Machine Gods (Star Crusades Nexus, Book 2) (35 page)

He pointed behind
him
, and Anderson could only assume the
Rift lay in that position. He took a deep breath, as if only just
realizing he hadn’t been breathing.

“
If they can reach
the Black Rift with this ship and our technology, it could allow
their forces to enter the Helion system. Only my people and the
Helions have the technology to open, close, and destabilize these
Rifts, and it is our most guarded technology. Only the elders of
our societies have access to it.”

“
Great, and from
here they can spread through this Network and hit our worlds,
right?” asked General Daniels.

Before T’Kron could
answer, Admiral Anderson lifted his hand.

“Why now? Why not fifty years ago?”

T’Kron waved his hands in an agitated fashion.

“
They followed us
through our own Rift, one that we have hidden all this time. They
must have tracked out expedition to this point. You must trust us,
Admiral. If they reach the Black Rift, every one of our worlds will
be turned to ash.”

Admiral Anderson
wiped his face once more, this time removing sweat rather than
blood. The information wasn’t a complete surprise to him. The
attacks from the Raiders already told him they wanted something,
either information or technology.

He turned to General Daniels.

“
These Guardian
ships cannot be easily stopped. We hit the last one for a long time
and still it got away. It was only the T’Kari and their technology
that destroyed it by collapsing the Rift around it. Now we only
have five fully functioning warships. We need something more
permanent. Stop that ship, and the Helions will listen to
us.”

“Uh, Admiral. The ship is powering down and changing
course.”

“What? Where are they going?”

The officer seemed stunned by what was happening,
much to the fury of the Admiral.

“Answer me, dammit!”

“
The ship is coming
back this way, and their weapons are powering up.”

Anderson swallowed,
his mouth now feeling like ash at the news. The warship was easily
five times the size of the Crusader ships, perhaps even bigger. He
remembered what had happened the last time Alliance ships had
engaged one, and at that point the ships had all been undamaged and
fully functional.

“
He’s right, the
ship is setting a course between the Rift back home and our ships,”
Lieutenant Powalk added.

“
They mean to stop
us pursuing them before they continue on to the Black Rift. Is
there no way the Helions can intercept them?”

Helmsmen Scookins shook her head.

“
The nearest major
ships are days away. There is a group of frigate-sized vessels
heading this way, but it will take them at least an hour. They will
never be able to reach them. The only chance the Helions have is if
they have something major protecting the Black Rift
itself.”

General Daniels nodded at this part, “and if they
don’t, the ship could travel through.”

Admiral Anderson
looked disappointed at the news. He considered the options
available to him, but there were few, and none particularly
appealed to him.

“
Very well, General,
what do you suggest?”

General Daniels did his best to smile before
providing a response.

“
The only way to
decide this will be here and now. I can hit the vessel with an
assault force. The 17
^th
, under Gun and Morato,
are directly in the path of the ship. They can have marines on her
in minutes.”

The weapon systems
of ANS Victory were now firing at full capacity. Both the particle
beam weapons and the myriad of turrets pounded the Guardian ship.
Even as the commanders discussed strategy, they could see the
flashes across its massive structure. Large pieces of metal were
blasted off or even melted to slag, and yet still it continued
onward.

Admiral Anderson nodded, “A captured Guardian ship,
now that would be a prize.”

The ship shuddered
as a double burst of gunfire from the port gun batteries of the
Guardian ship raked the ship’s hull. The armor stopped the worst of
it, yet nearly two-dozen hardened rounds breached the layered armor
and exploded inside.

“
Damage to the
starboard particle assembly, just the port gun remaining,”
explained Lieutenant Powalk.

Admiral Anderson
looked disheartened at the news. The weapons systems on the ship
were powerful, but there were only four emitters, two on the stern
and two on the bow. Once they were gone, they had nothing but the
turrets and the fighter cover remaining.

“
We have no choice.
You command the assault operation, General. I will return to my
position in the fleet and keep our ships operational as long as
possible.”

General Daniels held
the Admiral’s shoulder, noting how unsteady the man still was on
his feet. A junior officer, one he hadn’t seen before, helped to
move him closer to the tactical unit. Admiral Anderson held on to
it and took three long breaths.

“General, you’re needed for this operation. I’ll
make sure our ships and fighters operate effectively as a screen.
Don’t take too long though; these ships are only so strong. We
fight here, either we win or we lose. I’m not leaving Serenity on
her own to die.”

Without even waiting
for General Daniel’s reply, he moved to the rest of the CIC crew
and proceeded to give out orders to each of his ships. General
Daniels seemed almost excited at the news. With the Admiral back in
command of the taskforce, he could concentrate on what he’d trained
for, major combat operations. He moved a short distance back and
grabbed the intercom. With just two taps, he connected to his
battalion commanders.

“This is the General, prepare for contested ship
boarding.”

He paused for just a
moment and connected directly to ANS Savage.

There’s only one battalion that has conducted more
than one mock boarding action.

“
Commande
r Gun, Major Morato. It
is time. I have a job for you, and it’s the most dangerous job out
here.”

* * *

Teresa was
uncomfortable inside the cramped interior of the Hammerhead
fighter, one of the many new craft being used by the Marine Corps.
It was her first trip on the aircraft, and her first impression was
not particularly favorable. It was a good deal larger than the
Cobra shuttles she’d used in the past for special operations use,
yet it could still only carry a dozen warriors. Seated near her
were the eleven members of 1st Squad, including Sergeant Arina
Nova. All of them were dressed in their almost midnight black APS
armor, with only one subtle difference between theirs and the other
marines. Rather than the dark grey tiger stripes used by the other
squads, this personal protection unit had crimson stripes. Teresa
had made the decision, and she was now starting to wonder if she
should have chosen something a little darker.

“Major,” said Gun’s voice from the
center
of the craft.

“Commander, we’re three hundred meters from the
target.”

“
Good,
t
he 17th made it out first. You’ll hit
them sixty seconds before the marines from Crusader and
Victory.”

Teresa nodded at the
image of her commanding officer and leader of the
17
^th
Battalion. Technically, he wasn’t a commander, but the name
had stuck in the War, and it had become more of an honorific title
specific to Gun. Teresa looked at the command display and checked
the position of the rest of the Battalion. Over four hundred
marines were en route from ANS Savage already, with another eight
companies on their way from the other two ships. Not all of the
marines were coming though. There were, after all, only enough
transports for a fraction of the marines at a time.

The mighty Guardian
ship was already pulling away from its previous course and heading
for the Rift. Scores of gun turrets sent projectiles out to the
Alliance ships, as well as the Helion station. In reply, the ships
and station struck it with a variety of ineffectual weapons. Its
engines glowed a bright blue as it moved into position. Luckily for
the Alliance forces, the ship was massive and took time to move
into an advantageous position, and all the while the Alliance ships
were scattering to attack from multiple angles.

We won’t have long before they start to cause
serious damage to our ships.

Teresa looked at the
counter run
ning on the inside of her
visor. It counted down the number of seconds at which point they
would reach the warship. They had to be inside the vessel before
the counter ran down.

“Hold on!” called the pilot.

The lead vessels of
the formation were the three Hammerhead heavy fighters. They moved
past the stern of the huge ship, continuing about a third the way
along its spine before dropping down and settling on a flat area.
They came in fast, perhaps too fast, as the impact came as a
massive jolt. Teresa felt shudders through the floor as the
grav-clamps secured them to the hull.

“
Hammerhead One is
down. We’re moving in.”

T
hey would normally disembark from the side doors, but this
was different. One of the most useful design changes with the
marine craft was the ability to board ships once attached. A low
vibration was all it took for the thermite breaching charges fitted
beneath the gunship to burn a hole two meters wide into the hull of
the ship, immediately below the Hammerhead. The center section slid
open like a narrow bomb bay and led inside. A gush of air rushed
into the craft, but amazingly, the Hammerhead was able to maintain
a secure seal, and the pressure quickly stabilized.

“
Go, go, go!” Teresa
shouted.

Sergeant Arina Nova
moved into the hole first, using her magboots to attach and detach
from the metal structure and inside the ship. The rest of the squad
followed, including Major Morato; each fully encased in the best
armor the Alliance could supply.

* * *

Gun stood in front of
his tactical display like an ancient general poring over the
details of some battle map. The room was only a short distance from
the marines’ quarters, and he was acutely aware of how close he was
to the many shuttles and gunships that were loading up to take more
marines into the fray.

“
You have to manage
the battle from the ship,” he remembered Teresa saying as she was
leaving for the battle.

It pained him to
stay behind, but he was becoming used to the fact that the further
up he went, the less opportunities there were for direct
involvement in the battle. It was starting to annoy him greatly. He
turned his attention back to the display. It showed the numbers of
small craft as they mobilized around the rear of the Guardian ship.
A small number of the gun turrets on the station below had turned
their attention to it, but they were having little effect. He
thought for a few seconds and hit the connect button.

“Commander, what is it?” responded General Daniels
with the minimum of patience.

“
General, the 17th
is currently boarding the Guardian ship. Now what about this
station?”

“What about it?”

“I can take that station with a company of marines.
They are prepping now.”

General Daniels raised an eyebrow at the
suggestion.

“
No, our scans still
show nearly three hundred Helions on board, plus who knows what
kind of defensive systems. You could lose the entire unit. Anyway,
they are not shooting at our ships anymore.”

Gun was surprised at
these words. He looked back to his map of the battle as it was
unfolding. The display was zoomed in around the Guardian ship, and
he hadn’t noticed the changing positions of the other ships. He’d
been too busy directing each of the platoons into position at key
points over the ship.

You idiot, you have one job, that damned ship!

“Gun, the situation has changed.”

“How so?”

The Guardian ship
has released fighters. Most of them are busy with our own fighters,
but there are also a dozen lighter craft that are hunting down
craft launched from our ships. Two shuttles have been hit
already.”

Gun scowled at the news but said nothing.

“
We’re holding our
own, but we cannot risk sending in any more marine units from our
ships. Your ship is the closest. It’s only a sixty-second journey
from your hull to theirs. I can give you enough fighter cover for
one more run, any more, and they’ll shoot down your landing
craft.”

General Daniels knew
what he was asking, and he also knew that there was no better man
to lead the assault than the experienced war leader and Biomech
veteran, Commander Gun.

“
You need to launch
every thing you have left in one big attack. Do you have any
operational Vanguards on your ship?” asked Daniels.

Gun grinned at his
words. The armor was the massive mechanical suit first used in
combat by Spartan back in the Uprising. They’d been using them for
training in the 17th, but only a small number of the strongest and
those best suited to close quarter combat would be able to use them
effectively.