Nick Thomas - Battle Earth V

Pulses smashed into the frigates and destroyers around them, but most continued to lay down fire against the enemy. Taylor had never had the luxury of watching such a battle from afar, and it struck him how relentless the enemy were in the pursuit of human destruction. Never was there any attempt at communication or any form of negotiation.

Do they really want us all dead that badly? He asked himself.

The enemy craft continued to rush towards them, despite their losses.

“We’ll surely lose much of our communication as they come into range. It matters little, every man and woman in the fleet knows what they must do,” Huber said to the crew of the bridge.

The enemy ships were still closing the distance at a rapid speed, and Taylor could see the human fighters closing in to engage.

“Their priority is to prevent any and all potential boarding actions,” Huber whispered to Taylor.

“They put me out of a job then,” he replied dryly.

Huber shook his head in astonishment that the Major could be so calm and witty under pressure. It was a character trait he truly appreciated.

“Major, I’m not sure even the President of the United States could put you out of a job.”

“No,” he muttered as he looked out to the enemy ships, “but they might.”

The overlay screen that gave them a three hundred and sixty degree view cut out, and the report of the loss of communications soon came in. They were left with a few fixed video feeds and hard lines to comms around their own ship only. By all accounts, they were in the dark yet again.

Taylor and Huber stood beside each other and watched as half a dozen of their ships advanced past the Washington to provide a further buffer to the Capitol ship. Their previous engagements had taught them all a lot about the weaknesses in their defences.

One of the displays lit up with a bright burst as one of the human frigates was struck and burst into six pieces. The immense loss of life weighed heavily on both their hearts, but they could now do nothing but watch. In that moment, Taylor got a taste of the sense of emotion their leaders must go through. They had to stand and watch as men and women were killed, pursuing their directives. It left Mitch feeling hollow and disgusted. There was rarely a time he wished to face the enemy in person, but this was one of the occasions, if only to save him from the sickening display before them.

The Washington’s guns continued to roar with a continuous barrage. Through the hail of gunfire and pulses, they could begin to see the extent of the enemy fleet. It was sizeable, but by no means overwhelming. The combined human fleets had obliterated the first wave of enemy ships, and it had a great impact on their strength.

One of the enemy hulks floated quickly towards the Anglesey, one of their destroyers. Evasive manoeuvres were not quick enough, and the hulk smashed into the tail section of the destroyer. The impact ripped a great tear in the outer hull of the ship, and they could see a dozen bodies rush out from the breach.

The Anglesey was smashed off course but remained intact. Its forward guns continued to fire as other crews rushed to secure the breach and put out the fires.

They’re going to make it, Huber smiled in relief, but it was in vain. Six huge pulses smashed into the destroyer’s hull and ripped it in two.

“My God,” whispered Huber.

The bridge crew were utterly silent as they watched the devastation unfolding. They could do nothing now but rely on the gun crews and pilots to do their jobs. They watched for another five minutes as the enemy fleet came to a halt, and the fleets duked it out like old ships of the line.

Friendly fighters ducked and weaved in between the battle, preying on the alien transports as they tried to breach the lines of frigates and reach the carriers. As they watched, two such transports burst into fragments, another three punched through a hole in the perimeter.

“Sir, they are on intercept course with us,” said Vega hastily.

“Bring the bastards down!” Huber screamed.

They watched a wing of three human fighters bank hard and engage the three ships. They got out an initial burst of fire but were cut down from cannons from the enemy vessels. Two of the fighters exploded immediately, and the other was blown off course.

“Target our guns on those ships!” ordered Huber.

Vega was already relaying the commands before the Admiral had even finished giving them. Taylor watched with bated breath as the ships rushed towards them. He felt his hands grip tighter around the briefing table. As much as he didn’t want to see the Washington be compromised, he was desperate to get stuck in with the fight rather than watch it from afar.

“Destroy them!” Huber shouted.

The Washington’s guns opened fire with a vicious burst, destroying one of the enemy transports in its first volley. The second damaged one of the others, but they had passed within the range of many of the guns. The Kittyhawk rushed to their aid and fired rapidly at the leading enemy craft, and with one concentrated burst, smashed it off course, causing its hull to twist into a burning wreck.

They all watched the remaining enemy ship that was already damaged, still hurtle towards them. It was larger than the transports they had faced at the gateway, and Taylor was already trying to estimate the number of Mechs it might carry. A couple of hundred was his best guess, but he prayed he was wrong.

“We must have something left? Shoot the bastards down!” ordered Huber.

“Sir, they have passed within range of our guns. There’s nothing more I can do.”

“God damn it! Taylor, have your marines ready to repel the breach!”

Mitch was about to leap into action when he caught a sign of movement out of the corner of his eye. He looked closer to the display screen.

“Admiral, look!”

Huber rushed to his side and looked down to see two of the Washington’s fighters swoop in on a sharp arc towards the transport, running its length and strafing as they went. The bursts of gunfire ripped into the hull, but it kept moving. As the fighters passed, they spun around and continued to pour fire into the transport, continuing at the same speeds backwards. At the last moment, they put their engines on full as they approached the carrier.

The enemy transport was a complete wreck, but it still smashed into the hull at a fair speed. At the bridge, they couldn’t feel the impact against the vast carrier, but they could see the hole it smashed into the lower decks. After tearing a huge gouge in the Washington, the ruined transport merely floated past. Huber sighed in relief.

“Have those decks sealed off and repair crews sent immediately! Taylor get some of your troops down there to protect the crews whilst they work.”

He looked back to the frontline and could see the enemy attack had been smashed over the defensive wall of the fleet. Many of the ships continued to fire out at the remaining enemy ships, but he could see that most had already begun to flee.

“Do we pursue them?” asked Vega.

“No, continue to lay down fire while they are in range, and redress our formation as our communications come back on line.”

“Sir, this may be our only chance to finish them.”

“Count ourselves lucky, Captain. We fought the enemy on their terms in their system, and we won. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Wouldn’t you agree, Major?”

Taylor didn’t like being put on the spot in opposition to the XO, but he certainly did agree with the Admiral from a tactical perspective.

“Yes, Sir, we should take the time to repair and restore what we have, and get to the aid of our forces on Red 1.”

Huber smiled at Mitch’s well-timed retort.

“Sir, communications are back online.”