Chapter 4; Juno has fallen
"Unit 6–16, move to the left please, you're in my sights."
"Unit 6–16 moving to left, watch your fire."
"Watch it, WATCH IT! That AA launcher is still operational!"
"Oh son of a… I'M HIT! Gah…still flying, but I gotta bugger out!"
"Roger, get out of there."
"Hostile LAV's moving through sector 10, 20+ hostiles. Assault 3 responding. Command, how copy?"
"Good copy, response authorized, happy hunting."
"Skimmer 8 to Assault 3, were in range, do you require assistance?"
"Negative, we got this."
"Sky 5 moving in, approach is clear, no threats detected. Primary target is locked and…firing! Good hits on target, hull fractures detected on target. Repeat, hull fractures on target. Missile banks are empty, returning to base."
"Rail 12, incoming artillery, evasive maneuvers!"
"AAAGH!"
"Sajuuk have mercy, I think the whole unit bought it. My railgun is the only one left. What do I do, WHAT DO I DO?!"
"Hang tight, reinforcements are incoming. Rail 11, divert to Rail 12 location. Orders are to assist and take over."
"Command to all units: locate the source of that artillery and relay data to appropriate responders." Khagaan spoke through the radio system built into her helmet and command chair. In battle she was given priority channels to give orders to the forces she commanded directly, while the communications officer collated reports from the field and handled low priority transmissions. It was an efficient system that allowed orders to be transmitted while still letting responses and other transmissions to get through. Even as Khagaan watched the battle unfold from the myriad monitors before her the battle chatter continued to pour into the speakers, snippets of conversations, status reports and orders being given going back and forth. On and on went the cycles of command: orders were issued and carried out, enemy responses analyzed and estimated, new decisions reached and new orders given based on those decisions, and the pattern returned to the beginning. Now and then Khagaan gave a new command, directing the units of her fleet to react or behave in a new manner, directing the flow of the overall battle. Her orders involved the larger goings on of the battlefield, while the minutiae of the various situations were left to the local commanders. She was the conductor in charge of the orchestra, she had to control the whole, while trusting each individual to do their part as the whole required. Of course the biggest problem was that there was another conductor out there, opposing her every note and voice. Theirs was a deadly music, where missteps could cost the lives of hundreds in an instant and where ultimately only one orchestra would remain playing in the end.
The Gaalsien had struck a few hours after dawn, rushing past the Coalition early warning scanners and crashing against their defense lines. For the past two hours, the battle had raged amongst the sand ridden plains, dunes and small forward outposts. The Coalition forces never had a real chance of stopping them. Their numbers were too few, many of them having been pulled back to protect the Frontier Wall. Additionally diversionary attacks had ensured that their strength was spread thin, dealing with a dozen misleading secondary threats, while the main thrust of the Gaalsien offensive was making its way to their main base like a vengeful sandstorm. Still, the Northerners were making a spectacular stand. The battlefield was littered with dozens upon dozens of wrecks, Gaalsien and Coalition both. Knowing that to drip–feed reinforcements to the battle would be a futile gesture, the Coalition forces had established rally points for units returning from secondary battles, so that the main battle could receive reinforcements in larger, more meaningful waves. Khagaan had had to divert forces to deal with several such rally points already. No doubt that more would remain before the battle was done. Meter by meter the Gaalsien forces advanced, until the concrete fortress known as Juno base was before them. Even here the defenses had been ferocious. The solid walls were littered with artillery positions, railguns and anti–air missile launchers. The main gate had been guarded by a pair of super–heavy railgun turrets that had single handedly wrecked half dozen cruisers before they were finally disabled. Most of the wall weapons had also been destroyed, smashed by Gaalsien railguns and airstrikes. Not all weapons were offline yet though, as was made evident when an interceptor drew too close to an anti–air missile launcher and went off on a crashing dive into the distance, trailing blue fire and black smoke.
"Give me video feed from Sky 7, gun camera footage if you please." Khagaan commanded guardian Harkath. In response a holographic display flared up, showing three screens of video footage belonging to a group of Gaalsien interceptors. Khagaan selected one of the screens by tapping it with her hand, bringing it to full view on her display. On the monitor she could now see the enemy command carrier, rapidly growing larger as the interceptor grew closer to its target, moving through the gaps in the enemy air defense. The enemy carrier had been pounded with airstrikes for the better part of the past half hour, and the damage was showing. The mighty track units that would have propelled the machine across the sands were now twisted wrecks of metal, the main command bridge was ablaze and huge holes had been blasted across its hull, black smoke pouring out of them. As she watched the interceptor giving the video feed launched additional missiles to slam against the carrier's hull, blasting new gouges and craters on the ravaged armor plating. And still the carrier fought on, like a wounded predator or a brave knight, defiant even in its death throes. The machine cannon turrets in the corners kept firing, spitting strings of tracer fire in the air, trying to drive the away the aircraft assailing it. Khagaan could just make out crew members on the main flight deck trying to do the same with small arms fire (a futile gesture, since the odd shot that would find its mark could not penetrate modern vehicle armor) or trying to extinguish the raging fires. In a way it was sad to see such a mighty and beautiful ship suffering, wounded, dying, but since it was an enemy ship, the sight also brought joy and a sense of grim satisfaction. A curious mix of feelings all too familiar to warriors, but the destruction of this ship meant she was that much closer to accomplishing her mission, and that alone made it a thing worth doing.
"Guardian Harkath, status of the enemy carrier beyond what I can see?" She asked her sensors officer.
"I'm reading a power plant failure on the enemy carrier, Lady–Protector. Estimate reserve power exhaustion and total power outage in 15–45 minutes at most. Enemy weapons are offline, save for the machine cannons. Most primary systems estimated to be inoperable. Enemy flight deck compromised, no launch capabilities. Threat estimation is minimal. That crate is going nowhere, in case there was any doubt." He answered.
"Good," Khagaan nodded "that's four of five."
"Three of five would be the more reliable estimate." Arraesh commented. "The confusion regarding the status of the enemy carrier Sakala remains unresolved."
Khagaan looked at Arraesh for a moment, considering his words. "Fair enough, three of five." She said finally. "Which reminds me, any word from Renza on the assault against Epsilon base and the Kapisi?"
"No, nothing on priority channels." Arraesh stated. "Kennae?" He then asked.
"All channels beyond the encrypted priority channels are choked with immediate range battlefield reports, Captain–Defender. I cannot receive long range transmissions until further notice."Kennae replied. "Also, Renza is unlikely to attempt transmitting mission critical updates outside priority channels." She added dutifully, minding her protocol to state even seemingly obvious facts for the sake of clarity. How typical of new personnel to be so rigid, not that Khagaan minded clarity.
"Well I guess we just have to wait to hear from them then. What's the status of our breacher units?" Khagaan asked next.
"Breacher units report that they are in position and ready for action." Kennae reported.
"Good. Guardian R'kath, are we within weapons range?" Khagaan asked.
"The enemy main gate is now in range of our long range missile launchers." R'kath replied.
"Understood. Launch missile barrage on the enemy main gate on my mark. All breacher units, target the main gate and open fire, fire at will. I repeat, fire at will!"
In the fields surrounding the carrier rank upon rank of Gaalsien railguns and honor guard cruisers began firing, sending streams of red railgun fire to crash against the massive gate of reinforced concrete, tearing huge chunks out of it, raising plumes of dust into the air. Meanwhile behind them several assault ships waited for their opportunity to pounce and charge the breach, carrying squads of Gaalsien infantry on their backs. Khagaan waited, counting down the seconds: one…two…three…four…five. At the fifth second she nodded to R'kath: "Weapon control, missile barrage, fire!" From the sides of the carrier a swarm of missiles erupted and flew towards the gate, leaving behind contrails of black smoke. Upon impact a huge mushroom cloud of dust and smoke rose into the air and the rumbling of shattering concrete could be heard even through the outer armor and fortified viewscreens. Without waiting for the dust to settle Khagaan turned to Harkath: "Sensors, what are the barrage results?"
"Enemy main base door…destroyed, the path is clear, I repeat, the path is clear!" Harkath replied.
Grinning under her helmet, Khagaan opened the communication channel to the units on the field once again: "All units advance and assault the enemy base proper, push and overrun! Skimmer units take point; prioritize enemy railguns and then the LAV's. Assault units advance to the base and deploy infantry, then support skimmer units against enemy LAV's. Railgun units engage all targets of opportunity; prioritize enemy cruisers and heavy units. Air squadrons provide fire support as directed by ground units. Cruiser units assume defensive formations and protect the rear of the fleet. Clear out any remaining pockets of resistance; secure the field. Navigation, prepare to…." That was when she was cut off by a shrill sound of a warning klaxon.
"ALERT, CRUISE MISSILE IN THE AIR!" Announced Harkath. "Target is…TARGET IS US; TARGET IS US! IMPACT IMMINENT!"
Jumping to action Arraesh bellowed into his communications system: "ALL HANDS, BRACE FOR IMPACT!"
At the same moment Khagaan was shouting an order to the units on the field: "Breacher units, SCATTER, SCATTER, SCATTER…agh!" She grunted as the Cruise Missile hit, sending the Ashoka to a bout of shaking and swaying while Jiire fought to keep the carrier under control, cursing heavily as she did. The hover pods strained and complained as they sought to bring the carrier back to the position it had been in just a few moments ago. Everyone on the command bridge was thrown about on their seats, or knocked to the ground if they were standing and on the upper level two crewmen were thrown over the railing to tumble to the ground, without a doubt breaking bones as they landed. Most displays and monitors on the bridge flickered out, some of them breaking in a shower of sparks and black smoke while long cracks appeared to the windows. Small fires ignited here and there, before being put out with jets of thick white gas from the automatic fire extinguishers. The noise was deafening, a storm of alert sirens and groaning metal adding to the thunder of the explosion. After a while that seemed like a small eternity things finally quieted down. Khagaan took a look outside, seeing only dust, smoke and slowly falling debris. Other crew members were coming about as well, turning off non –critical alarms, reactivating their consoles, joining the automated fire extinguishers with handheld extinguishers in putting out what fires remained, while Arraesh alerted the medical deck to send teams to fetch their more seriously wounded people. Khagaan took several breaths to collect herself, then contacted engineering:
"Guardian-Engineer Scotha, damage report!"
Scotha replied hastily, stress clear in his voice: "We were hit on our upper deck, the primary armor plating has ruptured at this location! Initial reports suggest partial penetration through secondary plating and into ship compartments proper! We've sustained damage to several ship systems, severity unknown! The plasma reactor spiked on impact, but automatic systems kicked in and the reactor is now back online and stable! Beyond that we… we're still compiling reports down here, its chaos! It figures that something fucking like this would happen on this fucking ship and Sajuuk's mighty balls just when I…"
"GUARDIAN–ENGINEER, you will not use the name of our creator as a profanity, not now, not ever! It is blasphemy, heresy! Do it again and I will end you myself. I command you to repent for your actions at the first opportunity. Repent, sinner!" Khagaan shouted to her communications systems, anger shining in her voice, cutting off Scotha's tirade.
"I…I apologize, repentance will be offered" Scotha replied meekly, clearly intimidated by Khagaan's sudden outburst.
"See that it is" Khagaan hissed, then turned to her second in command, diplomatically cutting off the connection to engineering, sighing audibly: "why oh why must all competent engineers be such disrespectful little bastards?"
Arraes simply shrugged and with a shake of her head Khagaan went back to attending to the matter at hand:
"Arraesh, what's the situation on the bridge?"
"Most bridge systems are now back online, we are working on the rest as we speak. We have sustained roughly a dozen injuries, but only three cases require immediate medical attention, the rest are walking wounded that can wait until the situation clears, no fatalities thankfully."
"What about the rest of the ship?" Khagaan asked.
It was Kennae that answered: "Reports from other decks imply a similar situation as it is here. Medical deck reports roughly thirty fatalities and rising, as well as around two hundred injured and rising." She then paused, raising her hand to her helmet's earpiece listening to something. "Report from the breacher units, Lady– Protector: the blast hit them dead on, they've sustained heavy casualties, the" – she paused again, trying to find the right words – "all honor guard cruisers have been destroyed."
"All of them?" Khagaan asked, shocked.
"Yes, Ma'am."
Khagaan sighed, bowing her head. "May Sajuuk accept their souls."
"Sajuuk accept their souls." echoed the bridge crew, quietly and solemnly.
"So where did that missile come from, was it the enemy carrier?" Khagaan asked, directing her gaze to Harkath.
"No, the missile came from the base itself, probably their last line of defense." Harkath replied.
"Can they do it again?" Khagaan queried, knowing that her carrier could not survive another attack of such strength.
"It's possible, but it would take them several minutes to reload." Harkath stated thoughtfully.
Nodding, Khagaan turned to her weapons officer: "Guardian R'kath, do we still have weapons capabilities?"
"Weapon controls have been restored, but the long range missile systems remain unresponsive." said R'kath.
"Understood." Khagaan said, then turned to speak to her helmswoman: "Jiire, take us inside the enemy base, best possible speed you can give, I doubt they will risk hitting their home base. R'kath, as soon as we are in range engage all targets of opportunity; shunt power to weapons and armor after we arrive but not before. Kennae, inform our infantry to press forward at all cost, I want the base command centre seized and the cruise missile launch systems disabled ASAP."
As her crew followed her commands she looked around herself. She saw again the cracks on the windows, the broken consoles and machinery, the wreckage strewn on the floor. She saw her crew, many of whom had removed their now broken helmets, showing the wounds and bruises underneath, while others betrayed the injuries they carried through the way they moved, how they avoided putting pressure or weight on certain parts of their bodies. She saw the two members of her crew who had fallen over the railing and who were only now being picked up by medical personnel in white coats. She remembered how many of her crew were dead or hurt, how even more were lost on the cruisers and other units on the field, murdered by a single savage shockwave. On the arm of her chair her hand clenched into a tight fist.
"They will pay for this." she said to herself.
The battle raged for another hour. With the enemy vehicle units dealt with and the main entrance breached, the battle turned into a brutal effort of clearing the remaining Coalition resistance. The Gaalsien infantry stormed the remaining holdouts one by one, starting with the command centre, which promptly fell after an intense and bloody battle. Meanwhile the northerner military continued to offer bitter resistance, turning every corridor, every hall into a death trap, each meter gained bought with blood. Many of the base personnel that were not soldiers still chose to fight to the last; fighting with whatever weapons they had, sometimes without any weapons at all, offering resistance until they were gunned down by Gaalsien soldiers. The Ashoka sat squarely at the centre of the base supplying heavy firepower, blasting any enemy infantry units that dared to come out into the open, as well as the various base maintenance vehicles that the enemy engineers had unsuccessfully tried to turn against the invading Gaalsien.
After Khagaan had listened to the flow of battle for long enough she finally decided that the situation was secure enough: "Captain-Defender, you have the bridge; I'm going down there."
"Lady-Protector, are you sure that's wise? They're still fighting down there." Arraesh replied.
"I'm certain that our soldiers have the situation under control. This base is the most likely to have the information we seek. If so, I want to be there. I have to be there." Khagaan said, checking her sidearm as she did. "I will be careful, you have my word."
Arraesh sighed: "Very well, Lady–Protector. For whatever its worth, I hope I was going with you."
"Just like all of us I'm sure, but I need you here." Khagaan replied. She looked around herself: "Keep the ship safe, would you? She has suffered enough as it is." With that she stood up and left for the door.