Assault: The Globur Incursion Book 6, page 36
Umbrella was a combination air defense, artillery, and heavy-weapons platform that formed a protective umbrella over Marines to protect them from conventional artillery and missile attack while also taking down airborne threats. Umbrella could also engage ground targets with its drones.
The umbrella units were usually not available to the standard MEF, but planetary garrisons had them, and so did the division, on their transports.
The comm was full of orders streaming to the Marines. They would reinforce the ambush set by Khan’s garrison. The Globur would not be expecting an ambush. They would probably believe the Marines were running for another position like they had before.
Alpha Company was directed straight to a resupply sled. Marines backed into slots, and the sled refilled their grenade launchers. Captain James flipped the company deployment plan, and Sanderson got the Marines into place. They dug furiously with their armored hands to get below ground level as the Globur assault approached.
The First Marine Planetary Assault Division withdrew through the single battalion arrayed in ambush positions and resupplied before broadening the position and digging in.
Sanderson got settled and commed Zhui over in Bravo Company. “Zhui, you still kicking?”
“Still kicking, Sanderson,” Zhui came back evenly. “Still kicking. Did you hear about Antonetti?”
“Yeah, I saw. Passed by him,” replied Sanderson gravely. “There wasn’t much left. He was protecting a downed Marine. Took out one of the big ones with his blades.”
“He was my best platoon sergeant,” Zhui replied heavily. “Hell of a Marine. I tried to get to him, got my arm blown off. Then the nukes happened.”
“Shit, buddy, that sucks.” Sanderson tried to imagine Zhui with one arm. “Which arm?”
“Left one. Good thing I’m right-handed,” Zhui replied mildly. “It’s only a scratch—doesn’t even hurt. Besides, I’m sick of this running stuff, already.”
“Let’s give ‘em hell, Zhui. See you on the other side,” Sanderson replied before he killed the link. The last company from the division had just passed through the position, and along the entire front, grenade launchers were busy laying down a proximity minefield set for a delay to get the maximum number of Globur.
The Khan garrison also had some mines. They laid these in the last 200 meters in front of the Marines. These mines even had a built-in IFF system so that they would only detonate when they scanned a Globur.
The Globur were closing in now on the Marine’s former positions. They swept across with no hesitation. Sanderson watched the feed and saw that they had more of the larger Globurs than the previous attack.
Missiles buzzed overhead. The Marine position lit up with a rolling barrage of tactical nuclear detonations. The Marines were only a few klicks from the position and the short flight time gave the Globurs almost no chance of intercepting the nukes. The large new Globur force was gutted by the tactical nukes.
The Globurs were still coming. They probably detected the heat trail from the Marines withdrawing before the nukes hit them. That trail would lead them into the ambush.
Globur shuttles began arcing around the Marines so they could drop ambush groups in their path, assuming they were running to another position. With the umbrella, the Marines could easily take out the shuttles that were out of effective hammy range. They held their fire. They had to draw in the ground forces.
Chapter 40
Lieutenant Colonel Armand Sante watched his First Battalion withdraw with crisp precision. They had been in almost constant combat for days without much rest. They had watched the river boil with Globur at two positions and were now withdrawing from what he had thought was their last redoubt—the place where the first planetary assault division would die.
Sante pulled back his small headquarters detachment just in front of Alpha Company. They were the First battalion off the position. He took up a position just to the rear of Alpha Company, a bit close to the center, where the heavy fighting was likely to be.
He watched the Marines flow past him. They all looked much the same. Their once proud and shiny suits were marred by blast damage from Globur grenades and nukes. Every suit had rents in it that were highlighted by the orange sealing foam.
His battalion was quickly resupplied and took up prepared positions on the flank of the Marine garrison. Their suits were almost unmarked from heavy combat—almost. Sante knew they had seen some action but nothing heavy. That was about to change.
The division flowed off the position and through the gaps to the resupply, building out the ambush position that the garrison had set up. The nukes had hit the Globur hard enough that it bought the Marine division the time it needed to cycle every Marine through resupply and back into the line.
The positions were hasty preparations, and Marines immediately improved them by digging with their suited hands, making sure they minimized their exposure above ground. It was like watching huge shiny burrowing beetles.
“Lieutenant Colonel Sante?” The comm tagged the transmission as the CO of the Marine garrison, Lieutenant Colonel Blucher.
“Yeah, thanks for the support, Blucher,” Sante replied warmly. “We didn’t even detect you coming in.”
“That was intentional,” Blucher replied, all business. “We actually came in under the water—in the river. Got as close as we dared before coming on dry land in full stealth. We had to hold our speed down, or we would’ve been detected. We would have been here sooner and linked up, but we never thought the landing would be this far from Ulaan.”
“Neither did we,” replied Sante wearily. “The drop was rushed, and we never landed our heavy weapons. We stumbled right into their trap. Something is preventing the Fleet from settling into orbit.”
“Yeah, we know,” Blucher said. “All our comm satellites and even the stealth probes were taken out. We have no idea what is going on off-planet.”
Sante sighed. “Up there, in the system, there are three Fleet task forces and 16, now 15, planetary assault transports carrying our heavy weapons and supplies.”
“Wow,” Blucher replied thoughtfully. “I had no idea we even had three task forces capable of offensive operations.”
“We threw everything we had at this operation,” Sante spoke as his scanners began to pick up movement again in the direction of the Globur. All the probes left on the position had been wiped out by the nukes. “we are supposed to be here to save you.”
“You were at the Markus Nebula, right?” Blucher spoke the obvious since his AI must have told him that. “You are that Sante? The one who was on the contact planet?”
Sante let out a deep breath. “That was a long time ago—seems like another lifetime. Seen a lot of action since then.”
Sante turned to look at Blucher’s suit. It had some damage that showed close combat. “You’ve seen some as well. Saved some of the ships in TF13. Rear Admiral Pang is here in the system, commanding TF14 now. We might have the system, but not the planet. I wish we had more heavy weapons. And a better position.”
Blucher let out a small laugh that seemed strangely out of place. “This is only a temporary position. We’re going to hit them hard and pull back.”
Sante was taken aback. “They’re already flanking us! They will hunt us down in the grass. My Marines have already been through that. There’s no ridge, no rivers, nothing for days in the direction we are being forced.”
“I know what you’re saying, Sante,” replied Blucher, suddenly deadly serious again. “We have that all covered. We’re getting you off this plain. I have it covered, or I should say, we have it covered. I would explain, but it’s just something you have to see. We’ve survived here for weeks. Trust me. We’ll hit the Globur hard and then break contact.”
“Break contact?” Sante asked, surprised. “We haven’t been able to do that since we landed.”
“Just go with the plan,” replied Blucher. “You’ll see. Besides, the division just ate through almost our entire supply of grenades.”
Sante’s display pinged, and he saw new orders from Colonel Shaka. A full withdrawal on his order. It also detailed the fire plan for the Globur attack. Sante was shocked. That would expose the Marines to fire from the Globur. Even with the umbrellas working overtime, it was not clear how they would be able to break contact. “I have orders, and they’re hard to believe,” Sante shared.
“I know. I came here from Colonel Shaka,” Blucher explained. “He understands how this is going to work, but we don’t have much time before the Globurs arrive. I would love to hear the story of the contact planet some time—and the Markus Nebula.”
“I’ll tell it to you,” replied Sante, distracted by the Globur movement toward his battalion. “It’s a deal, if you hold up your end, and we survive. Drinks will be on me.”
“You will, Sante. You’re a hero,” replied Blucher, a smattering of mirth in his voice. “Besides, we do have a great plan.” Blucher offered his armored hand, and Sante grabbed it with a clang and shook it. “See you on the other side, Blucher.”
The two Marines officers parted company leaving Sante in his hastily dug position, looking at a wall of the tall, waving grass. Scanners showed the Globur were closing. Not as fast this time, but it looked like a lot of them. More spread out too.
He smiled as he saw the division’s frontage was wider than the Globur advance element. They were arranged in a shallow vee toward the enemy. The killing ground was a wide swath to their front. He checked his assault rifle and his topped-up grenade supply.
Blucher had saved some of TF13’s ships in this very system. His people had at least seen combat. That was a bonus. Surviving on a Globur-inhabited planet for weeks was surprising. They had assumed that the garrison had been wiped out by the Globur kinetic strikes or landings.
Sante saw the first grenades go up in gouts of flame and earth. The area that the Marines had seeded with proximity detonation grenades in an area-denial pattern was taking its toll on the enemy. The wall of fire meant that it was showtime. The sheet of flame and fragmentation caused the Globur to hesitate momentarily before continuing their rush to make contact.
“Hold your fire until I give the word,” Sante told his company commanders. A wordless acknowledgment came back immediately. Every Marine was looking through their heads-up display that was slaved to the targeting for their rifles or heavy lasers.
The earth beneath their feet trembled from the advancing Globur and the relentless detonations of the grenades that had been left behind. The pattern was denser on the outer edges to try and funnel the Globur further into the center. It appeared to be working.
Suddenly the horizon lit up, and the mines went off. They had been programmed to cut down the grass and shear Globur legs. They made a huge, open killing ground in front of the ambush. Sante saw previously quiet umbrellas firing up, more than the standard loadout for a Marine planetary garrison. Heavy lasers blasted out in rapid succession.
The Globur broke out of the deep grass, and the drones from the umbrella fired, taking out the larger Globurs in one shot. Others also took out some beam platforms. The Marines all along the front opened up, and Sante commanded the first salvo of grenades as tactical nukes screamed overhead toward the Globur.
Sante gritted his teeth as a wall of explosions lit up the front of the attacking Globur. We might just get out of this.
***
TF17 was in position, but Jones still did not like the plan. However, they had detected tactical nukes detonating on the planet. Nothing new, except these were imperial Marine weapons. That meant that the Marines were getting help. It also meant things were still dire on the surface.
Rear Admiral Pang was busy repairing her ships and sending assistance to TF16, which was the worst hit of all the task forces. Rear Admiral Brown’s Wallachia had taken heavy damage, and many of his ships were also heavily damaged. They had managed to destroy a Globur battlegroup, and that would give all of them some breathing room.
The resupply freighters had linked up with TF17 and replenished their interceptor missiles and attack missiles along with replacement fighters and torpedoes for the fighters and the destroyers. Some ships had actually been able to replace their defense clusters as well. Most importantly, they also had a full reload of capital missiles.
TF17 was not without significant damage, but the condition of the ships was not going to change much if they waited any longer. Rapier was back in formation and had managed to replace two of the focusing coils for their gravity drive. She was far from full power on the drive, but she could still outpace a battleship.
The plan they had was based on the observations of the Globur pods and the assumption that there was no way for the Globur to replenish them. They knew that damaged ones could regenerate, but that took time. It had only been hours since Rapier had made her run that had resulted in the destruction of dozens of the pods.
The plan was simply to go bigger. The Globur pods sat in stealth until something forced them to reveal themselves. Rapier had done that by diving into the atmosphere, making the pods follow her into the denser upper atmosphere. This made them visible to scanners. The fusion warheads they had set off in orbit had forced others to activate and reveal themselves. Rapier used her main batteries to target the pods before they fired.
It had also allowed the fighters and BPL warheads to take out pods as they became visible to scanners.
Jones had listened to the options. He liked simpler plans better than complex ones. TF17 would launch all heavy fighters and two salvos of attack missiles with BPL warheads under AI control.
The tricky part was the capital missiles. Everyone had noticed that some of the warhead detonations on Rapier’s run had forced some pods to unmask. The new plan was to detonate capital missiles repeatedly in near-orbit above Khan. The pods sat in orbit, powered down. That meant no shields. An antimatter detonation close enough should force them to activate their shields if it didn’t destroy them outright. The denotation was sure to force them into visibility for the scanners for at least a short period. They could be targeted during that time.
However, the capital missile detonation would blank out scanners for a short time, and if the pods took evasive maneuvers, they would be very difficult to target, as the time they would remain visible was uncertain.
Jones knew his task force could not take another mauling like they had endured when they tried to settle into orbit the first time. He knew he was taking a big risk. His right hand, Captain Jamal, who commanded Valkyrie, had been supportive, but the decision to go in rested on his shoulders.
Jones had decided to use a single capital missile to test the theory behind the plan as they went in. If it did not highlight some pods, they could always veer off. They needed to know they had a reasonable chance of success before they went in. TF17 was on the right course. All they needed was the command to accelerate and push into orbit.
The flag bridge on Valkyrie was quiet as the crews waited for the command to engage. Jones shifted in his command chair and took a deep breath. There was no knowing when the Marines needed help, but it was soon. “Battle stations. Commence missile launch. Launch all heavy fighters.”
Throughout TF17, augmentation deployed armor on all crew, and fighters began to shoot out of Valkyrie. The ships launched the first salvo of attack missiles with BPL warheads. Valkyrie launched her first salvo of capital missiles just ahead of the battleships and cruisers.
Jones watched as the heavy fighters took up flanking positions around the task force. Light and medium fighters launched to provide additional depth and firepower to TF17’s missile interdiction envelope.
“Take us in,” Jones ordered in a calm voice that belied the doubts playing through his mind. Pang has had a task force shot out from under her, and so have I. We can’t afford heavy ship losses here. If we don’t get through, the Marines could be wiped out. Hopefully, Rapier’s run made the difference we needed.
TF17 accelerated toward Khan as the frigates generated another salvo of attack missiles. Valkyrie completed fighter launches, and the fighters took up their position as Khan loomed large in the display on the flag bridge.
The flag plot showed the capital missile salvo keeping pace with the task force as a lone missile preceded them toward Khan. The task force was in a hedgehog formation. The bottom of the formation was flat since they expected no ground fire of any consequence compared with the pods that could surround them. The battleships had shrugged off some ground fire when they had attempted to settle in orbit the last time.
Jones felt himself holding his breath as the lone capital missile approached the detonation point the AI had set. He felt Valkyrie launch her second salvo of capital missiles.
The flag plot zoomed in on the lone capital missile and Khan as it detonated in a glare of antimatter annihilation. The flag plot pinged. Dozens of pods appeared, arrayed in a grid pattern in Khan's orbit. Jones watched as the contact faded. It was 2.8 seconds. Enough to get a lock. Enough to engage with a BPL warhead.
Jones waited for the AI to analyze the detonation. The result made him smile. “Tactical. Target the capital missiles to detonate closer to the planet. Have the denotations push the Globur around the planet. Let’s make sure those bastards are not hiding anything on the other side as we wipe out these damn pods.”
His tactical officer looked at the targeting data. “Sir, this is dangerously close. If we stay on profile, we could damage our own ships!”
Jones knew this was risky, and he also knew he had to go all in. “Navigation, tighten the formation. Then take us in. We need to take this planet.”
He watched as six more capital missiles sped ahead of TF17. They were committed now. There was no turning back.
“BPL warheads are in range,” reported the tactical station. Jones checked the flag plot. Every ship showed green on their main batteries. The AIs would coordinate fire to make sure that they did not target more than two weapons at each pod. There would be a lag as the jamming was interfering with the command link, but LOS communications were working fine.
