All That Glitters Ch. 17

"Everyone back aboard now!" She shouted out and ran to her ship's airlock, dragging the unhappy Navy Supply Officer and his rating with them. The captain sealed The Valour and people moved to their stations, Fiona, Helga and the supply officer going to the bridge.

Being on the platform, she was able to use her comp to contact people. First, she contacted bay control and ordered them to re-open bay eleven's exterior doors so the ship could leave the platform.

She contacted Central Ops and advised them that she could not get to them. She told them to take their tactical lead from Captains Dostier and Davis. Dostier came up immediately when she heard Fiona.

"Fiona, we have eight warships out there and they look to be in much better shape than the last group that hit us. The have already launched torpedoes and missiles at the platform, the forty-eights got most of those. The ones that got through were designed to take out electrical systems, but the platform's electrics are far more robust than they expected, especially with the new M/A generators.

"We've got the Churchill, the Kologn, and the Kindalla, but the Kologn and the Kindalla have already taken hits. They enemy shot at both of those vessels almost as soon as they arrived in system. The Churchill has not been hit, so far, and she is moving around to intercept some of these ships, with the intent to do as much damage as possible.

"I've got a message out to the Wimple to return post-haste. Not sure how long they will be. The rest are too far out to get the message for several hours. The fighting will be over by then.

"The eight ships are well outside the inbound lanes and not where the mines can affect them but, for the moment, they are well within the range of our forty-eights and our tubes. We have already launched eight torpedoes with homing heads cued to the respective sub-light drives of each ship. They are going to get a hopefully nasty surprise shortly.

"Dent tells me that you will be able to keep this link open out past 500km. We should be able to link our tactical thru you to help out your ship." Dostier finished.

Abigail had taken the little ship out during the conversation. They were now able to use the ship's own sensors to 'see' the battle as it was taking place, but mostly in the immediate vicinity of and forward of the ship.

Fiona got the tactical link and asked for half the monitor which she used to display what the platform was sending. Now they could see the full battle.

"Helga," Fiona called out. "You have sat the weapons boards before."

"Hell, yeah!" Helga shouted and jumped to the weapon's station. She quickly powered up the guns and set up the ship's sensors to feed into the automated systems. All she would need to do now would be to place the reticle on the target and squeeze off a few rounds.

She would have to be careful, they only had 6,000 rounds per gun in the twin turret and 6,000 rounds in the ready magazines, and with a rate of fire of 12 rounds per second or 720 rounds a minute, they would expend their ammunition in twenty minutes of undisciplined fire. Space battles could go on for hours as ships tried to outmanoeuvre each other.

Three of the enemy ships suddenly lurched as they were impacted by 150cm torpedoes. The other enemy vessels had caught onto the fact that the platform had tubes and were targeting the torpedoes to take them out.

As well, they were targeting Rockhounds, and Fiona saw indications of at least six damaged mini-ships. But the Rockhounds kept coming, knowing that if they failed, they would not have a platform to return to and Rockhounds did not have jump drives.

The Valour's path took it right by one of the large vessels, which looked like a Fairling Class Frigate. Helga locked onto where she expected the bridge to be and let a four second burst of fifty millimeter rounds go, sending ninety-six rounds at the ship. Each third round had a tracer on it, and two out of six rounds were armor piercing. They were able to watch the line of rounds moving from the barrel to impact.

The large caliber specialized rounds hit the ship and blew through the bridge's armor plating, punching a significant hole in it. Pressurized air from inside pushed at the hole, forcing it open even more, and sending anything not tied down on the bridge into space, including several bodies.

Helga let a few more rounds go toward the hole, and then shot out one of the FTL vanes. This ship would not be escaping.

Fiona saw the ships lateral guns turning to target them, but before she could say anything, solid shot from a Rockhound's tubes hit the gun turret taking it out of action.

The Valour's pilot was flying by the seat of his pants, working more from the imagery on his monitor than his telltales. He quickly brought them up to one of the damaged enemy ships. It had a large hole in the right rear quarter from the impact of a torpedo but was still actively engaged in the battle, her sub-light engines seemingly unaffected by the impact.

Helga brought the reticle onto one of the sub-light engines and fired a quick half-second burst to take it out. She systematically moved around the engines taking all of them out.

Fiona was keeping half an eye on the large monitor and half an eye to her smaller monitor that had weapons slaved to it. She saw a rear tube open on the large monitor and placed her finger over it on the holo-monitor in front of her.

Immediately, the targeting reticle at the weapons station swung over the open tube. Fiona couldn't fire from her station, but Helga caught on almost immediately and let lose a short burst. The rounds impacted the torpedo as it was still partially inside the tube.

Normally, a torpedo could not arm itself for several seconds after leaving the tube, but the explosive rounds set off the torpedo's warhead inside the tube with devastating results. A good portion of the rear of the ship disintegrated in the resulting explosion. It was obvious to Fiona that the ships primary drive, the FTL drive was now out of action as were her sub-light engines. The engineering section was probably destroyed. Another ship that would not be escaping. With no drives, the ship couldn't maneuver, but she could still fire her weapons.

The Valour was working to get behind a third vessel, which in turn was trying to turn back on them. The Valour had the advantage of smaller size and much greater maneuverability on the larger vessel, but the larger vessel had much bigger weapons at their disposal.

The pilot was keeping them in the larger ships blind spot, directly to the rear and inside of the larger weapon's minimum tracking lines. They couldn't lock onto the smaller vessel without radical turns that also effected their firing solutions.

This time the enemy ship's captain didn't wait and fired a torpedo early. Helga was ready and took out the torpedo. But the enemy vessel was focused on them and missed another torpedo homing on it.

The torpedo had been fired by the Churchill at almost point blank range. It actually penetrated the hull before detonating with spectacular results. The entire engineering section separated from the hull. With no control, the remainder of the vessel began to cartwheel as the main portion of the hull vented atmosphere from the many cracks created by the violent separation of the aft third of the ship. She was effectively destroyed.

Fiona was receiving reports of Combat Drop Suttles being launched by the enemy.

"Shit!" she cried out. "They want to capture the platform. They just need to play keep away with their ships while their combat forces go through the platform.

"Dostier, is Major Thom there?" Fiona asked.

"Right here Commodore," the Major informed her. "My people are already in their combat EVA suits and ready for action. We will see where the bulk of these drop shuttles contact the platform and be ready."

"OK, I leave that for you," Fiona said with a little relief knowing that they had that surprise for the enemy. "Mr. Dent make sure everyone gets into shelters now.

"Dostier, we have three enemy ships that have been damaged by the platforms torpedo's, but two are still in the battle.

The Churchill just made a clean kill on one ship. We took out a second that had already been damaged. We have also taken out the bridge of a third along with its FTL drive, but it is still capable of shooting and still has its sub-light engines. I have tagged it on the tactical display.

"That leaves six ships to deal with, two of which are damaged, and one that is unable to manoeuvre but can still shoot. However, they have just launched combat troops at the platform.

"We need more assets back here to help. Do you know where the two ships went for their exercise? If so, send an FTL probe out to them and advise them of the situation. Hopefully, they will get back to us soon.

"Also, the Wimple is only three minutes light. Send them the current tactical display. Some of this enemy fleet is heading toward one of the rock merger zones. I want to herd them into that zone, hopefully a few rocks will help us with those ships.

Merger zones were areas that, due to solar rotational forces and the trajectory of the rocks, some of the lines of rocks ejected by the platform crossed each other. They were a shipping hazard and as such, were avoided by ships coming to and from the platform. Fortunately, the platform was able to direct the stream of rocks to areas that normally did not affect the passage of shipping allowing for a controlled merging in areas away from the platform. Rock collisions in the merger zones were frequent and spectacular.

Dostier caught on immediately. She started directing torpedoes to herd the ships towards the merger zones. It was a long shot, but they would take whatever they could.

The Pollard

Kittering was surprised at the level of response from the platform. He had known of the MK-48s but was taken completely by surprised that the platform had tubes. Normally, these kinds of platforms had two tubes for FTL comms probes. Liramor-23 seemed to have at least eight tubes, possibly more. Two more of his ships had been hit, including the Dormane, one of his new Fairling Class ships.

"There are two small ships in the system," his Tac O advised. "One is an escort ship, the other looks like one of the new fast-ships, but it has a gun!

"The small ship is engaging the Axure, it has fired on the bridge! The Axure has gone silent!" the Tac O reported.

"What the hell is it using?" Kittering demanded.

"It appears to be a large caliber rail gun," the Tac O said.

"A fucking rail gun?" the admiral demanded.

"Aye, sir," the Tac O said. "I have a report from the Axure, she can still manoeuvre and has weapons capability, but the bridge and bridge crew are gone, including the captain.

"The small ship has lined up behind the Brixil. They are firing on her sub-light engines. They are systematically shooting out the engines!

"We have an explosion on the Brixil! The ship is knocked out! That's a kill, sir!" the Tac O informed him.

"Shit, we cannot continue with this kind of loss," Kittering muttered. "Launch the Combat Drop Shuttles, let's bring the battle directly to the platform!"

All the pirate ships began launching their Combat Drop Shuttles at the platform.

"Sir! That damn small ship is engaging the Morning Star!" the Tac O reported. "She is firing on her sub-light engines. The Morning Star has launched a torpedo. The small ship has destroyed the torpedo.

"Sir, the escort vessel has launched a torpedo on the Morning Star! Hit! The entire aft end of the Morning Star has separated from the ship! The Morning Star is gone, sir!"

"Status on the fleet!" Kittering demanded.

"Sir, we have six ships remaining," the Tac O reported. "One is unable to manoeuvre but can still fire its weapons. Two are damaged but still in the battle. Three undamaged ships with two of the newest ships, including the Pollard, sir!"

This battle was not shaping up the way that Kittering wanted. He was graphically reminded of the age old military maxim, 'you can plan...but a plan only works until you make contact with the enemy'. He needed his Marines on that platform!

Liramor-23, Piscium System

Several Combat Drop Shuttles moved toward the outer hull of the platform. These vessels were designed to be used to get Marines onto other ships or down onto the ground on a planet. Small, but powerful, they normally carried a dozen Marines in EVA combat suits situated around a 'hole' in the floor, and one pilot at the top of the vessel.

The shuttles had heavy magnets that could help attach themselves to the ship they were boarding. A power ring would quickly lower from the shuttle against the hull and burn its way through in seconds. The Marines would then drop through the hole into the target vessel.

Twenty-four Combat Drop Shuttles were sent to the platform. Eighteen made it through the gauntlet as they jinked and swerved to avoid the Mk-48 fire. They quickly disgorged 216 pirate Marines in EVA combat suits, ready for anything. They came together in designated groups as soon as they were aboard the platform.

The groups spread out, half dedicated to securing the platform, with groups going to secure bays and shuttle airlocks so that the much larger combat shuttles could come to the platform, bringing more enemy combatants, and being able to take prisoners back to their ships. Other groups were designated to attack the platform's defensive systems and knock them out, including the guns and tubes.

The other half spread out around the platform, looking to find prisoners. They were engaged almost immediately by people in EVA mining suits. Hand-to-hand, the miners did quite well but, the enemy was not about to let them get into a fair fight and engaged them at longer ranges whenever possible. Until they met the Union Marines.

The fighting was fierce and intense. The enemy was looking to capture slaves, and not looking for a fight, but they were under no illusion what would happen to them should they lose this battle.

The Union Marines were out to stop the enemy at all costs. Failure meant the loss of the platform with many of the people taken as slaves, something the Marines would not allow.

The Union Marines coordinated their efforts with the miners. They knew the miners were fighting for their home. They could not be kept out of the fight, but they could be directed on how to fight to gain the best advantage.

One trick was simply to walk into someone's quarters and wait for the intruders to pass, then come out behind them and conduct hand-to-hand fighting. The tools they used to break rock, shift bots, drill holes in things, or the use of plasma arcs, meant they were highly effective in close-quarter fighting.

The intruders were vicious, however, and chose to kill rather than maim or injure an opponent. They would use plasma rifles built into their suits at close-quarter range, often instantly killing their opponents. They did not really care if they missed and hit one of their own, those were the vagaries of war. In war, you had to be good, but you also had to be lucky. Every pirate knew this and accepted it.

Between the Union Marines, the miners, and their own reckless use of their weapons, the numbers of enemy combatants began to dwindle. However, despite their slowly diminishing number, the intruders were still a force to be reckoned with.

NS Wimple, Alien Station, Piscium System

Capt. Whatt was watching as another group of shuttles left his ship and headed into the alien station.

Using data they had collected from charging the hand-held alien devices, the scientists had come to an understanding of what they needed to do to recharge some of what they believed to be large batteries or electrical generators used for powering the station.

They believed that they could push a basic charge into the system and hopefully, that would kickstart the processes powering the station. It would be a long four days on the station as they attempted to do this in stages.

Whatt was heading to his Ready Room when comms alerted him to a problem.

"Sir, I have comms from Liramor-23, they are under attack. They have sent a tactical display for us."

"Shunt it to the main monitor. Let's see what's going on," Whatt ordered.

The tactical display came up quickly and it did not look good for the platform. There were eight ships attacking Liramor-23 and they had already damaged the Kologn and the Kindalla.

As they watched, two of the enemy ships were marked as destroyed. Another was listed as severely damaged, but tactically functional, in other words, it could still fight, but could not manoeuvre.

"Sir, this is three minutes light, so we are seeing things that have already happened," the Tac O said. "It looks like the Churchill is still in the fight, and Commodore Marsh is using her own ship to fight back with."

They listened to the chatter between the platform and its two attacking ships. They were trying to force the enemy ships towards the merger points.

"That's clever," the Tac O admitted. "If they are lucky, they could get some of the rocks to do some damage. It's a long shot, but I think this is a desperate measure. Anything that could do damage to the attackers will be looked at."

"I need options, Tac O," Whatt told him. "I want to be able to enter this battle and do something significant. Let's drop off the scientists on the station, please."

Whatt engaged his comp link and called up Dr. Hitron, who was presently on the station.

"Dr. Hitron, we have an emergency at Liramor-23," Whatt informed her. "It looks like we are in another pirate battle. I'm going to drop off all the scientists on board, you will have to fend for yourselves for the next little while. Your shuttles have provisions for a week out here. Hopefully, you will not be alone for that long.

"Do not attempt to contact the platform. If the platform falls, the pirates will come after you if they know you are here. Your shuttles will be able to see the link being sent out by the platform, so you will be able to follow the battle.

"The shuttles will be able to bring you to the platform when the battle ends if it ends favourably for us. Good luck, doctor," What finished.

Once the scientists were all on their respective shuttles and off the ship, the Wimple turned toward the platform and prepared to jump.

The Valour

Fiona was fuming. Reports were coming in of damage being conducted by the pirate combatants on her platform. The pirates were effectively shooting up the platform for no other reason than they could.

Union Marines were engaging the pirates to good effect, but they could not be everywhere. There were only 100 Marines and they were outnumbered at least two to one by the enemy.

Miners in EVA suits were also engaging the pirates.

Brave, but foolish, Fiona thought. I pray they do well and not many are injured.

Central Ops, Liramor-23

Dent was giving reports that pirates had entered the maintenance bays. They were indiscriminately shooting up electrical and hydraulic motors, causing massive damage and injuries to staff. There were twenty pirates in two of the maintenance bays. Fifteen Marines and twelve miners in EVA suits were headed to the two bays to help.

Maintenance Bay Twelve, Liramor-23

Heather Shelling was working in a maintenance suit. They were not as robust as EVA suits, more like an exoskeleton, but could help lifting large objects or heavy weights.

Heather and her team were doing basic maintenance on some of the hydraulic motors situated in the bay when the alert came in. They immediately began to close all of the machines and head toward the shelters. Heather and two others were just finishing with the machine they had been working on when several men in strange EVA suits entered the bay.