“No. This ship is already dead,Captain. I want to make sure her last actmake a difference. We will use this ship to punch a hole into thatflagship.”
“To what end?”
“To allow our troops to getinside her. To cripple their flagship andturn this defeat into a glorious victory.”
The Captain considered that for a moment, and then shook hishead in disbelief.
“Very well, General. It is better for Izumo to end her life this way.She will never be returned to combat after the damage we havesustained.”
A beam of light struck into her porthull, triggering more explosions.
“Captain. At this rate there will benothing left to scrap. Take us in.”
The Captain nodded, and then issued orders to the crew. Theengines roared with power, and the massive starcarrier changedcourse so that its bow was pointing towards the Ski’ligship.
“Now give me all you’ve got, Captain.Punch a hole into her hull.”
A loud hum spread through thehull as the ship moved faster and faster. Secondslater, gunfire from the dreadnoughtsscreamed overhead, slamming into the gun positions firing at Izumo.The Captain reached for his intercom, and soon the interior of theship echoed to the sound of his voice.
“This is the Captain. Embarkedmarine units and those with close combat training report to theoperations level where General Rivers will take command. Everybodyelse to the lifeboats, it is time to leave home.”
There was a slight pause, and then hecontinued.
“I repeat, all non-combatpersonnel to the lifeboats. We will beramming the enemy vessel and boarding her.”
The ship finishedits transit around the enemy ship, andthen continued to accelerate. They pushed thought the debrissurrounding it and came under continuous fire.
“Look,” said the Captain. “The fleet is rallying. They’re throwingtheir last chance at them to buy us time.”
“Captain,” said the ship’s communications officer.
“What is it?”
“I’m detecting fainttransmissions from inside the enemy flagship.”
He then gasped.
“It’sAlliance. I can’t believe it. It’s the Captain of ANSCoventry.”
“They’ve been missing since this all started,” said Captain Simmons,“What are they saying?”
“They’re trappeddeep inside the ship, near several largehabitation segments. I’m trying to reach them, but the dampeningfield from the enemy ship is still blocking us.”
“They could have tactical information,” said the General, “Wewill need to punch a hole deep enough into that vessel to buy ourpeople time.”
“True,” said the Captain,“Keep at it. Do whatever you can to reach them.I have to know whatever they can tell us about the specificationand layout of that vessel.”
“Yes,Captain.”
“Excellent,” said theGeneral, “Now…I will join the marines inthe main mission bay. When you have information I can use, send itto me.”
“There’s still time to evacuatefrom this ship,” said the Captain, “It would be a tragedy to loseyou in this fight.”
“No,”he said with a smile, “After this screw-up, I need to make amends.I will not send soldiers to do what I would not. I’m a marine. Andmy place is on the battlefield with my comrades.”
The Captain reached forward and grasped the General’shand.
“You live up to your reputation,General. Come back alive from thisone.”
General Rivers smiled.
“I will do what I can.Now make contact, and let them know help iscoming.”
* * *
Alliance AD-72 Dropship ‘Mechahawk’
Theywere out of the planet’s atmosphere in relatively short time, andthen all of the Jackals onboard Nautilus were unceremoniouslyejected into space. None had even been given time to climb out ofthe Jackal, and she found it hard to keep her eyes open. But thenshe thought back to what the Lieutenant had said about his family,and the tragedy of Terra Nova and then on Deimos.
“What are you thinking, Val?”
“Peterson. I’ve never seen a mantake so much damage before. He shouldhave died on the spot.”
“He’s critical,” said PrivateColston, “I don’t think he’s gonna makeit.”
Valentine clenched her fistsrepeatedly, and even Alexis could see a subtle change to herdemeanour.
“Val?”
“It’s okay. I’m fine, really.”
Alexis considered askingagain; especially as it was obvious herfriend was suffering. But then beams of light and gunfire whooshedpast, and everything suddenly felt so fragile. They were hurtlingtowards the alien ship, and the cracks and damage to the interiorof the craft proved to be quite unsettling for each ofthem.
“I don’t know how theLT is keeping this bird flying,” saidHawkins.
“Jackals are toughbeasts,” said Valentine, “He’ll get us towhere we’re needed.”
Her outer visorwas open, leaving just the airtighttransparent inner visor. Alexis could see Valentine’s bloodshot eyeand fresh cuts along her cheeks. She was still in her twenties, yetthe recent fighting looked as though it had aged her by at least adecade.
“Look,” said Valentine, “Our ships.”
Valentine looked acrossto the heavily damaged frigate and her foursisters as they formed up into formation, following them in fortheir mission. They could see them through two large scars alongthe one side of the hull, most of it caused when the craft landedthem on the planet. And though patched up, there were a host of newproblems. She looked across to Tsarkov, Alexis, and the others.Some from the platoon were with them, and she noticed a good numberwere now missing.
“Holdon,” said Lieutenant Sterling, “This isgoing to get rough.”
Valentine held on for her life asthe shattered spacecraft struggled its way back through the massed debris. Through the cracks in the hull,she could see other Jackals, plus a mixture of old-fashioned Maulerlanding craft and even shuttles joining them.
“Listen up!” Lieutenant Fletcher said as he held onto the broken mountingpost in the middle of the dropship, “Contact from General Rivers.We’ve located survivors from ANS Coventry onboard the alienvessel.”
“This turning into arescue mission, Sir?” Sergeant Jablonskyasked.
“No chance. General Rivers is going in first to create abreach. We’re following in behind.”
Valentine looked to the rest ofher lance. Alexis in particular raisedher eyebrows in surprise. The craft shook again, and this timesharpened slugs hammered into the armour as they came underfire.
“Our mission is simple. We get inside,and we tear the ship up.”
He then nodded to the handful ofIAB marines coming with them. They weretowards the back of the craft and looked tiny compared to theNovas.
“IAB demolition specialists will dowhat they can, then we get out. Any questions?”
Valentine nodded and partially lifted ahand.
“That won’t be enough to destroy theship, Sir.”
“We know, but the General’s plan is to disrupt their positionand to stop them landing more troops.
