First Strike - An Earth@War Novel

Naval Space Center

Naval Base Oscar, Kylar II

May 21, 2487, 2330 Local, May 22, 2487, 0600 UT

The TP-5 landed at Kylar before midnight locally, making it still the 21st although for the troopers arriving on the transport, it felt like it was a day later. The twenty former recruits grabbed their duffle bags and headed to the terminal. Eight of the troopers, including Dave and Phil would board another TP‑5 in twenty minutes to take the 28 ½ hour flight to Rankus where they would refuel. After that, they would fly another 28 hours to Omar IV.

Max said goodbye to Dave and Phil, and then headed outside with eighteen other troopers that were reporting for duty either with the First or Twentieth Regiment of First Division. The night air was humid, especially after fifteen weeks in the dry Martian air, though it was significantly cooler. The sky was clear and Max could see the Hammond Nebula cluster in the sky above Kylar II. Palm trees seemed to be everywhere in contrast to the very few trees that had been planted in the Recruit Training Command for the Naval Assault Forces dome on Mars. The troopers noticed a man standing beside a transport vehicle outside of the terminal.

“Okay, I’m going to take you over to the division headquarters. So, load up,” the duty driver, a nameless corporal ordered. The nineteen troopers boarded the ground transport and ten minutes later, they arrived at Headquarters Third Division, II Corps of the Naval Assault Force.

The transport took a road north on the naval base. Twenty minutes later, they entered a gate with the Third Division’s crest on top of it. The entire Third Division complex was surrounded by a fence, separating it from the remainder of the naval base and providing security for the troopers. Third Division’s headquarters was a large four-story building two hundred yards and directly in front of the main gate. It was painted bright white, with well-maintained landscaping and the largest building in Third Division’s complex. To both sides and behind headquarters were clusters of T-shaped buildings, three building in each cluster. Each housed a battalion of troopers, one company to each floor, and one platoon in each wing. The First Regiment’s barracks were the ones to the left of headquarters. Third Regiment’s, to the right, sat empty since it was forward deployed to Omar IV. The Twentieth Regiment’s barracks were behind the headquarters.

Max and the other troopers went into headquarters and turned in their orders. They were processed quickly, unlike when arriving in boot camp, where processing took many hours. Max was assigned to Second Platoon of Company A, Second Battalion. After the nineteen troopers were processed, another corporal took them around, dropping them off the proper barracks.

Max enter the building for Second Battalion. Company A was on the first floor and Second Platoon was in the north wing. It was just after 0100 local time when Max entered the barracks. It was a standard setup with twelve cots on each side of a long open room, with footlockers at the end of each cot. Two long tables separated the two rows of cots. At the far end of the barracks was a door that led to the head and an office where Max could see a Sergeant standing at the door, signaling for him to come. Max walked down the barracks to the Sergeant and followed him into the office. The Sergeant shut the door and sat at a desk in front of Max.

“You are Private Finley?” the Sergeant asked.

“Yes, Sergeant,” Max replied formally.

“I’m Sergeant Wesley. I’m your platoon sergeant.” Sergeant Steve Wesley was the poster child of a Naval Assault Force Trooper. At 5’10”, he was a fit 180 pounds, toned, muscular and tanned from his time on Kylar II. He was a “lifer” with eight years of service already and recently signing up for his third four-year hitch. He had a firm demeanor, with a set jaw and tattoos covering both arms. He presented himself like a Sergeant you would see in the old Masic Point movies. The only thing the Sergeant lacked was combat experience.

“Nice to meet you, Sergeant,” Max said.

“Well, it’s too late to do anything tonight. Your bunk is the only empty one. Linen is in the footlocker. Why don’t you get some sleep? Revile is at 0600 and we’ll go over everything then.”

“Aye, Sergeant,” Max said. He left the office and went back into the dimly lit room. He opened his footlocker quietly, removed the linen and made his cot, perfectly tight, with hospital corners as he had been doing everyday since joining the Assault Forces. Then he went to the head, brushed his teeth and returned to his bunk and went to sleep.

* * * * *

Apartment Building 14

Naval Base Oscar, Kylar II

May 22, 2487, 0445 Local, 0925 UT

Although Kaitlyn was on leave, she still got up early to help her fiancé get ready. Her fiancé, she thought with a smile as she cleared the breakfast dishes. Andrew was dressing in his freshly pressed uniform. Andrew had offered to help clear the dishes, but Kaitlyn was enjoying doing the domestic duties. I’m going to be his wife, she thought looking down at her engagement ring.

“So, what are you going to do today?” Andrew asked as he came back into the room. Being on the Admiral’s staff, his uniform was kept in perfect shape. He was always clean-shaven and had his hair cut to exact military standard. Two rows of ribbons were on his chest, mostly unit citations. The only two individual awards he had were his good conduct medal and his space service ribbon.

“I want to go to the exchange and see about getting new dishes,” she said. As part of their engagement, she would be moving in with Andrew. Like most bachelors, Andrew had few dishes and none that matched, a point that Kaitlyn had teased him about on numerous occasions since they had started dating.

“Okay,” Andrew said with a chuckle holding his hands up as if surrendering. “Do you want to use the vehicle today?”

“Yes, if it’s okay,” she asked. She had only borrowed his vehicle on one other occasion, although Andrew had offered on several other occasions. Now that she was moving in, Kaitlyn felt more comfortable borrowing it. After all, by the time her leave was over it would be their apartment and their vehicle.

“Yes. You can just drop me off and pick me up at 1730. I’ll comm you if anything changes,” Andrew said as he poured one last cup of coffee. The couple sat together enjoying the last few minutes alone as Andrew drank the coffee.

They left the apartment at 0515 and Andrew walked into the office at almost exactly 0530. He started the coffee and retrieved the overnight dispatches. He knew it was going to be a long day when he saw the first one. Why wasn’t I informed? he thought, not for the first and unfortunately, not for the last time.

When Admiral Morris arrived at 0700, Andrew immediately handed him that dispatch. Admiral Morris read it and ordered, “Get me Rear Admiral Kilgallon.”

“Aye, sir,” Andrew said. He walked out to the reception area and using his comm unit contacted Headquarters Destroyer Squadron Ten and told the Duty Officer to locate Kilgallon and have him report to Admiral Morris immediately. While waiting for Kilgallon to arrive, Andrew anticipated the next thing the Admiral would want and prepared a message for all Fourth Fleet ships. Rear Admiral Kilgallon showed up at 0735 and Andrew led him into the Admiral’s office.

“Have a seat, Frank,” Admiral Morris said, “and read this.” Kilgallon read the dispatch in stunned silence. A ship, ESS Mexico (D-866) had collided with a stealth ship operating in stealth mode inside of the Omar system.

“Wow. I assume it wasn’t one of our own stealth ships,” Kilgallon said.

“No. We are assuming it was Batronian. No one else in this sector has stealth ships, and we can think of no one who would travel out here from anywhere else that has them,” the Admiral said. “Of course, the bastard blew up so we can’t say for sure.”

“So, what do we do?” Kilgallon asked.

“If the Batronians were operating a stealth ship in the Omar system, they may be operating them anywhere. A stealth ship, hell, a warship of any kind, operating inside of any of our systems is a violation of our territory and we would be justified to fire on it.”

“Yes, we would, sir,” Frank replied. As much as he didn’t want the situation with Batron to escalate, Admiral Morris was correct. Moving a warship of any type into another planet’s territory was certainly an aggressive act. And a stealth ship, whose entire purpose was to remain hidden, raised all kinds of red flags.

“Wilson, come in here,” the Admiral ordered through the comm unit. Andrew enter the office. “Prepare a message for the fleet to be on the lookout for any stealth ships in any of our systems. If they are detected, they are free to engage it.”

“Aye, sir,” Andrew said and then handed Admiral Morris the message he had already prepared.

“You’re good, Wilson,” the Admiral said signing the message.

ESS Argentina (D-868)

Near Kylar

May 22, 2487, 1415 UT

Commander Williams assembled the officer of Argentina in the wardroom. The officers reported in over a period of fifteen minutes, most arriving in groups of two or three. Ensign Singleton, like most of the officers, assumed that the officer’s call was regarding the ongoing exercise. Albert was nervous hoping that he had not performed too badly. His ship handling skills, he admitted to himself, weren’t the best, but he was improving. He felt he was good at navigation and his skills with the sensor equipment had become excellent. Still, Al was hoping that he wouldn’t be singled out for any deficiencies.

“Gentlemen, have a seat,” the XO ordered as he entered the wardroom. The officers took their seats around a large table with the XO sitting at one end. After everyone was seated, Commander Williams passed around copies of the dispatch the ship had received. Al carefully read the message. Like most of the officers at the table, he had to read it twice to make sure he was reading it correctly.

220524871402U

From: Commander, Fourth Fleet

To: All Fourth Fleet Ships

Subj: Update of Rules of Engagement

1. On 5/21/2487, ESS Mexico (D-866) collided with a stealth

ship operating in stealth mode in the Omar system.

2. The stealth ship was not part of Earth’s fleet.

3. Any stealth ship, not belonging to Earth, operating in any

of Earth’s systems is to be immediately challenged and

engaged.

“Wow,” the First Lieutenant said, reading the message for a second time.

“Our assumption is that it was a Batronian ship operating illegally in the Omar system. They are the only beings in this sector that have stealth ships other than us. We will be returning to Kylar II on the 25th. When we approach the system, we will be keeping our eyes open. We are setting extra watches,” The XO said. “The First Lieutenant will be the Officer of the Deck and have the conn. Ensign Singleton, you will supervise the sensor techs and monitor the sensors. Forward missile launchers will be loaded with M‑7 missiles and Fire Control will be manned. Any sign of a stealth ship and we will pursue it, understood?”

“Yes, sir,” the officers of Argentina said together.

Home of Admiral Morris

Naval Base Oscar, Kylar II

May 23, 2487, 1930 Local, May 24, 2487, 0210 UT

Admiral Morris sat on his front porch smoking a cigar and drinking a glass of ice tea as he watched the sunset. His wife Rose sat beside him as she had done so many times over the years watching him closely. She could see the stress clearly on her husband’s face. She knew this was one of the times he couldn’t tell her exactly what was going on, but it was clear something was bothering him.

“Can you talk about it?” Rose asked softly.

“I don’t think we can avoid a war,” Bill told her puffing on the cigar. He couldn’t tell her about the collision that led him to that conclusion, but the conclusion itself wasn’t classified.

“That isn’t a failure of yours,” Rose said in a soft voice.

“No, but it’s my boys that will have to go into harm’s way. And I can’t help but think of what I would do in Batron’s place. What if they were the one providing weapons to a planet we were at war with? Wouldn’t we be upset?”

“I remember once when you were a Lieutenant during Masic Point, one of your men asked you a question regarding the war. You said that those decisions were above your paygrade. Bill, there are some decisions that aren’t yours to make. You can only do your duty and let your boys do theirs,” Rose said placing her hand on his arm.

“You’re right,” the Admiral said. He took a drink of his ice tea and puffed on his cigar, pausing to flick the ash. “But, I remember what it was like. War is much different than what these boys think. It is a terrible burden.”

“You were where they are now and when war came, you adapted.”

“I had no choice. And neither will they. Just the same I wish I could spare them the lesson.”

“So, do I,” Rose replied. “And I hate to bear the nights alone again, wondering where you are and are you hurt. It’s tough, but I married you knowing that the Navy was in your blood. So, if we must do this one more time, we’ll do it together,” Rose said with such sincerity that it touched the Admiral.

What a great wife I have, Bill thought. He took one last puff of his cigar, put it out and then swallowed the last of his ice tea as he rose from his chair.

“I think we’ve talked enough about a war. Besides, I know something better we can do than talk,” he said with a twinkle in his eyes.

“Aye, sir,” Rose teased, getting up and walking inside.

Naval Space Center

Naval Base Quebec, Omar IV

May 25, 2487, 0136 Local, May 24, 2487 2236 UT

The TP-5 arrived less than five minutes behind schedule, impressive considering the long flight and stopover. After three days on transports, Dave Roberts and Phil Moore, as well as the other six troopers, were more than ready to get off the transport.

Omar IV was a terraformed planet that had no indigenous life. In fact, when it was discovered in 2239, it barely had an atmosphere. Shortly thereafter, it was selected for terraforming and became a very earthlike planet with a variety of climates across its single land mass. But despite its similarity to Earth, it was never heavily populated. There were only four major cities with populations of about 75,000 each. With the smaller towns and villages, there were still less than a half of a million people on the planet that had a land area roughly twice that of Asia. But that was why the few people who lived there chose it. Even the largest cities were not as crowded as any of the major cities on Earth were.

Naval Base Quebec was the only naval base in the Young-Wise sector beyond Kylar. It was less than a quarter of the size of Naval Base Oscar. It had eight orbiting docks that could support up to 32 naval ships, although only four ships were currently docked there. It had been a long time since the navy kept more than a dozen ships at Omar IV. The base could support a regiment from the Naval Assault Forces and currently the Third Regiment of the Third Division was posted there. The Twentieth Regiment was scheduled to relieve them in eighteen months.

The eight troopers left the transport and found a Sergeant waiting for them. He quickly separated them by Battalion, then Company and finally by Platoon. Then, he marched them to the appropriate barracks. Dave and Phil were both assigned to First Platoon of Company C, First Battalion. Each barracks building was a single-story hut with twelve sets of bunkbeds. Dave and Phil went inside and were met by a Corporal who took their orders and pointed out their bunks.

“You better grab some sleep,” the Corporal said. Despite their exhaustion, Dave and Phil grabbed a shower before hitting their bunks. Three days on transports without access to a shower meant that the shower was even more important than sleep.

Reveille came at 0600 for the Platoon. The troopers quickly introduced themselves to Dave and Phil. Dave and Phil quickly used the head, made up their bunks and were dressed for breakfast within fifteen minutes, quicker than the troopers around them. It was a sign of men fresh out of boot camp. They were so used to being constantly pressured to go faster, that when arrived in the field they were still moving as if in boot camp.

First Platoon marched over to the chow hall, then headed back to the barracks to get their L-29s and headed out to the firing range.

The Platoon Sergeant, Pavlo Pachenko was a 27-year-old Russian. He was solidly built at 6’2” and 215 pounds. “Let’s see what you two can do,” he said to Dave and Phil. They took up their positions on the line, placed new charge packs into their weapons, ensured their weapons were in single-fire mode and flipped the safety off.

“Ready on the left…ready on the right…ready on the firing line, “Sergeant Pachenko said. “Fire!”

Dave focused on a target 175 yards away and fired off five rounds, all five hitting the center of the target. He switched to another target at 100 yards and again fired off five rounds. This was followed by targets at 150, 125 and 200 yards. Every round that Dave fired found its target. Phil managed twenty-six hits, missing twice at 200 yards and once each at 150 and 175 yards. While not perfect, it was certainly respectable.

“Cease Fire!” the Sergeant ordered. He turned to Dave and said, “Nice shooting.”

“It’s easy compared to shooting on Mars. The heat makes everything miserable,” Dave said.

“Ain’t that the truth,” Sergeant Pachenko said with a chuckle. Dave and Phil removed the power pack and put their safeties on. They fell back and watched the next set of troopers’ fire.

“That was impressive,” Phil whispered to Dave.

“Thanks. More luck than anything,” Dave replied modestly. “Not bad yourself.”

“Yeah,” Phil said looking around. The planet was so green after seeing the rusty color of Mars for fifteen weeks. It was surprising to a lot of people, including Phil, that Mars was never terraformed, but by the time the technology was available, Mars had been settled for hundreds of years and terraforming would have destroyed everything that was there and it was decided that the historical value, as well as forced relocation of the residents of Mars, was too great of a sacrifice. Still, with cool air, a fresh breeze and beautiful trees, it could easily be argued that terraforming Mars should still be done regardless on the historical impact and convenience of the residents.

“Can you believe it? We made it, Dave,” Phil said as he looked around.

“Yeah, I know. It’s incredible.”

Sergeant Pachenko walked over to them. “Okay, you two are going to be assigned to first squad. That’s my squad. On Monday, we’re going to do a squad versus squad exercise. Pay attention so you don’t get yourselves hurt.”

“Yes, sergeant,” the two men replied.

“I wonder how Max is doing,” Phil sad as Sergeant Pachenko walked away.

“I’m sure he’s fine. Probably settled in by now,” Dave replied.

ESS London (SCV-7)

Near Kylar

May 25, 2487, 0814 UT

Captain Barney Novak, Commanding Officer of ESS London was not a happy man. A former fighter pilot during the War at Masic Point, he had worked had to earn his position as Commanding Officer of a carrier, especially the lead ship of the current class. While the embarked spacecraft performed in an outstanding manner during the training exercise, he saw a lot of deficiencies with his inexperienced crew, especially in damage control drills. Because of this, he had requested permission to keep the ship out for an extra 36 hours for additional training time for his crew. Assembled in the wardroom were the officers of London. He read the evaluation he had received from the Commander of Carrier Squadron One. “So why was our performance so bad?” he asked.

“Sir, I think it’s a lack of time underway. We can’t expect the crew to perform well when the ship is always in dock. For much of the crew, this was the first time they were out in space.,” the First Lieutenant suggested.

“True,” the XO said. “But, another problem was not having people assigned to positions properly. This was an oversight but us officers. Being in dock for such an extended period led us to become complacent and not worry about the underway watches. Some of the crew were not sure where their Battle Station was. Some watches were not properly staffed. But, I think for the most part, those problems are resolved. Now we just need practice.”

“Good, I just got us approved for an extra 36 hours. Let’s put the hours to good use Set up a training schedule and let’s get busy,” the Captain said.

ESS Argentina (D-868)

Entering Kylar System

May 25, 2487, 0827 UT

ESS Argentina entered the Kylar system with additional watches set as the Captain had ordered. The Port Lookout was posted in a clear dome structure on the port side of the superstructure allowing the lookout to clearly observe the entire port side of Argentina as well as above and below the lookout. The unobstructed view made the lookout feel like they were floating in space. Boatswain’s Mate Apprentice John Bennett was stationed as the Port Lookout as the ship entered the Kylar System. John had enlisted in the Navy just six months ago and had reported to Argentina in March. This was the first time he had been underway on any ship and the first time he had been stationed as a lookout. With the extra watches set throughout the ship, his Chief had posted him here. He looked around amazed at the sight of the stars all around him. Talk about an office with a view, he thought.

While John had enjoyed the naval service for the most part, to him it was a means to an end. His ambition was college and then owning his own business. His time in the service would help finance that. But even he had to admit, being in space was a far different experience than being in dock, one that was much more exciting. While he still planned on getting out, he knew he would never forget what it was like at this moment.

On the bridge, the First Lieutenant had the main engines secured and engaged the main thrusters as the ship began the journey to the docks of Kylar II. Albert Singleton watched the sensor display with the Chief Sensor Technician. They had the sensors tuned to one of the most sensitive settings and while the computer was able to filter out most of the debris floating around in the system, the chief and Al had to filter out some manually. Still, if a stealth ship was out there, they wanted to find it and that meant using a high sensitivity setting even if it was a little more inconvenient.

“Report,” the XO said to Al.

“Nothing on the sensors,” Al said watching the display carefully. The XO glanced over to the Captain who was seated on the starboard side of the bridge. The tension was high on the bridge, not knowing whether there was a stealth ship out there watching them right now.

John Bennett peered through the scope he was issued as lookout searching for anything.

Batronian Stealth Ship

Kylar System

May 25, 2487, 0834 UT

It was a short circuit in a fan unit. A small problem on a ship, but enough to short out the power system for a mere five seconds and start a small fire. The short tripped a number of systems and interrupted the stealth system briefly.

The Engineering Officer saw what was happening and quickly responded. He isolated the circuit to the fan and reset the remainder of the power systems, including the stealth system, which put the ship back in stealth mode. But, for a mere three seconds, the ship had transitioned from stealth mode and into normal mode.

On the bridge, the Captain also reacted immediately, changing course and engaging the main engines to accelerate to a dangerous 2 AMU while in a system. But, he knew his ship had have been detected by the destroyer that they had been observing. Now he knew they were the ones being observed.

ESS Argentina (D-868)

Kylar System

May 25, 2487, 0834 UT

John Bennett was looking at just the right spot at the right time. Suddenly, a ship appeared out of nowhere. He stared for a full second, his mind shocked by the sight. What the hell? he thought to himself, with such surprise that he almost said it aloud. Then he reached for the comm unit.

On the bridge, the sensor display showed the ship, the computer seeming confused and like John took a full second before labeling the ship “UNK” on the display.

“Sir, we have an unknown ship, bearing 081 by 017, distance 621! Course 040 by 038, speed 1650!” Al shouted to the Officer of the Deck. “It appeared out of nowhere!”

“Bridge, Port Lookout! Ship bearing 290 by 350 relative, distance 600!” John Bennett was heard shouting on the comm unit. The relative bearings indicated the ship was slightly above and to the left of Argentina.

“I lost contact!” Ensign Singleton shouted.

“He disappeared again!” John Bennett reported over the comm.

“I have the deck,” Captain McCollum said as he stood. He felt a rush of adrenaline and had quickly came to the correct conclusion that for some reason a Batronian stealth ship had revealed itself in the Kylar system. There was no reasonable explanation why it was here and why it entered normal mode, however briefly. But, remembering the orders they had just received, he pressed a button on the comm unit beside his chair. “Fire Control, Bridge. Fire missiles one and two along last known track.”

“Aye, sir,” the Fire Control Officer replied. Two seconds later, he said, “Sir, missiles one and two away, thrusters only.”

“Very well,” the Captain replied calmly despite the fact he had just fired on another ship. It was the first time since Masic Point that he had fired a weapon at a real target. “Helm, come to course 080 by 015.”

“Come to 080 by 015, aye, sir,” the helm answered, fingers moving over the console to carry out the orders. Thirty seconds later, the helm announced “Steady course 080 by 015.”

Another minute passed. Every person on the bridge seemed to be holding their breath in anticipation of what would happen next. Al and the Chief Sensor Technician watched the display carefully. Al just knew that missiles would be fired from the Batronian ship and was waiting to issue the warning. “Sir missiles one and two detonated, no hits,” the Fire Control Officer reported.

“Target last known position and fire missiles three and four,” the Captain ordered. He knew it was unlikely, knew that the ship had moved on, but he was desperate.

“Missiles three and four away,” the Fire Control Officer said. The two missiles exploded a few minutes later, Captain McCollum knowing they missed even before the Fire Control Officer confirmed it.

“Okay, I’ll prepare an Action Report. XO, you have the deck. Search the area Ensign Singleton, keep a close eye on the sensor display. XO if you find it, take the shot,” the Captain said as he exited the bridge.

“I have the deck,” the XO said. Like the Captain, he had served at Masic Point, but as an enlisted crewmember. He had gotten out of the Navy, received his degree and then accepted his commission as an officer and reentered the service.

Boatswains Mate Apprentice John Bennett looked at the spot where the last two missiles exploded. His heart was pounding and his hands trembling from the adrenaline rush. Suddenly, he could think of no job he wanted more than this one. And that quickly, all thoughts of college left his mind.