape with even a portion of their forces, we must do so. We owe it to Kratha and his people to give this our best shot."

Captain Cornwallis licked his lips.

"What happens tomorrow will determine the future for the Byotai, and every sentient being out here in the Orion Nebula."

Nate let out a breath and found that the briefing had been so intense he'd been holding his breath for the last twenty seconds. He looked to his left where Ensign Hawkins was seated. They spoke quietly, as did a number of the other officers.

"Well, what do you think?"

Hawkins had never looked happier.

"Looks to me like we're going to war, Mr. Lewis, and we have the most important job in the entire operation."

Captain Cornwallis cleared his throat.

"Okay, then. Let's go over the timing and deployment positions. This needs to be perfect."

Nate and Ensign Hawkins leaned in closer as they looked at the mapping details, waypoints, and timing. It was a lot to take in, but for the first time in a very long time, Nate felt he was part of something big. As he looked at the data, he could visualise the shapes as ships, and the waypoints as empty points in space that they would hinge a mission on. It was just like planning a tournament mission for Star Crusader. But this time it was real, and what he said and did now mattered.

We can win this thing.

* * *

Attack Cruiser 'Brimstone', In Orbit over Martos III, Tenth Quadrant

21 December 2472

The Byotai ships formed up in a double line, pointing their armoured flanks at the approaching formation. They were big, and over half of them having escaped from the many Imperial shipyards now lost. Chief amongst them was the massive battleship, Hellstorm. The black coloured capital ship sat like an angry locust in the heart of the fleet, its myriad of weapons poised for battle. The numbers were roughly equal, but while the Byotai crews were now all veterans of the war in the Tenth Quadrant, the new arrivals were the exact opposite. Encouraged with tales of easy victory, they had hastily crewed civilian ships from the Anicinàbe Province and sent them across the border and to the planet of Martos III.

A squadron of attack cruisers pushed away from the main line and positioned themselves five kilometres away as a skirmish line. At the front of this formation lay Brimstone, an aged, yet powerful Attack Cruiser. The ship bore the marks of seven major battles, and bright white paint indicated how many vessels she had personally despatched in the conflict.

"Incoming fire. Prepare for bombardment."

The sirens howled as Navy crew and soldiers ran about to their prepared stations. Gunners sat in front of the control systems, the armed infantry waiting in their allocated dispersal areas. Ensign Barca watched a squad of heavily armed Byotai infantry rush past, and then looked back to his computer system.

"Just concentrate on your own work," said Lieutenant Karnis.

Though only a few years older than him, Lieutenant Karnis was now the chief science officer aboard the ship. He was one of those people that excelled in everything he did, and Barca had little doubt the Lieutenant would end up with a command role before long. The Lieutenant sounded bitter, and he wasn't the only one. With the Empire fallen, and nothing heading their way but long column of refugees, there was a feeling of failure and defeat in the air. The ships were arrayed for battle, but with their homes gone, there was now little left to fight for, except for the broken worlds below them.

Assuming we aren't all killed!

Just thinking that almost made Barca burst out laughing.

"Something funny?" Lieutenant Karnis asked.

Ensign Barca stopped immediately.

"No, nothing. Sir."

Like all those on the ship, he wore Naval uniform and light armour as required in times of war. His reptilian skin was tough without the extra protection, but the General had made it a requirement for all ships in the Tenth Quadrant. Until the fighting was over, they would be prepared for war. Ensign Barca shook his head and leaned in closer for a better look. The data was a mass of confused numbers with little clear pattern. The computer system had managed just five percent before being removed from the analysis. There was only so much computing power available, and at present was needed for the coming battle.

Maybe I can find something the computer missed.

Ensign Barca looked at his personal computer display and shook his head. Like many of the junior ranks on board, he'd been left with relatively minor duties, but since contact had been lost with the homeworld, his life had been transformed. He had a unique set of skills that set him apart from his comrades and guaranteed him a place in the CIC, where he assisted the science and communication officers. Some of his friends were experts in combat or flying, but not him. Barca's unique skills came in the world of computer software and cryptology, areas that he was something of a self-taught expert.

This can't be true, can it?

The screen pulsed green as he stared intently at the unit. There were no diagrams or pictorial representations, just lists of numbers in hexadecimal. Ensign Barca could already see the memory address being accessed and understood the message before it even finished decoding.

"That's an Imperial flash communication. It has to be."

With so much going on, none of the others heard him. It was just as well because his voice was little more than a noisy babble to the rest of them. Barca's eyes narrowed as he carefully examined the scrolling information. It was heavily damaged and had already been moved from the current work log for the crew. He would not let it go and concentrated on the last section. It took a few more seconds until he identified several repeating patterns. One looked suspiciously like the name Kratha.

The Prince?

By feeding the pattern back into the system, it was able to identify other similar sequences, and in seconds nearly a third of the message materialised before his eyes. His mouth opened into a grin as it was joined by a pair of heavily damaged map data packets. Once complete, he examined the data and tried to get an idea of what it was saying.

There were multiple ships' names, a single location, and something about the Prince. It looked like a partial battle report, and the names of the ships showed some were lost and others had taken a number of casualties. Barca's eyes continued scanning the data until he finally spotted an alien name. It took a second until he knew exactly what it was.

"Helios."

Barca couldn't believe what he was seeing, especially when a number of ship’s names appeared.

"The Imperator has called on all Byotai to resist."

This time his comrade, Lieutenant Karnis, sitting right beside heard him speak. He leant over to look at his system.

"You decrypted the corrupted packets? How the hell did you manage that?"

He ignored the question and pointed at the screen.

"Can't you see? This is a broken order of battle for Ctenosaura Primus."

Lieutenant Karnis moved from his seat and looked closely.

"You're right."

With a quick flourish, he brought up a starmap, scaled it, and then overlaid the information with the damaged data Barca had decrypted. The shape of the Imperial homeworld filled the centre, along with the icons of dozens of lost ships. Lieutenant Karnis shook his head bitterly.

"What you've found is one of the last reports of a battle at Ctenosaura Primus. And it clearly shows the loss of the Imperator's ship. It's as we suspected. The fleet has been lost."

The officer sighed and placed a hand on the outer metal plate of the system's frame.

"We truly are lost now."

Barca's brow tightened in frustration, but then he pointed at the icons to the bottom right.

"What's this, then?"

Lieutenant Karnis' mouth opened in an odd, slightly excitable expression.

"That is the code signal from..."

"Prince Kratha," said Ensign Barca, "And it says he's escaped with a retinue of warships."