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And Raise Your Head With Pride! Part 3
Posted By: Arthur Wellesly<arthur_wellesly@hotmail.com>
Date: 28 February 2003, 4:18 pm
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?The success of the initial bombing strike exceeded even my best expectations,? Major O?Keefe said to everyone in the conference room. ?From these pictures given to us by Captain Miller, we have determined that the main fusion powerplant had been disabled, the primary AA batteries have been disabled or destroyed, the planetside sensor network severely damaged, and the SOM system?s targeting array destroyed. In addition, four of the space/air ports have been either destroyed or made temporarily inoperable. My appreciation goes to blue and red team?s excellent performance.?
Admiral Stevenson stood up and nodded curtly to the major. ?Thank you, Major O?Keefe. Colonel Wallace...? Stevenson gestured towards the whiteboard, inviting him to stand up there. Colonel Wallace was the man in charge of the Marines of the battlegroup.
?Aye, sir,? Wallace said, and he stood up, walking with even-paced strides to the front of the room. ?The Admiral and I are both truly grateful that the bombing run was as successful as it was. Our carriers may now move in close to the planet and begin the invasion from there. Our ground strike force will be carried out in two different areas of the city. The first will be the nuclear missile complex just outside the city. The other will be Halu?s House in the heart of downtown Iskorosten. Make no mistake, Halu?s House is no house. In reality it is a heavily defended bunker that stretches 300 meters under the ground. Getting Latsek Slavonosh will be incredibly difficult.
?For the mission we will have five thousand men taking the nuclear complex and eight thousand men taking the bunker. This will be done with 250 Pelicans that will stay there with you and provide aerial cover for you. In turn the LOFs will provide cover for the Pelicans and the Cruisers will cover the LOFs.
?The plan for taking the nuclear facility is simple. The five thousand men will be dropped off at five different positions across the complex and they will go to the silos and hold their position there. They will remain there until we have captured Latsek and his closest political friends to avoid a nuclear strike on the battlegroup in orbit.
?Regarding the plan for the bunker, that will be somewhat more complex. All the marines will be dropped off at the one and only entrance to the bunker. 4000 marines will make their way into the bunker and enter Latsek?s chamber at the bottom floor of the facility. With him should be Vysheslav Volokov and Gavrilko Baatyr, both of them top political advisors to Latsek. If at all possible, get them too. As for the other 4000 marines, they will remain outside Halu?s House and form a perimeter at the entrance on the surface to prevent any nasty surprises when they emerge.
?Any questions??
The whole room was silent, momentarily stunned by the enormity of their mission. And it was all for one man. Seeing there was to be no questions, Wallace, finished by saying, ?Colonel Davis, you?re in charge of the ground team at the nuclear complex. Captain Jefferson, you?re in charge of the bunker team. And don?t kid yourselves, men,? Wallace added, ?the city is on high alert after those bombing strikes and the nuclear facility and Halu?s House will be the two most heavily guarded places on the surface. Be ready for anything.?
Stevenson stood up. ?Dismissed!? he said with a tone of finality.
The cruisers and carriers moved out from Yieles VI and set a course directly for Abakum. They did not use slipspace to get there, for that would bring too much attention to them from too far away. Nevertheless, Yieles was only four hundred million kilometers away from the hostile planet, and the trip would take less than ten minutes.
?We?ll be in orbit around Abakum in two minutes, Captain,? helmsman Hindman announced to Kyle Palcutt, the captain of the Montgomery.
?Thank you, Mr. Hindman,? the Captain said calmly.
?Sir!? Lieutenant Forbes cried from the sensor station. ?We?ve got inbound fighters, sir. I?m reading approximately 1200 of them. ETA our position, one minute, thirty seconds.?
Palcutt stood up from his chair. ?Lieutenant Hindman, bring us about! Mr. Yelkes, send a warning to the rest of the battlegroup.?
?Aye, sir!?
The Montgomery came to a full stop, and seconds later, the three carriers also ceased moving. The Constellation moved up from the rear of the group and halted approximately fifty thousand kilometers from the Montgomery, brandishing a full broadside to the eventual position of the fighters. By this time the enemy had come within firing range of the Montgomery.
?They?ve fired, sir!? Forbes said. ?All of them. Impact in twenty seconds.?
?Lieutenant Wagner, fire the cannons!? Palcutt yelled.
?Firing,? Wagner announced.
The Montgomery?s two hundred rapid-fire 100mm Halcun guns fired a wall of lead into 1200 incoming missiles. There were visible explosions as hundreds of the missiles detonated prematurely due to the massive bullets ripping through them. Despite this effort, out of 1200 missiles, there were many targets the Halcun guns failed to eliminate.
?Brace for impact!? Forbes cried.
Five hundred and fifty missiles struck the hull of the Montgomery. The ship lurched as the collective explosions rocked the ship dangerously. Palcutt, who was not strapped in to his chair, slipped and rolled to the main view-screen.
?Damage report!? Palcutt asked angrily, standing up at the same time and wiping blood from his lip.
?Varying degrees of damage to the outer hull,? Forbes said, examining his computer. ?The enemy fire was not concentrated. No breach. Inner hull is in tact. No casualties have been reported.?
Palcutt nodded. ?Now, Mr. Wagner, fire the Falcon missiles,? he said with relish.
?Missiles away,? Wagner announced.
140 Falcon missiles were fired from the Montgomery?s broadside towards the swarm of enemy fighters. Likewise, the Constellation had loosed two full broadsides of missiles and all three carriers had each launched forty missiles at them. Palcutt watched with anticipation as the bright glowing missiles approached the incoming fighters, highlighted in green on the view-screen. Then, quite suddenly, there were hundreds of large explosions within the enemy force.
?Attack successful, sir!? said Forbes. ?Half the fighters have been destroyed.?
The Constellation had moved up alongside the swarm of fighters and was now firing a constant stream of bullets at the fighters. The bullets created havoc within the bulk of the enemy. Nevertheless, before retreating, the fighters let loose one last salvo at the Montgomery.
?Wagner...? Palcutt began.
Wagner understood immediately. ?Yes, sir.?
The Montgomery once again opened fire with her 200 Halcun turrets, and once again it shredded many of the incoming missiles. This time, because of the severely diminished enemy force, only 120 missiles got through.
?Damage report, lieutenant,? Palcutt breathed.
?Still no hull penetration, sir,? he reported. ?All systems are in tact.?
Palcutt briefly watched the remaining four hundred fighters retreat back to the planet. ?Mr. Wagner, send our fighters after them.?
?Aye, sir,? Wagner acknowledged.
The Indefatigable and the Constellation had already both released their fighters and the 12 fighters of the Montgomery were just joining them. The remaining enemy spacecraft were trapped. If they turned around, the heavily armed cruisers would annihilate them, but if they continued to retreat, the superior fighters would catch up with them and destroy them one by one. Unfortunately, the enemy fighters did the worst possible thing. One half continued back to Abakum, while the other half valiantly turned around and prepared to hold their ground. It was a sad, miscalculated error. A single salvo from the Montgomery destroyed the awaiting fighters, and the UNSC fighters destroyed the rest of the retreating force.
Not a single survivor made it back to Abakum.
The battlegroup entered orbit around Abakum five minutes later, and preparations for invasion were undertaken. The troops for the bunker?s strike force was taken from the Washington and the Galleon. The nuclear complex?s strike force was derived from the Indefatigable, the Constellation, and the Montgomery. Men were constantly being shuttled back and forth between the ships in Pelicans and different types of vehicles were exchanged to meet with mission perimeters. Plans were made, revised, and thrown out. Marines locked and loaded their weapons and lined up in cargo bays, ready for the word to move out.
?What do you think, Colonel,? Stevenson asked Wallace, a touch of anxiety audible in his usually impassive voice.
?I think it will work, sir,? Wallace said, intelligently leaving his own face devoid of emotion or opinion.
Stevenson turned away from Wallace in disgust, not knowing what to believe. ?It is a lose-lose situation, Colonel,? he said tiredly, his helpless tone making his old frame appear even more fragile. ?FLEETCOM has not permitted excessive civilian casualties, so that rules out nuclear strike and carpet bombing. So they give me five ships and tell me to attack their political system. The men will be outnumbered ten to one down there. Success will not come without a high price, if it comes at all.?
?And if you succeed, admiral?? Wallace asked patiently.
?Then those bastards will blame me for the large amounts of casualties we will surely suffer down there!? he yelled angrily. ?Somebody in office wants me out of the navy, Colonel.?
?At the expense of possibly thousands of men?? Wallace asked skeptically.
Stevenson waved a hand derisively as if that were not important. ?Those bastards are all corrupt, Colonel.? He began walking around the room again until he finally ended up bent over the table gazing at the image of Iskorosten taken by Captain Miller. ?Something bad is going to happen, Wallace. I can feel it. We?re playing into the hands of fate and going through the gates of doom.?
?Hold on tight, gentlemen,? Kirk Fogle told the Marines in the Pelican. ?There will be some firing on the surface.?
Pelican A-13 lifted off from the deck of the Galleon following the others that had already left. Garrett Harrison, a newly recruited marine, sat in the leather seat of the Pelican transport with the other 60 Marines, gripping his strap tightly with closed eyes. He had never been in action before. In fact, almost no one in the strike force had any combat experience. This would be the largest ship to surface ground force ever assembled in history. It didn?t help to know that, after ten years of constant war, most of the soldiers in Iskorosten had more experience than the Marines.
?Five minutes!? Fogle said over the COM channel from the cockpit. Harrison looked through a window in the Pelican. The hull was glowing red as the transport ship descended into the atmosphere. He looked beyond the fiery glow to see the other hundreds of Pelicans following suit. It comforted Harrison somewhat just in seeing this. It made him feel safe and secure with all his comrades at his back.
?One minute,? Fogle announced. The Pelican was now well into the atmosphere now, and the glowing ceased. Fogle felt his stomach lurch as the effects of gravity were suddenly felt again. This combined with his nervousness made him want to wretch, but he overcame the urge.
Harrison suddenly heard a beeping sound and a red light began blinking near the back exit. ?Brace for impact!? Fogle yelled, and, one moment later, the Pelican rocked from side to side as something struck it. It compensated quickly, however, and everything righted itself again. Harrison wondered what the hell had happened, so he looked out the window again and observed what was happening to the other Pelicans. Rockets were coming from the surface and striking the Pelicans? hulls. The thick battle plating was resisting the explosions, however. Nevertheless, these handheld AA weapons would make it hell for these ships when they would start covering the soldiers on the ground.
?We?re here, Marines!? Fogle called over the COM system. ?God be with you.?
And the door to the Pelican opened.
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