The Landfall Campaign (The Nameless War) (57 page)

“
And might be anything up to several days away. We have received nothing from them, sir, so I must assume that they will not arrive in time to be a material factor.
”
She was amazed how level her voice was. If he
’
d sent the FTL signal when she
’
d asked, the frontier squadron might have already arrived. The Rizr would have fled and Vincent wouldn
’
t be dead. She wanted to scream at him, but screaming would do no good.
“
We will attempt to stop them, sir. If the base is boarded I would ask you to resist for as long as you can. Hawkings Base, this is
Hood
over and out.
”
She cut the connection before her self-control was pushed beyond breaking point.

“
Communications, Bridge. Skipper, the Captain of
America
wants to speak to you.
”

“
Put him on.
”

“
Commander Willis, are you receiving me?
”

“
Loud and clear sir.
”

“
Commander, I
’
m getting the uplink from the lunar tracking station. The Rizr are going to start to orbit around and there is a problem. They
’
re going to get mighty close to the Lagrange Point. On their current track,
Onslaught
will be silhouetted against the planet. Added to that one of the armoured cruisers and four of the destroyers are acting as close support for the transports. That
’
s more than
Onslaught
can handle on her own.
”

Bugger
, she thought as the task at hand focused her thoughts.
“
Sir, I think we
’
re going to have to meet them head on as they come round, don
’
t give them a chance to look properly,
”
she said.
“
If they have right number of blips on their radar screens they might not look too hard. It
’
s not a great plan…
”

“
It
’
s about as a subtle as a kick in the balls,
”
Captain Waugh interrupted. Then she heard him sigh,
“
but we don
’
t have time for anything better. Well Commander, let
’
s have at
‘
em.
”

“
Yes sir. Bridge to Coms. Signal all ships to form line abreast and advance. Signal
Onslaught
to treat transports as her priority and engage as tactical opportunity allows.
”

“
Sensors, Bridge, Contact! Multiple contacts. Friend or Foe confirms enemy in sight.
”

On the holo a pair of blips appeared as the lead Rizr destroyers nosed out from behind the moon. Immediately both launched countermeasures and started to make braking manoeuvres. Clearly these were Rizr reconnaissance elements and they couldn
’
t afford to allow the fleet to hide behind the moon with the time and space to analyse the reports.

“
Bridge, Coms. Order the squadron to come three degrees to port, fire at will.
”

“
Coms, Bridge. Signal from
Thunder
.
”

“
Yes Lieutenant
…”
Willis trailed off as she looked at the screen. If she
’
d been told his name, she couldn
’
t remember it.

“
Lieutenant Morgan. Ma
’
am. Do I have permission to break off?
”
he asked. There was an expression of absolute dread on his face.

“
Negative Lieutenant. You
’
re have to hang in there.
”

“
Ma
’
am! This ship doesn
’
t have any guns! It doesn
’
t even have a point defence grid!
”

It was murder to send in a crew, in something that barely passed as a ship. But she was going to have to do it anyway. If
Thunder
hauled off without apparent cause, then the Rizr might smell a rat.

“
I
’
m sorry Lieutenant Morgan,
”
she replied harshly,
“
I
need
that ship, I need them to think you
’
re
Onslaught
. Hold for as long as you can. Use the rest of the squadron for cover. Do you have escape pods?
”

“
There are pods in the silos. They might even still work!
”

“
Then stay in formation, when she
’
s taken all she can, bail out. Let them think they
’
ve taken one of us out.
”

As the squadron accelerated, the formation became ragged.
America
started to push ahead, her turrets trained out to starboard, as if sniffing for the enemy. Then in a rippling flash the cruiser opened fire. A few seconds later the
Hood’s
radar sighted the Rizr fleet. For a second or two the scene was clear on the holo, the green blips of her ships and the twenty-seven Rizr. The aliens were shifting formation, the armoured cruisers in the van, and protected cruisers on the flanks with the destroyers forming top and bottom cover. Then abruptly both sets of blips went fuzzy as all ships activated electronic counter measures. Still numbers and names appeared beside each blip as the computer started to categorise the various Rizr ships by class. Rizr design followed fairly consistent patterns, with light lasers in the turrets, heavier pieces in broadside mounts for the protected cruisers and in sponsons in their heavier brethren. That design was driven by technology and in turn design would drive tactics. As she watched, the Rizr slowly started to turn together to present their broadside guns.
Here we go.
Willis thought to herself. These were the bastards that had killed Vincent and if there was a shred of justice in the universe, she was going to repay them in kind. Below the conning tower,
Hood’s
two turrets swung to bear at the distant targets.

“
Bridge, Coms,
”
she said unemotionally,
“
signal
America
to lead us in, all ships to conform to her movements. Fire Control, Guns. Target the armoured cruiser designated AC Three. You have permission to fire when ready.
”

A ragged salvo of plasma bolts hurled forth, prompting Rizr ships to take whatever evasive action time and formation would allow but most of the shots crashed home. As metal work splintered and atmosphere pumped from breached hulls, space around the damaged aliens took on a haze of escaped gas. But it wasn
’
t all one-way traffic as stiletto-like laser beams burned back the other way. As they struck, the armoured plates of the Geriatrics glowed as they attempted to radiate away the energy and protect the ships and their crews. At first the armour defeated most shots, but with every hit some of the metal boiled away, leaving less to absorb the next hit.

The first casualty was an armoured cruiser, falling out of formation as
America
mercilessly pounded it. As she did,
Cyclone
,
Typhoon
and
Hood
each duelled with a Rizr ship. But even as they engaged a ship each, they left another seventeen to fire unmolested. All the while the range continued to drop.

“
There she goes!
”
said one of the sensor operators. The man probably didn
’
t even realise he
’
d spoken. Twenty minutes into the slogging match, the six Rizr destroyers had sallied out from the rest of their fleet to launch a missile strike. Two were destroyed outright and another pair badly mauled, but they must have been carrying missiles on external racks because they volleyed off more than twenty each. Sheer weight of numbers carried some of them through the storm of overlapping point defence fire put up by the Geriatrics.
Cyclone
lost most of her bows, while the roof of
Hood’s
A Turret was pealed back like a tin can and missiles fragments ripped into the main hull. A modern ship would have depressurised before action, but
Hood
had no such capability. As a result fires erupted and the rush of the air escaping into the void turned them into infernos. Emergency bulkheads did as designed and closed, sealing crewmen and women in with the fires. Yet they got off easy.
Thunder
had no point defence and no final line of protection so when seven missiles went in and the old ship snapped like a dry stick. No thought given to looking for survivors, only the battle.

“
Tactical, Bridge. Skipper, the transports close escort, it
’
s starting to move.
”

It was what Willis had been waiting for. The armoured cruiser that along with four of the destroyers had been hanging back, was now moving toward the battle, together with two of the smaller ships. That would leave the transports protected by only a pair of destroyers.

“
Get me the
America
,
”
she ordered.

“
I see it Commander,
”
Captain Waugh said without preamble as he appeared on the screen.
“
It looks like this is going to be our best shot at the transports. Have you signalled
Onslaught
?
”

“
She
’
s getting the uplink from the lunar tracking station sir. I don
’
t want to send any transmissions in case it gives things away.
”

“
Just as long as they move, Commander.
”

“
I have confidence, sir,
”
Willis replied,
“
but we
’
ll have to push in sir and not give them the space to run
Onslaught
off.
”

Waugh looked grim but nodded.
“
I
’
ll lead us in to within thirty thousand kilometres. If that doesn
’
t count as pressing in I don
’
t know what does!
”
There was a flash behind Waugh and Willis saw someone slump across their console behind him. The Captain grimaced over his shoulder and said:
“
Follow me, Commander.
”

For fifteen minutes they closed, and all of them suffered. Even
America
was struggling, streaming metal vapours as lasers cut into her. The status board on
Hood’s
bridge now had more red lights than green. There were sections of the ship Willis hadn
’
t heard from in over half an hour and her jaw ached from gritting her teeth. It was hard to tell how bad the rest of the squadron were.
Hood
had lost the ability to receive automatic updates from the others. One thing Willis was sure of however was that her own ship wasn
’
t going to take too much more.

“
Tactical, Bridge. Skipper, we
’
ve picked up
Onslaught
, visual only.
”
As the tactical officer spoke, a new blip appeared on the bridge holo, close to the moon, moving in behind the transports. The Rizr hadn
’
t spotted her yet and
Onslaught
was already in range.

“
Understood, Helm, alter course two degrees to port. Coms, order the squadron to turn accordingly.
”

“
Understood,
”
called back the helmsman. As
Hood
began to turn, a series of hits shook her to the core. There was an explosion in the lower levels of the conning tower and metal splinters burst up through the deck faster than the eye could follow. As atmosphere swirled out through the holes in the deck, Willis glanced around. None of her bridge crew had been hit.

“
Skipper! Helm
’
s not answering!
”