The Kolvar War By Daniel Konsdorf Part 1 Characters Shol-roc-far: Kolvar-ra: Captain of Imperial Fleet Carrier Shell-nac Kall: Kolvar-va Rebel - technician; Shall-nac Chris O’Hare: Human space-bomber pilot; Dauntless; Call sign Viper Captain Ral: Diberian captain of assault carrier Dauntless, Sheila: AI of the Dauntless Dorothy: Chris's AI Debbie Everest: human bomber squadron leader; Dauntless; call sign Hawk Steve: Debbie's AI Shee-ree-ee-clack a.k.a Paul: Celation navigator of the Dauntless Races Kolvar: reptilian: three sub-races; the -ra or elite the -sha or average and the -va or Inferior Ones, the -ra are the strongest and have horns and heavy armor that restricts movement and prevents swimming their names have 3 parts they are 3twice as strong as a -va; the -sha have less armor but have thick scales their names have 2 pars they are 50% stronger than the -va; the -va have only a segmented carapace and are agile swimmers are the most dexterous are the weakest and curl up for defense they are twice as strong as a human; all are carnivorous; the -va are 55% of the population, the -sha 30%, and the -ra 15%: their home world is mostly desert and has twice earth's gravity and density Humans Diberians: fierce-looking, dark-skinned, double-horned Humanoids Celations: telepathic and telekinetic dolphin-like species Weapons Hammer- a missile designed to penetrate armor using brute force, usually armed with a depleted uranium tip and a fragmentation charge Rail gun- a weapon that uses magnets to accelerate a projectile Lightning rifle- as its name suggests, a rifle that launches a powerful electric charge that is particularly effective against the Kolvar Spider mines- mines that have a homing capability and can attach themselves to their target before firing their on-board weapon Terminology RIU - Robotic Infantry Unit: Piloted combat robot ExoS - exosuit used to enhance overall combat performance of troops AI - Artificial Intelligence: used to assist in the control of ships, fighters, and bombers Warm bloods: kolvar term for non-reptilian intelligent life Falcon: star fighter Condor: space bomber Lightning: fighter designed for use both in and out of atmosphere and usually used in a planetary bombardment or defense role R.U.S.S.: Republic of United Star Systems A-M: antimatter Slug gun: hand-held projectile weapon Turtle: transport or supply ship Lizard: R.U.S.S term for Kolvar Republic: R.U.S.S. H.U.D: Heads-Up Display Fox 1: warning to allied units of launch of advanced guided missile Fox 2: warning to allied units of launch of anti-fighter missile Fox 3: warning to allied units of launch of anti-ship missile Fox 4: warning to allied units of launch of guided bomb or cluster bomb Fox 5: warning to allied units of launch of cluster missile Fox 6: warning to allied units of launch of guided or unguided torpedoes Fox 7: warning to allied units of launch of mines Pickle: warning to allied units of launch of “dumb” or unguided bomb Spider mines: self-guided mine that attacks enemy units with laser or itself, uses IFF frequencies to designate targets IFF: identify friend - foe, uses radio frequencies to identify allied or enemy units Neural interface: uses sub dermal implants in the subject’s brain to provide lightning-fast command input and response in fighters and bombers S.E.A.D: suppression of enemy air defenses Break left, right: to execute a snap turn to the left or right to avoid enemy or friendly fire PFCL: PreFlight CheckList High Command: joint military command of the R.U.S.S Prologue Out of the black of space they came, the Kolvar. Feeling any non-reptilian life is inferior they attacked the Republic without warning their ships laying waste to planets with energy weapons and antimatter bombs. The first planet was Bella Terra. They attacked without one demand of surrender, destroying any ship that cam within weapons range. Then the shell-shaped vessels opened several hatches in their bottoms and began sterilizing the planet with antimatter and nuclear bombs. Then several knobs attached to each ship separated and fell towards the planet below. Each "knob" was actually a drop ship carrying dozens of Kolvar soldiers to the planet below. They mercilessly killed all remaining inhabitants and set up a base. After the firing stopped the beautiful planet was reduced to a barren desert world with a few patches of green and dirty seas. Only a few refugees managed to escape in small, fast ships. Chapter 1 "Viper, bandit on your six!" the call rang in Chris O’Hare’s ears as dodged enemy fire as he tried to lie up the enemy destroyer in his sights. "Defense weapons tracking." came the calm voice of Dorothy, his AI. "Locked, firing laser. Target destroyed." "Thanks Dorothy." He finally gets a lock and fires his port torpedo form its external pylon and it streaks away in a blaze of light. "Fox 6!" He pulls back on the stick and in his HUD he sees the word "hit" and a flash of light as the torpedoes nuclear warhead detonates. He also sees the flash of plasma fire afterward as the enemy ship tries to hit him. "Target still active." Using his omni-directional radar he targets the destroyer again and fires his starboard torpedo. Another blaze of light and the destroyer is scattered atoms and debris. “Attention all units provide close support for the Muramasa if able.” Hearing the call from the controller aboard his ship, the assault carrier Dauntless, Chris uses his neural interface to begin a search for the Muramasa and found it surround be enemy fighters and isolated form the rest of the battle group and not that far away. He applies his boosters and rockets toward the besieged ship at speeds approaching 10 kps. “Viper beginning SEAD operations near Muramasa” he says over his radio as he rockets to the defense. “Hawk copies and is providing assistance” come a reply from his squadron leader Commander Debbie Everest. He switches his secondary weapon selection to the six GCM-100’s in side his bomber’s second internal weapon bay and instantly gets a lock on six enemy fighters. He fires, “Fox 5!” He shouts as the missile streaks away and splits into six separate guided missiles when it gets in rage of its target. Seconds later six enemy fighters are destroyed. “Fox 5,” he hears the call from Debbie and breaks left as his scanners detect the cluster missile approaching from his aft starboard quadrant. Six more enemy fighters are destroyed and the Muramasa begins a turn back to the Dauntless’ battle group. Chris searches for more targets and his scanners detects a frigate maneuvering to fire on the battle cruiser in his group, the Great Britain, and switches over to his plasma-yield missiles in the forward bay and selects the multi-fire option. When he gets a lock he shouts, “Fox 3,” and unloads five of his twenty missiles into the frigate. The first two missiles overload a section of the frigate’s shields and the other three hit home in its engineering section and the frigate goes up in a blaze of light as its antimatter containment ruptures. “Target destroyed.” Over his radio comes a report from Sheila, the Dauntless’ AI, “Attention all units, enemy retreating, continue your attacks until no targets remain then return to the ship in for refueling and reloading.” “Roger that,” he replies and targets an enemy heavy cruiser that was beginning to turn about and unloads his remaining plasma-yields into it, managing to destroy its bridge and disabling two of it’s three other-space engines. He highlights the cruiser and broadcast it’s location to the rest of the group along with its condition and that it’s weapons maybe active. Then, over the radio, “Enemy cruiser engines disabled. Viper requesting support to disable weapons for capture.” “Request granted, Viper, await support and begin suppression of enemy weapons.” Comes the response from Sheila. “Dorothy, calibrate weapons to disable and ready ECM to distract enemy fire control.” Chris then arms his forward lasers and plasma cannons, and then links them for simultaneous fire, He than arms the short-range missiles on his wing pylons. “Hawk reporting in with requested support. It’s your show Viper.” “Thanks Hawk, all units begin operations. Target their close range defense batteries first but watch out for any luck shots from their heavy weapons. Let’s go.” He then swoops in and targets a close in laser cannon and with a burst of plasma and laser energy it explodes. “Warning missile inbound,” says Dorothy. “Deploy chaff and flares!” Chris shouts as he pulls away from the cruiser to evade the missile. Then with a flash of light the missile detonates on the chaff decoy. He then tracks the missiles path and finds a squadron of enemy fighters coming from around the cruiser. “Fighters inbound!” The bombers break away from the cruiser to face the fighters and Chris applies his boost and charges toward the enemy fighters and begins firing his weapons at the incoming fighters. The two squadrons clash in a flurry of plasma bolts and laser energy. “This is Hawk! We need fighter support! I repeat, we need fighter support now!” Sheila replies, “Copy, fighter support is inbound. Disengage to allow intercept.” The bombers break away in several directions to allow the fighters to safely fire their missiles. The allied fighters then fire a multitude of missiles that vaporize the enemy fighters. The bombers then re-engage the cruiser and in thirty minutes they have it thoroughly disabled. Then Captain Ral hails the kolvar cruiser “Attention kolvar cruiser we have you disabled surrender your ship and prepare to be boarded.” A harsh voice responds, “We shall never surrender to an inferior species prepare to die!” The Kolvar cruiser then explodes in anti-matter fury. Captain Ral then hails the fighters and bombers saying “Return to base, all enemy forces neutralized.” Later, on board the Dauntless, Chris replays the battle recording form is Condor on his comp as he talks to his room-mate Shree-ree-ee-clack, or Paul to his human crew-mates. “I still don’t get why they always self-destruct instead of surrendering,” Chris says. “I believe it is a cultural or religious custom that they can’t surrender to a species they deem inferior,” Paul replies through his translator as he maneuvers his travel-globe to get a better view of the battle replay. “I would have used an A-M missile instead of the plasma-yields on that frigate.” “I didn’t have an A-M missile the don’t fit in the bomb bays, and besides A-M is being reserved for fuel by the High Command. You know that.” Chris says. “I don’t see why, not with the discovery of that A-M white hole.” “That white hole is too unstable to mine during wartime according to the High Command. At least without some gravitic harnessers.” “Which are needed to build new FTL drives for the new ships being built for the war, I know.” Paul says. “If the Diberians would share the secret of their flux-drive we wouldn’t need to use gravitic harnessers.” “But they won’t give us their flux-drive tech until we either invent our own.” Chris sighs, “Which won’t happen during wartime because the research budget was cut to support the war effort. Too bad we can’t capture a Lizard ship because they also use the flux-drive. Any way, all of the lizards can’t agree with the self-destruct because if you look closely you can see a few escape pods jettison just before that cruiser exploded. Too bad the were destroyed in the explosion.” “Where?” “Right here.” Chris freezes the image at the right spot and highlights the area in question. “See? They sure do look like escape pods to me.” “You should send that image to the captain.” “I did, but he is busy with organizing damage repair crews and preparing for the fleet debriefing when we get back to base.” “Oh, shouldn’t you be at the squadron debriefing right now?” Paul asks as he glances at the chrono next to the comp. “Huh?” Chris looks at the chrono and sees the time, 18:00, and exclaims, “Crap I’m going to be late!” He shuts down the comp, removes the data cube, and rushes out of the room as Paul chuckles to himself. “Well I guess we will have to start without him,” says Debbie Everest as she looks around at the squadron. Just then Chris comes in from the corridor. “Sorry I’m late,” he says as he sits down at the holotable. “Glad you could make it.” Debbie replies, “Next time you’ll have docked pay. All right, everyone I have gone over the battle records and I must say I am impressed by our performance. We managed to take out five destroyers, ten frigates, and a cruiser, plus two fighters. However, our efforts were wasted trying to disable that cruiser since they self-destructed. Now, let’s go over the recordings and see if we can find anything useful for Intelligence to use.” Chris says, “I think I found something.” “What is it?” Debbie asks. Chris puts the data cube of his flight in the table’s reader and selects the appropriate time frame and taps the Play function on the touch pad. “Watch closely,” he says as the view of the disabled cruiser appears. The squadron watches the recording up through the cruiser’s self-destruction and Second Lieutenant Jacob asks, “ What are we looking at?” “Here, this should help,” Chris pauses the recording at the scene just before the cruiser blows and highlights the escape pods and zooms in. “Do you see it now?” HE asks. “Those appear to be escape pods,” says First Lieutenant Johnson. “I believe they are,” Chris says. “I have checked the records also and there are no reports of escape pods jettisoning from any other Lizard ships that have self-destructed.” “This could mean that some of the Lizards are against the no surrender policy they have,” Debbie says. “Good work Chris, this more than makes up for tardiness if it is as important as it seems. I’ll file this with the captain and recommend you for a bonus at least and a commendation if Intelligence agrees that it is an important find. Now, on to other business.” The debriefing continues and the squadron discuss needed repairs and supplies the need before their bombers can go on another mission and Chris leaves the debriefing feeling happy about his discovery. Chapter 2 He storms down the hall, his armored body glinting from the high metal content in his body, his clawed talons clicking with each step, his tail swishing in anger, his spikes and teeth gleaming in the light, a fierce snarl on his face, and anger in his eyes. Taller than all others of his kind at ten feet, he wears the crown of Emperor of the Kolvar Empire and his will is law. Yet, he is still bound by ancient law to hear the will of the Council, and if their hold a vote a majority can overrule his decisions and even dethrone him. For this reason only does he calm himself before entering the Chamber Of The Ancients and taking his seat at the head of the Council table. “The Fleet has returned,” he says in his deep growl as he sits down. “They were utterly defeated by the Vermin!!” He roars. “That cannot be so!” Exclaims Elder Zar-ka-lar. “It is so and it is all the Advisory Council’s fault!” War-admiral Glar-sha-far shouts. “You have delayed the construction of the great juggernaught carrier Sheal for too long! It could be completed in six months if you had listened to the Emperor!” “But the Kolvar Peace Revolution threatens to capture the carrier if we complete it.” Says Elder S’lar-she-na, her tail twitching. “What can the do? They are only Va,” says the Emperor. “I say double the guard and the number of techs an we will complete the Sheal in only three months.” “But where will we get the techs with the proper experience?” Asks Elder Kla-fa-nor. “Take them from the Shell-nac captain Shol-roc-far is scheduled for promotion anyway and the Sheal was to be his ship.” The Emperor says while looking at the war-admiral who as the father of the captain will gain glory at the promotion of his son. “But we need the great Fleet Carrier for the of the Dlar-ka system.” Says Elder Zar-ka-lar. “Reassign them and replace them with two of our medium carriers then,” says the Emperor. “But I want the Sheal completed before next year.” “Will shall hold a vote then.” Says S’lar-she-na. The vote is over quickly because of the urgency and the importance of the upcoming raid. The council approves the Emperor’s plan. The Emperor then retires to his chambers. In his chambers the emperor removes his crown and places it on its pedestal. He then moves to the wall next to his desk and presses the center of the fifth panel up from the floor and second from to the left of the center of the wall. A hidden door opens into his secret War Room. He enters and the door slides shut silently behind him. Despite having been used by Emperors for centuries the room is extremely modern in appearance with multiple panels displaying images of sectors targeted by the Empire for conquest. Several young Kolvar-ra sit at stations running battle simulations and reviewing reports from the frontlines and from around the Empire. Watching over them is the Emperor’s son Glar-ka-sha. He turns as his father approaches and salutes his father in the traditional manner by baring the soft flesh of his throat. “At ease, my son,” Says the Emperor. “What news is there of the so-called Kolvar Peace Revolution.” “They continue to hind and do raids on our weapon depots and shipyards with mixed success Father,” Glar-ka-sha replies. “So far the have only hindered the construction of new ships a little and have captured only a a corvette and a frigate to add to their small fleet of raiders, but they have had more success on their weapon raids, capturing large supplies of anti-infantry weapons and several anti-ship and vehicle weapons, but mostly of older types.” “I don’t care if the are stealing older weapons, they are still traitors and I want them stopped!” The Emperor roars, “They are a disgrace to all that is Kolvar. Increase security sweeps of the mountains and the capital. I want them all dead, is that clear?” “Yes father,” says his son. “We do have some good news however, the last system we captured supplied us with half a million new slaves for the war factories.” “Good, and what about our efforts to bribe vermin pirates into attacking their people.” “Those were also successful we now have a decent number working to undermine their supply routes.” “Good, supply them with some more flux-drives and weapons. I want them to be highly successful in their raids.” “Yes, father.” With that the emperor turns and leaves through the secret door with a grin on his face. Chapter 3 As the Dauntless approaches the repair yards in sector Alpha 1159 the ships scanners detect a group of small ships approaching on a vector leading to Kolvar space and the ships sensor officer alerts the captain. “Sir, our scanners detect a group of small vessels approaching at high speed from a vector that leads to Kolvar space,” says the sensor officer. “Tactical prepare the squadron for launch and go to red alert,” captain Ral says. “Navigation plot an intercept coarse and move to intercept.” As the mighty vessel moves to intercept the unidentified ships, the communications officer picks up a distress signal and alerts the captain. “Sir,” she says. “The unidentified ships are broadcasting a full band distress signal, audio only.” “Play the message I want to know who they are,” says Ral. There is a burst of static over the bridge speakers before the message is tuned in. “This is the courier ship of the Belle Terra system to all ships in range,” says a female voice. “We are escorting a small number of vessels carrying refugees from a recent attack on the Bella Terra system by the Kolvar. The system is a total loss and we barely escaped. Our ships have received damage and we don’t know if we are being pursued. We require assistance.” “Move the ship out of their path and broadcast the message to the repair base,” says Ral. “Also notify the ships of our presence and our willingness to provide aid.” “Aye, sir,” says the comm officer. The dauntless moves out of their path and positions its self to defend the refugees from any pursuit. “Sir, the ships are decelerating,” the sensor officer reports. “The courier ship is hailing us,” says the comm officer. “Open channel,” says Ral and the image of a young woman wearing a battered lieutenant’s uniform appears on the central holo-viewer. “Thank goodness,” She says, “I was starting to think our comm systems were out. We require assistance reaching the shipyards, Dauntless several of our vessels engines are over-heating and are in danger of going critical. Do you have room for passengers?” “We do,” says Ral, “But may I ask who I’m speaking to Lieutenant?” “Oh, yes,” she says. “I am Lieutenant Crystal. How close to the repair yards?” “You are almost there,” says Ral. “But if you can’t make it hold your position and we will come to your aid.” “That would be most welcome,” says Crystal. “Navigation plot a course to rendezvous with them and execute,” Ral says. The Dauntless rendezvous with the small and battered fleet and moves refugees from the vessels with the most damage into its cargo bays and escorts the rest of the fleet to the repair yards. After escorting the refugees to the repair yards and delivering a report to the local admiral, the Dauntless docks in a berth and repair and re-supply is started. Two days later an agent from R.U.S.S. Central Intelligence Bureau arrives and holds a meeting with the local admiral and the captains assigned to the sector and notifies them that the C.I.B. has begun an investigation into what happened at Belle Terra and that the Dauntless has been assigned to escort the refugees Earth so that they can give their accounts of the attack on Bella Terra in person to the C.I.B. Investigation board and the congress and senate of the R.U.S.S. at an emergency meeting to be held regarding the war. He also says that transports will arrive in two days to take the refugees to Earth and that the Dauntless is to be repaired by then. When the Dauntless is repaired and the transports arrive the refugees are put aboard them and they depart for Earth along with some merchantmen heading that are also heading to Earth. Chapter 4 The Dauntless and the three transports, along with the merchantmen, arrive at the Sol system and drop out of FTL as they pass Pluto as wartime laws require. As the small fleet passes Neptune the Dauntless’ sensor officer detects a group of vessels approaching at high speed. “Sir,” the sensor officer says. “There is a group of twenty ships approaching on a vector that indicates an intercept course. Most are fighter-sized but there is at least one heavy-transport, and two corvettes, all were stealthed so I didn’t detect them earlier.” “Are they raiders?” Asks Ral. “I can’t be sure,” says the sensor officer. “Wait I’m detecting the activation of attack scanners!” “Red alert!” Shouts Ral, “Alert all ships we are under attack and break away to launch our fighters and bombers. Helm, position us between the transports and the raiders.” As the red alert klaxon goes off Chris runs from the mess hall to the fighter bay and climbs into his bomber, activates his A.I. and runs through the pre-launch checklist as other pilots run to their craft and do the same. When the fighters in front are launched he gets the green light and moves into launch position and activates his boosters as the ships gravity catapult launches him out and into space. He quickly maneuvers to intercept the incoming raiders and arms his weapons. “Primary targets for us are the corvettes and the heavy transport,” says Dorothy. “Secondary is the fighters.” “Roger,” says Chris. As he finds the enemy ships on his scanners and the highlighted primary targets. He then arms his torpedoes and applies boost to intercept the raiders. As soon as he gets a lock on the nearest corvette he fires his port torpedo. As the torpedo streaks away he begins evasive maneuvers as the enemy fighters streak by and he also notices something strange about their profile. “there is something strange about these raider’s ships,” he says over the combat channel. “Their profile has been changed, I think the have been modified somehow.” His first torpedo hits a corvette and there is a flash of light he goes to fire on the other corvette when he notices that his scanners still detect the first one and as the flash fades he see that it’s still intact. “They have some powerful shields” he says and as he passes by it, dodging it’s anti-fighter shots and flips his bomber over to fire hi second torpedo at its engines he sees that instead of only one exhaust port there are two in a combined engine configuration. He quickly realizes what that means - they have the flux-drive and since the Diberians hate pirates there is only way they could’ve gotten one - from the Kolvar. He fires his second torpedo and transmits his sensor data to the Dauntless in a high priority transmission and switches over to his plasma - yields and flips back over as the corvette behind him explodes he then flies around behind the heavy transport to the other corvette. As he flies past the transport’s engines he notices that it has the flux-drive too and he says over the combat channel “These raiders have the flux - drive, that has to be why their shields are so strong and how the appeared out of nowhere. I’m going to attempt to disable the second corvette.” “Rodger that,” says the combat controller aboard the Dauntless, “You are cleared to engage fighter support will arrive as soon as possible. All other bombers, target the transport.” As Chris prepares to engage the corvette he sees that his forward bomb bay has been loaded with emp bombs, he selects them and targets the corvette and drops all five on the corvette and applies boost to escape the blast. When he is out of range he flips the bomber over and he sees the corvettes running lights and the lights on its bridge go out. “Target disabled, preparing to engage the transport,” He says over the com. “Negative, provide support for the fighters,” says the combat controller. “We have detected combat tugs approaching from the rear, the transport is only meant to draw fire, engage the tugs, the Dauntless is closing to engage the transport.” Chris flips his bomber back around and sees the flare of powerful engines approaching the rear of the convoy and knows that if the tugs close on one of the transports or merchantmen they could easily overcome the crew and capture the vessel after force docking on the hull. He applies max boost and arms his plasma yields and using the link with the Dauntless’ scanners he preselects the combat tugs and targets each of the five tugs with to plasma-yields each. When he gets within range he fires the ten missile and watches as they streak toward their targets and he notices more missiles streaking in from the other bombers and the tugs explode seconds later in several A-M explosions. Later, the refugees arrive at Earth and the board of inquirery is convened and a week later they announce that the advise a retaliatory strike against the Kolvar for their vicious assault on the Bella Terra colony. The Dauntless is given sealed orders to be opened when they rejoin their battle group. Chapter 5 When the Dauntless arrives at the repair yards of Alpha 1159 and rejoin their battle group they open the sealed orders and broadcast them to their battle group - they are to strike the Kolvar anti-matter refinery in sector Zz-15769-Alpha. Captain Ral orders his officers to hold meetings to get input on necessary weapons supplies to aid in the destruction of the a-m refinery. Debbie Everest convenes the meeting in the Pilot’s Lounge. “The meeting will now come to order,” she says. “We will now discuss what supplies to request for our upcoming mission. Remember we will be attacking an a-m refinery so we will need heavy weaponry, so any requests for ant-fighter missiles such as cluster missile will be denied.” Second Lieutenant Jacobs asks, “will we still carry our plasma-yields and short range missiles?” “Of course,” says Debbie. “Regulations prohibit stripping a bomber of its defenses, but the plasma-yields will be reconfigured for penetration and not area effect so don’t rely on them for defense.” First Lieutenant Johnson says, “what if we use the upper weapon pylons on the bombers? We won’t be doing any planetary assault on this mission and if we load them with two extra torpedoes per wing we will greatly increase our offensive capability.” “True,” says Chris. “But If we use the upper wing pylons for torpedoes we won’t be able to carry more short-range missiles. How about we add only two extra torpedoes instead of four?” Debbie says, “Chris has a point, we will use the upper pylons but carry only one more torpedo on each wing. Now what shall we use besides the plasma-yields in the internal bomb bays?” “I have thought of that too,” says Chris. “I was thinking about using spider mines armed with a penetration laser similar to the forward cannon on the Dauntless, of course, that means the will get off only one shot before self-destructing due to over heating instead of the usual three when equipped with a maser cannon, but, when used properly, they should be much more effective. Also, I was thinking about using Hammer penetration missiles armed with a depleted uranium tip and a bucker-busting charge. Of coarse that means we won’t be carrying a lot of munitions but we will be carrying more powerful ones.” “I think we should use Chris’s idea,” says First Lieutenant O’Brien. “But, I think we should have half the squadron carry the Hammers and the other half the spider-mines and use the middle bomb bay for unguided, large - radius, high-explosive bombs filled with depleted uranium pellets to maximize damage.” “Great idea,” Says Chris. “I like your modification of my plan.” “Okay,” says Debbie. “we shall use O’Brien’s and Chris’s adjustment to Johnson’s plan for our secondary weapons stores, but, what about our cannons?” “How about we use,” says Jacobs. “Rapid-fire rail guns instead of our plasma cannons? That way we will penetrate the armor of the refinery easier.” “I think we have our answer,” Debbie says. “I will issue our supply request to the captain. You are dismissed.” Everyone gets up and leaves the room to begin their own preparations for their mission. Meanwhile at the Kolvar Peace Revolution head quarters in the asteroid belt of the Kolvar home system, the leaders of the KPR’s various resistance cells gather to discuss their plans. They are Kall, a technician on the Shell-nac, Swek-lal, one of the few sha to join the KPR, Vall, Kall’s brother, and Xoll, a researcher at the emperor’s weapon research facility. Kall calls the meeting to order and says, “To start I know where the dreadnaught-carrier is being constructed.” The others show their astonishment by rattling their armor. “I discovered this because I am being reassigned to it along with the rest of the Shell-nac’s crew. Therefore I will be able to assist our efforts to capture the dreadnaught-carrier by disabling its weapons and shields. Now about the supplies for our assault, do we have enough plasma rifles?” “We will after one more raid,” replies Swek-lal. “I have managed to obtain a hundred lightning rifles for us,” says Xoll. “Lightning rifles?!” Exclaims Vall, “I thought those were outlawed.” “The emperor maintained a stockpile of them,” says Xoll. “Before one of my cells stole them of course.” “Our transports are ready to take our families to the rendezvous coordinates.” Says Vall, “However they won’t be able to wait for long so they will reach the rendezvous after we begin our assault on the new carrier.” “Is our envoy ready to approach the RUSS for aid?” Asks Kall. “Yes,” Says Swek-lal. “He will approach them for aid before our raid on the supply depot in the Kret system. Where is the new carrier being constructed, Kall?” “In the Gal system,” replies Kall. “Relay the information to our various cells a day before our attack to limit the chance a spy will discover our plan, though. Also send the information on the rendezvous coordinates two days before the assault.” “What about the crew of the dreadnaught-carrier?” Asks Xoll. “We will take what prisoners we can but if the resist,” says Kall. “Our troops should show no hesitation to kill. Remember they wouldn’t give us the courtesy of trying to capture us alive so don’t give them that favor.” The meeting continues for several more hours before it ends and the KPR leaders return to their main cells with the results of the meeting. Chapter 6 The Dauntless and its battle group come out of hyperspace in the outer edge of Zz-15769-Alpha and move into combat formation, the cruiser taking the point and the two destroyers flanking the Dauntless and the corvettes filling in the spaces between. The battle group has two new additions for this battle, two missile corvettes carrying missiles nearly as long as the corvette itself and half as wide. These corvettes will fire the first shots of the battle. The Dauntless launches its fighters and bombers and they boost towards their target, the massive a-m refinery that masses as much as a large moon and spreads across in orbit of a gas giant. When the squadrons reach the half way point the missile corvettes launch their entire load of missiles at the refineries shield generators and long range communications arrays, the missiles easily overtake the fighters and streak past them at nearly an eighth the speed of light. The missile corvettes then halt their advance and fall back to the systems outer edge. The missiles reach their target with the fighter and bomber squads three quarters of the way to the refinery and the battle group half way there. When the hit the refinery is instantly rendered silent and shield less, but not defenseless. Chris arms his weapons as he nears his target, the outer storage tanks and defense arrays. As soon as he comes in range he fires his Hammers at eight storage tanks and they explode in a fierce a-m explosion that scatters residual antimatter in an expanding cloud that destroys several more tanks and damages a primary defense array. “Hot damn!” He yells over the comm as he switches to bombs. “Primary target destroyed.” Debbie replies, “Can it, Viper the rest of the squadron has similar results. Destroy your secondary and converge on the central station.” Then Debbie sees the central station launch fighters. “Heads up,” she says. “We have incoming, time for the fighters to earn their keep.” The Dauntless’ fighters join the fray and streak towards the central station and begin dog fighting as the battle group arrives at the refinery. Captain Ral then voice then comes over the comm, “Draw those fighters away from that station we’re coming in hot.” The fighters start to comply and the Dauntless and her escorts open fire on the station, which returns fire. Chris destroys the weapons array he targeted and says, “Request permission to engage main hostile.” “Permission granted,” Says the space control officer on the Dauntless. “We cant get closer till you disable them, all bombers engage main hostile.” Chris boosts at the central station and arms his eight remaining bombs. Over the comm he says, “Does anyone have any Hammers or spider mines? All I got are bombs and torps.” Debbie replies “Jacobs does but he’s out of bombs he’ll create a hole for you.” Jacobs forms up on his starboard wing and says, “I’ll create your holes you just make sure you drop your rocks down ‘em” “Roger that,” Chris replies. Jacobs fires off all his hammers and the create large holes in the station. “There you go,” He says. “Good luck.” He then pulls away from the station. “I don’t need luck,” Says Chris as he fires of his bombs and torpedoes. He pulls away and they enter the holes created by the hammers. “Cause I have skills,” he finishes. The bombs and torpedoes streak down the path of the hammers till they hit deep inside the station and the resulting explosion destabilizes the stations reactor and the station explodes. “Attention all units,” Captain Ral says over the comm. “Main target destroyed, all units disengage and RTB. We’ll jump out of here as soon as all the fighters and bombers are secured.” The fighters finish off their opponents and return to the Dauntless just after the bombers and return to their berths, each ship in the battle group then turns on its access and boost to the outer edge of the system, where they pick up the missile corvettes. Then they do several jumps to shake pursuit before jumping to their repair and resupply point, the star base in orbit of the planet White Wolf. Chapter 7 When the Dauntless battle group reaches White Wolf the various ships dock at their assigned berths for repair and resupply, all of the damage is minor though and the space bombers and fighters are given priority and are rearmed with standard armament. As Chris oversees the repair of his bomber from damage caused by debris, he goes over the checklist in the cockpit, running the ship through its test sequence. “It looks good,” He says to the flight engineer. “Can I run her through the preflight checklist now?” “Sure,” says the diberian flight engineer. “The rest of your squadron is, and I want to move on to the fighters soon, they took more damage.” “Okay,” says Chris. “Beginning preflight checklist.” No sooner do the words leave his mouth than the alert siren goes off and the voice of captain Ral fills the hanger bay. “We have incoming! A full Kolvar raiding party with two carriers! Cancel repairs and reloading and launch all fighters immediately! The Dauntless will join you as soon as we undock.” Chris closes the hatch to his cockpit and says over the comm, “At least we managed to get reloaded, huh Deb?” “Shut your ass up and get out your ass out there Viper you heard the Cap.” She replies as she launches. Chris bites back he reply and launches close behind her knowing that the situation is serious. Two carriers mean that the kolvar brought at least one full battle group and half of another, leaving the RUSS forces outnumbered and out gunned by one full cruiser and two destroyers. As Chris boosts towards the enemy he silently thanks the flight deck crew for reloading the upper pylons as well and almost evening the odds. As he gets close he sees that the enemy has already launched their fighters, so he automatically reassigns the carriers as secondary target and focuses on the cruisers. He begins to receive target data when Debbie blind-fires her torpedoes without establishing a sensor lock and realizes that it’s what he should do so that the enemy is taken by surprise. He aims his bomber at the second cruiser and fires two torpedoes using the sight in his cockpit as he gets closer to the enemy he switches to plasma yields and prepares to engage the enemy fighters. He is just about to get a lock when the enemy fighters change course to avoid them. He says over the comm, “I think they are going to focus on the ships and the station first and leave us for later.” Debbie replies, “That is their mistake, let’s show them what we can do.” “Yes, mam,” he says. Just then his and Debbie’s torpedoes strike the tow lead cruisers and they explode. “Two down,” He says, “twelve to go.” The kolvar ships then open fire on them and Chris targets a destroyer and fires his last torpedoes as the rest of the squadron opens up on the corvettes and Debbie fires on the lead carrier. The Dauntless soon arrives with its battle group and the battle is fully joined. The rest of the fight is a haze for Chris until he sees the battle cruiser Great Britain and the destroyer Muramasa explode under the battering of the enemy fighters and carriers. He immediately goes into a rage at the loss of the brave crews and his bomber responds and begins to act like a fighter. He targets all the enemy fighters he can with his cluster missiles and unloads his entire payload at once and over thirty-six fighters are destroyed. He then turns his fury on the enemy carriers and badly damages then before the Kolvar retreat. He is brought out of his rage by the voice of Debbie saying, “Calm down there Chris the battle is over. You have badly stressed your bomber. I’ll escort you in.” After he lands and looks around he noticed one fighter squadron is missing. But he forgets about it as the rest of his squadron mates congratulate him for destroying so many of the enemy and forcing their retreat. He then asks about the missing squadron and learns of their deaths defending the Dauntless. He also realizes he is bleeding from his right arm and goes to sick bay. Chapter 9 A month after the failed raid on White Wolf the Kolvar attack the Beta 997 supply depot and severely damage it. The Dauntless is assigned to escort the repair convoy to Beta 997 Meanwhile the KPR raid a Kolvar supply depot. The Emperor declares them insurgents and terrorists and many of the KPR’s sympathizers in the military and on the council and sub-council are executed. When Beta 997 is repaired the Dauntless battle group receives its replacement cruiser, destroyer and fighter squadron and Chris’s bomber is replaced with a new high performance version. The battle group also receives two escort frigates. Then a courier corvette arrives with orders for the Dauntless’ battle group and captain Ral calls of meeting of all the senior officers, including Chris. When he arrives he sees Chief engineer Frank Curtis, chief flight engineer Doug Reeves, tactical officer and first officer Susan Grand, Paul, captain Ral, supply officer Qel, Debbie, and surprisingly the ship’s AI, Sheila. He sits next to Debbie as Ral sits at the head of the table and calls the meeting to order. “This meeting,” he begins. “Is about our new orders. We are to assemble with the battle group of the carrier Defiant, along with the 8th Planetary Assault Force and their transports and two battle groups from the Diberian Alliance and two of their attack transports. Our joint mission will be to invade and capture the Kolvar base in sector 15439 Alpha.” He presses the command interface in front of him and the holo of a planet appears in the middle of the table near the holo representation of Sheila. “Sheila will take it from here. “As you can see,” her synthesized voice says. “The planet is totally devoid of natural life and is devoid of valuable minerals. In fact, its only importance lies in its strategic value. It’s close enough to the Kolvar main worlds to warrant a permanent base but far enough away to not be guarded by the main fleet.” A section of the planet is highlighted and the section is enlarged to show detail. “The base is located here. It is guarded by a powerful shield and several planetary defense cannons located in the four corners of the base. It is also surrounded by a high mountain range on all four sides except for a gap 1 kilometer wide in the southern face that empties into a large canyon. It’s main defense however, is this,” A strange looking tower with a dome at its base is highlighted and several views are shown along with a scale showing its dimensions. “That can’t be correct,” Chris says, “It says that it is as big as one of those mountains!” “The scale is correct,” Says Sheila. “But its age is the astonishing factor, it predates the rest of the structures by half a million earth years.” There are whistles around the table as that fact sinks in. “As near as Intelligence can tell it was built by a race known only as the ‘Precursors’. It is a giant mass driver capable of launching projectiles into interstellar space as well as being a massive energy cannon. It must be taken out before an invasion can succeed.” “That is where you come in, Chris,” says Ral. “You will approach from behind the planet, escorted by four Diberian fighters. You will enter the base flying low to the ground, up the canyon, before climbing and dropping your payload down the main shaft of the cannon, which we shall call the Big Gun. Your payload will be three EMP bombs the size of five standard ones combined. You will have to be accurate in your bomb run because only the inside of the cannon is unshielded, the outside is too heavily protected according to our scans. One bomb should be enough but drop all three just to be sure. After your bomb run continue climbing, the shield defending the base is of the standard type so it will allow things such as missiles and energy weapons to exit but not enter, so you should be able to pass through. “After the Big Gun is disabled the rest of the fleet will attack. The Diberian forces will flux as close to the planet as possible and our forces will jump in shortly afterwards. The rest of the mission will be a planetary battle so you will rearm aboard the Dauntless. Any questions?” No one raises their hand. “Good Dismissed.” They all leave to prepare for the mission. Chapter 10 Chris looks over his new bomber before the upcoming mission. His eyes follow it's sleek lines as he takes in the external weapon mounts and the thruster pods on the wing tips. He walks over to a flight engineer and asks her, "Are the pods on the wings really necessary?" She gives him a look and says, "The pods are necessary if you try to use it like a fighter like you did the other one. Plus, you will need them to maneuver up that canyon. Also, the engines have been upgraded to overcome the added drag." "Oh, Okay," Chris says. "Did you download Dorothy into it?" The engineer gives him another look and says, "Of course, that is standard procedure. Why don't you go relax? We will take it from here." "Ok," He says as he heads to the exit, knowing a brush-off when he hears one. He heads to his quarters to sleep until it’s time for the mission. When the alert klaxon goes off, Chris wakes immediately. He hears the message to prepare for battle and gets into his flight suit before heading to the hanger deck. After he gets there he climbs into his bomber and does his preflight checklist. When he is done he activates Dorothy. “Dorothy,” He says to her, “Begin your preflight checklist.” There is a pause while Dorothy does her checklist. “PFCL complete. Ready to begin engine startup.” She says. Chris gets the signal to start engines. “Start engines,” he says as his bomber is moved into launch position. The engines start with a brief whine. As the hanger bay doors open, He sees the Diberian battle group. “So our buddies are here to,” He says. He then sees the launch indicator light go green and he throttles up to max as his bomber is hurtled into space by the carrier’s launch catapult. He turns on his com system and to tunes it to the battle fleet’s combat frequency. “Viper leaving the snake’s nest, waiting to see his shadow,” His says following combat communication codes. “Your shadows see you and are intercepting,” says the combat control officer aboard the Dauntless. “After rendezvous, begin com silence and head to the target, your shadows will follow.” “Roger,” he says as the four sleek Diberian fighters move up into escort position. He then sets course for the enemy planet and applies his boosters, his escorts keeping pace. As his bomber approaches the enemy world, Chris throttles down and enters Stealth Mode, his escorts doing the same. Once past the enemy sensor net, he throttles up and enters the atmosphere on a ballistic trajectory. He keeps his course constant until he pulls up just above the planets surface as he zooms toward the approach canyon, his escorts keeping pace. As he decelerates before entering the canyon he sees a few blips appear on his scanners, but he dismisses it as a sensor anomaly. Then, as he rounds the first curve in the canyon, hidden guns open fire. “Shit!” He yells as a missile turret unloads in his direction, “They didn’t say the place was this well guarded!” He jinks left and punches the button for his ECMs. The missiles continue to track toward him and he only avoids become flaming debris by rolling to the right. “Fuck,” he curses as all the other guns continue to track his bomber. “They must be using an optronics guidance system.” He swerves in tight around the next turn sees a flash of flame as one of his escorts are taken out. The next turn comes up fast and as he flashes by it he sees a tower built into the inside of the next turn, bristling with gun emplacements. He unloads two plasma-yields at the tower, only to see them spatter harmlessly against a shield surrounding the tower. Six more missiles streak by his bomber and hit the tower, blinding its guns long enough for Chris to streak by. The escorts that launched them aren’t as fortunate, however, as the gun tower unleashes a solid wall of defensive fire just as Chris clears their cone of fire. He sees all three escorts disappear from his sensors as he enters the final, mostly straight, stretch of the canyon. As he straightens out for his run at the Big Gun, a Kolvar anti-fighter frigate shimmers into existence as it drops its cloaking field and opens up with all its starboard laser batteries at once. Chris executes an evasive roll and punches in max thrusters as he flies through the withering stream of fire.