/ Duel Universe
/ Author: The Cowboy of Oklahoma
/ Ch 8: The Brethren pt2
/ word count: 2166
The Gotango:
They were hitting the approaching ground troops and vehicles, hard. The mazer making short work of the enemy and the guns hitting dozens of targets a minute. Then some explosions happened just ahead, there was fire from the south hitting the enemy. Visuals on the Baddeck moving off to the west while strafing their frontal assault with the broadguns.
"Sir, visual on enemy cruiser, the Baddeck is turning to engage." Nest reported.
"Just one? They have three cruisers to bear down on us if they so choose." Captain Riker stated.
"Yes sir, we haven't seen any others yet. There also appears to be some smoke coming from the Baddecks aft port side. It may have been the enemy cruisers doing." Nest said.
"Come about and head for New Alam…" he was interrupted by the ship being struck with a powerful weapons fire.
"Sir!" Michaels yelled. "Cruiser to the east, port side! Five miles out!" He reported.
"An ambush! They wanted us to spread our forces and then attack from all angles." Captain Riker Said. "The front was a diversion so the cruisers could maneuver around our flanks. If we hit the front, we get slammed from the sides, if we fight the sides, New Alamo is defenseless from the front!" He grunted with frustration. "Come about! Attack that cruiser! Then we'll sweep up the ground forces when we come back!"
The Baddeck:
"Try to just disable their engines and weapons! If at all possible, we need to do minimal damage!" I ordered.
"Their mazer is charging sir!" Nest reported.
"Angle off thirty degrees starboard, gain some altitude, now bring 'er back down to the deck!" Shelly ordered.
The enemy mazer fire barely missed us, grazing the top deck, scorching it.
"That was too close." I noted. "How's the mazers' charge!?"
"Mazer at 90%, five seconds to full charge!" The weapons officer reported.
"Get us as close as you can! Aim for the aft section of the cruiser! We'll cleave their engines clean off! Once they're unable to maneuver or fly we'll head back to New Alamo!"
The pilot throttled the engines to full and put the Baddeck nearly parallel with the enemy cruiser.
"Ya' doin' a rope-a-dope Lieutenant?" Shelly asked the pilot.
"Yes ma'am!" He answered.
New Alamo:
"Admiral! The Gotango is moving forward and the Baddeck is heading our direction!" The Warrant Officer reported while he was looking out with a pair of binoculars.
"The Ensign did it. Okay, have our.." Admiral Fleetfoot was interrupted by the breaking of glass and the Warrant Officer falling to the ground dead.
"Sniper!" Fleetfoot yelled to the remaining personnel in the building. He reached for the intercoms and started ordering his men. "Snipers in the fields! Keep your heads down and locate their positions!"
A few minutes later the door opened and a Marine came in. "Admiral, sniper fire to the fields east and west of us, Baddeck is strafing the ground between us to clear them out. However the east is still unknown." He reported.
"Okay, send some armored transports to the west to sweep any surviving enemy personnel, then move to the east and use the trucks as cover to take out the other snipers." Fleetfoot ordered.
The Marine left and went to spread the word and gather troops to carry out the orders. Some snipers and support went to the east side of the FOB to try and clear some enemy operatives. The front was relatively quiet since the approaching force was being slammed by the Gotango's weapons.
"Sir, enemy mazer discharge, Baddecks been hit!" An officer reported.
"Is she still airborne!?"
"Yes sir! She's turning about to engage an enemy cruiser to the west!"
A moment later there was a flash of green light from straight ahead.
"Another enemy mazer discharge. This time the Gotango was hit. She is still airborne as well."
"Where'd that shot come from!?" Fleetfoot asked.
"East, sir. Gotango has disengaged the frontal assault and is now moving off to face the other cruiser!"
"That's two, where have they placed the third cruiser?" Fleetfoot asked of no one.
Washington Platform:
Communication Officer Corporal Brier, female, mid 20s and blonde hair, walked up to the commander of the platform, holding an electronic pad.
"Sir. We're having trouble communicating with ground personnel at the FOB near the US, Mexican border." She reported.
"What can you tell me Corporal Brier?" Lieutenant Colonel Eastwood asked.
"It's a similar circumstance as what the base at Coronado dealt with sir. I think we have another signal jammer in play again." She speculated.
"Have a detachment of squadrons move into the atmosphere and support the FOB. What visuals do we have of the area around the FOB?" He asked.
"The jammer is giving radar and regular camera visuals havoc, but thermals are picking up ground activity all around the base. All three enemy cruisers have been deployed in wide arcs to attack the base from three different sides. The rest of the Brethren are moving in a full frontal ground assault. Since we can't give them any information or communicate…" Brier started.
"Then they don't know about the ambush that's coming." Eastwood finished.
The Brethrens Third Cruiser:
"Are the jammers up and running?"
"Yes! The enemy doesn't have a clue that we're about to nuke them right off the planet! Not even the orbital platforms should be able to see us."
"All our forces know the plan, move in, draw out their forces, snipe anyone that appears to be trying to attempt visual communication, and then at 15:40 hours, pull back as fast as possible!"
"Tops says we're getting the other two cruisers away from the base!"
"Good! It won't be long now! Ahead half speed, it's almost time."
The Baddeck:
Turning on a dime, nearly 370, fooling the enemy ship into thinking they were turning and running, started to turn to chase the Baddeck. The Baddeck kept the turn up past the 180 mark, 200, 250. The enemy cruiser began to turn the opposite direction presenting the broadside of their ship. 280, 300, 360.
"Fire Mazer!" I ordered.
The Baddecks weapon impacted the side of the cruiser full force at close range, tearing a hole in it's engine compartment. The cruiser sputtered, then fell from the sky to belly-flop on the plains below. The top guns and cannons swiveled to target the Baddeck.
"Head for New Alamo! We'll leave them here to sweat it out." I ordered.
"Con, nest, Sir, the enemy ground forces, they've stopped in their tracks!" They reported.
"What!? What's happening!?" I asked.
Looking to the FOB, then to the enemy forces, they were stopped, and there were no weapons fire towards the base.
"No movement from New Alamo or the enemy. The Gotango is beyond visual range!" Came the report.
"North, east, west…" I pondered.
"What're you thinkin' Captain?" Shelly asked.
"We've seen something come from every direction but one. South. We're not prepared for anything coming from the south. Have the nest scan south, what do they see?"
The sailors scanned the lands to the south, everything from the FOB to the border was clear on the ground, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
"Make sure to scan the skies sailor!" Shelly suggested.
The Gotango:
"Captain, the enemy cruiser is pulling back even further! We can't catch them the way we're going now, and they're just outside full effective range of the mazer!" Michaels reported.
"Why are they running damn it!? Why won't they turn and fight!?" Captain Riker asked.
"Con, Nest, we've lost sight of New Alamo and the enemy forces!" They reported.
"What!? Come about! Head back to New Alamo right now!" Captain Riker ordered.
"We're just going to ignore the enemy cruiser!?" Michaels asked.
"If they wanted a fight, they would have kept shooting at us. Instead they're leading us further from the base. Also they had another cruiser draw away the Baddeck. The Brethren plan to attack a defenseless FOB!"
The Gotango began to make an arc in the sky and head back to the FOB.
Washington Platform:
"Sir. The FOB hasn't taken any direct attacks and is, from our viewpoint, unharmed. However the Gotango and the Baddeck cruisers have engaged the enemy forces and two of the enemy cruisers. The Baddeck has disabled one cruiser and the Gotango is currently chasing down another. However the third is slowly making its way to the FOB uncontested." Brier reported.
"And where are our squadrons now?" Eastwood asked.
"They should be entering Earth's atmosphere in 30 seconds, but they may be too late to reach the FOB in time." Brier answered.
"Hm, so it's all down to time. Either the Brethren reach the FOB, or our forces do."
"Sir, did anyone tell you what they're calling the FOB?" Brier asked.
"No, why?" Eastwood turned to her.
"The soldiers down below are calling it the 'New Alamo, sir." Brier explained.
"The last stand of the Alamo." He said.
New Alamo:
"Admiral, Baddeck has disabled the first cruiser and is returning, but they're about 15 mile out still. And the Gotango is almost completely out of view following the second cruiser." A Marine Corporal reported.
"What are the Brethren thinking?" Fleetfoot pondered.
"Sir, it appears as the forces to our front have stopped their charge and I can even clearly make out as several snipers are heading north to meet up with the enemy forces." The Corporal reported again.
"All they've done so far is take pot shots at us with snipers, and lead both our support cruisers away from the bat..!!" Fleetfoots' eyes went wide and he turned to a Marine next to the door. "Move all troops to the rear of the base now! They're going for a sneak attack at our rear!" He ordered.
The Baddeck:
"I want full speed back to New Alamo now!" I ordered.
"Sir!" The pilot called out. "The engines aren't responding! We only have about 75% power output and it's dropping!"
"What!?" I reached for the intercom. "Engine room, Con, what's the damage!?"
"Con, engine room, the shot from the enemy mazer didn't hit us at full strength, but it did rattle some bolts loose, and with those idiotic maneuvers from the pilot, the engines are threatening to fail!" Chief Engineer Scotts reported. "We have to slow down now otherwise we'll lose the engines right now!"
"Grrr! No! We need to get back to New Alamo otherwise it won't be there! It's completely undefended!"
"I'm sorry captain, but there's nothing we can do."
A loud clank and crash could be heard.
"Cut the engines now or we may very well explode!" Chief Scotts pleaded.
Nononono! I chastised myself internally. "Cut the engines! Cease all forward acceleration." I ordered.
"But.." Shelly began.
"Now Lieutenant!" I bellowed.
She turned, her face going sullen. "Cut engines. Cease forward acceleration." She echoed my words, and my feelings for the situation.
"We're dead in the water, we have to hope the Gotango can make it back in time." I said, the world outside seemed to expand beyond the horizon, the base getting further away from us.
The Gotango:
"Con, nest, third cruiser spotted south of New Alamo. They are completely uncontested and will be at the base in an estimated 5 minutes!"
"Sir, we're too far out! We won't make it in time!" Michaels reported. "We won't even be in weapons range for 7 minutes!"
"We'll have to trust the Baddeck can.." He was cut off by the comms.
"Con, nest, visuals on the Baddeck, she's spitting smoke and doesn't appear to be moving."
"What!? Engine room, Con, we need more speed!" Captain Riker ordered.
"Negative sir! We have 80% power output and I can't coax anymore out of her! She's threatening to shut down if we do!" The Chief Engineer reported.
"What do we do sir?" Michaels asked.
"I don't think we can do anything XO. All we can do is head back to base as fast as we're already going. New Alamo stands alone for the time being." Captain Riker replied.
The Brethren Cruiser:
"We have them all to ourselves!"
"They're completely defenseless!"
"Let's drop off their going away present! Activate the warhead!"
"Accelerate! Full speed!"
The Gotango:
"Con, nest, the third cruiser just picked up speed! Less than 1 minute to contact!"
"What!?" Captain Riker stated.
"She's gaining some altitude. The bottom bay doors are opening. They're going to drop a bomb!"
"No!" Captain Riker exclaimed.
The world stood still, the ground troops saw the shell of a warhead clear the bay of the enemy cruiser, heading straight for them. The Admiral was standing on a catwalk at the back of the building, watching as the scene unfolds. Both the Baddeck and Gotango were well beyond any help to the base now. The allied squadrons were still 2 minutes out, at top speeds. The Brethren forces had pulled back to just outside the blast radius and estimated fallout area.
Everything went white.