Blood War 1: Last Stand of the Legion: Rift (13 page)

LYTEN SYSTEM

RIFT

FLEET ANCHORAGE

BATTLESHIP ROW

BATTLESHIP PHOENIX

BRIDGE

Lieutenant Junior Grade James Hiroshi was working his way through the checklist he was supposed to use as his guide for his time as the ship’s commander. A Lieutenant Junior Grade was commanding the Battleship Phoenix; it could have made Hiroshi laugh, had he not felt the importance of even the caretakers' job he had been assigned. With only a skeleton crew aboard there was merely a fraction of the watches manned as the ship was in dry dock. Yet he still felt the responsibility. Three junior seamen technicians were on duty with Hiroshi, as with him, they too had been assigned the worst duty. Everyone else was ashore on liberty. Only the most junior and the some of those who had already blown through their pay were aboard as another day of upgrades had begun.

Just a year out of the Academy he felt lucky to have been assigned to a Battleship even if it was the Phoenix, one of the oldest in the fleet. It was better than some small service ship. Granted he would have had more responsibility on a smaller ship, but the Phoenix had
a long and storied service history. As one of the first of the modern battleships the Phoenix had seen much action during the Breed Wars. As the son of naval veterans, he was well aware of its history. His parents had raised him on stories of the Colony Wars and their service. They had made sure he had the proper education to sit for the Academy tests. It had paid off and he had been accepted. He was the first officer in the family.

So Hiroshi felt the pride of the naval tradition and the old ship, especially standing on the bridge as the Officer of the Deck. Sure it was really just a Security Watch since they were in Port but it
was still Officer of the Deck. Hiroshi stood on the bridge and sipped his morning tea, soaking it all in and enjoying the moment. There were only two enlisted men on the bridge with him. One had Comm Watch and the other had Life Systems Watch.

Hiroshi walked up to the Combat Information System readout that formed the wall at the front of the bridge. The readouts showed the ships systems and their status. Most were in the red after being shut down for repairs or upgrades. The occupied areas of the ship were being run on generators to give the contractors the power they needed for their work. All of the defensive and offensive systems for the ship were off line. They were in Fleet Anchorage and no one wanted any accidents to happen. The life support systems were in the green creating the working space for the crew and contractors. Some parts of the ships spaces were open to space and had been sealed off
; so all was well.

In spite of his caretaker duty
, Hiroshi loved his time on the bridge. It would be years before he had the rank even to be part of the watch standing on the bridge. The bridge of one of the most powerful and storied warships in the Confederation fleet was almost a high in and of itself. He was about to sit down at his console, finish his tea and go through the next series of checklists when he felt a shudder. Before he could react he felt another shudder, this one so violent he almost fell and spilled his tea all over the Captains chair. Suddenly alarms were sounding and red lights were flashing.

"Hull
breach, section 23 through 35. I say again hull breach," the Life Systems seaman said.

Hiroshi frantically surveyed the readouts as more and more systems that had been green were joining those that had been shut down for repairs.

"Report," Hiroshi snapped.

"Sir, I
am getting confirmation of the breach. Nano systems are attempting to repair but the breach appears to be too large."

"Cause
?"

"Unknown."

"Sir," the Communications Watch seaman said. "I have fire indicators in the adjoining sections. I am getting reports of evacuations by civilian and crew members."

"Reports of cause
?"

"Negative."

Another shudder knocked Hiroshi to his hands and knees. That was three, and he was still blind without the ships complete systems. In desperation he snapped.

"Window view."

The Combat Information System for the battleship turned into a panoramic view of the ship from high on the bridge. The Phoenix stretched out before him. Hiroshi stood and was stunned by what he saw; a huge hole had been blown in the side of the ship. Debris and even bodies could be seen floating out of the opening into space. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a purple streak head toward the ship from his right. It struck the ship with a huge explosion and created another hole where more debris was thrown violently into space from the ships interior. Something flashed by the ship too fast for Hiroshi to see.

"Freeze."

The world outside froze at his command.

"Reverse."

Slowly the view went into reverse. Debris went back into the ship. Then the object that had flashed by was in front of the window slowly coming into view. When it was in the center of the screen Hiroshi said,

"Freeze, magnify."

The view zoomed into the ship. He had never seen anything like it. It was much larger than a Legionnaire's ship but looked like a fighter. It was, for lack of a better word, shaped like an arrow with a large triangular forward area and a short straight aft section. Its sides bristled with sensors or defensive arrays. It was as black as the Legionnaires fighters and looked like it wanted to attack something even as it was frozen on the display. A missile was just leaving its arrowhead area. There was no mistake - it was an alien ship attacking them. They were under attack.

"Shi!" one of seaman said.

"Kak!" the other seaman said.

"Fuck
," Hiroshi said.

He reached up to the console and hit the General Quarters key.

"General Quarters, general quarters, all hands man your battle stations. This is not a drill. I repeat this not a drill."

Both of the seaman behind
him dove for their stations as they tried to bring up the systems they would need to fight back.

"Sir this is Chief Keller in the power room. Are you serious?"

Another shudder went through the ship as Hiroshi started to answer the Chief.

"Fuck...." Keller suddenly said. Their connection went down for a second before he came back on the comm.

"Sir, there was an explosion in the compartment to the forward of the drive spaces."

"Keller
, give the ship as much power as you can wring out of the batteries and generators. Shift it to all the power you can find to the repair systems, the life support systems and weapons systems."

"Aye, aye sir."

Hiroshi turned his attention back to the scene that was playing out in front of him. Arrow shaped fighter after fighter flashed by as they attacked the Phoenix and other ships in the anchorage.

"Sir, we have Legionnaires on board and some of the ships are on standby."

"Shit, you're right seamen."

Hiroshi hit the ship wide key again.

"All Legionnaries, man your ships. I repeat all Legionnaires man your ships. Hanger bay personnel make all preparations for a combat patrol launch as soon as possible. I repeat make all preparations for launching all Legionnaires ships."

Hiroshi knew he was sending them up to almost certain death but it was better than sitting in the bridge watching the ship slowly being blown apart. For once he wished he was a Legionnaire and could fight back. Just then he saw one of the ships scram cannons begin to fire. They must have been testing it because most of the
m were down for upgrades. It was the only defensive fire Hiroshi had seen but he was glad the old Phoenix would not go down without a fight.

"Sir," the seaman behind Hiroshi said
, "I've got some of the sensors up. Do you want to take a look at this?"

The forward screen turned into a battle array. The enemy ships were represented by
a red triangle. There were dozens of red triangles flashing through the Fleet Anchorage; small red dots were leaving them and streaking for ships in the anchorage. There were no green triangles to meet them. That meant no Legionnaires had launched yet. Hiroshi could only hope he had given the Legionnaires a chance to launch. Just then the Phoenix shuddered again - this time it was the worst of all the impacts. It felt as if the torpedo had struck the space next to the bridge. The air around Hiroshi was filled with papers and anything loose as it was being sucked out of the bridge.

"Emergency procedures
- hull breach. You have ten, nine, eight, seven..." the ships Life Support system said.

Hiroshi dove for the emergency
breach suits that were in the bulkhead of every compartment. He tore open the door. It was empty. They had been removed for newer and easier suits to don. He looked over at the seaman and their eyes met. They all knew that they were about to die.

Petty Officer Akule Chen had just stepped out of his berthing area into the next compartment when
the first torpedo struck. He was thrown across the compartment to the opposite bulkhead. He slammed into the bulkhead and slowly slid to the floor. Blood was pouring from his head as he tried to sit up. He looked back into his berthing compartment and saw the carnage the explosion had caused. There was blood and body parts' covering the bulkheads. Most crewmembers in the compartment had been blown into pieces. Those that had not been killed were horribly wounded with arms and legs blown off. Others lay still in growing pools of blood.

Akule could only stare. What had happened? What could explode in a berthing compartment? The compartment was a deck below the Legions flight deck
-maybe one of the torpedoes had cooked off.  He tried to get up but he was too dizzy. That is when he realized that the explosion had breached the hull. Air rushing out of the breach almost picked him up it was so strong. That made no sense. They were amidships five compartments from the hull, how could breach in the hull affect spaces this far inboard?

He watched in horror as a survivor from the compartment staggered toward the hatch
, dragging one leg and covered from head to toe in blood. Before he could recognize who it was the automatic breach hatch slammed shut in her face. His last image was of the horror of realization on her face as the hatch closed. Who ever it had been would now die of oxygen deprivation; one of the kinds of deaths Akule had always dreaded. Akule was struggling to his feet when the announcement came over the ships comm.

"General Quarters, general quarters
, all hands man your battle stations. This is not a drill. I repeat this not a drill."

Akule now had something to do beside go over the horror of the berthing compartment
in his head over and over again. His general quarters’ station was in the Damage Control Center as he was the systems engineer assigned to the Center. When he tried to take a step, a shooting pain knifed through his right knee and up his leg. He groaned and pushed on. Limping badly, he passed other crew members rushing both ways in the passageway as they too headed to their battle stations.

He worked his way up
the decks to the Damage Control Center. It was a blank wall with a palm ID console on the right. He placed his palm on the console; the hatch immediately dilated open, and then snapped shut behind him. The Damage Control Center had its own power supply and life support system, completely separate from the ships systems, so no matter what happened to the ship it could still operate. Akule was the first to arrive.

He collapsed into his chair and hit the power control. The room came alive. As power reached the systems
, alarms began to sound. He glanced at a diagram of the ship and he saw more red areas in the ship than he had ever seen in any training. There were multiple breaches, fires, hazardous materials leaks and crewmen down all over the ship. He was still trying to get some kind of situational awareness so he could prioritize his resources when the ship was struck again and more red lights came on.

Akule was the only person in the Damage Control Center
, second only to the bridge in its importance to the ship during a fight, and he was overwhelmed. He could only stare. Another explosion rocked the ship. This time Akule could actually hear it. His hand shook as he reached to begin an inventory of the damages done so far to the ship. His job normally was to work on the computer systems to re-route needed power or other systems controls. He had never sat in The Seat as they called it; it was the chair that the Chief usually sat in with a Lieutenant by his side to make the decisions. Now he was sitting in the seat. It would be up to him. A petty officer. His hand shook as he reached to change the situational readout.

LYTEN SYSTEM

RIFT

TUBE TRANSPORT CAR

ENROUTE

ARMORED INFANTRY BRIGADE HEADQUARTERS

Dasan had never expected to go to war in base transportation. The car flashed through the clear plastic tube on a maglev cushion as it followed the natural canyon features, dipping underground then returning to the surface. Red rock walls flashed by unnoticed as Dasan desperately tried to come up with a coherent strategy for the Brigade.

Dasan had to think and think fast. He was facing an enemy that he did not know. He didn't know their capabilities, numbers, tactics, weapons
, anything; they were a mystery. He had spent the last five years studying every file he could on infantry tactics from ancient times to the last infantry units hundreds of years ago. Combat operations planning depended on understanding the enemy at some level but Dasan had none of the information he needed.

Yet the Xotoli knew nothing about human capabilities either. They were as much in the dark as he was so he had that on his side. He doubted they knew that humans had been fighting one another for tens of thousands of years
, and that the art of war had become a part of the species. It was in the human DNA. From everything he had studied the one strategy that came to mind when facing superior forces was to choose where and when you fought them. The most difficult and dangerous area to attack in battle was a built-up urban area. It is why he had chosen the Fleet Headquarters and the military spaceport as their intended invasion targets for the exercise. An urban area was a three hundred sixty degree, three-dimensional combat environment. The advantage went to the smart and determined defender. A smaller and better-prepared force could decimate an attacker. Dasan suddenly knew he would fight them in the urban areas.

For the exercise
, Dasan with his staff, had mapped out the best mutually supporting strong points, bunkers and underground escape routes for the defenders. They had decided on where it was best to place their heavy weapons and how to funnel any attacks into killing lanes. They had also trained the Opposition Force in small unit swarm tactics - swarming to the enemy, inflicting damage, and then disappearing.

Now if he could only depend on them attacking Fleet Headquarters and the Space Port. Dasan actually hit himself with the heel of his hand when he realized that is exactly what they were
doing otherwise Dasan and the rest of the staff would be dead by now. They were well within nuke range if they were in the system. If they wanted to cut off the head of the Fleet all they had to do was nuke the military facilities into dust but that was not what they wanted to do. They knew nothing about the human race and needed as much intelligence as they could gather. All they had to do was land and take Fleet Headquarters and the Space Port and they would have capabilities, tactics, technology; everything they needed to defeat a human foe. 

To fight a battle
, Dasan had to make assumptions about the enemy, and the only one Dasan felt comfortable with was their intended targets. It was now up his newly minted Armored Infantry. Dasan touched his temple. A list of his staff showed up on his contacts. He reached out and touched his Executive Officers’ name.

"Colonel."

"Masafaro, the aliens are attacking the Fleet Anchorage and will soon be landing troops. This is no drill."

Masafaro's face show
ed no change. He was a true Wolf; war was part of their make up.

"Sir."

"I appointed you as the Op Force commander for the exercise. We are going to make our stand in the Fleet Headquarters and the Space Port just as we had planned for the opposition force in the exercise. We know nothing about their capabilities or technology and they know nothing about ours. I believe they will target the most intelligence rich targets. So we are going to use our exercise plans as the basis for our defense."

"Excellent
, sir. I could not agree more."

"Masafaro
, where are you?"

"I am at the Space Port with the S3 staff
. We were going over last minute details."

"Good. Those details are now real world. Have your
armor shipped to you. I am going to use the Fleet Headquarters as the Brigades Command Post. Report there as soon as you organize and brief the staff at the Space Port. I will inform the rest of the staff."

"Yes sir."

"Masafaro, good luck."

"Same to you
, sir. We are going to need it on this one, aren't we?"

"Yes we are. Sand out."

Next Dasan reached out and touched his Combat Engineer Commander's name.

"Colonel."
DeWits face swam before him.

"
DeWit, the aliens are attacking the Fleet Anchorage as we speak. This is no drill."

"Shit."

" We are going to make our stand in Fleet Headquarters and the Space Port just like our planned exercise. I want real strong points and bunkers as well as all of the other fortifications we discussed. I don't have a time frame except as soon as you can. Masafaro already knows so coordinate with him. He is at the Space Port."

"Sir.
We’ll switch to quick concrete immediately and pull all of the equipment we need down here from the base. We will have it done for you sir."

"I know I can count on you DeWit. This may be a rolling construction as the battle starts so be ready to accomplish additional projects under fire."

DeWit smiled. He had argued that they had to have that capability from the beginning, and he was being proven right.

"Of course
, sir. Good Luck."

"You too. DeWit. Advise Ma
safaro and myself when you are ready."

"Sir."

Dasan switched to Aijuba's channel. She answered immediately.

"Sir, how did the briefing..."

"Aijuba the Fleet Anchorage is now under attack, this is no drill. They have finally come."

Aijuba's face did not show surprise. It hardened into the face he had seen before the battles they had fought together.

"
Wa Cao
!"

"Exactly. Look we are going to use the Fleet Anchorage and Space Port as our strong points. Just like the exercise but
we will use the whole Brigade in defense. Masafaro has been informed and is at the Space Port with the S3 staff. I want the Battalion commanders to break each Company and Platoon up into the killer teams we discussed for the Op Force, a mini gunner, a grenadier, a sniper and a rifleman. Have the 1
st
and 2
nd
Battalion report to Fleet Headquarters, Third Battalion to Space Port; Medical Section sets up at Fleet Headquarters, the same as the Aviation Element. I want their drones in the air as soon as possible. Naval Gunfire if we can get it will be with us at the Command Post."

"Yes sir."

"Finally how many Rifts do we have in the Brigade?"

"A rough guess sir would be close to a hundred
, maybe more."

"Take them from all the Battalions and form Recon teams. Have them inserted in a three-sixty perimeter around the Space Port complex in the north to Chushka
Ravine. That is the only open ground suitable for a landing near the Port and Fleet Headquarters. They could use the Chindi Dunes to the east but I don't think they will. There would be too many complications. Also, have teams inserted into the top of the Fleet Headquarters tallest buildings where they will have an excellent field of view and ideal launch points for their drones. Tell the teams their only orders are to use their local knowledge, provide intelligence, eyes for our heavy weapons and harassment. Do they need anymore guidance than that?"

"No sir, I trained them
. They will perform."

"Can you think of anything else Sergeant?"

"Yes sir. We should break up the Op Force throughout the Brigade so they can share the tactics we taught them."

"Excellent
. Make it so. I will be there in approximately one five minutes. I'm stuck in a goddamn tube. Have my armor warmed up and ready. Is that all?"

"One last thing
, sir. These are the same
kont's
we fought. I think we need to provide protection to the military housing complex. I think they will go after the children again."

Dasan could kick himself
. Of course she was right. He would have to send troops to protect the military and civilian housing complexes, even though standard procedure was for the Legion to evacuate all dependents. There was not going to be time to get them all out.

"You're right. I will send a company to Hogan."

"Sir."

"
By the time I arrive you and the rest of the mobile staff be armored up and ready. I want to get out of the base soonest. It is a big fat target."

"Sir."

Dasan could see Aijuba turn and say,

"Get the armorers moving."

Dasan touched Masafaro's name again.

"Sir."

"Major. Aijuba just had a very good thought. She thinks they will try for the children again no matter what their main objective. So I want a company sent to Hogan."

For once
, Masafaro's face showed emotion.

"Of course. I should have thought of that."

"So should I. That is why we have senior enlisted personnel like Aijuba."

"I will make it so."

"Good. Sand out."

Dasan hoped they had enough time to prepare some sort of defense before the aliens landed. It did not feel good to have to hope they had time to prepare their positions before an attack. This would test the training and professionalism of the men and women of his command as nothing else.