Read Online Spacer Clans Adventure 2: Naero's Gambit by Mason Elliott - Free Book Online
Authors: Mason Elliott
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instant. I need you and as many ships as you can muster to race to the Joshua Tech colony on Haiku-4. You ’re the only available force of any size close to that location.”
Naero nodded to Zhen, who stood ready to send the recall orders to the fleet.
“Done. What ’s the status?”
“Colony on Haiku-4. About thirty thousand explorers and miners. They ’ve come under sudden heavy attack by unknown invaders using advanced ships and weapons in naval and military formations. Ground assault units in gravarmor and heavy to light hi-tek infantry. Air-superiority fighters and gunships. Those colonists can’t hold out for very long against that kind of military firepower.”
The Flying Dagger jumped even as they kept talking.
"En route, Klyne. Give me all the data you have on the threat. Tell those colonists to hang in there the best they can. My ship ’s the closest. I’ll arrive in stealth mode and assess the situation within six standard hours. My fleet will arrive and form up one to two hours after that and take the invaders on if we can. How soon can we expect any help from the various navies, Intel, or Alliance forces?”
“I ’m sorry, Naero. That’s why I’m calling on you and your people. Everyone else is still three or four standard days away. The border is just too spread out and expanding too fast.”
“Understood. We wouldn ’t be traveling out this far either, if we hadn’t been trying to link up with Alala. On a secret mission in the middle of nowhere. What about Ingersol and his fleet?”
“Turning about, but they ’ve already jumped twice since you left them. They won’t arrive for a standard day or more. You and your people are it for the time being, I’m afraid. Whatever’s waiting for you at Haiku-4, you’ll have to engage and handle it on your own.”
“Got it. Any secure links with the colonists that can ’t be intercepted?”
“Negative. All com is down and the colony has gone dark. We think our new friends are jamming all attempts to get any info out.”
Great. Just great.
Naero and her fleet raced in blind and alone, against an unknown foe with unknown tek and fighting capabilities.
8
“Enel, take us in slow and quiet,” Naero told her co-pilot.
“All crew, maintain battle stations at the ready. We need to assess the threat and plan a strategy before the fleet arrives. Only half of our ships can cloak, but that will give us some advantage, I hope.”
Haiku-4 was a blue, green, brown and white habitable world, the poles locked in what looked to be an ice age of glaciers. A warmer, more-habitable temperate band around the equator and through the tropics. Four main continents.
But Naero was interested in the small colony of bubble domes burning and smoking on the edge of one sheltered bay on the west coast of the largest land mass. They had been hit pretty hard, and half of the enemy fleet was on world, along with its ground forces.
That left about two dozen bright, blood-red enemy naval vessels patrolling the planet up in the black. All looked to be warships, bristling with spinal guns and secondary batteries.
The enemy looked anything but friendly.
Naero and her people counted two fleet carriers, two strike carriers, four main battleships, four heavy cruisers, and eight destroyers. Four variations of the latter.
The carriers could most likely launch over three hundred fighters.
Oddly enough, the enemy did not even have any fighters out in the black. All down in the atmosphere.
T o her mind, that made the foe seem very cocky and over confident.
Naero and her people busied themselves making passive scans of the enemy ships and tek, gathering and transmitting secured data streams back to her people at every step of the way. They also relayed it to Klyne, Ingersol, and Intel.
She called out to her com and sensor array specialist.
“We need more than an initial assessment, Surina. What precisely are we up against?"
“The threat has tek
Naero nodded to Zhen, who stood ready to send the recall orders to the fleet.
“Done. What ’s the status?”
“Colony on Haiku-4. About thirty thousand explorers and miners. They ’ve come under sudden heavy attack by unknown invaders using advanced ships and weapons in naval and military formations. Ground assault units in gravarmor and heavy to light hi-tek infantry. Air-superiority fighters and gunships. Those colonists can’t hold out for very long against that kind of military firepower.”
The Flying Dagger jumped even as they kept talking.
"En route, Klyne. Give me all the data you have on the threat. Tell those colonists to hang in there the best they can. My ship ’s the closest. I’ll arrive in stealth mode and assess the situation within six standard hours. My fleet will arrive and form up one to two hours after that and take the invaders on if we can. How soon can we expect any help from the various navies, Intel, or Alliance forces?”
“I ’m sorry, Naero. That’s why I’m calling on you and your people. Everyone else is still three or four standard days away. The border is just too spread out and expanding too fast.”
“Understood. We wouldn ’t be traveling out this far either, if we hadn’t been trying to link up with Alala. On a secret mission in the middle of nowhere. What about Ingersol and his fleet?”
“Turning about, but they ’ve already jumped twice since you left them. They won’t arrive for a standard day or more. You and your people are it for the time being, I’m afraid. Whatever’s waiting for you at Haiku-4, you’ll have to engage and handle it on your own.”
“Got it. Any secure links with the colonists that can ’t be intercepted?”
“Negative. All com is down and the colony has gone dark. We think our new friends are jamming all attempts to get any info out.”
Great. Just great.
Naero and her fleet raced in blind and alone, against an unknown foe with unknown tek and fighting capabilities.
8
“Enel, take us in slow and quiet,” Naero told her co-pilot.
“All crew, maintain battle stations at the ready. We need to assess the threat and plan a strategy before the fleet arrives. Only half of our ships can cloak, but that will give us some advantage, I hope.”
Haiku-4 was a blue, green, brown and white habitable world, the poles locked in what looked to be an ice age of glaciers. A warmer, more-habitable temperate band around the equator and through the tropics. Four main continents.
But Naero was interested in the small colony of bubble domes burning and smoking on the edge of one sheltered bay on the west coast of the largest land mass. They had been hit pretty hard, and half of the enemy fleet was on world, along with its ground forces.
That left about two dozen bright, blood-red enemy naval vessels patrolling the planet up in the black. All looked to be warships, bristling with spinal guns and secondary batteries.
The enemy looked anything but friendly.
Naero and her people counted two fleet carriers, two strike carriers, four main battleships, four heavy cruisers, and eight destroyers. Four variations of the latter.
The carriers could most likely launch over three hundred fighters.
Oddly enough, the enemy did not even have any fighters out in the black. All down in the atmosphere.
T o her mind, that made the foe seem very cocky and over confident.
Naero and her people busied themselves making passive scans of the enemy ships and tek, gathering and transmitting secured data streams back to her people at every step of the way. They also relayed it to Klyne, Ingersol, and Intel.
She called out to her com and sensor array specialist.
“We need more than an initial assessment, Surina. What precisely are we up against?"
“The threat has tek
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