Countdown by John Walker (feel good fiction books txt) 📗

The response came back immediately. <Yes, they’re to be turned loose on the enemy.>

Which likely meant dropped on the planet’s surface.

Fully expendable soldiers that could go crazy there and it wouldn’t matter. Noah shook his head. If everyone knew they were former officers, our own… would they be so quick to do this to them? He figured they would. The desire to win the conflict outweighed any sort of moral standard about what most people thought of as equipment.

Noah wrote back: <How’s that going to work?>

<They have their own shuttles. They’ll be given a primary directive and sent down.>

Noah huffed. Sending the war dogs down to the surface meant civilian casualties. That was a guarantee. How command anticipated they could have a victory with something like that baffled him. Undoubtedly, the ervas had colonies. And while their homeworld may suffer near annihilation, the people on other planets would remain.

And why would they trust humanity in peace talks after that?

“Course set, sir,” Dorian said. “Technically speaking, we can all head out from our current positions. There’s no reason to form up here. It’ll happen when we arrive.”

Nina arrived on the bridge before he could answer. She took a seat with a sigh. “They’re working now but I’ve brought back their initial findings. It’s in your mailbox.”

Noah brought it up. He nodded. “Sounds interesting but not necessarily useful to us right now.” He hummed. “Erica, start a countdown for hyperspace. We’ll depart in thirty minutes. Nina, you’ve got the bridge. I’m going to brief the other captains on our objective and ensure we’re all on the same page. Let me know if anything comes up.”

“Thank you, sir.” Nina cleared her throat. “Um…”

“It’ll be fine.” Noah patted her shoulder. “Welcome to what I hope will be the final confrontation with the ervas.”

“There’ll be skirmishes,” Nina replied. “For weeks to come. Even if we win today.”

Noah nodded. “But the real fighting will be over, and the folks back home can start working on our future. That’s what I’m looking forward to. Everything else is just a bump on the road to that point.” And a distraction from our real goal of finally ending all the battles between the frontier and Confed space.

Whether or not that was a pipe dream, he didn’t know anymore. But he was willing to fight for it regardless.

***

While intelligence granted them coordinates to hit the ervas homeworld, they didn’t know what they’d find when they arrived. How many ships did the enemy hold in reserve? What sort of planetary defenses did they possess? What sort of standard militia force would stand against us?

Trenik had let them know about ground turrets and that sort of thing, but they weren’t the primary means of defense. He also let them know that his planet had never come under attack before. Noah felt that gave them an advantage. It meant there may not be as much resistance. Of course, he planned for the worst.

When his entire attack force emerged from hyperspace, he intended to initiate an aggressive stance regardless of what they found. The ervas war machine had been on the move. Hitting their homeworld had the potential of calling them back but it also meant a large, powerful force may be roaming around after the fight.

Alexander, Alden, and Erris had to contend with those problems. They were the ones holding down their friendly territories. Unfortunately, their positions had to leave vulnerable targets without aid. The ervas would cause some damage. The key was to mitigate it so a full recovery might be possible.

Tens of thousands of lives will likely be lost too. We’re looking at a tragic waste of life because of this assault.

Noah gave out assignments to the captains, letting them know where they should plan to be during the action. Gaston had orders straight from Alexander about the war dogs. That part still stuck in Noah’s craw. He hated the idea of sending them down to the planet, letting them run wild.

I can’t deny the military benefits but the aftermath…

Gaston insisted they had a foolproof way of shutting the machines down. Noah doubted it would work. I’ve got to stow that skepticism. They may have tested it for all I know. He requested all data relating to that plan, including what precautions they were taking. It was too late to stop that plan. At least he could understand it.

They wrapped up in short order, each returning to their respective bridges for the jump to hyperspace. The fighting would commence in less than eight hours. When they emerged, they’d be fighting for humanity. Their strike promised to be the telling blow. The one which caused the enemy to bleed fatally.

Now’s the time. Noah allowed Nina to finish the procedures for their deployment. She’d been less nervous over the last hour. I wish we could’ve eased her into the position. She’ll get it. He missed Jack. Not because she hadn’t been successful thus far, but the man had seen so much of the action. I can’t believe he’ll miss the end.

Maybe he was the lucky one. There was a chance they’d never come home.

Back to that pessimism. Rein it in, Markel. It’s time to be an optimist.

***

“Mobile command!” Trenik shouted. They’d been in hyperspace for a good two hours, working mostly in silence. The sudden yell started Harcourt. “I figured out where the signal came from. The ervas mobile command ship leading the war effort. I have even tracked them to where they are going right now.”

“Where?” Harcourt asked. “How?”

“It was not difficult. I tapped the device into this ship’s scanner. Using the technology inside, I performed a long-range contact through hyperspace. As it is designed to do. They are heading to these coordinates.” Trenik showed Harcourt. “Do you know where this is? What they might find there?”

“I do.” Harcourt