The Icarian Legacy Collected Edition: Brave Souls - First Strike (Volume 3) (106 page)

“If they really destroyed an entire fleet and helped the rebels down there then they went to far.”

Savario looked at her and his face turned serious.

“The destruction of the fleet and the power of the rebellion are probably just coincidences.

No one would be foolish to do that. But they probably helped a little. That is what we must find out. Who ever they acquired to help them he or she is still out there. And as long as they are we aren’t safe.”

She nodded.

“Then go and find out.”

He bowed and turned and walked away.

“Do you have any leads as to where to start?”

He stopped at the door.

“I will start where it all began. As for leads…they will present them self, but I would love to have a chat with the Carrerans.”

She nodded. She harbored the same suspicions.

As he left she returned to reading the data on her pad. It was from the latest exercises. The ship and crew were doing well.

They were ready for the war.

Jennings watched as the data flooded in. It took them a while to get back inside the system.

They went out even further this time and spent almost a month drifting inside slowly.

The reports they got were of massive fighting on the planet, and of seven dead soldiers.

That came as a shock. Even before they left they knew that Singer died. Just day after that in a retreating action Rupert, Kim, Miller, Rhodes, Haskins and Roberts were killed.

He knew that there was nothing he could do but it still worried him. They were his men. He sent them down there and had to leave them for eight months. Eight months of hell.

The fleet was probably on route. They should be entering the system with the drone soon.

He indicated for Thomson to set course for the outer system to the prearranged coordinates.

It was the place where the fleet would come out on his suggestion.

Two weeks…

That was all the time the Dacarians on this world had.

Levin watched as the data from the drone was downloaded. The fleet came out of the warp point several hours ago. The scout ships entered the system a day before. After they reported that the system was clear of danger, and that there were no ships hiding in it the rest of the fleet followed.

Two hundred and ninety ships in all were spread out in the system.

They were all warships but forty had a different purpose as well. They were in a way the most important ships carrying the army units and equipment. He knew that back on Earth new even more powerful ships were being designed. The first assault transports were modeled after the colony ships. They were large far larger then any of the other ships.

They were fleets by themselves considering that they carried smaller ships as well Frigates and Corvettes.

As the entire information was downloaded he went through it. What he read astonished him.

“Well I’ll be damned.”

The others turned and looked at him.

He didn’t say anything and returned to his reading.

Several minutes he raised his head and looked at Captain Williamson.

“It’s time to wake the boys up.”

“Yes sir.”

The order went out immediately.

Ten hours later the command staff was gathered on the Hyperion. The battleship served as Levin’s flagship.

Levin watched as the generals read the report from the SF teams.

The admirals and the captains all read it before.

This meeting was for the army and the marines benefit only.

The commanders of each unit were present here.

Henderson was the ultimate commander but it was an international force so everyone was invited.

“Well this will change our plans.”

It was Barrett who broke the silence.

“It changes a lot.”

Barrett smiled.

“If you want a messy situation send the SF. If you want a clear picture send force recon.”

His comment forced a smile on Henderson’s face.

The rivalry between the marines and the SF teams was legendary, and the same went with the army.

“If Aria is right this gives us a chance not just to destroy the dacarian troops and cities on the ground but to also hold the system.”

“If she is right…”

“Well I guess we have a new LZ.”

They both turned towards Levin after they spent several minutes discussing with the other commanders.

“We’ll have a plan ready by tomorrow. Small changes to the original plan now that we now the locations. We’ll be ready by the time we reach the system.”

“Levin nodded.”

“Two weeks gentlemen, in two weeks you will be on the ground.”

The meeting was concluded.

One by one the generals left the room.

Levin looked at Simonson.

“What do you think?”

“There is no chance in hell they’ll be ready. But you will never hear them agree.”

“Well you know how they say…”

Simonson smiled.

“No plan survives the contact with the enemy.”

“And they are right. No matter what they plan it will all go to shit the moment they hit the ground. Our job is much easier. We already know where all our targets are.”

Simonson nodded. The report was detailed about the space defenses even about the incoming ships. It was updated several days ago. They found the second drone close t the first.”

“I wonder what Jennings is doing right now?”

“Knowing him sir I think he is itching for the battle to start. He and his crew spent eight months all alone.  They spent them hiding, constantly on alert and that action when they destroyed those ships. Hell I wish I was there to see it.”

Levin smiled.

“Me too, and I believe the same goes for every captain out there.”

“How many did we lose?”

“Just forty one men died in the capsules. And one crazy bastard got it right in their bloody lottery.”

Levin sighed.

They all knew that this might happen. The pods were not tested.

And there was no way that they could keep them awake and feed them the whole trip.

But to lose just 41 men from almost a million wasn’t much. The predictions went as high as two percent. That would have hurt.

“Very well...Inform the captains that we leave in two days. I want all ships to perform system checks for any problems. We have a battle to fight and win and we need everyone to be ready.”

Simonson nodded and agreed. If there were any problems it was better to know about them now before they went to battle. When someone fired at you it was hard to concentrate on fixing other problems.

And the soldiers would need the time.

On every ship the checks were being conducted and the soldiers slowly awakened from the long sleep.

It was time.

They all knew it and felt it in their bones.

And they were ready to do their job.

T-minus 38 hours…

Jennings sat in his chair and watched the screens carefully. Thomson was on the bridge as well. The younger captain looked at the screens just as Jennings and everyone else.

Aria watched them and smiled.

She could notice the tension on their faces and bodies. She couldn’t feel it not as they felt it but she knew that she had it too.

In the next few minutes they would know humanity will know if it was really ready for its first interstellar war. She knew technically that it wasn’t their first but in a way it was. They were not her creators.

Not really their descendants as well.

Earth was the birth place of their race. Her creators arrived on a world thriving with life. They just added a little more to it genetic diversity.

“Maybe it would be better if you watched from the observation deck Admiral. I can man the systems in the next few minutes.”

Jennings turned and saw Aria smiling.

He smiled for a second as well.

He looked at Thomson and he smiled more as he saw the anticipation on his face.

“Harper you have the bridge the Captain and me are going to the observation deck.”

The young ensign stood up and moved slowly towards Thomson’s seat.

As she sat she pressed several buttons that activated her command and turned.

“I have the bridge captain.”

Then she smiled.

“Enjoy you bastards…”

The admiral and the captain made a face at her remark.

Then they both burst smiling.

“We sure will Maria.”

She just nodded and then waved her hand.

“Now get out of my bridge.”

Smiling they rushed out.

There were two observation decks on the Excelsior, one in front at the bottom of the ship and one in the back. They were actually protected by three meters thick titanium blast doors and placed in a position that was not dangerous for the rest of the ship.

As Jennings and Thomson entered the room they saw that Azogas and Alania were there. Dr. Thompson was with them. In the past few weeks she and Alania became good friends. Considering that Alania spent most of her days in the infirmary it was not surprising.

Several marines were here as well.

“You couldn’t wait as well sir?”

Jennings turned towards the marine who spoke.

“It is a moment for history Ericson.”

“It sure is sir and we knew you would be here.”

Jennings smiled.  

The marines and their bets, he wondered who was the loser now.

He came close to their two new crew members.

“The moment you’ve being waiting for is finally here admiral.”

“Yes Azogas. The moment we’ve all be waiting for.”

He looked at Alania for a second.

She never looked back. Her eyes were fixed outside towards the blackness. She was still weak but the color returned to her face and she was slowly growing stronger each day.

He noticed that she shaved her hair.

Jennings knew that it was Helen’s idea. They already shaved part of it when they performed the surgery. And considering what a mess the other part was it was better to have it removed and let it grow again.

His gaze lingered for a moment and then he looked outside as well.

She felt him looking at her.

She still couldn’t believe that it was real.

A ship filed with humans, humans from the Homeworld. From the place that existed just in the stories of old men and women.

And they said that many more will come.

And space. It was so beautiful, magical. She spent a lot of her time right here, just looking outside, tasting her freedom.

Freedom….

It was a strange feeling. Real freedom, not the kind that they had on the asteroid when they would sneak for several minutes…

She closed her eyes at that moment. She remembered Lugo.

He was gone…Dead.

She turned and looked at Azogas. He shared her pain and loss.

She saw the admiral and the others in the room. She could see the excitement on their faces.

And she could see that they were nervous.

They spoke that they would attack the world, defeat the empire…

She doubted that it was possible. And so did Azogas.

She remembered that several of the prisoners from the fronts, from races that fought the empire speaking of the dacarian fleets. Describing the thousands of ships, the destroyed worlds…

And yet as she watched them she felt that childish hope…The hope that they all shared, hope born from legends of events that transpired so long ago.

She prayed to the gods that it wasn’t a false hope.

Thomson looked at his watch.

They were five minutes overdue…

He was about to speak when the space before them shimmered.

Aria appeared a second later.

“They are here.”

A second later the blackness was shattered. It shimmered and then the blue expanse of Hyper space appeared in hundreds of places several thousand kilometers ahead and it expanded.

Moments later Hips appeared.

They all gasped as the human fleet exited hyper space.

Jennings smiled.

It was a glorious sight.

Before their eyes the fleet started forming up.

Aria turned towards Jennings.

“They are hailing us sir.”

He turned and headed for the bridge.

“Tell them welcome and send them the latest data.”

“Also Eagles one through twelve report their mission was a success. All enemy drones and monitoring stations are silent.”

Jennings smiled.

He sent his air wing twelve hours ago to destroy all the monitoring stations that covered these sectors.

The Dacarians would notice. But by the time they did and guess the reason for their silence, the fleet would be down their necks.

He turned towards Aria.

“Are all our targets acquired?”

“They are sir.”

“Very well execute Silent hill.”

She nodded.

A moment later the Excelsior shuddered as the MAC and the four main rail guns fired.

With these shots the mission started.

In five hours those missiles will strike the monitoring stations in the asteroid belt. And the three frigates and one destroyer that were on picket duty there.

“Tell admiral Levin that I’m expecting them in twenty minutes and set a course for our place in the formation.”

“Yes sir.”

Jennings felt the jolt of adrenalin.

It was time. The moment he and his crew waited for the past year and a half was finally here.

                                                  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

T-minus thirty seven hours and ten minutes…

Jennings looked at the other two admirals.

Levin and Simonson looked tired.

He raised the glass.

“A toast to success gentlemen.”

“To you and your crew Sam, you did a marvelous job.”

Jennings looked at William.

“The boys on the ground did the hard work. We just had to hide and watch.”

Levin nodded.

“The information’s they sent and what we have now were surprising.”

“It was a shock. We expected that there would be slaves, but not humans. And the rebellion…”

“A rebellion that is now in full swing according to the latest communiqué you got from them.”

“They did what they are trained to do William. And Davis and his boys should be on site now. When our boys land they will have an open road in that base.”

Levin nodded. He knew how good the SAS were. And he knew Davis personally.

Jennings inhaled.

“The problem is not what we do now. The problem lies in what we will do next I’m confident that we will take this world. But what will we do when we take it. The plan was never to stay here. It was to strike a decisive blow and go home.

“If what Aria says is true the planetary defense network will be more then able to protect them.”

“That network needs ships for support Jack. We all know that. And no matter how good the rebels are, they will get a world in ruins. We will wreck everything of value in this system. We have to. We have no choice in the matter.”

Simonson and Levin looked at one another.

“I guess we take as many as we can with us. The rest…”

No one spoke the word. But they knew that they will have to leave them behind. Or destroy them.

“We’ll think about that problem when the time comes.”

Levin looked at Jennings.

“We have two hundred and fourteen enemy ships of different classes in the system. Most are cruisers and destroyers but we also have several battleships and four dreadnoughts.”

Jennings smiled.

“They are the ones that survived our little surprise. Two of them were in the system from before. Most of the ships arrived in the last few days. This seems to be a transit world. And I guess the fighting on the planet draws attention.”

“And our teams on the ground have confirmation that this is the world from which they launched the attack.”

Jennings inhaled.

“That information came from the rebels. It seems that there is a clan meeting in the capitol city between several clans. They were confident that it was about us. The words humans and terra were the primary focus of the discussion.”

Simonson smiled.

“Then we might hit a jack pot.”

They all nodded.

“Well it’s time we return to our ships. We launch the attack in one hour. Kirkpatrick is waiting with the transports two light years out. Once we clear the resistance he will jump in system.”

Jennings nodded.

The troop carriers were not suited for combat, at least not at first.

They were well armored but the 40 colony ships they used were not warships. He knew that the human built troop transports the ones already built and the ones that were now in construction back in Sol would be a different story. The Assault transports would be warships in the real sense. But that was for the future.

He shook hands with Levin and Simonson as they stood up. When they left he went to the bridge and started the final preparations.

On every ship the crews loaded the weapons, took their positions and got ready. They knew that the moment the attack starts the enemy will fire back.

Jennings and the part of the fleet under his command had the screening role after the initial launch. There were several pickets of enemy ships outside the system and they would rush in system the moment they notice the attack. His job was to make sure they never reach there.

He knew that most would be destroyed long before as they would be the first targeted.  In fact the four closest pickets consisting of seventeen ships were already targeted and projectiles were already headed their way.

By the time they detect them it would be to late.

He had the faster ships of the fleet and their job was to finish off the stragglers.

Levin watched as the ships arranged in formation.

Each ship had a target. They would each fire three times at the enemy fleet. Then at everything else in system, every base, station…

The marines they carried were ready to storm the stations in the asteroid belt. And then the fleets under his and Simonson’s command would finish the ones that survived.

He looked at his crew.

“Open a fleet wide link.”

As she nodded that the link is up he exhaled.

“You all know why we are here. We all know our duty. For our families back home, for the ones that died, for the people on this world that are even now fighting, for them and for us as well it’s time we clear the pestilence that is called a Dacarian from this system. They had their shot. They failed. Now it’s our turn. Execute.”

A moment later two hundred and thirty five ships started firing.

The Hyperion was a battleship. The first battleship the humans built. It had four MAC guns two on the ventral hull and two on the sides and twenty primary kinetic energy weapons and eighty six rail guns placed all over the hull.

The MAC guns fired twenty five and fifty ton projectiles at speeds of four hundred miles per second.

And they all fired their projectiles at the enemy positions. Or better said at where the enemies will be in nine hours when the projectiles reached them.

There would be no warning, none at all.

But the real danger didn’t come from his or even from the Carrier’s or the Cruisers. It came from the two Alteran Cruisers and from the thirteen ships called B-30 fortress.

They didn’t fire when all the other ships did. They fired an hour later but their projectiles would reach first, and would deliver hell.

They were a bomber class. A rail gun platform basically.

More were being built back at home but these would do.

They were eight hundred meters long heavily armoured but with little of point defence. That job was for the ships surrounding them

Each ship fired a one ton rod every ten seconds, and hurling it at the enemy at speeds of 8000km/s. The fastest rail gun humanity built.

Plans were made for installing the same system once it was perfected for larger projectiles on every heavier class.

And as they started firing he knew that the enemy would be sorry he met them.

While all the others fired just few times the thirteen ships fired for twenty minutes. And their projectiles would reach first.

It was not a simultaneous attack.

But it was perfectly planned and executed.

As they stopped firing every ship started moving.

The attack on Arcadia started.

Kobark watched as the other representatives of the clans sat. Everyone who knew about the attack on Earth was here. The human home world was most probably in their hands now. In the next few weeks they would receive the first reports from the fleet and this meeting was about planning the next steps.

“You seem to have your hands full here my friend.”

He turned and saw Ilhunka.

He represented the Du Mas clan one of the most powerful clans in the empire. A clan that he knew had even higher aspirations.

And Ilhunka wanted the clan leadership for start.

They contributed the biggest number of ships for the invasion forces.

Hs and the Al Kadush were the minor participants.

Four more clans were involved.

“I do Ilhunka. My predecesor it seems didn’t take his responsibility seriously. He reported a few rebel cells and I found a groth’s nest. But it will be over soon. I believe that by the time we celebrate our victory the rebellion will be crushed.”

“As we all Kobark…The humans eluded us long enough. Once they are gone…”

“We’ll have to move slowly with our plans my friend. Remember what happened to my clan. And we never wanted the throne like you do.”