Star Crusades by Michael Thomas (whitelam books txt) 📗

“Six attack ships detectedat the edge of our scanner range,” saidLieutenant Zimmer, “They’re partially hidden inside the clouds.It’s really hard to make out much more.”

“Have they spotted us?”

The tactical officer shrugged.

“Impossible to say, Sir.One has already vanished from ourscanners.”

“I don’t like this,” said Meredith, “This system is like aswamp. There could be a hundred ships out there waiting forus.”

“Maybe…maybe not,” said CaptainRegina, “How long is left on theclock?”

“Five hours fifty-oneminutes before the heavies arrive,” saidthe XO.

“Then we need to launch probes anddrones to get a much better picture of what’s going on here.”

“Captain,” said the Chief, “Activescans of the planet below show its current position and state isnot a natural phenomenon. The planet has been shifted from orbit.It’s as cold as Mars down there, and it has been mined for years,maybe centuries.”

Imagery from the surface appeared onhis displays, and the XO moved to check.

“Nearly eight percent of its mass has been removed throughartificial means.”

“Interesting,” said the Captain, “Why? Miningperhaps?”

“That’s possible. Analmost limitless and easy to extractsource of diamond could be of use for a society that uses it inquantity.”

“Wait…there’s something else.”

“What is it?”

“Life signs below the surface. Ihad nothing to begin with, but it looks like there’s some sort ofatmospheric shielding. Incredible, the planet is teeming with life.It is astonishing on such a barren world.”

“Ski’lig?”

He shrugged.

“We’re not a scienceship, and our instruments are alreadystruggling to work their way through the atmosphere.”

“That rock still has one?That seems hard to believe.”

“Yes, non-breathable, of course, and it’s too thin to help sustainmuch heat on the surface. In the day it can reach close to twentydegrees Celsius, but when the sun goes down, or if you move toodeeply inside, we estimate it can drop close to minus sixtydegrees.”

“Notmuch different to Mars.”

“True, Captain.The short version is that if you’re down there,and your armour is damaged, you will not last too long. So ourpeople need to be careful.”

“Thelife signs? Check again. Are youcertain?”

“Captain, there’s simplyno way of telling from here. But whatI…”

He stopped, and then his eyesopened wider and wider. It was as thoughhe’d just looked into the growing maw of some mighty beast, and shewas sure he even recoiled at the sight of whatever he hadseen.

“What is it,Chief? What’s the problem?”

He opened and closed his mouth three times as he struggled tospeak. He cleared his throat, and then shook his head.

“Apologies. There are colossalenergy surges on the surface. Massive build-ups deep inside thesurface.”

“What kind of energy?From life support systems?”

He leaned back and looked at her.

“No, this is highly focused, I’msure of it. The pattern matches that of the weapons used by theattack ships, but it is much more powerful.”

“Good god! They must be planetarydefences.”

She moved back to the centre of the deck.

“Comms, put me on with the fleet!Helm, get us away from the planet immediately. Tactical, I need thepolarised shielding on and fast. Divert every ounce of power youcan find to it.”

She reached for the intercom as quicklyas possible.

“This is Captain Regina of theNautilus. There are heavy weaponinstallations on the planet’s surface, and they’re increasing inpower. My Chief Engineer believes they are targeting ourships.”

“Well spotted,” replied General Gun, “My technicians confirm the data. Itlooks like a planetary defence network all right. All ships breakformation.”

Each of theships rolled away and then activatedtheir primary thrusters. It took time, but soon they were movingfurther and further away, though as they travelled from the planet,they began to enter the dispersed clouds of colouredgas.

“If we’re are fired on, our vessels will respond in kind,” said theGeneral, “If they want to face bombardment cannons, they cancontinue this aggression.”

“Captain,” said the Chief,“I think they’re about to…”

A pulse of red lightrose from the surface and screamed past theships. It missed hitting any of them, but as it moved close to thearmada, it detonated and spread a bright flash of energy like aminiature atomic warhead. Nautilus shook violently but appeared noworse for wear.

“Report. Are we damaged?”

“All systems are normal,Captain.” The XO looked to both the engineering and tacticalstations, “Did they miss on purpose?”

Another pulse racedupwards, and dozens more followed suitfrom multiple locations on the surface. They reached up for theorbiting ships and exploded once they reached roughly the samedistance as the ships.

“Thoseshots are like flak barrage,” said Lieutenant Zimmer.

“Look,” said the Captain as they watched three of the Confederateships moving ahead of them. Their secondary weapons opened firetowards the approaching gunfire coming from the diamond world farblow. Hundreds of red streaks came close, exploding as shells andbeams of light from the capital ships hammering intothem.

“Engineering, that cannot be anenergy weapon. What are they firing?”

“It’s hot. Some form of energysealed explosive projectile.”

“Like the high energycannons we use?”

“Not quite, but the effect is verysimilar.”

Salvo after salvo came for theships, and one stream of fire came perilously close to an assault carrier. It detonated lessthan a hundred metres from the target, blowing apart the ringednacelles and covering the stern of the ship in pulsating redenergy.

“This is General Gun,” said afurious voice over the battle network, “Target their batteries and open fire. I want those gunssilenced.”

The ConfederateClass warships started to turn as theybrought their front weapons to bear. Though they carried animpressive arsenal of guns, most were energy weapons unsuited foruse in an atmosphere. But what they did carry on top of theirnormal array of weapons were two brutal mass driver weapons. Theseold tech cannons were a throwback to an earlier time, when energywas used to accelerate monstrous warheads into space. These pairsof 255mm bombardment cannons were anything but subtle, and began aslow, but steady avalanche of fire towards the planetbelow.

“Yes!” Lieutenant Zimmer shouted as one of the ground positionsexploded in a flash of red matter, engulfing an area the size of aship, “That’s a good hit.”

More explosions wracked the surface, and then as quickly as ithad begun, the ground defences stopped firing; then one fired, andanother, but not all at once. As soon as the gunfire from the shipsstruck them, they fired from other positions.

“They’re trying to mask theirfiring positions,” said First Lieutenant Meredith, “They must beafraid of the torrent of