Star Crusades, Michael Thomas [the lemonade war series .TXT] 📗

it is. But it was this, or we lost everybody here.”

Both focused on the smoke-filledbattlefield. The large numbers of marines and Novas had beenwhittled down in the fighting, but nowhundreds more bodies of their enemy now littered theplace.

“Yes,” saidAlexis, “That is true.”

A few others continued shooting,while most moved to their dead or wounded comrades. Valentinehelped one to his feet, and then spotted Captain Olik speaking with the General and the bloodied form ofColonel Barnaby, the commander of the IAB Marine Corpscompanies.

“General, we cannot win this,”said Captain Olik, “More are coming, andlanders continually come through the atmosphere.”

“That ship,” said the Colonel with a bitter shake of the head, “As longas it remains, we cannot win. My marines are fully engaged on everyfront. We can hold, but not if they continue to rain reinforcementsdown in a continuous wave.”

The two massive warriors lookedto each other, and then Captain Olik grinned. Valentine could seethem, but even though they said little,it was clear they were having a conversation.

“Wait,” said the Colonel,“You’re not thinking what I am, areyou?”

He shook his head in horror.

“My forces are in disarray, andhalf of my marines are helping the regulars on the upper levels.I don’t have the manpower, the weaponry,or the ships. We’re too spread out to do it.”

General Gun then nodded ashe spotted Valentine looking at them.

“Lance Corporal.”

She gulped, and then moved closer.

“Yes,Sir?”

“Your lance. Are you combat effective?”

Valentine’s eyes ran to unit’s status indicator. They hadarrived with forty-five Novas and were down to thirty-five stillcombat capable. And most of those had been wounded in the recentfighting.

“We’ve taken losses, but we can still fight.”

“We arrived with fifteen lances,” said Captain Olik, “Twelve of thoseare combat ready.”

Valentine looked back at hercomrades and called out to them. Lieutenant Fletcher, SergeantJablonsky, and Corporal Kleinlercher allheard her, but none responded until they saw the senior officerswaiting. Captain Olik snorted, moving his head in a rather unsubtlegesture to get their attention. They scrambled over and movedalongside Valentine.

“Sir?” Lieutenant Fletcher said.

“I have a mission for the Novas.It might be a one-way trip.”

“Just point uswhere you need us. We’re up forit.”

The rest of the two lances inchedcloser and formed up in a loose group,listening to what was being said. More men and women from the otherplatoons joined them until nearly twenty of them were watching andlistening in stunned disbelief.

“Well?” General Gun asked,“Can it be done?”

None answered, and it was obvious even Captain Olik remaineddubious. Valentine finally spoke, breaking the relativesilence.

“We did it before, Sir. At HeliosPrime.”

It took a second, and then the Generalsmiled.

“The boarding of the Burijas?”

“Yes,Sir.”

Olik grunted once more.

“You’ll recall that battle killedyou, Lance Corporal. And this is going tomake that fight look like a picnic.”

“Contact from Rivers,”said General Gun, “There are five nearempty troop transports still operational up there. He has them inreserve.”

“What about us?”

“The Moratos are dropping Jackalsoff as we speak. They are coming to theCavern.”

General Gun nodded to himself and then actually smiled.

“Moratos. She would be proud.”

“General?”

“Teresa Morato, Colonel.A brutal fighter I’m proud to have called myfriend.”

A bright light appeared nearly akilometre away as a spacecraft rushedinto the underground chambers. Its guns fired as it came, with theturrets blasting shapes circling around it.

“That’s our ride,” said CaptainOlik, “Novas, grab your gear. We’re goingup.”

He looked up to the ceiling of thecavern and started to laugh.

“What’s hesaying?” asked an IAB marine. The man wasflanked by three Grunts, each missing an arm. Valentine heard himwhile helping Kallias drag a case of ammunition into the open. Shereleased it and looked up.

“We’re going to the enemy flagship,just like Helios Prime.”

“What?”said the soldier in disbelief, “You’ll all die.”

She looked at him and laughed, just asthe first Jackal landed. More came in behind it, to the cheers ofthe marines on the ground.

“Die? We’re Novas. We’ve all diedbefore.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Alliance HeavyStarcarrier ‘ANS Izumo’, Ekati Alpha

General Riverslooked out towards the alien ship. Thething was so vast it filled the entire view. Its hull waspockmarked with explosions, yet still the vessel remained. Evenworse, the return fire tore apart fighters with ease and hammeredaway at the Alliance capital ships, slowly grinding the battlefleet down to little more than worn out hulks. But there was hope.He could see the small number of Morato heavy frigates acceleratingfrom the planet below. They were moving fast and leaving longtrails of smoke behind as they escaped the battle below.

“General Rivers,”said Major Shipley.

“Yes?”

“The fleet is broken, Sir.Admiral Hurik is redeploying her ships toform a blockade at the Rift.”

The General’s nostrils flared ashe walked across to the tactical table.It showed the alien ship sitting in relatively low orbit over theplanet while still disgorging craft to the surface. The Alliancefleet was scattered with most coalescing around the dreadnoughts.He lifted a hand to his neatly trimmed beard as he considered theirsituation.

“The early assault on the planet was a mistake,” he said sadly, “We letour arrogance punish us.”

He then looked to the Major.

“But the fleet does not concernme. Contact the Admiral, and tell her Iam launching an all-out assault on the station.”

“An assault, General? We do not have the ships or firepowerto…”

“I intend on boarding her.”

The Major looked flabbergasted.

“General?”

“You heard me. I need all thecovering fire she can muster. Then get methe Captain. This ship has one last mission in her.”

He looked back to the alien flagship,and then smiled before walking back onto the bridge where he foundCaptain Simmons and his crew still manning the ship.

“General.”

“Captain. What is our status?”

“We’vesustained heavy damage. Hangars are out of action. We have breacheson all external compartments, and our weapons are down.”

“So we’re in good shape?”

The Captain did notseem amused.

“How many marines do you haveonboard?”

“Two platoons, General.”

“Good. Now listencarefully. I want every non-essential crewmemberto evacuate immediately.”

“General?”

“Get everybodyoff, except for those needed to send thisship on a collision course with the Ski’lig flagship.”

“General. You want meto sacrifice this ship, for what? We willbarely dent her. I will not allow my ship to be thrown away in thisway.”

He smiled as he walked closer tothe observation windows. It was a very different bridge to those oncruisers and battleships, much of itgiven over to command of the