Chapter 14 Endgame 2
Chapter 14 Endgame 2 Draft
Glenn Kinisman was facing a nightmare not, from a tactical situation. He knew he could win that, but from a moral one; he flat did not want to have to kill these people. “Lead I got a problem, Rangers good old fashioned Texas Rangers closing our position and I don’t feel like killing good guys today. Especially Texans who never did much support the FG!”
“Hang on Point, we got one chance. BREAK, get me General Chris Webb ASAP!”
“Webb here Sanderson, what you got?”
“I have Texas Rangers closing my position and if that non-lethal option ain’t in place I am gonna have to kill them!”
“Hang one Sanderson, I figured DFW might be a problem the Special Vic is thirty seconds out. Make sure your command has your screens on!”
“Team twenty-five, double-check personal screens on NOW!” Twelve hands went to twelve switches to confirm positions.
Three thousand feet above them three specially equipped Eagles swept across the DFW Metroplex the range of their special transmissions covering the area between old I-20 and I-30. In that range everyone not enclosed in a Provisional Government personal screen was rendered unconscious. An almost last minute invention by the Neurological Department at Travis Central that they had only had time to fit to this one Vic of Eagles and they just paid off that heroic effort.
Sanderson walked across the plaza amongst the fallen peace officers who had never bowed to the FG and found the fallen body of their Captain, checking his breathing he searched the fallen cop for the notepad that had to be there. Pulling it and the accompanying pen out he wrote the following.
“Sorry about the headache friend, it was that or kill a fellow Ranger!” The Signature line read:
LTC Richard K. Sanderson
PG SOCOM Reserve
CAPT New Texas Rangers
G Company, Travis Northeast New Texas
“Glenn, load them up. Let’s go home!”
* * *
The sweep home was starting when the call came from Chris Webb came in, “Andy, do you have a SAR equipped Boyd with you?”
“I got a bird but no SAR troops, what do you need?”
“I have a live pilot about 40 miles away from you and he is surrounded with only his emergency weapons. His E&E pod went to a direct hit, so he is in deep shit and all of Becce’s birds are either tied up or too far away!”
“We will take it Chris. Smitty you feel like making a SAR run?”
“Ain’t that why I got this fancy new toy? Got no team in back though, Medical or Combat.”
“Leave that to me and drop your ramp. BREAK Dave, Mack Saddle up!”
LT. Crawford Smith looked at his view screen and thought that this day was going to be beers at the bar for the story for years to come. Running for his ramp were GEN Andrew Webb, CSM David Roberts and LTC Mack Webb. Looking at his weapons officer he quipped, “That has to be the most rank heavy SAR team in freaking History!”
“Not to mention the fucking scariest also!”
“That it could be Jojo, that it could be!”
Aboard the Hood ADM Warrick Gates was in total command of the Fleet CIC, “Get the Challengers in formation for the first firing pass. Fill the gaps for the carriers with Boyd’s, I don’t want the Eagles to retrieve till all the Roughnecks clear atmosphere. Launch the courier from Mars orbit and have it go straight to the point full speed and don’t worry about wasting energy on cloak. Dump the current action log to Carling as fast as they clear the point and get Sally’s relief train moving!”
Eight minutes later the courier screamed out of Mars orbit at 0.5C, they were 8 hours away from the point and normal communications were out pacing them. They were recording the Command channels as they ran for the point; their record would include the results of Strike Masada. They would carry a record of the actions of Attack Fleet Earth in the entire Assault Phase.
Smitty jerked his Boyd down towards what was clearly a hot Landing Zone (LZ), the remains of an Eagle were smoldering on the side of a hill while the pilot cowered at the top. This was not going to be fun he thought. Then the SAR team hit the Intercom! “Smitty sweep left to right at about twenty feet as slow as you are comfortable. Make sure the ramp is down before you start the sweep and we will take it from there. Be ready to give us some ground support, that’s what you have those 30MM’s for anyway!”
“Ok, if you are crazy enough to call the profile I’ll fly it. Tight turn and come back streaming hot HE, right?”
“Smack the outlying cover fire and we will take care of the close in!”
“Check!”
“Vice Admiral Netanyahu, yours is the honor of the first shot. Fleet, Firing Pass Alpha Execute, NOW!” Twenty-one Challengers and three squadrons of Boyd’s came roaring over the Middle East in a screaming West-to-East pass. New Masada Squadron in the lead, the first salvo went to what used to be Saudi Arabia. Riyadh, Mecca and Medina suddenly became smoking craters as well as any Military or Scientific installation. No matter how well hidden they were, they were demolished in a hail of KE penetrators and Graser fire. The land below now resembled lost Israel, only it was not radioactive!
Syria received the same attention from Kie Squadron and the devastation on the intended targets was frightening. The true intent of Attack Fleet was suddenly apparent, that was driven home when New Texas and New Carolina Squadrons blew over Afghanistan, Pakistan and Northern India. India got surgical strikes, Pakistan and Afghanistan were flattened and out of the game.
The Fleet pulled back into space a prepared for a fast orbit of the planet when Warrick spoke, “Next up Firing Pass Bravo, All Tactical Officers announce when ready!”
Smitty brought the Boyd over the hill at 20 MPH and 10 feet AGL then twenty feet past the hill pulled up the ramp cranking into a turn that only a Webb-Gates Drive could pull in atmosphere. Behind him the tactical situation changed in a seeming heartbeat.
The ground troops were a select detachment from the 1st Battalion 2nd Brigade 3rd FG Infantry the “Crips”, they laughed at the sight of a mere three troops jumping from the strange ship. Only three people to face them was a joke, until rounds started landing! The lead figure had some kind of belt-fed weapon which he/she/it just pulled the trigger on and the fires of hell spit forth. No bursts, no conservation, no cares just the flames of destruction. Hard as the lead figure was to see (save for being the apex of the cone of destruction), the two shimmering apparition’s behind might even be worse. The long tubes that could be seen spat Hell on Earth, and people who were in what they thought was good cover, were suddenly blown into pieces as something blew through said cover and them like so much paper. A place where they knew they were in control suddenly became a killing field and as they turned for support the “World as They Knew It” came apart, for at that moment Crawford Smith and his Gunner came back.
The support troops behind the lead elements began to disappear in the fire and flame of three quad-barreled 30MM Mini-Gun rigs. The one’s who were not directly killed, ran for the hills! Mack Webb turned with his GPMG and yelled, “Dad, catch!” The larger of the two figures caught it effortlessly and Mack turned to the downed Pilot.
In orbit, Warrick Gates had gone as cold as ice itself; “Firing Pass Bravo, Execute NOW!” The Fleet this time in segmented groups roared across slightly different paths, New Texas and New Carolina carved up the area of what had been the southern edges of Russian influence. Known for generations as the “Stans”, every possible military and indoctrination center fed the rising smoke clouds. New Masada and Kie squadrons took Southeast Asia and the Island chains with the Boyd squadrons doing the surgical strikes as the hammer continued to fall.
“Next up Firing Pass Charlie, All Tactical Officers announce when ready!”
Reentering the ramp of the now grounded Boyd and Andy was screaming, “Raise the Hatch and boogie boy!” Crawford Smith lifted off the Boyd and pointed the nose for space.
“Chris, we got him. Status?”
“You are this last one off the ground. Everybody goes home alive or dead, No Man Left Behind! We have them all Andy and Warrick is just about ready for Pass Charlie, you have enough Eagles around you to scare the shit out of anyone!”
“Care to see General?” The laconic voice of Smith dripped irony as he fed his sensors to the SAR viewscreen. There wasn’t much to see, just the entirety of 41 Squadron in formation around them. The Ground Phase was over!
“Hang to your hat Andy, we have to clear Low Earth Orbit before Warrick comes through hauling ass!” The Eagles were docking with the carriers and Smith was looking for the Hospital Roughneck when Attack Fleet Earth swept under them taking all non-SAR Boyd’s in tow.
“Firing Pass Charlie, Execute NOW!” The Boyd squadrons blasted Northern Africa along the Med and the Horn of Africa. Kie squadron took central Africa and the rest went for the area that had once been Persia, then Iran. The Fleet left not one military center, scientific center, supply base, Mosque or underground emplacement untouched.
The Islamic League was removed as a player in any game, the Fleet turned for space and the Long Road Home loomed ahead.
The results of Pass Charlie had just hit the recorders when the courier got to the point and slid through at full .5 C. As soon as Point Disorientation passed the broadcast started! It started with a flat screaming Heavy Metal tune that was a favorite of the Chief of Staff; somewhere in the cacophony you could hear the words “With the Heart of a Dragon We Ride!” That lasted only long enough for the chorus to come out and then the Combat Logs started flowing on sixteen channels. A stunned New Texas was about to witness History!
* * *
Chuck Ditmars saw the single small ship almost as soon as it came through the wormhole back into the New Texas system and breathed a sigh of relief. At least the wait was over From the aging freighter Maggie D he was directing the relief fleet and they wouldn’t have stood a chance against an armed invader but he had been prepared to do what he must as had all of those with him, die if necessary, if instead of a single courier a fleet from Earth had come through.
The courier saw the hulking freighter almost as soon she herself was seen due to far better sensors even with the Maggie’s drive shut down as she tried to stay invisible. A message was sent in the clear with a summary of the action in the Earth system. Smiling from ear to ear Chuck had his own message sent signaling the rest of the fleet to close to the point and continued watch as the little ship messaged word to New Texas while altering course for the transit point to New Masada so that those out there would also get the news about what had transpired.
Chuck had been too busy to worry when the fleet jumped to Earth. He was in charge of two dozen ships loaded with all manner of supplies, those things that might do some good and save a few lives in the aftermath of battle. He only half believed it when told the risks for those going in on the first wave were not all that great. Sure because of the League’s backwards policy towards science the fleet had the technology edge but he had heard there were to be some operations on the ground. And on the ground no amount of tech wizardry at their disposal could have overcome the numbers imbalance if the FG made a real fight of it.
It seemed his worse fears were for naught and if everything continued as planned in another eight hours or so Chuck would be directing the first support elements through the point with his Sister Sally in charge of the lead ship. There was no way anyone could stop the Maggie D from going through second. His sister might have earned the right to go first but he sure as hell had earned that second spot.
A beautiful midsummer’s day, Hank and Kaybe Carling were riding in the Hills above their ranch when Emmet Clark beeped them. Most anyone else in his position would have been at the communications center biting their nails and waiting for any news. Even Kaybe could detect no sign of nervousness or strain as he took the call. For herself she tried to follow suit, mostly succeeding.
“Got you loud and clear Em, go ahead,” Hank said.
“Hundred percent Hank. All objectives and minimal casualties and the list will be forthcoming. We’re parsing the data to see if we can find anything Andy missed but I can’t see how it can be anything but minor. Do we pick up the rest of the Leagues network and our indigenous informers and turncoats now?”
“Let that part alone for now Em. I’m going to talk to Rob Williams about what we due on that front. Just keep analyzing the data and make sure the families of those killed or injured find out about it from us and don’t hear about it in the press first.”
* * *
Smitty drove the Boyd the Command Roughneck which was equipped as an Aid Station. Their pick-up had been judged as defiantly not critical as the steady stream of profanity from the back would attest to. The round had broken his leg but, missed any major part of his bloodstream.
Docking and unloading complete they were asked to leave immediately. The Fleet was loafing along at .2 C so these transfers could occur. “Where to Boss?” Smitty inquired.
“Take us to the Hood and then take a break, I am probably going to make one more transfer. Son, I planned on someone else doing this so sorry if I messed up your early return plans.”
“General, you just got us Arrowheads for our SAR badges; not to mention we are probably never going to have to pay for a beer again, just tell us where you wanta go!”
Coming alongside the Hood Andy was surprised to find Warrick Gates waiting outside the docking bay. “Damn Warrick, don’t tell me it was that bad?”
“Actually no, 47 KIA and 136 WIA. Three or four of the WIA are possibly beyond hope and we have four over on the Enterprise in stasis, those are probably fixable but not here. That is one Hell of a lot less than we feared, even if it is too many! Want the Strike briefing?”
“If I can get some coffee up in CIC, let’s do it!”
The door to A corridor flew open and before the Sentry could say a word two voices bellowed, “Carry On!” Warrick Gates and Andrew Webb strode into the CIC of the Hood with the air of two men who cared little for protocol at this moment. Warrick moved to an Operations Console and waved the young rating out of his seat.
“Here’s Sasaki taking Kie and New Masada over the Chinese Hegemony. They hit the target list at 100% and had so little collateral damage it does not even register.
We took New Texas and New Carolina against Nor-Am and SO-Am and it was pretty much the same. Chris and his crew had blown the Raptor’s away so we had very few distractions.
“Strike Masada turned out to have some changes, on Pass Alpha we got some good deep radar shots on at least two dozen sites we had no idea were there. We did some fast reallocation and got them all on Bravo or Charlie, you can forget the League!”
“Any Drive problems or Combat Damage Warrick?”
“Couple of scratches on the Iowa, they were just getting the range when Chris blew them off her back!”
“Think he will finally be happy? He got to fly a true Fighter in combat!”
“Yes I do and he finally admits they are useless for space combat. The Boyd’s at least are decent screening vessels, make them light cruisers in the way they are used. The real punch is the Challengers and the Eagles only undock if we are going into atmosphere. But, Dear God are they killers down there!”
“Courier through the point yet?”
“Yes, they were on schedule to go through about five minutes ago!”
Andy stood and looked around the CIC and drained his coffee. “One thing Warrick and I don’t care if this whole place hears it. The Families of those KIA and WIA get the word from us or the PG before even the count gets out to the press. If it leaks I am sure Hank will be more than happy to find the leak for me. Then I will hunt it down, before we get a set of Laws in place!”
“Anyway, get Smitty up and ready I gotta go deliver a message or two. Get them home safe Warrick, they did a hell of a job!”
As his back cleared the room a young electronics rating turned to Warrick Gates and asked, “Is the boss mad about something Sir?”
“He has to do something he really does not want to do and is not real happy. On the other hand however, I happen to agree with him about any leak and though I am not as scary as the General; if you are running from him, you just might run square into me!” The buzz and rumor made it around the fleet in under thirty minutes.
Five minutes later Andy was back on Smitty’s Boyd and burning towards the North Carolina, as they approached he noticed that they had put the old numbers on the Bow. For those who did not study History it would mean nothing but, there was no angle you could approach their bow and not see the giant BB-55 lettering. Only those who had studied History knew what those letters and numbers meant and what was coming. Andy’s stomach and heart burned but, what had to be had to be no matter how much it stunk! Then the sounds of a hard dock rang through the ship as Andy rose to exit the Boyd.
Exiting the docking tube he stepped into the main docking bay of the North Carolina and saw the fifteen Battle Stars from days gone by and knew he was right to do this from here. “CAPT. Griffin good to see you, is your Comms section ready to transmit?”
“Ready and willing General, if you will follow me.”
The lift moved quietly as they went to the CIC of North Carolina and not a word was spoken until they were seated on the Command consoles. Andy spoke softly, “Give me channel 3 please!”
“Jamil and friends, I give you greetings. Understand that what follows is not for you. We will maintain Comms on this link although they may be slow at times and will help as best we can. Paul Greene and his crew will be running around, otherwise he would not be buying six ships from DEW without informing the Provisional Government. The Ditmars Family is inbound with an initial Relief Fleet with enough supplies to cover the immediate gap in needs. What follows will be an attempt to make the rest understand, my apologies in advance! CAPT Griffin, give me the full spectrum!”
“Seized and at your Command Sir!”
“Good Afternoon Earth,” boomed the voice from every communications means on all of Earth. Every Tri-V, Hologram or even old Flat Screen on the planet carried the same face and voice. “I am General Andrew Webb of the Provisional Government of the Outer Planets and I wish to inform you of our terms. They are fairly simple; you are no longer the Rulers period! We no longer recognize the Federated Government of Earth and Officially denounce it as the Representative Body of Earth!”
“The new rules are simple, come through the New Texas transit point in an Armed vessel and we will destroy you. Come through unarmed and we will buy the first drink! The old USMC said it best; there are No Worse Enemies and No Better Friends! Do not make me and mine come back here in War, for this time we will tear your throats out! Other than that, we are done with you. Webb Out!”
“CAPT Griffin, I really want to go home. I am tired of being me but, we have to stay here and play Good Shepard for the Relief Fleet.”
“I thought Sally’s old man was bringing out three wings of Boyd’s for escort duty!’
“He is but there might be someone down there that might be stupid enough to try something against a Boyd. They know this vessel and who is on it. Right now I am the Devil Incarnate to those people, fine let’s use it. We stay up here and the killing stops!
The Showboat turned 180 degrees and moved to a Geosynchronous orbit directly above the Cape of Good Hope as Attack Fleet Earth moved away from Earth and the Relief Fleet burned inwards. Endgame was over; the Outer Worlds now had to write their own history!
On board the Hood the young rating again looked at Admiral Warrick Gates, “I don’t think he liked doing that Sir.”
“No son, he did not. But years ago we agreed that Earth would only believe that from one person. It is our best chance to end the killing now for once and for all! Now I have to be the one to tell him that his daughter is one of the four in stasis. I am tired of being me!”
* * *
“Well if it isn’t President Williams, the master ventriloquist, and his walking, talking, puppet, Henry Carling. Been peeking in any windows lately Hank?”
Carling ignored her and took a seat while the President of New Texas shook his head in disgust rather than anger.
“Good to see you too Harriet,” Rob Williams said. He could never get over how much Fletcher, head of the Progressive Party, looked like her late unlamented mother; Hank could never get over how much she acted like her.
“Come to gloat? From everything I hear so far your sneak attack on Earth has worked well enough to ruin any chance we ever had at the kind of cooperative arrangement and in the process made Andy Webb the latest and greatest mass murderer the Human race has yet produced.”
“Cut it out Harriet, ain’t nobody here but us chickens. Hank— show her the list.”
Carling opened his carryall and passed over a printout. Three sheets with a couple of dozen names and a brief summary after each. As Fletcher read, her look turned from curiosity, to amazement, and then anger. It was quite a show.
“What is this—you can’t be serious! You have half of the senior Progressive leadership and a quite a few of our more liberal academics and socially conscious business people listed here. Isn’t what you’ve already done enough? Now you want to ruin the lives of those who would oppose and speak out against your genocidal policies and plans! And how is it you left my name off of this list of trumped up charges?”
“Come off it Harriet,” Rob said, “You may have told yourself that you have been working all these years to avenge your mothers death, but you certainly knew that most of your fellow travelers had less obvious reasons. And it wasn’t a sense of social justice, social consciousness as you call it, that drove them but a thinly disguised lust for power and a hatred of those they considered beneath them in terms of intelligence and sense of vision.”
“You have the power to indict these people,” she tossed the list on her desk. “But you will never get a jury to convict. Spying for the FG was never a crime and you can’t make it one retroactively!”
“It wasn’t just spying Mrs. Fletcher,” Hank said. “We have more than enough evidence showing exactly how the people on that list used what the FG was so willing to provide them to help their own careers, harm their enemies, and profit at the expense of their fellow citizens. Trials will be messy but all of these people will go down. Some six feet or more.”
Here Rob took over again as Fletcher looked on without a trace of emotion. “We have considered the problem of bringing all of these people to justice at once. It should be done, but the distraction right now is greater than I wish to entertain. Instead, and with much disagreement,” he nodded towards Hank, “we are going to give these people a chance to leave New Texas, never to return. If they take that option we will refrain from prosecution.”
Considering this for a moment Fletcher responded, “So what colony world are you going to foist them off on? Assuming your offer is accepted?”
“Not a colony world Harriet. We couldn’t do that to one of our own. Each and every one of the people on that list and any of their family members wanting to accompany them are going to be on a ship bound for Earth inside of a week where they can then show just how deeply their solidarity with the oppressed majority really runs.”
“And those who refuse?”
“A military trial for treason with death or banishment to Earth for all found guilty.”
“Why show this list to me? Why not just do your dirty-work and tell the rest of us about it later?”
“Because for you Harriet, the price to stay on New Texas is going to be supporting the charges shown against the others on the list, and letting those people know just how hopeless their situation is and making sure none of this ever ends up in a public trial.”
* * *
The Relief Fleet had unloaded and moved out for the Point with its three squadrons of Boyd’s in screen. Communications on Earth were coming up to speed as they discovered that Attack Fleet had not touched any of the Global Com Sat’s, only their government controlled ground stations. Commercial stations were coming on the air like popcorn with the notable exception of the ones controlled by and inside of the Islamic League!
“Well, it’s our turn to get the hell outta here CAPT Griffin! And about time!”
The CIC crew of the North Carolina looked at the figure of GEN Andrew Webb as if stunned. That figure had sat at a console for the entire three days of the evolution, pausing only for rest room breaks and meals. Not once had he left the immediate area of the CIC for sleep, yet still looked like unbendable hull plating. He moved from his console to the crash chair normally reserved for an Admiral Aboard and slumped into it showing the first sign of weakness any of them had seen.
The Ensign normally assigned to the console the Chief of Staff had been using moved back to his usual post and sat down. His eyes froze on the screen and his face turned a sick shade of green; he lunged out of the chair and ran for the head. Through the closed door the CIC crew heard the sound of violent vomiting. Andrew Webb moved back to the work station took one glance and began to curse. Regaining control he finally spoke to the CAPT.
“My apologies Griffin, I was so tired I left my composite screen up. It’s the first time someone not part of upper Command ever saw Strike Masada as a whole.” The young Ensign wobbled back onto CIC and Andrew helped him to his seat. Andy then stood for a moment and turned towards the ship Commander. “Captain, I am going to try out a speech I think I am going to have to give a few times, humor me if you will Sir!’
“I am curious enough to sit through almost anything Boss!”
“Ladies and Gentlemen, here is the composite map of Strike Masada! Anyone having the same reaction, I will be happy to wait for!” Andrew manipulated a hand control and the view in question came up on the main forward viewscreen. The room burst into motion as at least six people ran for the heads!
After the group had returned, Andy began to speak. “Let us isolate the three firing passes of this ship, slowly and in high resolution! Please tell me when you see a target that you hit that was not justified as Military, Scientific or Geo-Political!”
The screen showed their own views and scans; they sat as all three passes rolled in front of them and the chamber went quiet. The Ensign who had first run from the room was the first to speak. “Sir, we did not hit one target that was not justified!”
“Nor Son, did any other ship in this Fleet but, when you see that composite of all the efforts of all the ships it does look like Hell Came to Breakfast! I am actually kinda proud that it tore you people up!”
“Show of hands, how many people here heard my speech at the various Academy Graduations about bringing down a Culture?”
Every person in the chamber raised their hands! “That Ladies and Gentlemen is how you bring down a Culture! I am not particularly proud of the destruction we left in our wake. Nor do I wish to do it again but, we are free and our relatives on Earth now have a chance to rebuild from out of two shadows. The totalitarian Federated Government is dead and there will be no Caliphate. As a point of fact, if there is anyone left who wants a Caliphate it’s gonna take them a Thousand Years to build back up! If our cousins back there are dumb enough to let the Islamics build back up, that’s their problem. It won’t come through New Texas Point! I hate to be rude but, I would like to leave you with a joke from an ancestor of mine.”
“Fuck them All, Save for Nine
Six for Pallbearers
Two for Roadguards
and One to Call Cadence”
As the CIC erupted in cheers Andy slumped into the Admiral Aboard chair and passed into a long awaited sleep.
“XO, did we record that?
“Yes Sir!”
“Then as soon as we clear the Point tight beam it to Admiral Gates and Chief of Security Carling. I have a feeling they might want to use that!”
Page Author | OldDog June 10th, 2009