The fighters banked around Jupiter, looking for the Bug warships that were there. But what they saw instead was worse, if possible.
Pieces of Bug ships tumbled through space. They could see fragments as large as their fighters, but very few pieces were larger. Even more incredible was that this destruction had been achieved in less than six minutes, for the unknowns to be gone by now. She had to report this to Fleet Command.
"Fleet Command, this is Vector Squadron. All Bug ships have been destroyed. I repeat all Bug ships have been destroyed. There is currently no evidence of the attacker, and no signs of life from the Bug ships. Orders?"
Everybody in the command center was gaping in shock from the report. They knew that it would have taken several minutes for one of their ships to close on and destroy a single transport, and whoever had did this had to have been just as quick, and they had never seen them!
"Vector Squadron, this is Fleet Command. We're sending out a couple recovery ships with troopers and scientists on board. I want you there to cover them in case any of those vessels still have functioning weapons, or they need an entrance."
"Yes sir. I doubt that they will need an entrance though sir, I'm only reading five fragments that are larger than my fighter."
"Copy that. Command out."
*
Two recovery ships were launched from one of the orbital bases, each containing an MI squad, and a couple of scientists. The rest of the space was taken up by the Marauder suits, and sample containers. The sample containers were for whatever the scientists thought would be important, while the Marauder suits were in case there was anything dangerous still living.
In the meantime, every piece of tracking data was pulled out of the system's memories, in an attempt to find who or what had done this, and to thank them. The other possibility, that the newcomers were hostile, was thought by everyone there but they hoped it wasn't true. For if they could do that much damage to the Bug ships, they could do just as much or worse against the SICON forces.
*
A couple hours later, the recovery ships had arrived at the debris field, and everyone there stared for a couple seconds at the massive amount of pieces. The lieutenant got everyone back to reality, and told them to move out. Being equipped with a space thruster system, the troopers began moving to each piece in turn, checking it for any remaining Bugs, and pronouncing it clean for the scientists to examine.
The scientists in turn, called for several ships to make a kind of net back at the base, and use that net to sweep up the pieces. What the scientists would try to do is to reassemble the Bug ships, in order to determine what happened, and how long it took to happen. One sergeant looked at one piece though, and recommended that it be taken back also. One side of it appeared to be perfectly flat, and he knew that a perfectly flat surface didn't occur naturally, or on Bug ships.
The scientists were also gathering pieces for genetic analysis, and to determine what types of weapons had been used, and their damage capacity.
*
Back on Earth, all the MI forces were staring at their commanding lieutenants in shock. They had all read the reports about how tough Bug transports were, and since all the Bug ships had been destroyed, whoever did this was tougher.
The Roughnecks were no different, and were staring at Lieutenant Rico as he told them the news. "All we know for certain is that eight Bug transports and four Ice Bugs were destroyed within six minutes, and we have no idea who did it. I have a hunch though, that this is just a demonstration of their capability.
"In the meantime, we have also received new orders. Our leaves are over, so I hope you all enjoyed yourselves, 'cause we're going back to the front. With the Queen dead, Intel believes the Bugs will start coming apart at the seams. Still, Bugs are tough, and on any world with a Brain Bug, you can bet they will be waiting."
"Sir, any word on what destroyed the Bug transports?" asked Higgins.
"None yet. But they have done a rough analysis of the Ice Bugs that were with them. Those Ice Bugs are their version of a battleship. The one we met earlier was immature apparently, and either hadn't had time to develop its heavy weapons, or this is a new species of Bug starship."
"If there are no further questions, let's get aboard our ship. We're back on board the Valley Forge, and we're going to kill more Bugs. Move it Roughnecks!"
With grins, the squad moved on board the dropship waiting to take them back to the Valley Forge. They had been relaxing for what felt like long enough; long enough to enjoy it, but short enough that they hadn't lost their combat edge. With a new campaign heating up against the Bugs, their combat edge would all that stood between them and death.
*
Ships formed up in the space around Earth. The ships that still needed work done had had their useful components pulled, and installed on less-damaged ships. SICON High Command wanted to get the Bugs on the defensive, and the more ships and troopers that could be allocated to the task, the easier it would be. The powerful ships pulled away, heading out into the void, intending to bring the war back to the Bugs, and exterminate them. For the ships that remained, SICON R&D was developing new weapons, and the room left by removing the older components would give them plenty of space to install new weapons and equipment.
Standard warship weaponry for the SICON forces was both continuous and pulse lasers, long-range missiles, and their onboard fighters, with smaller versions of the starship weapons, along with their own gatling style guns. There were rumors in the works about new lasers all the time, and for the people left behind, they would get to find out first if the rumors were true.
Bug weaponry, on the other hand, tended towards armed transports and, just recently, the armed Ice Bugs. Transports had holes on their back where plasma Bugs could climb out from the storage area below, and use their own plasma batteries to defend the transport. Although extremely exposed to enemy fire, and not very accurate, there were usually eighty to ninety Plasma Bugs used, and the volume of fire was incredible. When there was only a single ship attacking a transport, all the Plasma Bugs had to do was point themselves at the single enemy ship, and volley fire until they were destroyed, or the enemy was. If they were destroyed, that was no matter, as the transport usually had several hundred of them on board. The armed Ice Bugs used larger versions of the plasma batteries, and while they couldn't aim as quickly, their firepower was such that two hits were all that was necessary to vaporize the target. With the Bugs own genetic adaptations racing along, the Bugs own firepower doubled roughly every five years, while staying at the same weight and power demand.
*
The first ships were arriving at their targets; Hydora, Tesca Namerosa, Beta Temaxis, Shrike twelve, Tophet, Klendathu, and others were being hit in the first wave. Hydora was being hit with troops trained in water operations, as the entire planet was one giant ocean, except for a few islands here and there. Tesca Namerosa was an Earth-like world that orbited a gas giant. Although it was beyond the range for liquid water to form base on the heat of the star, the heat from the gas giant gave it the few degrees it needed for life to develop. Beta Temaxis was another Earth-like world, but it was primarily a jungle planet, with small lakes everywhere. Shrike twelve was the fifth planet of the second star in a binary system, which had seven planets in the primary system, and six in the secondary. This system was very young, and the Earth-like planet was undergoing random evolution when the humans arrived. The planet's evolution was now being guided by a few scientists there, while the rich ore deposits were feeding the industries at Earth. When the Bugs had hit the planet, the supply of ores for Earth had been reduced by twenty percent, with a corresponding decrease in ship production, and increase in concern by the general staff. With a strike team going back in, the hungry orbital shipyards of earth would be fed again, turning out the new machines needed to fight the Bugs.
Fortunately the planet Tophet, home world of the Skinnies, had not been conquered by the Bugs, but a majority of the ships in orbit had had their metal components replaced by advanced composites, courtesy of Skinny industry, and sheer necessity. The Bugs had been grinding away at the defenses in orbit, and the humans had not had any reinforcements since the queen arrived on Earth. With the queen gone, the Bug attacks had stopped, and the weary defenders there were relaxing for a change. Three strike vessels were on the way, escorting ten transports, with fuel, weapons, ammunition, and all the other necessities of war.
But Klendathu, that was the gem. The original home world of the Bugs, it had an atmosphere that was toxic to humans, but the Bugs were perfectly at home breathing it. But this would be an important milestone. It would show the entire planet and all the humans everywhere that when humans conquer someone's homeworld, it stays conquered. Troops had been withdrawn from the planet in order to get the Bugs off Earth, and those troops were aching to return to their 'home'. With the Bugs on Earth gone, High Command was more than happy to send them back.
Even now, ships were approaching the systems, intent on bringing the Bug controlled worlds under the control of humans. The fleets dropped out of FTL drive at the edge of the system, and began their steady drive to the planets they were to conquer, or assist. At the Bug controlled systems, troopers began getting their gear ready to drop, crews began readying weapons of destruction, and fighter pilots were receiving their briefings. Scanners were up, looking for targets, and relaying their data to the human minds that would decide where to unleash their payloads of death.
Fighters were launched, flying ahead of the fleets, scouting for any Bug ships in the area, or other such surprises. As the fleets continued in, the fighter pilots reported (regrettably?) that there were no enemy vessels sighted in their flight paths, or anywhere near. Then the klaxons moaned, telling the troops to get to their dropships, and get ready for drop. There was no need for briefings, as the time to target had been spent briefing the troopers on where to go, and what to expect. There had been no change needed from the plans, and the dropships were launched from the main vessels, bringing their up close and personal form of destruction to the planets. Hydora was assaulted, with troopers immediately heading for the caves where Queen Ripplers could be, attempting to draw out the Bugs instead of having to go in after them. Tesca Nemerosa received the same treatment, with troopers setting their base at Zegema beach back up, and preparing for the Bugs to try to resist. Beta Temaxis was assaulted, with the troopers landing near a lake, but with clear solid ground all around. If the Bugs wanted to come after the grounded troopers, they would be seen above ground, and heard chewing through the rock if they came from below.
Troopers and Fleet personnel around Tophet rejoiced, as they received the first contact with outside forces in almost two months. Many of them had thought they were left out there, but humans fight for one another, and the transports brought with them fresh supplies, and that human supply in combat, mail. Many of the personnel in that cut-off fleet had been declared Missing in Action (MIA), and the welcome news that they were alive touched the hearts and minds of millions on Earth, bringing fresh good news to everyone.
But those were the easy missions. The crews headed for Klendathu, and Shrike Twelve knew they were going in to strongly held Bug grounds. Klendathu, as everyone knew, was the Bug home world, with a corresponding increase of defending troops, and new varieties of Bugs that would have to be discovered and destroyed, while Shrike Twelve was a planet that was just beginning its process of evolution, and had an abundance of heavier elements, ripe for the Bugs to convert to their own forms. Each of them knew that they would be facing a long, drawn out struggle, and each inch of ground would be paid for in the currency of death and suffering.
But they were about to discover something even worse.
The fighter pilots heading towards Shrike Twelve noticed it first, as Shrike Twelve had been surrounded by three moons when they left. Now there were only two moons, and both of them had been vastly reduced in size. Proceeding nearer to the planet, they detected Bugs on the planet, and Bug plasma reached up for them, but in far lesser numbers than anticipated. The data was relayed to the assault fleet, and the Admiral in charge of the assault told his Intel liaison officer to find out what was going on.
But that was the mild surprise, for the pilots reaching Klendathu found something even more horrible.
The fighters again spotted the difference, but the difference was on Klendathu itself. Previously, Klendathu had been a roughly Earth-sized planet, wrapped in a mildly toxic atmosphere. Although breathable by humans, it was better if not breathed at all. But Klendathu was far different this time. As the fighters orbited the grey, dead world, they all wondered, 'Who could do this to the Bugs?'
Arriving at Klendathu, the fleet's more powerful sensors began recording more data, and dropships full of troopers were ordered down to take samples of various areas. The first bits of data were coming in from the scanners, and the results given at the first briefing made them all sit up and take notice.
"As you can see, the planet's atmosphere has been totally ruined. Not to mention, we estimate that one kilometer of the surface of the planet has, simply, been removed. The planet's new diameter is 12762 kilometers, from its old diameter of 12763 kilometers. While this may not seem like a lot, that is a total volume of almost two hundred million cubic kilometers. We know that the average density of the rock to be twenty billion tons per cubic kilometer. Figuring that the Bugs dug out so much below that half of that volume is air; we halve that number to get ten billion tons per cubic kilometer.
"The net result is that whoever did this, took away one thousand nine hundred million, billion tons of material while we were away for two months dealing with the queen. That is a nineteen with seventeen zeroes after it."
The whole room was looking at him in shock. Whoever or whatever had done this had managed to steal away more material in two months, than their entire fleet was composed of, even if you double counted the material used from destroyed ships in building new ones. Even with their large Methuselah class starships weighing in at on hundred thousand tons each, it would take their building program over a thousand years to come anywhere near that figure. And that was with everything they had dedicated to building new ships, with nothing being done to repair existing ships, or even build planetary items for civilians.
"Not only that, but we have some disturbing reports from the troopers below. Parts of the surface have unusual depressions in them, and with some computer assistance, we have determined that these craters are the result of meteorites. All the craters occurred within the past two months, so I believe it is safe to assume that whoever carted off the top of the planet also dropped the meteors. In order for these craters to still exist, they were either fired after the removal was complete, during the removal, or before. If they were fired afterwards, then the meteors were in the one hundred megaton range, if fired during they were in the one hundred to ten thousand megaton range, but if they were fired before the removal, they were at least ten thousand megatons each."
"With MI squads on the ground now, we can ask them to begin digging for the meteorites, and we can get a better idea of how big the meteorites, or should I say projectiles, were." With those words, the lieutenant giving the presentation signaled that she was ready for questions to begin, if not ready for giving any answers.
"Lieutenant, has the atmosphere content assisted you in getting any clues as to how long ago this occurred?"
"I'm sorry sir, but with the atmosphere on Klendathu being all but gone, it will take several weeks for any results to be useful."
"Lieutenant, has anyone looked for any 'splash effect' from the projectiles hitting the planet? If there is a lot, then that tells us that the projectiles arrived after the removal, while if little or none tells us that the projectiles arrived during or before."
"Sir, we haven't gotten a chance to examine the photos carefully enough, but initial looks are that there is no splash sir."
Various other questions followed, but the final conclusion was that the projectiles had arrived either during or before the removal, and they had no idea that would have done this, or how they managed to do it so quickly.
*
On the ground Mobile Infantry squads were busy digging in the dirt, getting deeper into the craters, with no success yet. Engineering teams were called in at the sites of two of the larger craters, in an attempt to dig deeper into the mystery. Finally, after three solid days of digging with heavy machinery, one of the engineers struck meteorite. They began digging out the sides to see how big it was, and after they were twenty meters wide, they saw how big the projectile was.
Half a meter wide.
The whole projectile was roughly half a meter wide, and one and a half meters tall. It was an oval shape, so its total volume was less than a cylinder's volume, but the projectile massed only two tons. There was a lot of heat-induced melting at the bottom end, and the rock that had been punched through was kept, so the engineers could determine just how fast it had been going when it had hit.
In the meantime, the troopers were going over the surface of the planet, in case any Bugs had been missed during the bombardment, and the removal. They were scared, and their lieutenants had a difficult time keeping them calm. They were professionals, and they knew that who or whatever did this could easily come back and do it again.
*
On the planet Shrike Twelve, the Intel personnel were going through similar shock. The Moon that had been removed had massed over one billion tons, but there seemed to be several new asteroids in the star system. Backtracking their orbits, showed that they had originated at the two remaining moons, indicating that the asteroids had come from the moons, and had merely been launched into space. Even more likely, the asteroids were intended to be caught by something, and the human fleet had arrived before that could have happened. They didn't know what had done this, but it was nice to know that they weren't perfect.
As they attacked the Bug planet, they saw similar craters to what had been spotted on Klendathu, but the sheer scope astounded them. One of the craters was over three miles wide, and the Intel team in orbit found several of them in a funny line. After analyzing the data, they found that all three craters were in the same orbital plane and a slight angle was evident in them. Measuring the angles and the line of the craters indicated that the same unit had fired those shots. When they looked further, several of the impact rays, where debris flung up by the impacts, was on top of another set of rays, and under others from the same crater. A rough estimate of time indicated that the craters had been formed within one minute of each other.
*
But that speculation was halted, as scanners picked up three Bug ships coming into the system, and the ships moved into position to intercept. There were eight vessels there, and the crews knew that they would have an easy time picking off the Bug ships. Fighters were loaded and launched, while on-board crews began readying the defensive guns for anti-plasma fire. Missiles dropped into their launchers, and reloads slid into place, ready to feed the launchers.
AS the fighters began closing on the Bug ships, their scanners showed debris venting from the sides of one of the Bug ships, and there seemed to be something at the edge of their scanners. But as the fighters got closer, the objects seemed to be retreating, and then there were only the Bugs to worry about. Their long-range visual sensors watched as Plasma Bugs trundled up onto the backs of the three ships, and began turning to the main swarm of fighters. Plasma blasts began pumping out, and the fighters moved to a looser formation to avoid the incoming fire.
But that looser formation was for another purpose as well, as the fighters began to volley missiles at the Plasma Bugs. The first few missiles were intercepted by Bug plasma, but the explosions shocked a couple more Plasma Bugs, and the missiles struck. Each missile that hit knocked several other Plasma Bugs off slightly, and the remaining missiles took advantage of the confusion to kill off all the remaining Plasma Bugs up top. The pilots watched as the last of this group of Plasma Bugs was taken out, and their visual sensors told them that the next batch of the Plasma Bugs was moving into place. Missiles flashed out again, seeking to destroy their targets, robotic minions doing the bidding of their organic masters.
Now the Bug transports began launching their fighters. Looking like little more than smaller version of the transport Bugs themselves, the Fighter Bugs were equipped with their own plasma cannons, and sped towards the waiting fleet. Their typical attack strategy was to fire their plasma, then kamikaze into a human ship to damage or destroy it.
Half the human fighters turned around to deal with this threat, and the Bugs displayed a new species; space-capable Ripplers. The Bug fighters were extremely large and cumbersome, and the Bugs had decided that the best way to deal with a nimble opponent was with another nimble opponent. Each Transport launched over two hundred each of the new Ripplers, and the fighter pilots suddenly found themselves in a vicious dogfight for their lives. A fighter's missile could take out a Rippler easily, but when you only had two missiles remaining and were outnumbered by five to one, missiles weren't the ultimate answer. Over the tactical network, grunts could be heard, as pilots pulled hard turns to keep the Ripplers in sight to use their guns on them. The close-quarters dog fighting against the Ripplers was dangerous, as a Rippler that was after one fighter could suddenly veer off to attack another fighter, and land on it. As a Rippler landed on a fighter, they would attack the cockpit, trying to tear away the canopy to get to the juicy pilot inside.
The worst part was for the fighter pilots, as they flew a narrow balance of keeping close to the Ripplers, while not being too close. The pilots that were headed after the Bug larger fighters, now being termed as Bug gunboats, or gunbugs, could not turn back to help their fellow pilots, as the transport Bugs were coming in closer as well, using their plasma Bug fire to suppress any fire that the SICON fleet vessels would have added to the fight. The SICON ships were fighting valiantly, and one of the Bug transports was destroyed, but the other two kept on coming. It seemed that no matter how heavy the firepower was applied against the Bug transports, they just kept on coming towards the planet. The captains knew that if even one of those transport Bugs made it to the planet, there would be tens of thousands more Bugs on the planet. While it would be good to get the remaining Bugs away from the others and destroy the scattered parts, they also knew that the victory would be bought in blood.
Even more frightening was what happened next.
Pieces of Bug ships tumbled through space. They could see fragments as large as their fighters, but very few pieces were larger. Even more incredible was that this destruction had been achieved in less than six minutes, for the unknowns to be gone by now. She had to report this to Fleet Command.
"Fleet Command, this is Vector Squadron. All Bug ships have been destroyed. I repeat all Bug ships have been destroyed. There is currently no evidence of the attacker, and no signs of life from the Bug ships. Orders?"
Everybody in the command center was gaping in shock from the report. They knew that it would have taken several minutes for one of their ships to close on and destroy a single transport, and whoever had did this had to have been just as quick, and they had never seen them!
"Vector Squadron, this is Fleet Command. We're sending out a couple recovery ships with troopers and scientists on board. I want you there to cover them in case any of those vessels still have functioning weapons, or they need an entrance."
"Yes sir. I doubt that they will need an entrance though sir, I'm only reading five fragments that are larger than my fighter."
"Copy that. Command out."
*
Two recovery ships were launched from one of the orbital bases, each containing an MI squad, and a couple of scientists. The rest of the space was taken up by the Marauder suits, and sample containers. The sample containers were for whatever the scientists thought would be important, while the Marauder suits were in case there was anything dangerous still living.
In the meantime, every piece of tracking data was pulled out of the system's memories, in an attempt to find who or what had done this, and to thank them. The other possibility, that the newcomers were hostile, was thought by everyone there but they hoped it wasn't true. For if they could do that much damage to the Bug ships, they could do just as much or worse against the SICON forces.
*
A couple hours later, the recovery ships had arrived at the debris field, and everyone there stared for a couple seconds at the massive amount of pieces. The lieutenant got everyone back to reality, and told them to move out. Being equipped with a space thruster system, the troopers began moving to each piece in turn, checking it for any remaining Bugs, and pronouncing it clean for the scientists to examine.
The scientists in turn, called for several ships to make a kind of net back at the base, and use that net to sweep up the pieces. What the scientists would try to do is to reassemble the Bug ships, in order to determine what happened, and how long it took to happen. One sergeant looked at one piece though, and recommended that it be taken back also. One side of it appeared to be perfectly flat, and he knew that a perfectly flat surface didn't occur naturally, or on Bug ships.
The scientists were also gathering pieces for genetic analysis, and to determine what types of weapons had been used, and their damage capacity.
*
Back on Earth, all the MI forces were staring at their commanding lieutenants in shock. They had all read the reports about how tough Bug transports were, and since all the Bug ships had been destroyed, whoever did this was tougher.
The Roughnecks were no different, and were staring at Lieutenant Rico as he told them the news. "All we know for certain is that eight Bug transports and four Ice Bugs were destroyed within six minutes, and we have no idea who did it. I have a hunch though, that this is just a demonstration of their capability.
"In the meantime, we have also received new orders. Our leaves are over, so I hope you all enjoyed yourselves, 'cause we're going back to the front. With the Queen dead, Intel believes the Bugs will start coming apart at the seams. Still, Bugs are tough, and on any world with a Brain Bug, you can bet they will be waiting."
"Sir, any word on what destroyed the Bug transports?" asked Higgins.
"None yet. But they have done a rough analysis of the Ice Bugs that were with them. Those Ice Bugs are their version of a battleship. The one we met earlier was immature apparently, and either hadn't had time to develop its heavy weapons, or this is a new species of Bug starship."
"If there are no further questions, let's get aboard our ship. We're back on board the Valley Forge, and we're going to kill more Bugs. Move it Roughnecks!"
With grins, the squad moved on board the dropship waiting to take them back to the Valley Forge. They had been relaxing for what felt like long enough; long enough to enjoy it, but short enough that they hadn't lost their combat edge. With a new campaign heating up against the Bugs, their combat edge would all that stood between them and death.
*
Ships formed up in the space around Earth. The ships that still needed work done had had their useful components pulled, and installed on less-damaged ships. SICON High Command wanted to get the Bugs on the defensive, and the more ships and troopers that could be allocated to the task, the easier it would be. The powerful ships pulled away, heading out into the void, intending to bring the war back to the Bugs, and exterminate them. For the ships that remained, SICON R&D was developing new weapons, and the room left by removing the older components would give them plenty of space to install new weapons and equipment.
Standard warship weaponry for the SICON forces was both continuous and pulse lasers, long-range missiles, and their onboard fighters, with smaller versions of the starship weapons, along with their own gatling style guns. There were rumors in the works about new lasers all the time, and for the people left behind, they would get to find out first if the rumors were true.
Bug weaponry, on the other hand, tended towards armed transports and, just recently, the armed Ice Bugs. Transports had holes on their back where plasma Bugs could climb out from the storage area below, and use their own plasma batteries to defend the transport. Although extremely exposed to enemy fire, and not very accurate, there were usually eighty to ninety Plasma Bugs used, and the volume of fire was incredible. When there was only a single ship attacking a transport, all the Plasma Bugs had to do was point themselves at the single enemy ship, and volley fire until they were destroyed, or the enemy was. If they were destroyed, that was no matter, as the transport usually had several hundred of them on board. The armed Ice Bugs used larger versions of the plasma batteries, and while they couldn't aim as quickly, their firepower was such that two hits were all that was necessary to vaporize the target. With the Bugs own genetic adaptations racing along, the Bugs own firepower doubled roughly every five years, while staying at the same weight and power demand.
*
The first ships were arriving at their targets; Hydora, Tesca Namerosa, Beta Temaxis, Shrike twelve, Tophet, Klendathu, and others were being hit in the first wave. Hydora was being hit with troops trained in water operations, as the entire planet was one giant ocean, except for a few islands here and there. Tesca Namerosa was an Earth-like world that orbited a gas giant. Although it was beyond the range for liquid water to form base on the heat of the star, the heat from the gas giant gave it the few degrees it needed for life to develop. Beta Temaxis was another Earth-like world, but it was primarily a jungle planet, with small lakes everywhere. Shrike twelve was the fifth planet of the second star in a binary system, which had seven planets in the primary system, and six in the secondary. This system was very young, and the Earth-like planet was undergoing random evolution when the humans arrived. The planet's evolution was now being guided by a few scientists there, while the rich ore deposits were feeding the industries at Earth. When the Bugs had hit the planet, the supply of ores for Earth had been reduced by twenty percent, with a corresponding decrease in ship production, and increase in concern by the general staff. With a strike team going back in, the hungry orbital shipyards of earth would be fed again, turning out the new machines needed to fight the Bugs.
Fortunately the planet Tophet, home world of the Skinnies, had not been conquered by the Bugs, but a majority of the ships in orbit had had their metal components replaced by advanced composites, courtesy of Skinny industry, and sheer necessity. The Bugs had been grinding away at the defenses in orbit, and the humans had not had any reinforcements since the queen arrived on Earth. With the queen gone, the Bug attacks had stopped, and the weary defenders there were relaxing for a change. Three strike vessels were on the way, escorting ten transports, with fuel, weapons, ammunition, and all the other necessities of war.
But Klendathu, that was the gem. The original home world of the Bugs, it had an atmosphere that was toxic to humans, but the Bugs were perfectly at home breathing it. But this would be an important milestone. It would show the entire planet and all the humans everywhere that when humans conquer someone's homeworld, it stays conquered. Troops had been withdrawn from the planet in order to get the Bugs off Earth, and those troops were aching to return to their 'home'. With the Bugs on Earth gone, High Command was more than happy to send them back.
Even now, ships were approaching the systems, intent on bringing the Bug controlled worlds under the control of humans. The fleets dropped out of FTL drive at the edge of the system, and began their steady drive to the planets they were to conquer, or assist. At the Bug controlled systems, troopers began getting their gear ready to drop, crews began readying weapons of destruction, and fighter pilots were receiving their briefings. Scanners were up, looking for targets, and relaying their data to the human minds that would decide where to unleash their payloads of death.
Fighters were launched, flying ahead of the fleets, scouting for any Bug ships in the area, or other such surprises. As the fleets continued in, the fighter pilots reported (regrettably?) that there were no enemy vessels sighted in their flight paths, or anywhere near. Then the klaxons moaned, telling the troops to get to their dropships, and get ready for drop. There was no need for briefings, as the time to target had been spent briefing the troopers on where to go, and what to expect. There had been no change needed from the plans, and the dropships were launched from the main vessels, bringing their up close and personal form of destruction to the planets. Hydora was assaulted, with troopers immediately heading for the caves where Queen Ripplers could be, attempting to draw out the Bugs instead of having to go in after them. Tesca Nemerosa received the same treatment, with troopers setting their base at Zegema beach back up, and preparing for the Bugs to try to resist. Beta Temaxis was assaulted, with the troopers landing near a lake, but with clear solid ground all around. If the Bugs wanted to come after the grounded troopers, they would be seen above ground, and heard chewing through the rock if they came from below.
Troopers and Fleet personnel around Tophet rejoiced, as they received the first contact with outside forces in almost two months. Many of them had thought they were left out there, but humans fight for one another, and the transports brought with them fresh supplies, and that human supply in combat, mail. Many of the personnel in that cut-off fleet had been declared Missing in Action (MIA), and the welcome news that they were alive touched the hearts and minds of millions on Earth, bringing fresh good news to everyone.
But those were the easy missions. The crews headed for Klendathu, and Shrike Twelve knew they were going in to strongly held Bug grounds. Klendathu, as everyone knew, was the Bug home world, with a corresponding increase of defending troops, and new varieties of Bugs that would have to be discovered and destroyed, while Shrike Twelve was a planet that was just beginning its process of evolution, and had an abundance of heavier elements, ripe for the Bugs to convert to their own forms. Each of them knew that they would be facing a long, drawn out struggle, and each inch of ground would be paid for in the currency of death and suffering.
But they were about to discover something even worse.
The fighter pilots heading towards Shrike Twelve noticed it first, as Shrike Twelve had been surrounded by three moons when they left. Now there were only two moons, and both of them had been vastly reduced in size. Proceeding nearer to the planet, they detected Bugs on the planet, and Bug plasma reached up for them, but in far lesser numbers than anticipated. The data was relayed to the assault fleet, and the Admiral in charge of the assault told his Intel liaison officer to find out what was going on.
But that was the mild surprise, for the pilots reaching Klendathu found something even more horrible.
The fighters again spotted the difference, but the difference was on Klendathu itself. Previously, Klendathu had been a roughly Earth-sized planet, wrapped in a mildly toxic atmosphere. Although breathable by humans, it was better if not breathed at all. But Klendathu was far different this time. As the fighters orbited the grey, dead world, they all wondered, 'Who could do this to the Bugs?'
Arriving at Klendathu, the fleet's more powerful sensors began recording more data, and dropships full of troopers were ordered down to take samples of various areas. The first bits of data were coming in from the scanners, and the results given at the first briefing made them all sit up and take notice.
"As you can see, the planet's atmosphere has been totally ruined. Not to mention, we estimate that one kilometer of the surface of the planet has, simply, been removed. The planet's new diameter is 12762 kilometers, from its old diameter of 12763 kilometers. While this may not seem like a lot, that is a total volume of almost two hundred million cubic kilometers. We know that the average density of the rock to be twenty billion tons per cubic kilometer. Figuring that the Bugs dug out so much below that half of that volume is air; we halve that number to get ten billion tons per cubic kilometer.
"The net result is that whoever did this, took away one thousand nine hundred million, billion tons of material while we were away for two months dealing with the queen. That is a nineteen with seventeen zeroes after it."
The whole room was looking at him in shock. Whoever or whatever had done this had managed to steal away more material in two months, than their entire fleet was composed of, even if you double counted the material used from destroyed ships in building new ones. Even with their large Methuselah class starships weighing in at on hundred thousand tons each, it would take their building program over a thousand years to come anywhere near that figure. And that was with everything they had dedicated to building new ships, with nothing being done to repair existing ships, or even build planetary items for civilians.
"Not only that, but we have some disturbing reports from the troopers below. Parts of the surface have unusual depressions in them, and with some computer assistance, we have determined that these craters are the result of meteorites. All the craters occurred within the past two months, so I believe it is safe to assume that whoever carted off the top of the planet also dropped the meteors. In order for these craters to still exist, they were either fired after the removal was complete, during the removal, or before. If they were fired afterwards, then the meteors were in the one hundred megaton range, if fired during they were in the one hundred to ten thousand megaton range, but if they were fired before the removal, they were at least ten thousand megatons each."
"With MI squads on the ground now, we can ask them to begin digging for the meteorites, and we can get a better idea of how big the meteorites, or should I say projectiles, were." With those words, the lieutenant giving the presentation signaled that she was ready for questions to begin, if not ready for giving any answers.
"Lieutenant, has the atmosphere content assisted you in getting any clues as to how long ago this occurred?"
"I'm sorry sir, but with the atmosphere on Klendathu being all but gone, it will take several weeks for any results to be useful."
"Lieutenant, has anyone looked for any 'splash effect' from the projectiles hitting the planet? If there is a lot, then that tells us that the projectiles arrived after the removal, while if little or none tells us that the projectiles arrived during or before."
"Sir, we haven't gotten a chance to examine the photos carefully enough, but initial looks are that there is no splash sir."
Various other questions followed, but the final conclusion was that the projectiles had arrived either during or before the removal, and they had no idea that would have done this, or how they managed to do it so quickly.
*
On the ground Mobile Infantry squads were busy digging in the dirt, getting deeper into the craters, with no success yet. Engineering teams were called in at the sites of two of the larger craters, in an attempt to dig deeper into the mystery. Finally, after three solid days of digging with heavy machinery, one of the engineers struck meteorite. They began digging out the sides to see how big it was, and after they were twenty meters wide, they saw how big the projectile was.
Half a meter wide.
The whole projectile was roughly half a meter wide, and one and a half meters tall. It was an oval shape, so its total volume was less than a cylinder's volume, but the projectile massed only two tons. There was a lot of heat-induced melting at the bottom end, and the rock that had been punched through was kept, so the engineers could determine just how fast it had been going when it had hit.
In the meantime, the troopers were going over the surface of the planet, in case any Bugs had been missed during the bombardment, and the removal. They were scared, and their lieutenants had a difficult time keeping them calm. They were professionals, and they knew that who or whatever did this could easily come back and do it again.
*
On the planet Shrike Twelve, the Intel personnel were going through similar shock. The Moon that had been removed had massed over one billion tons, but there seemed to be several new asteroids in the star system. Backtracking their orbits, showed that they had originated at the two remaining moons, indicating that the asteroids had come from the moons, and had merely been launched into space. Even more likely, the asteroids were intended to be caught by something, and the human fleet had arrived before that could have happened. They didn't know what had done this, but it was nice to know that they weren't perfect.
As they attacked the Bug planet, they saw similar craters to what had been spotted on Klendathu, but the sheer scope astounded them. One of the craters was over three miles wide, and the Intel team in orbit found several of them in a funny line. After analyzing the data, they found that all three craters were in the same orbital plane and a slight angle was evident in them. Measuring the angles and the line of the craters indicated that the same unit had fired those shots. When they looked further, several of the impact rays, where debris flung up by the impacts, was on top of another set of rays, and under others from the same crater. A rough estimate of time indicated that the craters had been formed within one minute of each other.
*
But that speculation was halted, as scanners picked up three Bug ships coming into the system, and the ships moved into position to intercept. There were eight vessels there, and the crews knew that they would have an easy time picking off the Bug ships. Fighters were loaded and launched, while on-board crews began readying the defensive guns for anti-plasma fire. Missiles dropped into their launchers, and reloads slid into place, ready to feed the launchers.
AS the fighters began closing on the Bug ships, their scanners showed debris venting from the sides of one of the Bug ships, and there seemed to be something at the edge of their scanners. But as the fighters got closer, the objects seemed to be retreating, and then there were only the Bugs to worry about. Their long-range visual sensors watched as Plasma Bugs trundled up onto the backs of the three ships, and began turning to the main swarm of fighters. Plasma blasts began pumping out, and the fighters moved to a looser formation to avoid the incoming fire.
But that looser formation was for another purpose as well, as the fighters began to volley missiles at the Plasma Bugs. The first few missiles were intercepted by Bug plasma, but the explosions shocked a couple more Plasma Bugs, and the missiles struck. Each missile that hit knocked several other Plasma Bugs off slightly, and the remaining missiles took advantage of the confusion to kill off all the remaining Plasma Bugs up top. The pilots watched as the last of this group of Plasma Bugs was taken out, and their visual sensors told them that the next batch of the Plasma Bugs was moving into place. Missiles flashed out again, seeking to destroy their targets, robotic minions doing the bidding of their organic masters.
Now the Bug transports began launching their fighters. Looking like little more than smaller version of the transport Bugs themselves, the Fighter Bugs were equipped with their own plasma cannons, and sped towards the waiting fleet. Their typical attack strategy was to fire their plasma, then kamikaze into a human ship to damage or destroy it.
Half the human fighters turned around to deal with this threat, and the Bugs displayed a new species; space-capable Ripplers. The Bug fighters were extremely large and cumbersome, and the Bugs had decided that the best way to deal with a nimble opponent was with another nimble opponent. Each Transport launched over two hundred each of the new Ripplers, and the fighter pilots suddenly found themselves in a vicious dogfight for their lives. A fighter's missile could take out a Rippler easily, but when you only had two missiles remaining and were outnumbered by five to one, missiles weren't the ultimate answer. Over the tactical network, grunts could be heard, as pilots pulled hard turns to keep the Ripplers in sight to use their guns on them. The close-quarters dog fighting against the Ripplers was dangerous, as a Rippler that was after one fighter could suddenly veer off to attack another fighter, and land on it. As a Rippler landed on a fighter, they would attack the cockpit, trying to tear away the canopy to get to the juicy pilot inside.
The worst part was for the fighter pilots, as they flew a narrow balance of keeping close to the Ripplers, while not being too close. The pilots that were headed after the Bug larger fighters, now being termed as Bug gunboats, or gunbugs, could not turn back to help their fellow pilots, as the transport Bugs were coming in closer as well, using their plasma Bug fire to suppress any fire that the SICON fleet vessels would have added to the fight. The SICON ships were fighting valiantly, and one of the Bug transports was destroyed, but the other two kept on coming. It seemed that no matter how heavy the firepower was applied against the Bug transports, they just kept on coming towards the planet. The captains knew that if even one of those transport Bugs made it to the planet, there would be tens of thousands more Bugs on the planet. While it would be good to get the remaining Bugs away from the others and destroy the scattered parts, they also knew that the victory would be bought in blood.
Even more frightening was what happened next.