“More than a century ago, the Solar System was set ablaze as colonies declared their sovereignty from Earth. Our people when they first settled these worlds and established the colonies had new hopes, new dreams, and new lives waiting to be built. These were eventually shattered, not only by a rapidly solidifying Earth, but also by the greed of many men. It was not one particular breed of men. It was many breeds of people and organisations. This meant corporations, national entities, politicians on the colonies, and like us, they all had their own goals and dreams. Then one day, those politicians on the colonies had found life’s bottleneck: phosphorous in vast quantities on certain moons of various gas giants, on Deimos, and in many asteroids in the Belt and some of the Trojan objects. In an instant, we had gone from territories administered by separate national entities on Earth and (in recent years) its de-facto military force since the various terror attacks of the 2370s, the United Nations Authority on Planetary Affairs (UNAPA) to various independent states which would not only compete against each other, but against Earth as well. The stories about the Extraplanetary Wars were many, as is the Interbellum between the two. These are those stories, including my grandfather’s, my mother’s and finally, my own.” - Ching Wei, Clash of the Worlds: Stories of the First Extraplanetary War, Introduction
“Agreed” spoke another man in the Operations Centre. “And we have only confirmed it three days ago, when the task force began deceleration burn.”
“Any destinations that we are looking at?” the man in the holoscreen asked.
“We have been able to accurately locate it within the past month” spoke a different high-ranking officer at the left of the board representing a 3D holographic display of the Solar System. “And they are heading to reinforce Callisto. However, we do have a plan to intercept the hostile fleet and cripple or destroy it.”
“And what exactly is this ‘plan’?” the man in the holoscreen asked the officer. The officer then zoomed onto Jupiter and the board displayed a map of the Jovian system. The officer then pointed to the tiny moon called Carpo on it.
“See that tiny speck?” the officer asked his superior. “That moon is where we will intercept and defeat the task force. A conventional Hohmann transfer is not an option, so we may have to do with a Brachistochrone Transfer. We can intercept them in about nine days.”
“Good. Any available task forces in the area?” the man in the holoscreen asked before the officer.
“We do have one. It’s very small task force, but they are one of the best. Task Force 12. It currently has six functioning SDVs, two of each type. This means drone carriers, SOVs and SDeVs.
“I doubt that your plan could work, but I suppose we have no other option. Marshall Makhrov, I am authorising your plan, although I will mention that your plan is risky and dangerous. The probability of success might depend on twelve.”
“Thank you, Planetary Marshall. I will commence preparations effective immediately.” spoke Marshall Makhrov as the Planetary Marshall shut off his holoscreen.
The craft was massive, but tiny compared to even a small naval craft from Earth, with two habitat modules spinning around the craft, with each module rotating twice every minute, which would fold into the craft accelerates and and with the spacecraft itself powered by a fusion reactor. The craft had a fusion drive, a cluster of three nuclear thermal engines, and was equipped with several coilguns to strike a hostile craft on its horizontal and vertical sides, two for each side. The craft also had 4 primary radiators capable of being concealed in the battlefield, Between the engines and the reactor there was a spherical-like object that spun on itself as the craft moved and boiled liquid metal to radiate waste heat. It was called a Bubble Membrane Radiator.
It was an example of a typical Glushko-class SOV from the early 24th Century, but this Glushko-class SOV had been manufactured with its internal systems upgraded to fit the technology of 2394, and with the replacement of outdated parts and pieces in the internal components of the craft.
Still, it was a very impressive SOV compared to the SDeVs and drone carriers, all retrofitted Heavy Planetary Transportation Vehicles or HPTVs for short, and the low gravity (by Earth standards) generated by the spin habitats was not a concern to its thirty-man crew, genetically engineered to the lower gravity of Ganymede, not even to Commander Yuri Mikhailovich Torapev.
The Commander was an experienced, battle-hardened spacecraft commander with experiences in the art of military tactics and spacecraft operations, the former ever since he first read the works of Sun-Tsu and analysed the tactics used by the various great powers of history. As a Commander, he wanted to provide the crew and anyone in his command an opportunity to be flexible and to be able to adapt, unlike the majority of his more authoritarian and “by the book”-style superiors and fellow officers. Of course, Toparev was not excluded from this, as even he was a very authoritarian man when it came to obeying the orders of his superiors. Still, this principle helped lead to the successes in Thebe and in Pywill Crater and he hoped, since they left for Carpo, that this would lead them to success. However, if there is one thing he wanted to know aside from what he already knew, it was the knowledge of feeling that he meant something to people. If it meant being anonymous or known, then let it be so, he said once as an adolescent back on Ganymede. He kept that when he first joined as part of the Soviet Cosmonaut Expeditionary Force, before the attacks forced UNAPA to take control, and before the war. Things changed, but the ideal remained.
Toparev was already sleeping in the Commander’s Quarters when Chief Exo Officer Voloshyn knocked on the door to wake him.
“Come in!” Toparev said in Ganyrstrovian Russian as he woke up from his sleep, and in a rather grumpy tone in his voice.
“Commander!” Voloshyn spoke in a hurried fashion. “Lt. Marshall Guskov wants you in the CIC now.”
Toparev sighed for a moment. He spoke, still grumpy and with his eyes still barely open:
“What does he need now, Voloshyn?”
“Apparently” Voloshyn replied. “They are getting ready for the conference.”
“I will be there.” He spoke in a more calm tone, and looked at his uniform in the closet at the other side of the quarters.
He changed his clothing from his pyjamas to his uniform after Voloshyn left and went down to the CIC in HabModule 1, passing via the corridors of the spin habitat trying to get there.
Toparev arrived at the CIC with all of its personnel conducting all sorts of activities, from analysing trajectories, to checking radiator temperature, to communicating between other craft, even making managing the computers and making sure they provide a good firing solution when in combat. The other Commanders and Lt. Marshall Guskov were all displayed in the holoscreen, opting to commence. Toparev stood before them, and greeted them with a military salute.
“Commanders.” spoke Guskov in Ganyrstrovian Russian with a tone equivalent to a man of authority and respect. “We have four hours and foury-eight minutes left before the Gaians can obtain a hard detect, so we have that long to plan out our attack. They already made a soft detect over three days ago, and based on recent observations from our telescopes and sensor platforms, we suspect that they may already be preparing for a possible attack. We have to conduct this while attempting to minimise casualties, and unleash as much damage as possible. So, gentlemen, it is time to look at our options. What do we have?”
“At the moment” Cdr. Kalinin said “We have our usual formation of a balanced number of spacecraft for each Task Group, Constellation and Delta. However, that was when the Task Force was originally established prior to the Battle of Thebe. So, we have 1 spacecraft of each type for each Delta, sir. This gives us at least 3 options.”
“And those are?” asked Guskov, wondering at what his proposal might bring of use to Task Force 12.
“Option #1 would be to launch the drones at a precise point along our approach before the battle, and when we engage, strike the Gaians from behind as we conduct a return trajectory to Ganymede, use the drones to inflict heavy casualties and then finish them off. Option #2 would be to fire our coilguns at a precise point similar to option #1 and use the slugs as “mines” and then launch the drones around a similar precise point, and use them as an advance. This will limit their capability to manoeuvre and if the drones are lucky, will leave them in tatters. Option #3 will involve approaching from behind Carpo, as depicted in Option #1, but the option is also a risky one. In the second option, depending on our distance, our computer systems may not give a firing solution in an efficient manner, and the drones may be stopped in their tracks by enemy SDeVs in most options.”
“So.” said Guskov. “I am looking at 3 options, all with a certain probability of failure. If we conduct the first two options, we get detected early, and the third option may involve getting close.”
“So, it is either get detected early…” said Cdr. Lazarev.
“......Or attempt a suicide run.” Toparev spoke as he interrupted and finished his fellow officer’s statement.
“Yes” Kalinin said darkly. He then continued in a more formal tone. “So, Lt. Marshall? Do we risk early detection in one of two ways or attempt a suicide run? Pick your poison.” Guskov sat in silence with a pensive scowl, as the officers waited with disciplined patience as the old (by Ganymedean standards), but battle-hardened master tactician formulated his plan.
“I have considered all the options”. He spoke after three minutes. “Despite the high risk, we will take the final option, but only because of three reasons: one, this mission needs to maintain the element of surprise until the last minute, two, our computer systems would have to be at the outer limits of our range to get a firing solution, and three, this option gives room to improvise.”
“Lt. Marshall” spoke Cdr. Abdulov in a concerned tone, while maintaining any signs of respect. “I would advise against this decision. Since, you mentioned at the beginning of this conference that you wanted ‘minimal casualties’, yet you accept a plan that could lead to a massacre for not only the Gaians (assuming this risky manoeuvre works), but to us as well. If this manoeuvre works or fails, it would reduce us to either 1 SDV or none at all, depending on success.”
“Commander” spoke Toparev in an attempt to counter his argument, with a base in superior combat experience as per the Battle of Thebe and the Siege of Pywill Crater on Europa. “With all due respect, it is either this or risk losing our drones to 4 SDeVs, and have the Gaians expecting an attack. It also has room to improve, as per Lt. Marshall Guskov’s mentioned reasons. So, I could support this, with a partial implementation of Option #2 in an optimistic scenario.”
The rest of the Commanders agreed, with the sole exception of Tomenko, who supported Abdulov’s argument, and the decision was made: Option 3 would be implemented, but in an optimistic scenario, the partial implementation of Option 2 would be conducted. Whether they lived or died was now up to them.
“Well, Marshall?” She spoke in a rather hurried tone. “Is it confirmed?”
“Yes” said Vice Marshall Ramirez in an accented English in a calm but informative tone in his voice. “Turns out, it is worse than we initially expected.”
“What!?” she snapped immediately. “What exactly am I looking at in their composition?”
“Apparently, six SDVs, two of each type.” said Schneider in German. “Remember Thebe?”
“Yes, I remember” she replied in German, unconcerned initially. “What about it?” Schneider displayed the ship types on the CIC’s tactical information display, along with all the data about them. Reed’s face turned blank, and then began to display worry.
“Task Force 12” Reed said darkly. “Shit….they were twelve of those SDVs in my previous confrontation. I see they haven’t fully recovered.”
“Well, whatever it is worth, we better get ready.” spoke Schneider in German, attempting to be cautious.
“Agreed” spoke Ramirez. He then muttered in Spanish: “If we fail….God help us all.”
“Davidenko” he told him as he got inside. “Where are they in their current trajectory?”
“Sir.” Comm-Lt. Davidenko spoke. “The enemy is already making a pass by Carpo on their trajectory. Within the next two minutes, we will be making our manoeuvre.”
“Perfect.” Cdr. Toparev replied, who then chuckled. He turned to Combat-Lt. Aliyev after transmitting via laser communications Davidenko’s findings.
“Aliyev!” he alerted the Lieutenant. “Deploy kinetic mines.”
“Understood, Commander!” he responded in kind.
The kinetic mines were deployed into the trajectory UNAPA was going to take as they approached Carpo. Carpo was a very uninhabited moon with little of note. It was three kilometres in diameter and they were a few dozen kilometres in distance relative to it, and by the time those mines were deployed, Task Force 12 was already in the process of conducting its approach.
Task Force 12 began conducting the manoeuvre, retracted the primary radiators, and their primary engines began to roar. In reality, these engines would not be heard in a vacuum, but the “roaring”was felt by the crew as the engines began their work. Of course, the manoeuvre took some time to complete with the primary engines, despite their deceleration having recently finished earlier, and then they began their approach.
“Sir!” spoke Rec-Lt. Zhang to Cdr. Schneider in German with the tone in his voice serving as an alert. “We have incoming bogies and several mines on our trajectory.”
“Damn it.” Schneider spoke to himself, trying to hide his emotions. “We have to pick our vectors carefully.”
Ramirez entered the CIC and turned to Schneider.
“Commander” he spoke with an authoritarian voice. “Status report.”
“We have a minefield and multiple enemies on approach” Schneider reported to Ramirez.
“Well then.” Ramirez replied in a confident tone. “If they want a fight, we can give them one they will never leave alive.” He activated the craft’s radio transmitter.
“All craft, I have two orders: one, avoid those mines at all costs and two, ready your weapons…...” he spoke into the radio and awaited for the weapons to be within range of the computer systems. The computer gave the firing solution a few moments later.“ ….and FIRE!”
The coilguns in each SOV fired their kinetic slugs out the barrels and at a high speed, they were sent flying into the enemy.
“All craft” spoke Guskov over the radio, calm but authoritarian as always. “Launch 30 drones, 2 each hostile craft and RETURN FIRE!”
Task Force 12’s own kinetic slugs fired out the barrels and at high speed. However, the drones were also being launched, and they used their main stages, all gas core nuclear thermal engines, to accelerate in the direction of the enemy and change their trajectory.
The enemy drone carriers later on launched their drones and the two sides had their drones and kinetic slugs flying past them, with each side’s pilots trying their best to avoid damage or destruction.
“All craft, casualty report.” he spoke via the radio transmitters.
“Vice Marshall” spoke Cdr. Mei of the UNSDV Tokugawa. “We lost at least 50% of our forces. We still have 2 SCVs left, but we have taken heavy losses.”
“Damn it” said Reed in the background. Ramirez then spoke.
“Gentlemen, we have several mines incoming and a rebel Task Force closing in. I want all remaining craft to initiate evasive manoeuvres and fire all available weapons. Whatever you do, keep firing and do not stop for any reason other than friendly fire. Got it?”
“Understood Vice Marshall.” spoke Cdr. David of the UNSDV Leviathan and the rest of the Task Force’s SDeVs and SOVs. The engines roared and they began their combat manoeuvre, all while trying to avoid the mines ahead. And it was not easy trying to avoid those mines and maintain a good approach angle.
“Sir!” Davidenko spoke. His tone then turned to concern. “We lost the BKK Reaper.”
“Crap!” Cdr. Toparev replied in frustration. He did not consider the circumstances, but given the craft is physically destroyed, the likely scenario was that the Lieutenant Marshall was either reduced to particles or is a floating corpse in the vacuum of space, surrounded by lethal shrapnel and space junk. The battle-hardened veteran then cleared his head.
“Gentlemen?” he spoke before the CIC and the rest of the crew. He then turned to the radio transmitter. “This is Lt. Marshall Yuri Mikhailovich Toparev. I am currently taking command of the remaining craft of Task Force 12. I want all survivors to report.”
“BKK Strength of Jupiter reporting.” Abdulov said via the radio transmitters.
“BKK Hand of Svarog, awaiting orders.” Kalinin said via the radio transmitters.
“Then I have new orders” Toparev replied via the radio transmitter.
“Sir!” Davidenko barked to Toparev.”We have multiple bogies beginning their attack run!” Toparev turned away from the radio transmitter for a few moments.
“Well, then…..” he said confidently and turned back to the radio transmitter. “All craft, initiate combat manoeuvres and ready all weapons.” He then turned to the Vice Commander “Savvin? The BKK Death Dragon is yours now—Commander.”
“Understood, Lieutenant Marshall.” he replied with a crisp military salute. “You can count on me to lead us out alive.”
“I trust you will, Commander.” Toparev replied. “Now, contact the bridge in the Command Module. We need those engines running to engage the enemy. Lt. Aliyev, are we within range?”
“Yes, Commander.” he replied. “Specifically, we are talking at a range of 15,000 km and getting closer. That is the majority of the enemy craft, all SDVs, whereas the remaining SCVs and hostile Drone Carriers are attempting to stay behind.”
“Alright, good enough.” he replied to Aliyev. He then began to give orders to the fleet. “All weapons, fire on my signal.”
The craft on both sides began their next approach, even with dozens of depleted uranium slugs of ammunition (with their shrapnel) being affected by the ECM systems while their engines roared in order to get a precise approach vector and then fire their volleys of ammunition. It took them some time, of course, as they approached a distance of 5,000 km relative to each other, they began to aim their coilguns at each other, and when they did, the barrages of ammunition began to be released from their coilguns, Over a period of four minutes, the two sides would begin to receive the opponent’s barrage of weapons fire, and their ECM systems and the SDeVs would do everything to keep them away from the craft. These slugs were a problem, especially when they used a shrapnel shell-type method.
***
The CIC aboard the UNSDV Beowulf began blaring up as casualty reports from other craft began coming in. The destruction of the UNSDV Leviathan, UNSDV Tartarus, UNSDV Allah’s Shield, and the UNSDV Gaia’s Protector were reported as they began to receive the enemy’s barrage of weapons fire. The rebels were approaching and they began to fly past their last SOV with a close approach of at least 980 metres. They then began slowly drifting away from the enemy.
“Well, that was close.” remarked Battle-Lt. Al-Ahdal in Arabic. He turned to Cdr. Schneider and switched to German.“We better prepare, Commander.”
“Good idea.” Cdr. Schneider replied in German. “We might have to worry about another attack run.”
“Sir!” said Rec-Lt. Zhang in Spanish to Vice Marshall Ramirez as he finished calculating their trajectory. “They are going for a strike run on the drone carriers and SCVs!”
“Without the SCVs...” Vice Marshall Ramirez thought to himself. “....we may not be able to reinforce Callisto, which means any hopes to retake the Jovian System will be dashed.” He then began barking orders. “All craft, turn around and initiate intercept course! Keep them away from the SCVs and our drone carriers!”
***
Lt. Marshall Toparev gave the order to deploy additional mines to delay the enemy when they began approaching the SCVs and the Drone Carriers. The latter began launching the drones as they approached a distance of 30,000 km, and after a few minutes they were (narrowly) avoided, at the cost of the BKK Hand of Svarog. As they approached and reached a distance of 14,000 km, they began to fire their volleys of munition at the carriers. However, because of the distance, they had to use their guidance stages. But of course, Drone Carriers had ECM systems designed to counter the terminal attack stages of a drone and it was the very design of those ECM systems that proved to be their demise as the coilguns opened fire and the depleted uranium slugs with their shrapnel tore them apart.
Toparev smiled as the visuals caught on to the destruction of both craft and they began to shatter and break apart. The “explosions” were not really very fiery and the actual ones were actually occurring inside the pressurised modules and away from the sections near the vacuum. In other modules, it was simply them breaking like pieces of blocks falling down on someone, and before then, the two were reduced to space junk.
As they approached the 5,000 km range, they began to fire in a more clear direction, but the enemy was on high-speed approach. Toparev had to think and quickly.
“Sir. we have hostiles on high-speed approach to our position.” spoke Davidenko to Savvin.
“Lt. Marshall!” Savvin told Toparev in a concerned tone and somewhat loud voice. He then went with a more calm tone.“We have two choices: engage the enemy on our tail and let the SCVs proceed to Callisto or we take out the SCVs and stop them for good.”
“So” Toparev replied darkly. “Either sacrifice victory for Ganymede’s freedom or Ganymede’s freedom for victory.”
“Unfortunately so.” Savvin told Toparev. Toparev then began thinking. After a few minutes, as the enemy got closer and closer, he had to make a choice: to die a hero or live a coward’s life. He then sighed and made his decision very clear.
“Gentlemen” Toparev spoke. “Fire all weapons at the enemy SCVs.”
“Understood” replied Davidenko. “We are going to die for this, obviously. But it was honour to serve with you, Toparev.”
“The same feelings to you, and the rest of Task Force 12, Davidenko.” replied Toparev with a tone that expressed a sense of hope and loss at the same time, but felt he finally got his wish.
The BKK Death Dragon began to fire its volleys at the SCVs when they were 3,000 km from them. The craft then began to turn around with its RCS Thrusters and aim at the enemy. The coilguns began firing as the SCVs attempted their evasive manoeuvres. However, no ECM systems or point defence means they were vulnerable. As they began to take hits, they began to break apart and become space junk orbiting Jupiter, having achieved escape velocity from the tiny moon. The BKK Strength of Jupiter attempted to stop the enemy’s barrages of depleted uranium rounds and their shrapnel, but even the BKK Strength of Jupiter would not last long.
“Damn it.” Ramirez thought in his head and he turned to the radio transmitter. “All craft. The SCVs are gone, as your sensors and visuals might notice. However, if they win, we will make sure that they never enjoy their victory. Now, all craft, FIRE EVERYTHING!”
They began to fire their volleys of ammunition. 30 seconds later, the UNSDV Beowulf was gone.
“Only the dead have seen the end of war.” - George Santayana
Be warned: any indent errors can be fixed at a later time. Until then....well, you get the idea. :/
***
“Gentlemen, the situation has started to become more desperate than it already was.” spoke a man in Ganyrstrovian, a dialect of Russian, through the holoscreen. “The Gaians have already deployed reinforcements to assist their remaining troops in the Jovian system, and we have been suspecting of this for the past two months.” “Agreed” spoke another man in the Operations Centre. “And we have only confirmed it three days ago, when the task force began deceleration burn.”
“Any destinations that we are looking at?” the man in the holoscreen asked.
“We have been able to accurately locate it within the past month” spoke a different high-ranking officer at the left of the board representing a 3D holographic display of the Solar System. “And they are heading to reinforce Callisto. However, we do have a plan to intercept the hostile fleet and cripple or destroy it.”
“And what exactly is this ‘plan’?” the man in the holoscreen asked the officer. The officer then zoomed onto Jupiter and the board displayed a map of the Jovian system. The officer then pointed to the tiny moon called Carpo on it.
“See that tiny speck?” the officer asked his superior. “That moon is where we will intercept and defeat the task force. A conventional Hohmann transfer is not an option, so we may have to do with a Brachistochrone Transfer. We can intercept them in about nine days.”
“Good. Any available task forces in the area?” the man in the holoscreen asked before the officer.
“We do have one. It’s very small task force, but they are one of the best. Task Force 12. It currently has six functioning SDVs, two of each type. This means drone carriers, SOVs and SDeVs.
“I doubt that your plan could work, but I suppose we have no other option. Marshall Makhrov, I am authorising your plan, although I will mention that your plan is risky and dangerous. The probability of success might depend on twelve.”
“Thank you, Planetary Marshall. I will commence preparations effective immediately.” spoke Marshall Makhrov as the Planetary Marshall shut off his holoscreen.
***
The BKK Drakon Smerti (Death Dragon), and 5 other spacecraft: the BKK Ognennyy Shar (Fireball), the BKK Zhnets (Reaper), the BKK Adskyi Ogoni (Hellfire), the BKK Sila Yupitera (Strength of Jupiter), and the BKK Ruka Svaroga (Hand of Svarog), had already been en route to Carpo for over 4 days when planning of the actual battle began onboard the BKK Death Dragon. The craft was massive, but tiny compared to even a small naval craft from Earth, with two habitat modules spinning around the craft, with each module rotating twice every minute, which would fold into the craft accelerates and and with the spacecraft itself powered by a fusion reactor. The craft had a fusion drive, a cluster of three nuclear thermal engines, and was equipped with several coilguns to strike a hostile craft on its horizontal and vertical sides, two for each side. The craft also had 4 primary radiators capable of being concealed in the battlefield, Between the engines and the reactor there was a spherical-like object that spun on itself as the craft moved and boiled liquid metal to radiate waste heat. It was called a Bubble Membrane Radiator.
It was an example of a typical Glushko-class SOV from the early 24th Century, but this Glushko-class SOV had been manufactured with its internal systems upgraded to fit the technology of 2394, and with the replacement of outdated parts and pieces in the internal components of the craft.
Still, it was a very impressive SOV compared to the SDeVs and drone carriers, all retrofitted Heavy Planetary Transportation Vehicles or HPTVs for short, and the low gravity (by Earth standards) generated by the spin habitats was not a concern to its thirty-man crew, genetically engineered to the lower gravity of Ganymede, not even to Commander Yuri Mikhailovich Torapev.
The Commander was an experienced, battle-hardened spacecraft commander with experiences in the art of military tactics and spacecraft operations, the former ever since he first read the works of Sun-Tsu and analysed the tactics used by the various great powers of history. As a Commander, he wanted to provide the crew and anyone in his command an opportunity to be flexible and to be able to adapt, unlike the majority of his more authoritarian and “by the book”-style superiors and fellow officers. Of course, Toparev was not excluded from this, as even he was a very authoritarian man when it came to obeying the orders of his superiors. Still, this principle helped lead to the successes in Thebe and in Pywill Crater and he hoped, since they left for Carpo, that this would lead them to success. However, if there is one thing he wanted to know aside from what he already knew, it was the knowledge of feeling that he meant something to people. If it meant being anonymous or known, then let it be so, he said once as an adolescent back on Ganymede. He kept that when he first joined as part of the Soviet Cosmonaut Expeditionary Force, before the attacks forced UNAPA to take control, and before the war. Things changed, but the ideal remained.
Toparev was already sleeping in the Commander’s Quarters when Chief Exo Officer Voloshyn knocked on the door to wake him.
“Come in!” Toparev said in Ganyrstrovian Russian as he woke up from his sleep, and in a rather grumpy tone in his voice.
“Commander!” Voloshyn spoke in a hurried fashion. “Lt. Marshall Guskov wants you in the CIC now.”
Toparev sighed for a moment. He spoke, still grumpy and with his eyes still barely open:
“What does he need now, Voloshyn?”
“Apparently” Voloshyn replied. “They are getting ready for the conference.”
“I will be there.” He spoke in a more calm tone, and looked at his uniform in the closet at the other side of the quarters.
He changed his clothing from his pyjamas to his uniform after Voloshyn left and went down to the CIC in HabModule 1, passing via the corridors of the spin habitat trying to get there.
Toparev arrived at the CIC with all of its personnel conducting all sorts of activities, from analysing trajectories, to checking radiator temperature, to communicating between other craft, even making managing the computers and making sure they provide a good firing solution when in combat. The other Commanders and Lt. Marshall Guskov were all displayed in the holoscreen, opting to commence. Toparev stood before them, and greeted them with a military salute.
“Commanders.” spoke Guskov in Ganyrstrovian Russian with a tone equivalent to a man of authority and respect. “We have four hours and foury-eight minutes left before the Gaians can obtain a hard detect, so we have that long to plan out our attack. They already made a soft detect over three days ago, and based on recent observations from our telescopes and sensor platforms, we suspect that they may already be preparing for a possible attack. We have to conduct this while attempting to minimise casualties, and unleash as much damage as possible. So, gentlemen, it is time to look at our options. What do we have?”
“At the moment” Cdr. Kalinin said “We have our usual formation of a balanced number of spacecraft for each Task Group, Constellation and Delta. However, that was when the Task Force was originally established prior to the Battle of Thebe. So, we have 1 spacecraft of each type for each Delta, sir. This gives us at least 3 options.”
“And those are?” asked Guskov, wondering at what his proposal might bring of use to Task Force 12.
“Option #1 would be to launch the drones at a precise point along our approach before the battle, and when we engage, strike the Gaians from behind as we conduct a return trajectory to Ganymede, use the drones to inflict heavy casualties and then finish them off. Option #2 would be to fire our coilguns at a precise point similar to option #1 and use the slugs as “mines” and then launch the drones around a similar precise point, and use them as an advance. This will limit their capability to manoeuvre and if the drones are lucky, will leave them in tatters. Option #3 will involve approaching from behind Carpo, as depicted in Option #1, but the option is also a risky one. In the second option, depending on our distance, our computer systems may not give a firing solution in an efficient manner, and the drones may be stopped in their tracks by enemy SDeVs in most options.”
“So.” said Guskov. “I am looking at 3 options, all with a certain probability of failure. If we conduct the first two options, we get detected early, and the third option may involve getting close.”
“So, it is either get detected early…” said Cdr. Lazarev.
“......Or attempt a suicide run.” Toparev spoke as he interrupted and finished his fellow officer’s statement.
“Yes” Kalinin said darkly. He then continued in a more formal tone. “So, Lt. Marshall? Do we risk early detection in one of two ways or attempt a suicide run? Pick your poison.” Guskov sat in silence with a pensive scowl, as the officers waited with disciplined patience as the old (by Ganymedean standards), but battle-hardened master tactician formulated his plan.
“I have considered all the options”. He spoke after three minutes. “Despite the high risk, we will take the final option, but only because of three reasons: one, this mission needs to maintain the element of surprise until the last minute, two, our computer systems would have to be at the outer limits of our range to get a firing solution, and three, this option gives room to improvise.”
“Lt. Marshall” spoke Cdr. Abdulov in a concerned tone, while maintaining any signs of respect. “I would advise against this decision. Since, you mentioned at the beginning of this conference that you wanted ‘minimal casualties’, yet you accept a plan that could lead to a massacre for not only the Gaians (assuming this risky manoeuvre works), but to us as well. If this manoeuvre works or fails, it would reduce us to either 1 SDV or none at all, depending on success.”
“Commander” spoke Toparev in an attempt to counter his argument, with a base in superior combat experience as per the Battle of Thebe and the Siege of Pywill Crater on Europa. “With all due respect, it is either this or risk losing our drones to 4 SDeVs, and have the Gaians expecting an attack. It also has room to improve, as per Lt. Marshall Guskov’s mentioned reasons. So, I could support this, with a partial implementation of Option #2 in an optimistic scenario.”
The rest of the Commanders agreed, with the sole exception of Tomenko, who supported Abdulov’s argument, and the decision was made: Option 3 would be implemented, but in an optimistic scenario, the partial implementation of Option 2 would be conducted. Whether they lived or died was now up to them.
***
Lt. Cdr. Alexandra Solomon Reed was supervising one of the habitation nodules onboard the UNSDV Beowulf, when she was called to the CIC while the rebel Task Force entered the identification phase. She rushed as fast as she could to HabModule 1, and to the CIC. Vice Marshall Ramirez and Cdr. Schneider were already waiting when Reed got there. “Well, Marshall?” She spoke in a rather hurried tone. “Is it confirmed?”
“Yes” said Vice Marshall Ramirez in an accented English in a calm but informative tone in his voice. “Turns out, it is worse than we initially expected.”
“What!?” she snapped immediately. “What exactly am I looking at in their composition?”
“Apparently, six SDVs, two of each type.” said Schneider in German. “Remember Thebe?”
“Yes, I remember” she replied in German, unconcerned initially. “What about it?” Schneider displayed the ship types on the CIC’s tactical information display, along with all the data about them. Reed’s face turned blank, and then began to display worry.
“Task Force 12” Reed said darkly. “Shit….they were twelve of those SDVs in my previous confrontation. I see they haven’t fully recovered.”
“Well, whatever it is worth, we better get ready.” spoke Schneider in German, attempting to be cautious.
“Agreed” spoke Ramirez. He then muttered in Spanish: “If we fail….God help us all.”
***
Toparev had entered the CIC when they the UNAPA Task Force started passing Carpo on their approach, as per the optimistic scenario planned 5 days ago, in the nick of time. They had only to approach from a certain angle, and once they are within range of the targeting computers, open fire. So, he and the rest are ready. He turned to Comm-Lt. Davidenko. “Davidenko” he told him as he got inside. “Where are they in their current trajectory?”
“Sir.” Comm-Lt. Davidenko spoke. “The enemy is already making a pass by Carpo on their trajectory. Within the next two minutes, we will be making our manoeuvre.”
“Perfect.” Cdr. Toparev replied, who then chuckled. He turned to Combat-Lt. Aliyev after transmitting via laser communications Davidenko’s findings.
“Aliyev!” he alerted the Lieutenant. “Deploy kinetic mines.”
“Understood, Commander!” he responded in kind.
The kinetic mines were deployed into the trajectory UNAPA was going to take as they approached Carpo. Carpo was a very uninhabited moon with little of note. It was three kilometres in diameter and they were a few dozen kilometres in distance relative to it, and by the time those mines were deployed, Task Force 12 was already in the process of conducting its approach.
Task Force 12 began conducting the manoeuvre, retracted the primary radiators, and their primary engines began to roar. In reality, these engines would not be heard in a vacuum, but the “roaring”was felt by the crew as the engines began their work. Of course, the manoeuvre took some time to complete with the primary engines, despite their deceleration having recently finished earlier, and then they began their approach.
***
Meanwhile, the UNSDV Beowulf had detected the manoeuvre and the craft, along with the rest of the Task Force’s SDVs prepared for combat and the SCVs were given the order to take evasive manoeuvres. “Sir!” spoke Rec-Lt. Zhang to Cdr. Schneider in German with the tone in his voice serving as an alert. “We have incoming bogies and several mines on our trajectory.”
“Damn it.” Schneider spoke to himself, trying to hide his emotions. “We have to pick our vectors carefully.”
Ramirez entered the CIC and turned to Schneider.
“Commander” he spoke with an authoritarian voice. “Status report.”
“We have a minefield and multiple enemies on approach” Schneider reported to Ramirez.
“Well then.” Ramirez replied in a confident tone. “If they want a fight, we can give them one they will never leave alive.” He activated the craft’s radio transmitter.
“All craft, I have two orders: one, avoid those mines at all costs and two, ready your weapons…...” he spoke into the radio and awaited for the weapons to be within range of the computer systems. The computer gave the firing solution a few moments later.“ ….and FIRE!”
The coilguns in each SOV fired their kinetic slugs out the barrels and at a high speed, they were sent flying into the enemy.
***
“Incoming enemy fire!” said Comm-Lt. Ivchenko on the BKK Reaper’s CIC as UNAPA fired its coilguns. “All craft” spoke Guskov over the radio, calm but authoritarian as always. “Launch 30 drones, 2 each hostile craft and RETURN FIRE!”
Task Force 12’s own kinetic slugs fired out the barrels and at high speed. However, the drones were also being launched, and they used their main stages, all gas core nuclear thermal engines, to accelerate in the direction of the enemy and change their trajectory.
The enemy drone carriers later on launched their drones and the two sides had their drones and kinetic slugs flying past them, with each side’s pilots trying their best to avoid damage or destruction.
***
After nearly 9 to 10 minutes, the drones began their approach, and depleted their main stage propellant. The fairings were separated, and the terminal attack stages were decoupled from the main stage. As they approached, the stages were within range of the SDeVs, which partially opened the combat mirrors and fired their lasers. These lasers, however, were not visible at all. In fact, the beams, even in visible light would never be visible outside an atmosphere. They were fired at 20 km of distance from the approach of the stages and within seconds, many of those stages were destroyed and those that were not, slammed into the enemy craft, either directly or after a period of course corrections. When it did, though…..BOOM! ***
The alerts flashed on the tactical operations screen of the CIC, with the UNSDV Lazarus, the UNSCV Harry Truman, the UNSDV Shieldbearer, the UNSDV Nikolai Rhyzkov, the UNSDV Colossus and the UNSDV Robert Oppenheimer all physically obliterated by the sheer kinetic energy of a few simple tungsten rods. Ramirez, Schneider and Reed were all there in the bridge, the first who then spoke.“All craft, casualty report.” he spoke via the radio transmitters.
“Vice Marshall” spoke Cdr. Mei of the UNSDV Tokugawa. “We lost at least 50% of our forces. We still have 2 SCVs left, but we have taken heavy losses.”
“Damn it” said Reed in the background. Ramirez then spoke.
“Gentlemen, we have several mines incoming and a rebel Task Force closing in. I want all remaining craft to initiate evasive manoeuvres and fire all available weapons. Whatever you do, keep firing and do not stop for any reason other than friendly fire. Got it?”
“Understood Vice Marshall.” spoke Cdr. David of the UNSDV Leviathan and the rest of the Task Force’s SDeVs and SOVs. The engines roared and they began their combat manoeuvre, all while trying to avoid the mines ahead. And it was not easy trying to avoid those mines and maintain a good approach angle.
***
At the same time, the CIC onboard the BKK Death Dragon was flaring up with casualty reports, as the terminal attack stages released by hostile drones made sure that the damages could wipe out the BKK Reaper, the BKK Fireball and the BKK Hellfire. The ECM and the SDeVs were able to keep them off, but things were not looking good. “Sir!” Davidenko spoke. His tone then turned to concern. “We lost the BKK Reaper.”
“Crap!” Cdr. Toparev replied in frustration. He did not consider the circumstances, but given the craft is physically destroyed, the likely scenario was that the Lieutenant Marshall was either reduced to particles or is a floating corpse in the vacuum of space, surrounded by lethal shrapnel and space junk. The battle-hardened veteran then cleared his head.
“Gentlemen?” he spoke before the CIC and the rest of the crew. He then turned to the radio transmitter. “This is Lt. Marshall Yuri Mikhailovich Toparev. I am currently taking command of the remaining craft of Task Force 12. I want all survivors to report.”
“BKK Strength of Jupiter reporting.” Abdulov said via the radio transmitters.
“BKK Hand of Svarog, awaiting orders.” Kalinin said via the radio transmitters.
“Then I have new orders” Toparev replied via the radio transmitter.
“Sir!” Davidenko barked to Toparev.”We have multiple bogies beginning their attack run!” Toparev turned away from the radio transmitter for a few moments.
“Well, then…..” he said confidently and turned back to the radio transmitter. “All craft, initiate combat manoeuvres and ready all weapons.” He then turned to the Vice Commander “Savvin? The BKK Death Dragon is yours now—Commander.”
“Understood, Lieutenant Marshall.” he replied with a crisp military salute. “You can count on me to lead us out alive.”
“I trust you will, Commander.” Toparev replied. “Now, contact the bridge in the Command Module. We need those engines running to engage the enemy. Lt. Aliyev, are we within range?”
“Yes, Commander.” he replied. “Specifically, we are talking at a range of 15,000 km and getting closer. That is the majority of the enemy craft, all SDVs, whereas the remaining SCVs and hostile Drone Carriers are attempting to stay behind.”
“Alright, good enough.” he replied to Aliyev. He then began to give orders to the fleet. “All weapons, fire on my signal.”
The craft on both sides began their next approach, even with dozens of depleted uranium slugs of ammunition (with their shrapnel) being affected by the ECM systems while their engines roared in order to get a precise approach vector and then fire their volleys of ammunition. It took them some time, of course, as they approached a distance of 5,000 km relative to each other, they began to aim their coilguns at each other, and when they did, the barrages of ammunition began to be released from their coilguns, Over a period of four minutes, the two sides would begin to receive the opponent’s barrage of weapons fire, and their ECM systems and the SDeVs would do everything to keep them away from the craft. These slugs were a problem, especially when they used a shrapnel shell-type method.
***
The CIC aboard the UNSDV Beowulf began blaring up as casualty reports from other craft began coming in. The destruction of the UNSDV Leviathan, UNSDV Tartarus, UNSDV Allah’s Shield, and the UNSDV Gaia’s Protector were reported as they began to receive the enemy’s barrage of weapons fire. The rebels were approaching and they began to fly past their last SOV with a close approach of at least 980 metres. They then began slowly drifting away from the enemy.
“Well, that was close.” remarked Battle-Lt. Al-Ahdal in Arabic. He turned to Cdr. Schneider and switched to German.“We better prepare, Commander.”
“Good idea.” Cdr. Schneider replied in German. “We might have to worry about another attack run.”
“Sir!” said Rec-Lt. Zhang in Spanish to Vice Marshall Ramirez as he finished calculating their trajectory. “They are going for a strike run on the drone carriers and SCVs!”
“Without the SCVs...” Vice Marshall Ramirez thought to himself. “....we may not be able to reinforce Callisto, which means any hopes to retake the Jovian System will be dashed.” He then began barking orders. “All craft, turn around and initiate intercept course! Keep them away from the SCVs and our drone carriers!”
***
Lt. Marshall Toparev gave the order to deploy additional mines to delay the enemy when they began approaching the SCVs and the Drone Carriers. The latter began launching the drones as they approached a distance of 30,000 km, and after a few minutes they were (narrowly) avoided, at the cost of the BKK Hand of Svarog. As they approached and reached a distance of 14,000 km, they began to fire their volleys of munition at the carriers. However, because of the distance, they had to use their guidance stages. But of course, Drone Carriers had ECM systems designed to counter the terminal attack stages of a drone and it was the very design of those ECM systems that proved to be their demise as the coilguns opened fire and the depleted uranium slugs with their shrapnel tore them apart.
Toparev smiled as the visuals caught on to the destruction of both craft and they began to shatter and break apart. The “explosions” were not really very fiery and the actual ones were actually occurring inside the pressurised modules and away from the sections near the vacuum. In other modules, it was simply them breaking like pieces of blocks falling down on someone, and before then, the two were reduced to space junk.
As they approached the 5,000 km range, they began to fire in a more clear direction, but the enemy was on high-speed approach. Toparev had to think and quickly.
“Sir. we have hostiles on high-speed approach to our position.” spoke Davidenko to Savvin.
“Lt. Marshall!” Savvin told Toparev in a concerned tone and somewhat loud voice. He then went with a more calm tone.“We have two choices: engage the enemy on our tail and let the SCVs proceed to Callisto or we take out the SCVs and stop them for good.”
“So” Toparev replied darkly. “Either sacrifice victory for Ganymede’s freedom or Ganymede’s freedom for victory.”
“Unfortunately so.” Savvin told Toparev. Toparev then began thinking. After a few minutes, as the enemy got closer and closer, he had to make a choice: to die a hero or live a coward’s life. He then sighed and made his decision very clear.
“Gentlemen” Toparev spoke. “Fire all weapons at the enemy SCVs.”
“Understood” replied Davidenko. “We are going to die for this, obviously. But it was honour to serve with you, Toparev.”
“The same feelings to you, and the rest of Task Force 12, Davidenko.” replied Toparev with a tone that expressed a sense of hope and loss at the same time, but felt he finally got his wish.
The BKK Death Dragon began to fire its volleys at the SCVs when they were 3,000 km from them. The craft then began to turn around with its RCS Thrusters and aim at the enemy. The coilguns began firing as the SCVs attempted their evasive manoeuvres. However, no ECM systems or point defence means they were vulnerable. As they began to take hits, they began to break apart and become space junk orbiting Jupiter, having achieved escape velocity from the tiny moon. The BKK Strength of Jupiter attempted to stop the enemy’s barrages of depleted uranium rounds and their shrapnel, but even the BKK Strength of Jupiter would not last long.
***
“Sir!” Zhang said in a rather concerned manner. “The SCVs are gone!”“Damn it.” Ramirez thought in his head and he turned to the radio transmitter. “All craft. The SCVs are gone, as your sensors and visuals might notice. However, if they win, we will make sure that they never enjoy their victory. Now, all craft, FIRE EVERYTHING!”
They began to fire their volleys of ammunition. 30 seconds later, the UNSDV Beowulf was gone.
***
The barrages of hostile munitions approached the BKK Death Dragon, and the ECM systems were beginning to become incapable of keeping up. As they approached within 2,000 km of the nearest hostile spacecraft, the CIC began to break apart, and the explosions began to occur within the HabModules. Within minutes, Toparev was no longer inside HabModule 1 but rapidly speeding away from the wreckage and into the vacuum. Within the 15 seconds of consciousness Toparev had, he did not panic, nor did he gasp for air in short bursts. He stared at the surface of Carpo with Jupiter behind it smiling calmly, feeling at peace as his consciousness faded and his systems stopped functioning. His vision went to black in that short period of time, and within 2 minutes, everything else stopped functioning. Before they knew it, this battlefield became the tomb of Task Force 12, but by then, they had left their mark in history.“Only the dead have seen the end of war.” - George Santayana
Be warned: any indent errors can be fixed at a later time. Until then....well, you get the idea. :/
Hard Science Fiction Cadet Author and Ready to Stomp Handwavium
