The current situation was spread out in a holographic tank for Admiral Falksten to see. At the closer edge of the tank was the eight vessels he had under his command, in green. one third of the way across the tank were the icons representing the gunbugs. Two-thirds of the way across the tankwere two groups of icons. The group on the left was the fighters trying to catch up to the gunbugs before the gunbugs got to the warships. The other group was the massive dogfight taking place between roughly five hundred Space Ripplers and three hundred human fighters. Finally, at the other end of the tank, were the two remaining Transport Bugs, heading in as fast as they could. There were small lines extending from each of the icons, indicating their relative speeds. The length of the lines could be varied at the Admiral's whim, to show greater or lesser detail. Right now, it showed that the mess of gunbugs would arrive at the warships in one minute, with the fighters pursuing them twenty seconds behind.
As the gunbugs approached, they began angling slightly, and it looked like they were intending to go after the five warships to the port side of his formation. Defensive lasers and autocannon were angled to meet the threat, and all crewmembers on those ships tightened their restraining straps for the inevitable plasma rounds. Calling up a local image on one monitor, the Admiral watched as the first plasma bolts began being fired by the gunbugs. First a couple, then a dozen more, then a score, and soon the formation of gunbugs was belching plasma fire towards his ships.
Computers took the readings from several ships, triangulated from the data, and updated his display.
"Sir, all the plasma fire is being directed only at the Thereas and the Holmstead."
"Why are they only firing at those two ships? Plotting, get me a read on how many plasma shots are heading in."
"Working."
But those conversations between the admiral and his staff were irrelevant to the two ships targeted, and their automated and human directed defenses went to rapid fire, trying to disrupt the plasma packets before the packets impacted on their ships. Shells were spewed from guns, lasers stabbed out, seeking to destabilize the plasma cores, all in an effort to save the ships and the beings on board.
But as each plasma packet was destabilized, it would blind the sensors in that region for a few seconds, and displays showed the plasma packets steadily reaching towards the two ships targeted.
Then it happened. A single impact on the Thereas knocked out a couple turrets. The shock from the explosion disrupted a couple more turrets, and over a dozen plasma packets managed to slam into her hull. Holes a meter across gushed precious air from the ship's interior, but those were the only ones to hit the proud ship. Even as the Captain was demanding damage reports, airtight bulkheads were sealing off the affected section to reduce the affect on neighboring sections, and damage control teams were already getting into position to patch the holes and reset the turrets affected.
But the Holmstead was not so lucky, as over two dozen plasma packets hurled her about without mercy. Even worse, three packets managed to hit her engines, and the explosion from those engine pods knocked out the other engines, and the Holmstead was suddenly without any way to change her heading or steer clear of the remaining packets, which suddenly could impact along a larger cross-section than before. Engineering sections were savaged as one of the plasma packets literally burst inside the ship, killing everyone in its path.
Admiral Falksten winced at the damage done, but what was more important to him was why only those two ships had been targeted. Bugs normally attacked every target in sight, but these seemed to be picking targets to ensure that the targets were damaged or destroyed. Suddenly an aide pulled something up one a smaller screen.
"Sir, the salvo density from the gunbugs was too small. We estimate that only forty percent of them actually fired a plasma packet. Those are still on course for the Thereas and the Holmstead. The remaining ones are heading towards the Rubof, the Jerak, and the Boltan."
That piece of information caught Admiral Falksten's attention. 'If those gunbugs aren't grown to fire plasma, then what are they designed to do?'
He found out. The remaining gunbugs managed to close on their targets, losing several more of their number to defensive fire. The first non-plasma gunbug headed straight to the Rubof, and slammed into it, hard. The impact dented a section of armor over twelve feet wide, and eight inches thick. However, the gunbug began to extend legs from the slits in its side, and used those legs to hold onto the Rubof's hull. From the front, the head of it opened up to reveal a pair of jaws very similar in appearance to a Bug Warrior's jaws.
They weren't only similar in appearance, they were similar in function as well. The Bug suddenly slammed the top part of the jaws down, and punctured the hull in that region, causing alarms to go off. Even worse, the mouth opened even wider, and a turret crew saw something horrible. There were smaller bugs climbing out of its mouth. The humble cliff mite, used by Bugs in various locations, was now being used as a boarding creature. They hurriedly began swinging the turret around, trying to blast the gunbug before too many of the mites got on board the ship and began attacking crewmembers. They also warned the Rubof's Captain, telling her to expect company from the gunbugs.
The first few mites began crawling into the ship's hull, and MI squads fanned out to destroy them, without using their guns or grenades. Their guns could ricochet off the hull and compromise other internal compartments, and grenades were too dangerous. Forced to use shock sticks and machetes, the troopers waded into the mites, electrocuting them and cutting them in order to prevent the mites from getting into service tunnels and cutting vital control cables.
The turret crew managed to get the turret turned around, and they opened fire, blowing the gunbug away from the ship's hull. The mites that were still coming out of the bug were flung away, with only a few managing to touch the ship, and none of them able to get a grip before they bounced off. But that was one bug among over two dozen that had attached to the ship. The others were luckier than the first, and managed to unload their cargoes of mites before releasing themselves, and heading off towards the external equipment on the ships, intending to damage and destroy anything they could.
Admiral Falkstein watched as the horror of the battle got worse, because the main transport Bugs were closing on the remnants of his fleet. He had started out with eight vessels, but three were down due to the boarding mites, and two more were damaged from the plasma gunbug attack. The second group of fighters was coming on as fast as they could in order to destroy the gunbugs, but they would have to decelerate in order to accurately target the gunbugs that were letting out the mites.
Which left three Methuselah class starships against two transport Bugs, with all the plasma Bug fire that hinted at. Normally a Methuselah class starship was an equal match for a transport Bug, but these transport Bugs had managed to draw off all the fighters that would have normally helped in such a fight. The ships themselves would have to deliver the sustained and knockout blows, and the crews would have to be good enough.
While that was going on, one of the fighter squadrons engaging the Space Ripplers had managed to get a breather. His perspective of the battle showed him something strange. Both of the Transport Bugs were venting atmosphere and bodily fluids from a hole in their carapaces. Not caring who had made those holes to begin with, he told the rest of his flight to form up on him. Locking their weapons onto those discharges, they let fly with all their remaining missiles into one of the Transport Bugs.
Normally, fighter missiles are not used against Transport Bugs. Their hides are too tough, and the warheads are too small to be combat useful. But when you have an already damaged section of the Bug, venting gases and fluids from its internal organs, those missiles are lethal. The twelve warheads actually detonated inside the Transport Bug, causing all their explosive force to be delivered internally, with none of the waste that an external blast would possess. The transport Bugs were designed to handle stress of combat, but internal blasts like that were simply too much for one to take, and the Transport Bug blew apart in a shower of fluids that began cooling and freezing in the vacuum of space.
Seeing the explosion, the Lieutenant called in his report over the tactical net, "Any fighter squadrons with missiles. The Transport Bugs have a large hole in their sides on the starbord side. We just punched twelve missiles into one, and it blew up. If anyone has some missiles, this would be a good way to use them."
Various other squadron leaders heard the report, but most of them had used up their missiles against the Space Ripplers. There were two squadrons that still had missiles, but they were in a rough dogfight with the Ripplers, and would need cover to deal with them. Agreeing to switch off, the two squadrons turned towards each other, intending to surprise the Ripplers.
"Nigron squadron, pull up in three, two, one, now!"
The pursued squadron suddenly pulled upwards from their line of sight, and the Ripplers were momentarily startled. The other fighters were waiting for the maneuver, and their guns blew a half-dozen out of the sky in less than a second. With their tails cleared, Nigron squadron turned towwards the remaining transport Bug, locked on with their missiles, and destroyed it.
The destruction of the last Transport Bug seemed to take the last bits of cohesion out of the Bug fighters and gunbugs. The three unattacked warships were apply to add their firepower against the gunbugs, and pilots on board their vessels ferried over MI squads to help deal with the rock mites that were crawling around the ships. As the ships dealt with the gunbugs, half the fighters that had been detached to deal with them were able to return to the space dogfight, and their added numbers doomed the Ripplers. The first thing they did was launch their missiles at Ripplers from long-range, and the sudden deaths shocked the remaining Ripplers.
The clean-up took less than a minute for the space battles, but the rock mites were very annoying, and took over three hours to be cleaned out, as some would hide for a while then begin chewing on cables. When everything was cleared out, Admiral Falkstein looked over what was left of his fleet.
Of the eight ships that had entered the system, three were fully combat capable, one was in moderate shape due to plasma damage, one was in serious damage due to engine room explosion, and three more needed to have wires re-run. Their fighter situation was better though, as of the four hundred and eighty fighters embarked, three hundred and fifty had maanged to survive. Of the seventy fighters that had been destroyed, sixty pilots had been recovered by after battle search and rescue. For the ten pilots that would forever be MIA, their names were added to the list of those who died in battle.
But the last Bug defenses were cleared from in-system, and the transports closed on the planet, with their cargoes of troops and ground defenses ready to depart. SICON intended to retake this system and mold the genetic potential there into a word fit for humans, and when SICON spoke, the forces of humanity went.
*
The ground bases were set up quickly, as there appeared to be no surviving Bugs on-planet. Suspicious about the lack of opposition, the lieutenant kept their troops on guard, not making them paranoid, but not letting them completely relax either. It was a delicate edge they had to hold, and edge that had often been the only way to survive when they had fought on Earth.
Admiral Falkstein was reviewing the battle records, putting together a detailed analysis of the new species involved, and the Bug tactics as well. Physical samples of the dead bugs were being assembled in ranks of sealed containers, and the original records were copied to the drone's memory banks. But as the battle replayed itself yet again, there was a simple question being raised. Where had the holes in the sides of the Transport Bugs come from? It hadn't been from any of the SICON craft, as all their movements and missile fire had been recorded, yet the holes were there. They were obviously fresh, as the Bugs were not likely to travel around with gaping holes in their sides leaking fluids and other stuff.
The biologists' report was even more worrisome. The Space Ripplers had been optimized for space saving. Their legs were designed to allow their bodies to fold into small packages, and small holes in their sides connected to their circulatory systems, allowing them to be stored in small spaces, yet kept alive for when needed. The Transport Bugs had not been of the ordinary variety either, these had been of the royal transport species. The standard transport was easily vulnerable to shipboard missile fire, but the royal transport was an extremely hardy form, able to handle shipboard missiles with very little damage actually taken.
Yet these Bugs had gaping holes in them. What had caused them? Even worse, it was obvious from post-battle viewing of the gun cameras that it had been a single hit that had cause the holes.
A staff ensign finally showed what had happened. The fighters had recorded the debris venting from the sides of the Transport Bugs before the battle had even started, but even more importantly was what it had seen byond that.
Three blips.
Three single blips that had been on the starboard side of the Transport Bugs when they had been barely spotted by a single fighter.
Three blips that didn't correspond to any known SICON vessel, and retreated instead of helping out with the battle.
Three blips that could engage royal transport Bugs with firepower sufficient to punch a hole in them with a single shot.
Who were they?
The admiral and his staff slept very lightly that night, worrying that they might find out.
*
But the troopers going into battle didn't know about that. All they knew was that they had spent three hours cleaning out Bugs from the ships, and their lieutenant had kept them ready to repel any Bug surprise on the planet below. The Roughnecks were one of those squads, and Lieutenant Rico was responsible for making sure that no Bugs managed to sneak up on them. Adding to his problems, he had been part of the initial briefing, and had seen the damage done to the royal transports.
It was originally Razak's Roughnecks who had been on board the Valley Forge when they had encountered a royal transport bug, and the sheer firepower needed to destroy one from the outside was staggering. However, Lieutenant Razak was no longer with the squad, as he had been killed by a giant Water Tiger bug on Earth. Command of the squad had been given to Johnny Rico in a battlefield promotion by General Redwing, and Johnny Rico's old Drill Instructor had 'volunteered ' to be the squad's new seargeant. Volunteered as in he did the paperwork to transfer himself into the squad, before anyone else had noticed. He was now serving as Lieutenant Rico's seargeant, a position that he had filled excellently.
Thanks to him, Rico had transferred most of the load of worrying about any surprise the Bugs might pull onto him, while Rico had to keep the knowledge about the Blip race to himself. The new force had been given that name, as nothing else was known about who or what they were. Even more restricting was that the intelligence on the new race was restricted to officers only, making it more difficult for the troopers to relax. The rumor mill had been working on board the ships, and the troopers were getting jittery. Bug they could see, understand, and kill. The Blips though, were shadowy forces. They had struck with massive firepower, but seemed to pull away before being accurately scanned.
It seemed to him that the Blips were only afraid of being observed, not of fighting. Intel's current conjecture was that the Bugs had annoyed the Blips somehow, and the Blips were retaliating. It seemed as though humanity was now a minor player in the battle for control of the galaxy. On one side was the Bugs, with their hundreds of thousands of worlds under their control, and the other was the Blips with their deadly weaponry. Where did humanity fit into this war? Could humanity be a new force to unravel the deadlock between the two races, and use that leverage to bring itself to control of the galaxy? Or would humanity be a minor spark compared to these two forces that were determined to conquer.
But those questions would have to be left to higher ranking personnel. If he started thinking along those lines, he would hesitate at a critical moment, and doom his squad. After all, soldiers in the field were not paid to think, and officers were paid to think only when needed.
*
After two weeks of no activity on planet, General Redwing gave the orders. It was time for the forces at Shrike 12 to move out, and keep attacking the Bugs. Astronomy had picked out six systems nearby that had the proper type of suns to support human life, and it was time for the troops to find out if they were held by the Bugs, or would be held by humans. Twelve more ships had arrived, along with six more transports full of supplies and additional personnel, bringing the total of combat ready ships around Shrike twelve to eighteen. Two ships, the Thereas and the Holstead, were still undergoing repairs. The Thereas would be back in action in a couple more days as the destroyed turrets were pulled out and replaced, but the Holmstead was waiting on the new engines that the transports had brought with them, and would have to wait for a week as the new engines were installed and connected properly.
But that left six ships that would function as planetary defense, and two ships that could go out and investigate each star system. Troopers were loaded on board, and the twelve ships set out for the systems. As each pair approached its system, fighters would be launched to scout out ahead and warn of any enemy presence. The systems were named already, so there was no bickering among the captains for that honor.
The ships headed in-ystem, and the fighters were busy watching their screens, watching for any sign of Bug presence. This was a tough job, as the usual signs of human life were the large centralized colonies on the surface of a planet. With Bugs, the only guaranteed safe way to spot a Bug was to observe a Transport leaving the system. Otherwise, it would depend on the population size of the Bugs. If there was a large population, then the signs were obvious, as the large hive structures could be seen from orbit easily. The problem with that was the simple fact that it was a large population, and would require several months of siege to conquer the planet. If it was a small population, the Bugs might not even be spotted at all, simply living and breeding below ground until the planet's ecosystem was converted to what the Bugs preferred.
So if SICON wanted to find out for sure if a Bug presence was on-planet, they would have to resort to stationing several squads of MI all over the planet, and leaving them there as bait for the Bugs to attack. The tactic was extremely dangerous, but the only one that seemed to work effectively. Squads assigned to these jobs had a higher mortality rate than usual, so the lieutenant in charge often requested (and received) higher than normal loads of ammunition, grenades, and various other special weapons. Also, There were always two fighters and a transport ship on duty for each squad, ensuring that if they got in trouble, the transport could get them out of trouble, and the fighters would make even more trouble for the Bugs that attacked.
Still, for the troopers who had to sit there, and wait to be attacked, the few minutes between Bugs attacked and reinforcements arrived could be a very long time. It wouldn't be boring, but it would feel like an eternity to people who might be seeing hordes of armored creatures heading towards them, not caring about losses in their desire to kill.
On each of the six systems found, only three planets total could support human life, or somthing similar. The other planets in the systems needed special equipment and bases to be inhabitable by humans, and the appropriate materials were ferried down from the ships. The standard procedure for checking a system was to start at any habitable worlds, than work outward from the star. If there was more than one star, start with the primary, then go to the secondary.
The net result of this was that it often took two to three months to check a system for Bug presence. If there was an asteroid belt, they now had to clean out the entire belt, to make sure there were no Ice Bugs hiding there. Even after they had scanned a planet, it was necessary to leave behind sensors to make sure no squatters arrived after the planet ha been deemed clean.
The Roughnecks were one of the many squads chosen for this task. They landed forty five degrees above the equator of the planet Reddard 2, and set up their camp in a high, clear area. There was open terrain around, and the ground below was granite, giving their sonic sensors plenty of opportunity to hear the Bugs before any tunnelers managed to get near them. Unfortunately, it was the local winter for that part of the planet, and temperatures dropped to negative twenty celsius. Combined with the lack of anything to block the wind, and you had a recipe for frozen trooper.
T'Phai had observed the briefing and the temperature data, and had brought along two additional temperature regulators for his suit, as the only time he was comfortably warm was in the middle of a fire. But he was a soldier, and he did not enlist to be comfortable. He had seen ten years of combat against the Bugs on his homeworld, and had spent several months as a slave to a controller Bug. He knew what awaited the galaxy if the Bugs won, and he would not let that happen to his children.
In the meantime, the dropship was being loaded with survival gear and rations, and the Roughnecks were boarding. Sargeant Zim was checking everyone's gear, to make sure that nothing was left behind. Although he knew that everyone in the squad was a professional, there was always a first time, and Private Brutto had never been off-planet for potential combat yet. The little stint that the Roughnecks had pulled on Shrike 12 hadn't really counted, because no Bugs had shown up on-planet.
But everyone had their gear ready, and were ready to go. Gossard and Doc Lacroix had gotten their Marauder suits, and several power cells for them, for when the first ones ran empty. Everyone had gotten a double ration of ammunition and grenades, and since the planet they were landing on was habitable, that meant they didn't have to carry too much extra oxygen.
Once on-planet, Rico got everyone organized, and laid out the watch schedule. There would be two people on watch at all times, and the rest of the time would be taken up with exercise, weapons checks, and a few games. The local day was twenty-eight hours long, so by putting everyone in four hour shifts, they would all have time to rotate around the day, while still knowing exactly when they were on duty next.
For the next several days, the troopers enjoyed a little R&R, but knowing all the time that they could be attacked by Bugs. It was almost relaxing to be able to play games like this, but terrifying because they never knew if a Bug force was gathering around them to attack.
When the first Bugs attacked, it was almost a relief.
As the gunbugs approached, they began angling slightly, and it looked like they were intending to go after the five warships to the port side of his formation. Defensive lasers and autocannon were angled to meet the threat, and all crewmembers on those ships tightened their restraining straps for the inevitable plasma rounds. Calling up a local image on one monitor, the Admiral watched as the first plasma bolts began being fired by the gunbugs. First a couple, then a dozen more, then a score, and soon the formation of gunbugs was belching plasma fire towards his ships.
Computers took the readings from several ships, triangulated from the data, and updated his display.
"Sir, all the plasma fire is being directed only at the Thereas and the Holmstead."
"Why are they only firing at those two ships? Plotting, get me a read on how many plasma shots are heading in."
"Working."
But those conversations between the admiral and his staff were irrelevant to the two ships targeted, and their automated and human directed defenses went to rapid fire, trying to disrupt the plasma packets before the packets impacted on their ships. Shells were spewed from guns, lasers stabbed out, seeking to destabilize the plasma cores, all in an effort to save the ships and the beings on board.
But as each plasma packet was destabilized, it would blind the sensors in that region for a few seconds, and displays showed the plasma packets steadily reaching towards the two ships targeted.
Then it happened. A single impact on the Thereas knocked out a couple turrets. The shock from the explosion disrupted a couple more turrets, and over a dozen plasma packets managed to slam into her hull. Holes a meter across gushed precious air from the ship's interior, but those were the only ones to hit the proud ship. Even as the Captain was demanding damage reports, airtight bulkheads were sealing off the affected section to reduce the affect on neighboring sections, and damage control teams were already getting into position to patch the holes and reset the turrets affected.
But the Holmstead was not so lucky, as over two dozen plasma packets hurled her about without mercy. Even worse, three packets managed to hit her engines, and the explosion from those engine pods knocked out the other engines, and the Holmstead was suddenly without any way to change her heading or steer clear of the remaining packets, which suddenly could impact along a larger cross-section than before. Engineering sections were savaged as one of the plasma packets literally burst inside the ship, killing everyone in its path.
Admiral Falksten winced at the damage done, but what was more important to him was why only those two ships had been targeted. Bugs normally attacked every target in sight, but these seemed to be picking targets to ensure that the targets were damaged or destroyed. Suddenly an aide pulled something up one a smaller screen.
"Sir, the salvo density from the gunbugs was too small. We estimate that only forty percent of them actually fired a plasma packet. Those are still on course for the Thereas and the Holmstead. The remaining ones are heading towards the Rubof, the Jerak, and the Boltan."
That piece of information caught Admiral Falksten's attention. 'If those gunbugs aren't grown to fire plasma, then what are they designed to do?'
He found out. The remaining gunbugs managed to close on their targets, losing several more of their number to defensive fire. The first non-plasma gunbug headed straight to the Rubof, and slammed into it, hard. The impact dented a section of armor over twelve feet wide, and eight inches thick. However, the gunbug began to extend legs from the slits in its side, and used those legs to hold onto the Rubof's hull. From the front, the head of it opened up to reveal a pair of jaws very similar in appearance to a Bug Warrior's jaws.
They weren't only similar in appearance, they were similar in function as well. The Bug suddenly slammed the top part of the jaws down, and punctured the hull in that region, causing alarms to go off. Even worse, the mouth opened even wider, and a turret crew saw something horrible. There were smaller bugs climbing out of its mouth. The humble cliff mite, used by Bugs in various locations, was now being used as a boarding creature. They hurriedly began swinging the turret around, trying to blast the gunbug before too many of the mites got on board the ship and began attacking crewmembers. They also warned the Rubof's Captain, telling her to expect company from the gunbugs.
The first few mites began crawling into the ship's hull, and MI squads fanned out to destroy them, without using their guns or grenades. Their guns could ricochet off the hull and compromise other internal compartments, and grenades were too dangerous. Forced to use shock sticks and machetes, the troopers waded into the mites, electrocuting them and cutting them in order to prevent the mites from getting into service tunnels and cutting vital control cables.
The turret crew managed to get the turret turned around, and they opened fire, blowing the gunbug away from the ship's hull. The mites that were still coming out of the bug were flung away, with only a few managing to touch the ship, and none of them able to get a grip before they bounced off. But that was one bug among over two dozen that had attached to the ship. The others were luckier than the first, and managed to unload their cargoes of mites before releasing themselves, and heading off towards the external equipment on the ships, intending to damage and destroy anything they could.
Admiral Falkstein watched as the horror of the battle got worse, because the main transport Bugs were closing on the remnants of his fleet. He had started out with eight vessels, but three were down due to the boarding mites, and two more were damaged from the plasma gunbug attack. The second group of fighters was coming on as fast as they could in order to destroy the gunbugs, but they would have to decelerate in order to accurately target the gunbugs that were letting out the mites.
Which left three Methuselah class starships against two transport Bugs, with all the plasma Bug fire that hinted at. Normally a Methuselah class starship was an equal match for a transport Bug, but these transport Bugs had managed to draw off all the fighters that would have normally helped in such a fight. The ships themselves would have to deliver the sustained and knockout blows, and the crews would have to be good enough.
While that was going on, one of the fighter squadrons engaging the Space Ripplers had managed to get a breather. His perspective of the battle showed him something strange. Both of the Transport Bugs were venting atmosphere and bodily fluids from a hole in their carapaces. Not caring who had made those holes to begin with, he told the rest of his flight to form up on him. Locking their weapons onto those discharges, they let fly with all their remaining missiles into one of the Transport Bugs.
Normally, fighter missiles are not used against Transport Bugs. Their hides are too tough, and the warheads are too small to be combat useful. But when you have an already damaged section of the Bug, venting gases and fluids from its internal organs, those missiles are lethal. The twelve warheads actually detonated inside the Transport Bug, causing all their explosive force to be delivered internally, with none of the waste that an external blast would possess. The transport Bugs were designed to handle stress of combat, but internal blasts like that were simply too much for one to take, and the Transport Bug blew apart in a shower of fluids that began cooling and freezing in the vacuum of space.
Seeing the explosion, the Lieutenant called in his report over the tactical net, "Any fighter squadrons with missiles. The Transport Bugs have a large hole in their sides on the starbord side. We just punched twelve missiles into one, and it blew up. If anyone has some missiles, this would be a good way to use them."
Various other squadron leaders heard the report, but most of them had used up their missiles against the Space Ripplers. There were two squadrons that still had missiles, but they were in a rough dogfight with the Ripplers, and would need cover to deal with them. Agreeing to switch off, the two squadrons turned towards each other, intending to surprise the Ripplers.
"Nigron squadron, pull up in three, two, one, now!"
The pursued squadron suddenly pulled upwards from their line of sight, and the Ripplers were momentarily startled. The other fighters were waiting for the maneuver, and their guns blew a half-dozen out of the sky in less than a second. With their tails cleared, Nigron squadron turned towwards the remaining transport Bug, locked on with their missiles, and destroyed it.
The destruction of the last Transport Bug seemed to take the last bits of cohesion out of the Bug fighters and gunbugs. The three unattacked warships were apply to add their firepower against the gunbugs, and pilots on board their vessels ferried over MI squads to help deal with the rock mites that were crawling around the ships. As the ships dealt with the gunbugs, half the fighters that had been detached to deal with them were able to return to the space dogfight, and their added numbers doomed the Ripplers. The first thing they did was launch their missiles at Ripplers from long-range, and the sudden deaths shocked the remaining Ripplers.
The clean-up took less than a minute for the space battles, but the rock mites were very annoying, and took over three hours to be cleaned out, as some would hide for a while then begin chewing on cables. When everything was cleared out, Admiral Falkstein looked over what was left of his fleet.
Of the eight ships that had entered the system, three were fully combat capable, one was in moderate shape due to plasma damage, one was in serious damage due to engine room explosion, and three more needed to have wires re-run. Their fighter situation was better though, as of the four hundred and eighty fighters embarked, three hundred and fifty had maanged to survive. Of the seventy fighters that had been destroyed, sixty pilots had been recovered by after battle search and rescue. For the ten pilots that would forever be MIA, their names were added to the list of those who died in battle.
But the last Bug defenses were cleared from in-system, and the transports closed on the planet, with their cargoes of troops and ground defenses ready to depart. SICON intended to retake this system and mold the genetic potential there into a word fit for humans, and when SICON spoke, the forces of humanity went.
*
The ground bases were set up quickly, as there appeared to be no surviving Bugs on-planet. Suspicious about the lack of opposition, the lieutenant kept their troops on guard, not making them paranoid, but not letting them completely relax either. It was a delicate edge they had to hold, and edge that had often been the only way to survive when they had fought on Earth.
Admiral Falkstein was reviewing the battle records, putting together a detailed analysis of the new species involved, and the Bug tactics as well. Physical samples of the dead bugs were being assembled in ranks of sealed containers, and the original records were copied to the drone's memory banks. But as the battle replayed itself yet again, there was a simple question being raised. Where had the holes in the sides of the Transport Bugs come from? It hadn't been from any of the SICON craft, as all their movements and missile fire had been recorded, yet the holes were there. They were obviously fresh, as the Bugs were not likely to travel around with gaping holes in their sides leaking fluids and other stuff.
The biologists' report was even more worrisome. The Space Ripplers had been optimized for space saving. Their legs were designed to allow their bodies to fold into small packages, and small holes in their sides connected to their circulatory systems, allowing them to be stored in small spaces, yet kept alive for when needed. The Transport Bugs had not been of the ordinary variety either, these had been of the royal transport species. The standard transport was easily vulnerable to shipboard missile fire, but the royal transport was an extremely hardy form, able to handle shipboard missiles with very little damage actually taken.
Yet these Bugs had gaping holes in them. What had caused them? Even worse, it was obvious from post-battle viewing of the gun cameras that it had been a single hit that had cause the holes.
A staff ensign finally showed what had happened. The fighters had recorded the debris venting from the sides of the Transport Bugs before the battle had even started, but even more importantly was what it had seen byond that.
Three blips.
Three single blips that had been on the starboard side of the Transport Bugs when they had been barely spotted by a single fighter.
Three blips that didn't correspond to any known SICON vessel, and retreated instead of helping out with the battle.
Three blips that could engage royal transport Bugs with firepower sufficient to punch a hole in them with a single shot.
Who were they?
The admiral and his staff slept very lightly that night, worrying that they might find out.
*
But the troopers going into battle didn't know about that. All they knew was that they had spent three hours cleaning out Bugs from the ships, and their lieutenant had kept them ready to repel any Bug surprise on the planet below. The Roughnecks were one of those squads, and Lieutenant Rico was responsible for making sure that no Bugs managed to sneak up on them. Adding to his problems, he had been part of the initial briefing, and had seen the damage done to the royal transports.
It was originally Razak's Roughnecks who had been on board the Valley Forge when they had encountered a royal transport bug, and the sheer firepower needed to destroy one from the outside was staggering. However, Lieutenant Razak was no longer with the squad, as he had been killed by a giant Water Tiger bug on Earth. Command of the squad had been given to Johnny Rico in a battlefield promotion by General Redwing, and Johnny Rico's old Drill Instructor had 'volunteered ' to be the squad's new seargeant. Volunteered as in he did the paperwork to transfer himself into the squad, before anyone else had noticed. He was now serving as Lieutenant Rico's seargeant, a position that he had filled excellently.
Thanks to him, Rico had transferred most of the load of worrying about any surprise the Bugs might pull onto him, while Rico had to keep the knowledge about the Blip race to himself. The new force had been given that name, as nothing else was known about who or what they were. Even more restricting was that the intelligence on the new race was restricted to officers only, making it more difficult for the troopers to relax. The rumor mill had been working on board the ships, and the troopers were getting jittery. Bug they could see, understand, and kill. The Blips though, were shadowy forces. They had struck with massive firepower, but seemed to pull away before being accurately scanned.
It seemed to him that the Blips were only afraid of being observed, not of fighting. Intel's current conjecture was that the Bugs had annoyed the Blips somehow, and the Blips were retaliating. It seemed as though humanity was now a minor player in the battle for control of the galaxy. On one side was the Bugs, with their hundreds of thousands of worlds under their control, and the other was the Blips with their deadly weaponry. Where did humanity fit into this war? Could humanity be a new force to unravel the deadlock between the two races, and use that leverage to bring itself to control of the galaxy? Or would humanity be a minor spark compared to these two forces that were determined to conquer.
But those questions would have to be left to higher ranking personnel. If he started thinking along those lines, he would hesitate at a critical moment, and doom his squad. After all, soldiers in the field were not paid to think, and officers were paid to think only when needed.
*
After two weeks of no activity on planet, General Redwing gave the orders. It was time for the forces at Shrike 12 to move out, and keep attacking the Bugs. Astronomy had picked out six systems nearby that had the proper type of suns to support human life, and it was time for the troops to find out if they were held by the Bugs, or would be held by humans. Twelve more ships had arrived, along with six more transports full of supplies and additional personnel, bringing the total of combat ready ships around Shrike twelve to eighteen. Two ships, the Thereas and the Holstead, were still undergoing repairs. The Thereas would be back in action in a couple more days as the destroyed turrets were pulled out and replaced, but the Holmstead was waiting on the new engines that the transports had brought with them, and would have to wait for a week as the new engines were installed and connected properly.
But that left six ships that would function as planetary defense, and two ships that could go out and investigate each star system. Troopers were loaded on board, and the twelve ships set out for the systems. As each pair approached its system, fighters would be launched to scout out ahead and warn of any enemy presence. The systems were named already, so there was no bickering among the captains for that honor.
The ships headed in-ystem, and the fighters were busy watching their screens, watching for any sign of Bug presence. This was a tough job, as the usual signs of human life were the large centralized colonies on the surface of a planet. With Bugs, the only guaranteed safe way to spot a Bug was to observe a Transport leaving the system. Otherwise, it would depend on the population size of the Bugs. If there was a large population, then the signs were obvious, as the large hive structures could be seen from orbit easily. The problem with that was the simple fact that it was a large population, and would require several months of siege to conquer the planet. If it was a small population, the Bugs might not even be spotted at all, simply living and breeding below ground until the planet's ecosystem was converted to what the Bugs preferred.
So if SICON wanted to find out for sure if a Bug presence was on-planet, they would have to resort to stationing several squads of MI all over the planet, and leaving them there as bait for the Bugs to attack. The tactic was extremely dangerous, but the only one that seemed to work effectively. Squads assigned to these jobs had a higher mortality rate than usual, so the lieutenant in charge often requested (and received) higher than normal loads of ammunition, grenades, and various other special weapons. Also, There were always two fighters and a transport ship on duty for each squad, ensuring that if they got in trouble, the transport could get them out of trouble, and the fighters would make even more trouble for the Bugs that attacked.
Still, for the troopers who had to sit there, and wait to be attacked, the few minutes between Bugs attacked and reinforcements arrived could be a very long time. It wouldn't be boring, but it would feel like an eternity to people who might be seeing hordes of armored creatures heading towards them, not caring about losses in their desire to kill.
On each of the six systems found, only three planets total could support human life, or somthing similar. The other planets in the systems needed special equipment and bases to be inhabitable by humans, and the appropriate materials were ferried down from the ships. The standard procedure for checking a system was to start at any habitable worlds, than work outward from the star. If there was more than one star, start with the primary, then go to the secondary.
The net result of this was that it often took two to three months to check a system for Bug presence. If there was an asteroid belt, they now had to clean out the entire belt, to make sure there were no Ice Bugs hiding there. Even after they had scanned a planet, it was necessary to leave behind sensors to make sure no squatters arrived after the planet ha been deemed clean.
The Roughnecks were one of the many squads chosen for this task. They landed forty five degrees above the equator of the planet Reddard 2, and set up their camp in a high, clear area. There was open terrain around, and the ground below was granite, giving their sonic sensors plenty of opportunity to hear the Bugs before any tunnelers managed to get near them. Unfortunately, it was the local winter for that part of the planet, and temperatures dropped to negative twenty celsius. Combined with the lack of anything to block the wind, and you had a recipe for frozen trooper.
T'Phai had observed the briefing and the temperature data, and had brought along two additional temperature regulators for his suit, as the only time he was comfortably warm was in the middle of a fire. But he was a soldier, and he did not enlist to be comfortable. He had seen ten years of combat against the Bugs on his homeworld, and had spent several months as a slave to a controller Bug. He knew what awaited the galaxy if the Bugs won, and he would not let that happen to his children.
In the meantime, the dropship was being loaded with survival gear and rations, and the Roughnecks were boarding. Sargeant Zim was checking everyone's gear, to make sure that nothing was left behind. Although he knew that everyone in the squad was a professional, there was always a first time, and Private Brutto had never been off-planet for potential combat yet. The little stint that the Roughnecks had pulled on Shrike 12 hadn't really counted, because no Bugs had shown up on-planet.
But everyone had their gear ready, and were ready to go. Gossard and Doc Lacroix had gotten their Marauder suits, and several power cells for them, for when the first ones ran empty. Everyone had gotten a double ration of ammunition and grenades, and since the planet they were landing on was habitable, that meant they didn't have to carry too much extra oxygen.
Once on-planet, Rico got everyone organized, and laid out the watch schedule. There would be two people on watch at all times, and the rest of the time would be taken up with exercise, weapons checks, and a few games. The local day was twenty-eight hours long, so by putting everyone in four hour shifts, they would all have time to rotate around the day, while still knowing exactly when they were on duty next.
For the next several days, the troopers enjoyed a little R&R, but knowing all the time that they could be attacked by Bugs. It was almost relaxing to be able to play games like this, but terrifying because they never knew if a Bug force was gathering around them to attack.
When the first Bugs attacked, it was almost a relief.