Warrior One - Fleet Action Pt. 02

"Major, get your men to the shuttles, our shields will protect you while you rearm and resupply. We also have medical supplies for you corpsmen."

"Roger that," Laff responded. Pressing the button on his lapel mic, "All units, get to the shuttles. Ammo, food, medical supplies. Their shields will protect you."

Marines scurried across the open spaces to the shuttles. Supplies came out of the shuttles just as fast as men could grab them.

"Who are you," Laff asked the man who he assumed was the pilot.

"We're from the AMV Chicago. A cargo ship outbound from Mars."

"Chicago, new ship?"

"You bet. It's the biggest Merchant vessel ever built, " the pilot said proudly. "There will be five cargo pods making landfall in the next twenty minutes. A beacon will squawk on 1.544khz. Three, one, one, three. The pods will remain locked until the code is input. Five, one, five, one, six. The pod is shielded and only a human hand can penetrate the shield to enter the code."

"Great. What happened to Fleet Four?"

"They ran into a shitload of Gar ships just as they came out of hyper. As soon as they clean them up, they'll be here. Now repeat the frequency and codes to me."

"Frequency is 1.544khz squawking 3,1,1,3. Code is 5,1,5,1,6."

"Good. We will remain here as a safe haven for any wounded who can't fight."

"I'm grateful. We have about twenty."

"Bring them in. Once you have unloaded the supplies we can get them inside under cover."

"Will do and thanks. What does AMV stand for?"

"Armed Merchant Vessel."

"Ah," Laff said, grabbing a food pack off the crate next to him. "Ammo," he muttered as he scanned the crates near him. Spotting an ammo crate, he wandered off to reload his weapons.

By now everyone in the Fleet had heard Fleet Four had run into unexpected trouble at the end of their jump. Admiral Cook watched Pech, uncrate the fighters from the cargo pods on her deck. Three destroyers flitted back and forth from damaged fighters to the Pech, carrying live pilots. The new fighters were moved by two cranes that appeared out of the deck to the flight deck where other crew moved them into the hanger bays. It was all done with speed and precision. The Admiral made a note to award a commendation to the crew of the Pech.

Turning to another screen in front of him, he watched as his two destroyers flitted back a forth above Major Owens Marine contingent, doing the work of a fighter squadron. Warning alarms started to blare. Milford turned to the main screen. Ten new blips appeared. Fleet Four had arrived. Admiral Lowery had decided to have all her ships in-system.

"Admiral Fleet One to Admiral Fleet Four," Milford said softly.

"Admiral Fleet Four," Kaylee's voice came from the speaker by his right ear.

"Good of you to join us...report."

"Sir, upon emerging from hyper, a fleet of forty frigate class ships was waiting. I don't think they knew we were coming, more they were waiting to be called into the fight with you. We were able to surprise them and hit them from the rear. It took us longer to recover our fighters than it did to destroy the Gar."

"Very good. Have your fighters been refueled and rearmed?"

"In progress...I've been told twenty minutes."

"When they are, send all your fighters to cover my Marines on the planet. Also, I want all your Marines on planet as soon as possible. General Hanlon is in command."

"Yes, sir," Kaylee replied.

"Then have the rest of your ships kill every Gar ship you can. I want to mop this up within the next eight hours."

"Aye, aye sir."

"Out," Milford said cutting the connection.

"Well, at least our back is clear," Shaffer said softly.

"That it is," Admiral Cook replied.

General Hanlon was very surprised when six shuttle craft descended on his positions. One landed just outside his CP. The smartly dressed merchantman told him his CP was now protected by his ship's shields and he had ammo, food, and medical supplies for him and his men. The shuttles were packed to the gunnels with supplies.

As the General watched his screens in the CP, a flight of fighters roared overhead. He could hear them strafing the Gar position to his North. Then there was a destroyer hovering over his positions, lower guns tearing up the Gar positions all around his. Then his communicator chirped.

"General Hanlon, Admiral Cook, reinforcements are on the way down to you."

"Yes, sir. Although Major Owens could use them more than I."

"He's getting some too. Fleet Four Marines will be at your position in under ten minutes. Admiral Cook, out."

"Aye, aye sir."

A wave of relief washed over the General. Lifting his eyes to the sky, he just made out twenty shuttles clearing the clouds headed his way.

"Colonel Mal Eoin, front and center," General Hanlon bellowed. The Colonel was in front of the General in seconds.

"Sir," he said standing at attention.

"In about ten minutes reinforcements from Fleet Four will be arriving, meet them and get them in position. Keep them together as a unit."

"Of course sir. Is there anything else?"

"No, now go."

"Aye, aye sir."

Chapter 64

Ezra Nichols sat in his command chair scrubbing his face to dispel the fatigue that was almost overwhelming him. Just back from his third trip to resupply, Warrior was once more back in the fight.

"Comms, Admiral Cook on channel four," Ensign Flannery called out.

Ezra pushed the button to cycle through the channels.

"Yes Admiral," he said when channel four went live.

"Ezra, I want you down in atmosphere, hovering over General Hanlon's position. You are now his artillery support."

"Aye, aye sir. How are you holding up sir?"

"I'm fine son, we are almost at the finish line. Go. Kill Gar."

"Yes, sir." The channel went dark.

"Helm, make best possible speed...position us over General Hanlon's advance dirtside."

"Aye, aye sir," Lieutenant Vaughan replied turning to Commander Nolan.

"Course two-two-oh, ten degrees negative off the plane."

"Yes, sir," Molly replied softly.

"Top bay, prepare to take aboard any fighters that may need refueling and rearming," Ezra said.

"Aye, aye sir," came the response from the upper bay crew a few seconds later.

Warrior moved toward the planet. On the main screen, Ezra could see that Iona, she must have made repairs, was moving in the same direction. In fact, the whole fleet along with Fleet Four was moving. There were no more Gar ships as far as the sensors could see, the only remaining threat was from the surface of the planet and the small settlement on the other planet. Seonaidh had been patrolling the settlement there without incident. Two more Destroyers were on the way to join her.

Warrior One began to buffet as the ships entered the atmosphere. Lieutenant Vaughan slowed Warrior's decent. As the buffeting subsided, Molly increased her speed until the air was screaming around the shielded dreadnought.

"Weapons, coordinate with General Hanlon as to where he would like your fire," Ezra said loudly.

"Aye, aye sir," Commander Kinsella said.

"Comm, General Hanlon's Chief of Staff is on channel six Commander Kinsella."

"Thank you Comms," Kinsella said switching to channel six.

He immediately started a hushed conversation with Hanlon's Chief of Staff. As they talked Teague started to type into his console. He then started to flip switches and press buttons. The ship shuddered as a massive load of missiles left the tubes. The sound of plasma cannon fire could be heard even on the bridge.

For the next five hours, Warrior Once moved slowly over the landscape, practically turning the ground to glass as its fire drove the Gar back. When the mountains halted the Gar's retreat, they turned and fought with more veracity.

"Mister Kinsella, hold fire," Ezra said.

The airwaves between the ship and the ground forces command structure increased tenfold. The Gar stopped their advance and held their position, no longer firing at the Marines. General Hanlon had his forces hold fire.

"Comms, General Hanlon for you sir," Ensign Flannery said.

"Thank you Comms," Ezra said pressing the button to get to channel four. "General?"

"Captain, why have you stopped firing?"

"I wasn't told that we were to give no quarter, sir."

"General Hanlon, Admiral Cook."

"Sir," Hanlon replied.

"Let's see if we can negotiate with them."

"Aye, aye sir. Captain, you have the linguist."

"Yes, sir. Candle get Quinlan up here."

"On his way sir." Just seconds after Candle replied Commander Quinlan appeared beside Ezra.

"Reporting as ordered, sir."

"Have you been able to make any sense to the Gar language?"

"Yes, sir. I have here," Quinlan said holding up a small device, "a translator button which you can use to talk to them."

"Really?" Ezra said, shocked that he would now be making first contact with their enemy.

Quinlan reached out and snapped the device to Ezra's uniform front.

"Comms, open a channel on the Gar frequency."

"Aye, aye sir. Channel open."

Ezra sat there, trying to think of something to say.

"They call themselves the G'lotty, hard g sir."

Ezra nodded.

"To the G'lotty commander, this is Captain Nichols in the ship above you, please respond."

A garbled throaty sound came from the speaker next to Ezra's right ear.

"This is the G'lotty commander, why do you not continue to fight?"

"We have no wish to kill any more of your people. We are hoping that this might be the first step of peace between our people..."

"There can be no peace, only destruction of you as a species."

Ezra looked at his board. The source of the transmission was pinpointed on the ground.

"Commander, I believe we can exist together in peace, it is a big galaxy..."

Once again Ezra was interrupted.

"The G'lotty will never surrender." The connection went dead.

Ezra stared at his board.

"Comms, General Hanlon reports that all the Gar have suicided."

Ezra dropped his head and shook it slowly.

"I guess we are now an occupation force with no resistance," Ezra whispered.

"That we are sir," Candle replied softly.

Chapter 65

"They sent a transmission over hyperspace radio. It was directed down galaxy and we assume to their homeworld, to alert them of what happened here," Ensign Flannery told the Admirals in Warrior One's command conference room.

"Any idea which system it was aimed at?" Admiral Cook asked already knowing the answer.

"No sir, sorry. By the time the beam reached whatever system it was pointed at, it would have been wide enough to encompass a multitude of systems."

"I see. Well thank you, Ensign, you are free to go."

"Aye, aye sir," Flannery saluted, turned and left the room.

"Well, there you have it. Marines are on the other planet cleaning up. Every Gar there died at their own hand when the Marines landed. We now own both worlds. Marines are planting explosives to collapse the mine since we don't know what they were mining, I decided to blow it closed. They really went deep, almost to the core, we will have to ensure everyone is off-planet before we detonate and all ships are a fair distance out in space."

"Everyone to your ships and keep your sensors sweeping. I don't want a surprise coming up behind me."

"Yes sir," Ezra answered for them all.

"Dismissed," the Admiral said softly. "Ezra, a moment."

"Of course sir," Ezra answered sitting back down to the Admiral's right.

"Why did you stop firing on the Gar?"

"It didn't feel right. It felt wrong to just kill them all without hope of survival."

"I see. Don't worry, I feel I would have done the same and have told General Hanlon the same. He is not going to bring charges."

"Good to know, sir."

"Would you mind if I join you on the bridge?"

"No, of course not Admiral."

It took the Marines six hours to plant the explosives and evacuate the planet. Their drop-ships served as their escape. For those marines who wouldn't fit in the now overloaded drop-ships, shuttles from AMV Chicago were used, along with all the destroyers available.

Ezra and the Admiral sat on the bridge of Warrior One, watching the ship movements in real time. Several shuttles broke off their course to the Nuadu and headed to Warrior.

"It seems Major Owens is anxious to return to his home," the Admiral whispered so only Ezra could hear. Ezra smiled, nodding his head.

Ten minutes after the shuttle docked with Warrior, Major Owens was on the bridge.

"Marine contingent all present or accounted for," he said saluting the Admiral, then Ezra.

"Casualties?" Ezra asked per protocol.

A look of anguish washed over Laff's face so quickly that Ezra almost missed it.

"Seventeen dead, forty-five wounded. All wounded are now aboard Warrior. The dead are one of two shuttles that will bring our men and women home along with others to their ships." Laff stood ramrod stiff as he made his report.

"Thank you, Major. At ease and please join us if you have the time." Ezra made the offer, now it was up to Laff to accept or not.

"Thank you, sir, but I have wounded to tend to..."

"Doc has them well in hand Major...Candle a seat for the Major."

"Sir, I must..." A chair rose up out of the deck just to the left of Ezra's couch.

"It's no longer a request Laff. Take a seat and relax. Your men will be well cared for. They are home and their mates will see to them."

"Yes, sir," Laff replied sinking into the chair.

"Comms, how much longer?"

"All ships will be in position in ten minutes."

"Very well."

"How was it down there son?" Admiral Cook asked Laff.

Laff turned in his seat to look at the Admiral. "Not as bad as you might imagine. Our weapons were almost equal. Their armor was a touch better than ours, but our men knew how to use cover, where they were so sure of themselves they never ducked behind a boulder or a building. It did take more than one hit to knock them down, but once down they stayed down. Then they self-destructed."

"Did we ever get a look at one before they killed themselves?" the Admiral asked.

"No, sir. All military and civilians, committed suicide once they knew they would be captured."

"I see. Too bad, we could have..."

"Comms, all ships are ready."

"Very well comms. Message all ships," the Admiral said, "prepare to jump at the first sign of...trouble."

"Message sent."

"Who is doing the honors, Captain?"

"Candle?"

"We are sir."

"Major, would you be kind enough to give the order?"

"Sir," Laff said taking a deep breath. "Comms, send the signal."

"Signal sent."

Everyone was watching the main screen, which was zoomed in on the mine. Several flashes could be seen as the explosives imploded the mine shafts. Everyone expected to see the planet core come welling up out of the holes in the ground. But nothing like that happened. A little smoke and dust rushed out of them, but no magma.

"Well that was a little anticlimactic," Admiral Cook said.

"It was," Ezra replied. "Laff you can join your troops if you wish."

"Thank you, sir, and thank you for letting me..."

"No problem my friend," Ezra said cutting him off.

"I will go now to check on my men," Laff said standing. The chair disappeared into the floor.

After Laff left, Ezra turned to the Admiral. "Sir, what do we do with this system?"

"Nothing. It's too far from homeworld to place a colony on it. We leave it, sending a scout around to check on it periodically. Shaffer, order all ships to make for home-world."

"Yes sir," Shaffer Steel replied.

"We go home now. There are other worlds to kick the Gar off, I'm sure."

"Yes sir," Ezra replied. "Helm, make for home, quickest possible route."

Helmsmen Lieutenant Molly Vaughan looked to Commander Eric Nolan. Nolan nodded. Molly looked at her board.

"Helm, course laid in," Molly said loudly.

"Admiral?"

"Go ahead son," Milford told him.

"Helm, let's go home."

The ship jumped into hyperspace, followed by all the ships of Fleet One and Four.

To Be Continued...

Please Note: Five more to go, four of them about this long. The last one will be a little longer. There are at least three more to be written. I may or may not finish them. Let me know what you think.