Confederation -- 30
Chapter 30
The orbital station we were approaching looked strange to me. It was configured like a large disc, oriented to look like an immense Frisbee sailing around the planet. It had internal gravity and didn't rotate, so angular momentum wasn't a factor. We hadn't seen this type of station before.
The normal, rotating, starfish-shaped station used its arms for different purposes; some for Pug-bear residences, one for the Sunnys, some for storage or maintenance, and usually one for the Pugs. The Pugs' arm always had its own gas mixture due to their special breathing requirements. I'd drawn a few breaths of their air before, and, as far as I was concerned, it was foul, but they couldn't survive in our air for long without their skin-tight pressure suits. When attacking one starfish station, I'd shot a hole in the Pugs' residence arm, evacuating it and ridding us of most of the Pugs in one simple act.
This disc-shaped station didn't offer any obvious targets, and, as a result, it might be a harder nut to crack. We would have to invade and fight our way through the interior. That had the potential to be a difficult task, and it would be even more complicated if the Sunny crew were mixed in with their masters.
Frazzle had spoken to the station Sunnys at length. There was a large contingent of Pugs on the station, including the crews from the four FTL ships. They mainly stayed in their residence area, but the ships each held a skeleton crew capable of flying them in emergencies.
Apparently, the Sunnys' improvised planetary shield wasn't quite as effective as I'd initially believed it to be. There were so many rocks flying around randomly in the system that once in a while, one was on an unlucky trajectory that would somehow find its way through the semi-overlapping deflection fields. The station was a few minutes below the shields, which gave them a little warning if something was coming. They'd take that time to move their ships if it looked like the object was going to pose a danger to them.
As we approached, we could see that the disc was shielded on the side it presented to space. This made it look even more frisbee-like. The only exception to the frisbee look was the docking ports. They were arranged around the edge of the disc, with the four enemy ships occupying every other port. This left four additional ports. I instantly decided that some of my ships would dock at them. If we could physically link to the station and invade simultaneously through the transporter system, it would provide the maximum element of surprise.
We had approached within a thousand miles. The Marines on each ship were ready to go, and it was just in time. I'd conferred with Rudy, Holmes, and Joe, and they agreed with my initial plan to mix up our attack. Rudy and Joe would go in and dock immediately, separated by two Pug ships. Frazzle had arranged with the station for each of them to attach between two of the already docked ships.
Their Marines would exit and head directly for the Pugs' ships, dispersing in two assault groups, one for each of the two adjacent ports. We hoped that they'd be able to fight their way onto each of the four ships, preventing them from detaching and fleeing.
Holmes was to dispatch his strike force in a shuttle that would dock at one of the station's several shuttle ports. These were underneath the massive shield on the planet side of the structure. Their job was to take the shuttle-craft that were currently attached, preventing anyone from trying to escape.
My ship would hang back, providing cover for the docking ships, while my marine force went through the transporter system. They'd enter the station, arriving near the control room, which was their objective. They were to capture and secure it. There were likely to be Pug-bears in or near the control room, so Kasm's force would go through the transporter first. With any luck, they'd be able to deal with the Pug-bears, allowing the Marines the freedom to go after the Pugs without having to worry about the nasty aliens' mental control.
I thought the net effect would be so confusing that the Pugs, never quick thinkers, would not respond well. We'd shortly have control of the station and the four FTL ships if all went as planned.
We were almost ready to start our attack when Frazzle exclaimed from his seat at the control boards, "Dec! Come see dis!"
He pointed at the video monitor, and I quickly stepped over to his position. I was rewarded with a close-up view of the Pugs' ships. Two of them initially looked strange, and I glanced at Frazzle inquiringly. He pointed with one hand while he increased the magnification with the other.
The two ships were armed! Either the Pug-bears or the Pugs had realized that opposition in space required ship-mounted weapons. It was probably the Pugs' idea. The Pug-bears were only oriented towards individual physical fighting, but the Pugs were familiar with significant battles and could plan a little better than their masters.
Regardless of which species had come up with the idea, my ships were no longer the only armed ones in the fray. It was bad enough facing the small armed shuttle-craft that the Pugs had flown against me in my first space battle, now we had to face ship-mounted weapons that could undoubtedly draw on the massive power of the FTL's reactors.
My first thought was to have Rudy direct all his Marines towards the armed ships, but I compromised after a moment. His orders had been good, and changing them right before the attack would cause confusion. Instead, I moved over behind Liz, who was operating the weapons computer.
She looked up at me, her lower lip held between her teeth, a gesture she sometimes used when she was concentrating. I reached over her shoulder and pointed at the two armed ships.
"Liz, look at those. They're armed. Set the system to target those ships and lock it on them. If they start shooting or even move their guns, take them out," I ordered. I didn't want to risk having them shoot at us. The cannons they'd mounted were anti-matter projectors. A direct hit would be deadly, and we couldn't afford to lose any of our ships.
She gasped in dismay and quickly locked the targeting designators on the two ships.
Inspecting the enemy under high magnification revealed that they had mounted four cannons towards the front of their ships, near the rear edge of the bow shield. Not a bad arrangement, I reflected. They were able to fire straight forward with all four of the weapons simultaneously. My mounting system allowed for three forward blasts, the two waist guns, and the bow gun. In addition, their guns were gimbaled like ours, so they could swivel to cover a wide range.
This might not be as easy as I'd planned. I hoped the marine attack would be sufficiently disruptive. It would be far better if the enemy fell before getting their ships moving.
Rudy and Joe were approaching their docking stations, their ships gliding smoothly toward the grapples. As they hooked up with the station, first Rudy and then Joe clicked their radios three times. The Marines were on their way.
My strike force was waiting at the transporter. I turned to Frazzle and asked, "Is the transporter set for our Marines to board?"
He nodded affirmatively.
I mentally contacted Kasm, "The docking ships are attacking. You're clear to board."
His mental voice came back clearly, "On our way." I caught a passing thought that he hadn't intended to send, "This should be fun!"
Holmes' ship was just passing into the shadow of the station, moving out of sight below it, and I could see his shuttle detach as it headed for the shuttle port.
Our attack was moving, and our timing had been good so far. I drew a couple of calming breaths. The thought came to me that all plans are good until they encounter the enemy. What happens next is usually decided by the commander who thinks more quickly and can adapt to the unexpected circumstances that are sure to arise. It also helps to have a good communication system to coordinate your forces.
I extended my mental senses to try and encompass the entire attack. The strike forces that were to invade the four ships were just ready to pass through the locks into the ships. The shuttle assault force was spreading out over the shuttle-bay floor and had already captured several of the attached craft.
I checked on Kasm and found him in the full fury of battle. His Sim-tiger force was faced with a combined group of Pug-bears and Pugs. The Sim-tigers were hiding while the Pugs shot at them, practically raving in their desire to get at the Pug-bears. The Pug-bears were attacking mentally, trying to freeze his forces in place.
Their attack was affecting the Marines. Unshielded humans usually couldn't cope with their mental commands. I drew a deep breath and concentrated, trying to force my mental shielding out to cover all of my men. I could feel it starting to work, and then, suddenly, my effort was joined by Liz. She had sensed what I was trying to do and was adding her mental energy to the task.
Her reinforcement helped, and I could sense the Marines starting to shake free of the Pug-bears' thrall. They were mainly still outside the area where the Pugs were shooting, and a couple of them raced into position and started shooting back.
Their shots startled the Pug-bears, and they lost control of the rest of the men. My shielding effort became easier as more Marines reached cover and started shooting.
The Pugs had been standing in the hallway to the control room, completely in the open, and the Marines' return fire was devastating. The few survivors fell back quickly around a corner to regroup.
That was too much for the Pug-bears. Their natural fury took over, and they charged out of the control room directly down the hall towards my forces. They advanced quickly but then ran head-on into Kasm's group.
The mental images I was receiving became blurred with the intensity of the fight. I tried to keep up my shielding but realized that it was unnecessary. The Pug-bears were too furious and too hard-pressed to use their mental attack.
I gasped and popped back into my normal mental mode, realizing, as I did, that I wasn't hovering over the battle but was still standing on our bridge. I was sweating, and my hands were shaking. I glanced at Liz, and her face was pale with the strain she'd been under, helping me.
I grimaced at her, and in return, she lifted her lip in a grin that looked more like a snarl.
The communicator suddenly came to life as Rudy called, "Dec! We've got two of their ships, but there's hard fighting in the other two. We're pinned down and not making progress. We've got the outermost two under control. The two middle ones are full of Pugs, and they're causing a lot of trouble."
Just as his message finished, I saw a cloud of debris fly away from the docking grapples on one of the two ships. It had broken free of the station and headed out, its Em-drive on full, dangerously close to the station. It figured; it was one of the armed ones.