Operation Hammerhead - 22. The Last Salvo

India-Romeo

Lt. Rivers watched the clock slowly count down the interval it would take for the electromagnetic pulse to clear from the Starfish drone’s fusion bombs.

His pilot’s voice crackled over the intercom, “I’ve got the ship’s auto-eject system armed. If the systems detect a lock on, we’ll be ejected away in microseconds.”

Rivers watched the seconds ticking down. Combat at the speed of the incoming missiles would be essentially instantaneous. He answered with a terse, “Roger. The first one to get picked up by search & rescue buys the first round.”

Raid 3

Forty-five seconds behind Raid 2, the fifty-eight Kraken-C missiles of Raid 3’s sensors were momentarily blinded by the plasma wall between them and their targets.

In the vacuum of space plasma would quickly disperse.

Stonegarden System

India Romeo

Forward Control

Inner Defense Zone

A timer was running as the Starfish missiles streaked toward their intercept of Raid 2. Rivers was busy getting his aerospace fighters stacked to take on any leakers.

Seconds before the required blackout of any sensors or communications, he heard the call: “India Romeo, this is Sierra Alpha 23. The Toasters got off one last volley before they got pounded. We have spotted forty to sixty vampires in Raid 3, maybe more. BDA on targets, it looks like that task group is completely fragged.”

Before Rivers could relay to the flag, all the Spectra’s sensors and communications were cut off.

Rivers said, “Dammit!” and slammed his fist on his armrest.

Holder asked, “What’s wrong, Boss?”

Rivers said, “There’s a Raid 3 behind Raid 2. Forty to sixty birds. It’ll be right on top of us before we get our sensors back.”

Holder said, “We’ll have to go active immediately.”

Rivers said, “As close as those birds will be, we will be locked up as we go active. Prepare to punch out. This is going to be close.”

Repulse

Shaking his head, Admiral Bassett said, “We screwed up, John. When we went with Omaha, we didn’t count on another salvo. Raid 3 will come scorching in right behind Raid 2. It’ll be in the intermediate zone before our sensors come back.”

Albert scrolled across the Admiral’s monitor— How can we counter Raid 3?

Hutchins stated, “Missile defense Reno gives us the best chance for a close engagement. Bristol and Savannah are similar, but Reno is optimized to use our short-range missiles and point defenses. We’ve got fighters out, and that may turn the trick if the geometry of the engagement is right.”

Bassett ordered, “Albert, pass the order for missile defense Reno as soon as the sensor and comm blackout lifts.”

Raid 2

The one hundred and twenty Kraken-C missiles of Raid 2 were smart. They were not sentient but skillfully programmed to find their way to Alliance ships and kill them.

In addition to sophisticated targeting, electronic countermeasures (ECM), home-on emissions tracking, and penetration aids, the missiles listened to the telemetry from Raid 1 for as long as it lasted.

Raid 2 learned from Raid 1’s mistakes. Raid 2 organized itself differently and followed the path to the point of those missiles’ deepest penetration of the enemy formation.

The limited intelligence blinked in surprise as the sensors of their targets abruptly winked out.

Starfish Missiles of Defense Plan Ottawa

Flying in a precise formation, the big Starfish drones reached their pre-programmed activation points, and each missile released five submunitions. The submunitions flew out in a pattern of fifty to two hundred and fifty kilometers and detonated.

The two hundred warheads plus another forty retained on the drones were all fifty-megaton fusion bombs that created a wall of white-hot and highly radioactive plasma fury directly in the path of Raid 2.

At the speed they were flying, the one hundred twenty missiles of Raid 2 could not avoid the holocaust, and all but three were consumed. The three leakers were mission killed by the intense heat and radiation. They flew on ballistic courses unpowered and dead.

Raid 3

The fifty-eight Kraken-C missiles began terminal guidance and started pinging for targets.

Fourteen of their number were fried by the rapidly diminishing radiation and heat left by Starfish missiles and their submunitions.

Forty-four Kraken-C missiles passed into the Task Force’s inner defense zone where enough radiation dissipated for sensors to activate. Those missiles were instantly engaged under the guiding directives of missile defense plan Reno.

Reno was used for short-range engagements, which utilized short-range missiles, kinetic projectiles, and point defenses. Every ship in the fleet was at a sustained maximum rate of fire, throwing up a gauntlet of missiles and ceramic-covered iron pellets traveling at relativistic velocities.

The Kraken missiles followed their programming, learning from the experience of Raid-1 and Raid-2. Their sensors found the hottest, brightest emission source in the enemy wavelengths used for searching, which happened to be India-Romeo. One of the missiles locked onto the source and hit India-Romeo, shattering the Spectra C3I shuttle into a high-speed debris cloud.

Fighters bagged another ten missiles, but only a few were in position to get a shot.

India-Romeo

Rivers had expected the ejection but wasn’t prepared for it. It happened in the blink of an eye. One breath; he had been busy in the controller tank. In the next breath, thirty gravities of acceleration were sitting on his chest.

As he was thrown clear of the impact, he felt something strike his foot. His suit lit up like a Christmas tree. It was dicey for a moment. According to his EVA suit computer, the nanites in his suit had closed off his right leg just above where his foot had been.

The limited AI of Tom’s suit judged him at risk of systemic shock, injected him with the right combination of drugs to put him to sleep, and set off his emergency transponder.

Raid 3

The thirty-three remaining missiles of Raid 3 came in stacked, attacking the same general area as Raid 1, facing the damaged ships of Cruiser Division 4 and Destroyer Squadron 3. Splinter damage sustained in Raid 1 had degraded some of those ships’ point-defense capabilities.

The destroyer Campbell was the first ship hit. The Kraken passed all the way through her and detonated a kilometer past her. She would survive but sported a three-meter hole through her bow for her trouble.

The destroyer Shimakaze was grazed by one missile, and another hit her squarely, turning her and her crew into a rapidly expanding ball of plasma.

Two missiles hit the cruiser Paris and blew her into scrap.

Once inside the screen of destroyers and cruisers, the incoming missiles ran into a wall of fire from the battlecruisers and battleships, which protected the formation’s core. Only one made it through.

The last missile was the cruelest strike of the day. It survived everything the task force could throw at it and hit the fleet carrier Kaga’s hanger deck on her port side at frame seventy.

Numerous ships, great and small, took splinter damage.

As suddenly as the battle started, it was over.

Kaga’s Bridge

Captain Cutter held on tight to his command chair. Status boards were flashing red, and a dozen different alarms were howling. Half his bridge crew was down. From his command chair, he ordered corpsmen to the bridge using his control pad.

Cutter yelled over the bedlam, “What was that secondary explosion?

His XO Latham answered, “I think some of the ready ammunition cooked off. Sir, our hanger and flight deck are trashed and on fire. We need to vent the ship to space to put it out.”

Cutter ordered, “Set it up.”

Another explosion rocked the ship, and a new alarm began blaring.

Latham reported, “The number three plasma manifold is leaking, sir.”

Captain Cutter flipped up a control in the arm of his chair and released the force fields holding atmosphere in the hanger deck.

The ensign manning the communications console said, “Captain, the flag is requesting our condition.”

Cutter sighed and said, “Send to flag – the issue is in doubt. Many casualties, we may have to abandon ship.”

Another powerful secondary explosion rocked the ship.

The XO reported, “The port side small craft fuel bunker just blew and ruptured another plasma conduit. Sir, we’re losing her.”

Cutter got out of his chair and approached the engineering station. The Ensign manning the station was obviously dead from a broken neck. He initiated an emergency scram of reactors. Then he used the bridge overrides to eject the number three fusion plant.

Over the next five minutes, the remaining bridge officers coordinated with engineering and damage control central. Gradually control was restored, the worst damage was sealed off, and backup systems engaged.

Latham reported, “All the fires are out, but we’ve still got plasma leaks and hot spots in dozens of places, but we’re stable for now.”

Cutter got on the Kaga’s 1MC and ordered, “This is the Captain. All non-essential personnel, abandon ship.”

Saratoga

A sound like gravel hitting the side of a metal building set Sokolsky’s teeth on edge. Then there was a solid-sounding gong as something big stuck the ship’s armor.

A watch officer announced, “We’ve been hit by debris. Nothing penetrated. Minor damage to the outer hull.”

Commander Carter said, “Ready our search and rescue birds. I want to launch as soon as we stand down from Condition-1. Get engineering and sick bay volunteers and form assistance parties for Kaga. Go, go, go!”

Danny could see from his station that India-Romeo was down.

A red flashing light on his console announced an incoming message from the flagship. He answered, “Sokolsky here.”

Admiral Bassett’s Chief of Staff appeared on his console. “Call your relief Sokolsky; you have a new assignment. Pack your kit and catch a shuttle to the Guam. The Marines are assembling a technical intelligence exploitation group. We want you on it.”

Sokolsky replied, “Aye, sir.”

The screen blanked, and an all-hands message began, “This is Hammerhead Actual. Stand down the Fleet to condition two. We will be running search and rescue missions and assisting Kaga. Stay alert, but the lion’s share of the fighting is over. We will stay in the system until we have Kaga sorted out, and then we’ll jump to Pacifica. Once we determine the status of that system, we’ll jump toward home.”

Sokolsky said, “Commander Carter, I’ve been ordered to the Guam.”

Carter stepped up to Sokolsky’s duty station, slapped him on the shoulder, and said, “Good work Danny. Can you fly a shuttle?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I’ll arrange for one of the ready birds to be assigned to you. Don’t worry about Tom. We’ve got his transponder and will have him aboard in about an hour. Now, go.”

Repulse

Admiral Bassett opened a channel to Sam Stewart aboard his flagship Kongo.

Admiral Stewart answered, “What can I do for you, Top Hat?”

Bassett said, “Detach a pair of tin cans. Send one back to FOB Delta to assign one of the repair ships to assist Kaga. Send the second destroyer back to the StarCOMM node in the Sandage system. I want to send a status report to Fleet Headquarters to let them know we have engaged and destroyed the enemy fleet here at Stonegarden. Stick around for any dispatches and rejoin the fleet here.”

Stewart acknowledged the order and vanished from the Admiral’s screen.

An incoming message alert from Kaga prompted the Admiral to press a stud and reply, “Hammerhead Actual.”

“This is Kaga’s AI. Sir, please order Captain Cutter to abandon ship. We still have unstable reactors. There’s nothing the crew can do that I can not handle without risking more lives.”

Bassett looked to Hutchins with raised eyebrows and replied to the AI, “Kaga, we usually let the officer on the spot make that call.”

The AI replied, “My remotes can do the job and not risk what remains of the crew. They can return after I’ve stabilized the situation.”

Bassett said, “Kaga, can you conference in Captain Cutter?”

“Can do, sir. Standby.”

“Kaga, Actual.”

“This is Hammerhead Actual. We’ve lost enough people today. Get the rest of your people off, Captain. Kaga’s AI can handle your reactors; we’ve got a repair ship on the way. There’s no need to stay aboard a ship with sketchy reactors.”

Cutter replied, “We’re close to being out of danger, sir.”

Bassett said calmly, “You’ve got your orders, Cutter. Take care of your people.”

Cape Titan

Pacifica Sector Command Center

Republic of Pacifica

In a deep bunker complex, the surviving top officials of the Republic watched the passive sensors they had used to monitor enemy activities throughout the occupation. Nothing at all was moving.

None of the machines at the deep core mining site near Jessie’s Crossing. None of the factories in the big complex on the Southern continent. None of the ground-to-orbit traffic that had seemed non-stop for years.

Governor-General Jason Taylor asked, “It’s only been a few hours. Are you sure?”

“For the first time since… whoever they are landed, we’re seeing no enemy activity on the surface or in orbit, sir. We think the fleet must have killed their Master Control AI when they hit the enemy fleet in orbit.”, Sergeant-Major Richter answered.

Colonel Fowler said, “It’s time to activate Operation Jericho, sir. We need to be sure they’re gone for good and start collecting samples of their tech.”

Taylor exhaled explosively and said, “I can’t believe it’s over. How soon can you start Jericho? If we’re going to salvage anything, we’ve got to kill those damned nanites.”

Fowler said, “Our strike teams are standing by and can be on their way immediately. We’ll know for sure in a few hours.”