Chapter 34: Chapter 30

Star People

Chapter 30

Operation Star Point Part 2

Feb 11^th, 13 AE…

1035 hours…

The Iowa…

General Kurdo frowned as he read the latest reports. At first, things had been going smoothly after hearing that the area designated as Omaha had been secured. However, the same could not be said for Juno and Sword. Despite the fact that those two fronts had overwhelming air support from the star carrier Lexington, they had fallen behind schedule. Very behind in fact.

Of course, he couldn’t blame the front at Juno. After all, in comparison to Free Land, the Kingdom of Atlans was both inexperienced in terms of warfare, and didn’t have the same level of technology. They couldn’t help but lag behind. It was the front at Sword which was giving him a migraine.

Seriously, who do those Naran idiots think they are? It was Free Land who was leading the invasion of Zedan. Naran and Atlans were only here because the Star Alliance allowed them to take part. If it were up to Kurdo, he would have refused their request to take part in the operation. Heck, without those allies slowing them down, he would have finished the invasion faster than he did with the Empire of Sath.

Kurdo could only shake his head and wonder just how long it would take before all three beachheads were secure.

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The Lexington…

Admiral Silana was dealing with her own migraine as she received the results of the naval assaults, following the air strikes. In order to give both Sword and Juno fronts sufficient airpower, she had to split her entire compliment of starfighters into two waves. Half of her Star Hawks and Byattas would support the Juno front while the other half would cover the attack on Sword.

Even though her starfighter pilots were among the best in the Star Alliance, there was only so much they could do, especially when stretched out to cover two fronts. Silana had received word that the Omaha landing had been secured, and that her sister Tarhesse was sending over some of her starfighter squadrons to help out with the Juno and Sword landings.

The commander of the Lexington was going to need that extra help, considering how much those landings had been delayed.

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Flashback to three hours ago, Juno front…

Kingdom of Atlans flagship, the battleship Courageous Endeavour…

“Whoa!” Lenns Hodder said as he and his subordinate looked upon the carnage from the observation deck. “I can’t believe that a few dozen starfighters were able to wreak havoc on this scale!”

“And they did it all in less than 5 minutes!” Akar Jans added.

The ocean waters were strewn with the burning and sinking hulks of dozens of Zedan ships and crashed fighters. Hundreds of Zedan sailors and pilots were being fished out of the water by other vessels of the allied forces. They would become POWs for the rest of the war.

Due to the fact that there weren’t as many starfighters for the Juno and Sword fronts, as there were for Omaha, the allied forces needed to move quickly to exploit this break in the Zedan defenses and establish their landings. However, since the Atlans ships weren’t as fast as their Free Land escorts, it was possible that they would encounter surviving remnants of the once mighty Zedan battle fleet.

Sirens began to blare as the radar crew picked up a small group of Zedan cruisers and destroyers heading toward them. Atlans crewmembers started running about on the deck as they rushed to their stations. It was now time for them to put to the test, their training and the new weapons given to them by Free Land.

Lens and Akar made their way to the bridge as everyone else went to battle stations. On the bridge, the captain of the vessel was giving out orders to his subordinates.

“What’s the speed and distance of the enemy vessels?”

“They’re heading toward us at about 20 knots!” The radar officer announced. “They’re approximately 75 km away!”

“How many in total?”

“I count… six destroyers and… nine cruiser-types… and one battleship!”

“Hmmm… all right then.” The captain then turned to his radio operator. “Send word to all Atlans cruisers and destroyers in the vicinity, that we will be engaging the enemy!”

The battleship began to turn to starboard as the turret guns were being loaded. The same actions were being done on four destroyers and five cruisers. As the enemy ships neared their positions, every Atlans vessel signaled to the Courageous Endeavour that they were ready. In less than 20 minutes, they sighted the enemy at a distance of 15 km. At that range, the enemy battleship opened up.

Thankfully, all nine shots missed the Courageous Endeavour and splashed all around. However, they came close and the captain, who was named Kilgaro, didn’t want to give the Zedan forces a chance to correct their aim.

“Open fire! Target the battleship!”

The guns of the Atlans battleship thundered in response to the initial attack of the Zedan side. Eight shots missed but the last one managed a glancing hit off the Zedan battleship’s stern.

The Missouri would have hit that ship dead-on with the first salvo! Lenns thought as he and Akar continued to observe the battle. Even though our naval guns are now faster to load and fire, thanks to the Free Land enhancements, we still need to work on our targeting and fire-control systems.

As the Courageous Endeavour turned to make another broadside, the other Atlans cruisers and destroyers were exchanging fire with their Zedan counterparts. So far, both sides were taking minor hits and damage, but if things didn’t change soon, the outnumbered Atlans ships would soon feel the pressure.

Then things changed.

“Captain, I’m receiving a message from the Free Land destroyer Fletcher!” The radio operator announced.

“The Fletcher?” Captain Kilgaro asked. “I thought all Free Land ships had moved forward to bombard the shore batteries at the Juno landing site.”

“They are, Sir! They’re currently attacking the shore batteries as we speak! However, the Free Land forces noticed that we were lagging behind and sent the Fletcher back to investigate. The Fletcher is about 50 km away, and the captain of the destroyer is asking for all allied ships to pull back a bit, because they’re about to open fire on the Zedan group.”

“They’re going to open fire?! At a range of more than 65 km?! That’s absurd!”

“They might be using missiles again.” Lenns pointed out as he and Akar approached the ship’s captain.

“Missiles? What are those?”

“My superior and I were on the Missouri when the Empire of Sath tried to subjugate Free Land.” Akar replied. “We saw their Vanguard-class destroyers use what are called proton anti-ship missiles. They’re sort of like the rockets we’ve been firing into space but they’re guided by some kind of sophisticated mechanism. They were able to wipe out the Black Dragon Fleet from a distance of over 900 km!”

“NINE HUNDRED KILOMETERS?!” Kilgaro exclaimed.

“That’s right.” Lenns affirmed. “So hitting a battleship from sixty-five kilometers is not an issue for a missile.”

Captain Kilgaro turned toward his radio operator. “Signal to all ships to cease fire and pull back! Also send word to the Fletcher to give us about two minutes to get out of the immediate area before they fire their missiles!”

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USN-VD-1448 Fletcher…

“Captain, we’ve targeted the Zedan warships.” The Terran helmsman announced.

“The captain of the Courageous Endeavour says they need 2 minutes to get far enough away before we launch missiles.” The Catian communications officer said.

The Velor captain, who was named Arcadon, glanced at the tactical display and shrugged. “Tell them that they’re far enough away. Besides, we’re not using the missiles. Ensign, load turrets One and Two with kinetic shells at 30% power. Prepare to fire.”

“Aye, Sir!” The helmsman replied.

“Have the Zedan forces responded to our hail?” Arcadon asked his communications officer.

“Aye, Sir. They told us to take our demand for surrender and shove it…”

Arcadon held up a hand, cutting him off. “I can figure out the rest, thank you.” He turned back to his helmsman. “Ensign, prepare to fire on my mark. Three… two… one… FIRE!”

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Atlans Battleship Courageous Endeavour…

“Captain! The Fletcher has just opened fire with their guns!”

“What?! I thought they were using missiles! There’s no way they could hit a target more than 60 kilometers…”

KA-BOOM! KA-BOOM! KA-BOOM! KA-BOOM!

In front of the astonished eyes of all those present, four kinetic shells sailed through the air and struck their targets with unbelievable accuracy. Two of the shells hit the Zedan battleship and knocked out its two forward turrets. The other two shells each hit a destroyer and sank them.

KA-BOOM! KA-BOOM! KA-BOOM! KA-BOOM!

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Another volley slammed into a pair of cruisers while the battleship took another two shells, this time at the stern. Not only were the engines destroyed, but there was a huge gash in the rear hull, in which the emergency repair crews had no hope of sealing. The Zedan captain was forced to order all hands to abandon ship.

KA-BOOM! KA-BOOM! KA-BOOM! KA-BOOM!

The remaining destroyers were obliterated in a matter of seconds as the Fletcher leisurely picked off its targets. At this point, the remaining eight cruisers began to retreat. However, Captain Arcadon was not in the mood to let them get away.

KA-BOOM! KA-BOOM! KA-BOOM! KA-BOOM!

Four more cruisers were either sunk or damaged so severely that they were no longer considered combat worthy.

KA-BOOM! KA-BOOM! KA-BOOM! KA-BOOM!

With that final salvo, the last of the cruisers became burning heaps of twisted metal, as hundreds of sailors were either floundering about in the ocean wearing lifejackets or crowded in lifeboats. What had started out as a conflict between the Atlans task force and a much larger Zedan fleet, turned into a one-sided slaughter by a single Free Land vessel. All the surviving sailors would later be taken in as POWs.

On the Courageous Endeavour, the captain trembled as he turned to Lenns and Akar.

“You didn’t tell me that their guns had that kind of range, accuracy and power!”

Lenns shrugged. “To be perfectly honest, we didn’t know either. We saw the Missouri’s guns in action, but we didn’t know that the guns of Free Land destroyers had that kind of ability. It’s quite astonishing to see a single destroyer with that kind of firepower.”

“I’ll say!” Akar agreed. “If a single destroyer could take down a battleship task force with ease, then it begs the question of whether or not, we could contribute to the invasion at all. Free Land seems more than capable of doing it all on its own.”

Everyone on the bridge fell silent as that realization began to sink in.

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1545 hours…

“We basically did nothing during the landings.” Lenns commented as the Courageous Endeavour sailed through mine-free waters and into the port that had been set up by the Victory-Class transport ship Steel Will. They both surveyed the area and noted that several positions were still smoldering. One could only guess that those were where the enemy coastal guns had been before being blown to bits by the Free Land naval guns.

Once it was docked, both Lenns and Akar disembarked from the battleship and took a small transport to where the Atlans ground forces were being unloaded. Normally, both would feel see a sense of pride after seeing multiple columns of tanks, armored vehicles, trucks and soldiers rolling past them, but compared to the Free Land armored personnel carriers, mobile artillery and especially the Battle-Mechs that were already moving about, Lenns and Akar were experiencing feelings of inadequacy.

Their most advanced armored fighting vehicle, the Justifier Mark III tank, was an enhanced version of the M4A3E8 or Easy Eight Sherman. In addition to having a 600 hp engine and a high-velocity 76mm gun, the armor was made from a new steel alloy Atlans had developed. Taking advice from their Free Land benefactors, they had begun to experiment with elements, such as molybdenum and tungsten. They had also begun using this new formula in their armor-piercing rounds. They still couldn’t do more than scratch the paint off a plate of hyper-duralenium armor, but the new rounds could penetrate up to 200 mm of rolled homogeneous steel at 300 meters.

That was a vast improvement over the short-ranged 37mm guns they had on their previous tanks. However, the new ammunition still didn’t compare to the 65mm Vulcan guns mounted on the heads of the Batte-Mechs that could punch through double the amount of armor. And a single shot from either the 100mm Machine Gun or the Beam Rifle would reduce a Justifier tank into scrap metal in an instant.

The Kingdom of Atlans was looking into creating their own Battle-Mechs, but they were decades if not centuries away from constructing a viable power source. The internal combustion engine wasn’t feasible enough to generate the kind of power needed for a Scrapper-sized mech, let alone a full-sized one. They had heard rumors that the dwarven nation of Merin had succeeded in creating their own workable prototype, but there hadn’t been any proof to those rumors. And Free Land wasn’t letting any information leak out about the matter either.

Once all the Atlans equipment was unloaded and set up, the combined forces of Juno beach began moving inland. They were behind schedule compared to Omaha, but at the very least, the Juno beachhead had been secured.

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1800 hours…

The spearhead of the ground forces were lead by the 14^th, 28^th and 44^th squads of the 122^nd Battle-Mech Division. Following behind them were the 97^th and 102^nd Heavy Infantry Battalions in their Armored Assault Personnel Carriers, along with elements of the Atlans infantry. There were several squads of Justifier tanks, which acted as guards for the infantry, but they in turn were looked after by the Scrappers, while the Hunters and Star Gladiators took care of any incoming threats.

Their mission was to establish FOBs along a 300 kilometer front from the Juno beachhead. If Free Land had been operating alone, they would have already set up a dozen FOBs by this time. However, since they had to wait and protect their allies, they moved at a much slower pace. And every now and then, they would encounter the Zedan forces that were still able to fight back. They would always launch their attacks against the weaker Atlans’ forces rather than take the Star Alliance head-on.

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1845 hours…

“Incoming!” Lenns shouted as he spotted enemy mortar fire coming down toward their position. The armor of the Justifier tank withstood the impacts, but the entire vehicle shook from the nearby explosions.

“Traverse to the right and take out that mortar position!” Lenns shouted out.

The turret of the Justifier turned toward the enemy position and began firing its coaxial machine gun. The area was sprayed with 0.30 caliber rounds, killing some of the enemy soldiers that were firing mortar shells at them. Two other Justifier tanks joined the fray and started firing their main guns into the target zone with high-explosive rounds.

“Enemy tank on our left flank!” Akar shouted as he looked through one of the viewfinder slots and spotted a Zedan armored vehicle come out from a dense part of the forest, some 500 meters from their position.

The Xeranto Mark II was a 55-ton monster that dwarfed the Justifier and sported a very ominous-looking 88mm gun. The turret began to traverse toward them as Lenns barked out orders.

“Damn, that is one huge tank!” Akar cried out.

“Load AP round! Take it out!” Lenns shouted.

The loader shoved a 76mm round into the breach of the Justifier’s main gun as it swung about. The gunner took aim and pushed the solenoid. The Justifier’s gun let off a roar as the projectile was sent hurtling toward its target. The round slammed into the heavy turret armor and shattered. The round didn’t penetrate, but it managed to ruin the Zedan gunner’s aim. The Xeranto’s massive gun thundered back, but the shot narrowly missed; just whistling past the Justifier’s left flank and slamming into the ground so hard that it felt like a small earthquake. Lenns shuddered at the thought of what would have happened if that shell had landed on target.

“Damn it, I wish I was back in my Scrapper!” Lenns cried out as the enemy tank’s turret swerved a bit more to adjust its aim for its next shot. The two other Justifier tanks fired at the Xeranto with the same dismal results. Their armor-piercing rounds just weren’t powerful enough to punch through the Zedan tank’s frontal armor. They were about as effective as tossing rocks at it.

However, the Zedan tank would never fire again, as a Scrapper suddenly appeared behind it and used its left arm pile-driver to skewer the turret. The tank commander, gunner and loader barely managed to avoid the spike. After impaling the top of tank, the Scrapper engaged its fluid motors and with a mighty pull, wrenched the entire turret clear off the main body and tossing it aside, exposing the shocked tank crew within. They only had a few seconds to evacuate their vehicle before the Scrapper engaged its mini-Vulcan guns and shot out the insides, Ammunition and fuel cooked off and exploded, leaving nothing but a flaming pile of scrap metal.

Just as the Scrapper finished off the tank, several dozens of small arms fire pinged off the machine’s armor. There were even a few grenades and anti-tank rounds thrown at it. However, the Scrapper was more than capable of shrugging off the hits as it turned toward the direction of where the enemy fire was coming from. Then the mini-Vulcan guns roared to life again and sprayed the woods with high-velocity rounds. The Scrapper also launched a few anti-personnel rockets. The woods were briefly enveloped in a series of explosions. In less than 10 seconds, the enemy fire stopped completely as the Zedan infantry that had been hiding behind the trees and shrubbery, had been completely annihilated.

The Scrapper then moved off to find its next opponent.

A minute later, Lenns came up through the commander’s hatch and surveyed the carnage caused by a single Mini-Mech.

“Damn! We REALLY need to build our own Battle-Mech!”

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1930 hours…

BA-BOOM!

Sergeant Chad Darmers nodded as he made his Hunter lower its shield. He had protected several Atlans infantry platoons from being wiped out from an enemy artillery strike.  His long-range sensors calculated where the Zedan artillery was. His Battle-Mech’s right arm came up as he aimed the Beam Rifle. Then he pressed the button.

A blue-white bolt of energy flew out and hit the target coordinates more than 20 miles away. After firing that single shot, the enemy bombardment ceased.

“Bullseye!”

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2015 hours…

“DAMN IT! THAT WAS A DIRECT HIT AND IT DIDN”T SLOW DOWN!” The Zedan artillery commander exclaimed. He was ordering a battery of 90mm howitzers to fire on a small group of Battle-Mechs, but they proved to be ineffective against hyper-duralenium armor.

A squad from the 22^nd platoon steadily advanced on the enemy positions. Every now and then, they would fire off shots from their Beam Rifles or 100mm Machine Guns. The Zedan artillery simply couldn’t stop their advance.

Ten minutes later, every Zedan artillery position in the area had been overrun and neutralized.

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2140 hours…

Despite being delayed by their slower and less-experienced allies from Atlans, the Star Alliance forces from the Juno landings were still able to achieve their primary goals of establishing a secure beach head and setting up several preliminary FOBs. The landscape near Juno beach was littered with hundreds of burning tanks and armored vehicles of the Zedan forces. There were also thousands of dead Zedan soldiers. And there were even more Zedan officers and enlisted men, either as surrendered and captured. Those were immediately sent to POW camps that were being set up near the Omaha and Juno beaches.

As for the Atlans forces, they were both surprised and relieved that they had suffered only minimal casualties among their ranks. This was due to their Star Alliance allies taking the brunt of the Zedan attacks and shielding the people from Bisra and Excra from enemy fire. Most of the infantry and other enlisted men were quite happy to let Free Land bear most of the load. Several Atlans officers however, were jealous of Free Land’s technological superiority and greater warfare experience. They were also quite miffed over the fact that Free Land did most of the fighting while Atlans was almost entirely on the sidelines.

There had been a few skirmishes between Zedan and Atlans, but the Atlans forces found themselves hard-pressed to hold their own against a slightly technologically superior enemy. More often than not, they had to rely on support from Free Land in order to beat back the Zedan tanks, planes and ships. The Free Landers didn’t take it personally as they knew that Atlans was basically new at modern warfare, but the Atlans upper brass was disappointed that their overall forces had yet to prove themselves and defeat the enemy decisively on their own. 

Still, the fact that both Omaha and Juno operations had succeeded with only small delays and setbacks was encouraging.

The same however, could not be said for the operation that was named Sword…

To be continued…

Author’s notes

Sorry about being so late with this chapter. Family matters and loss of Internet can really slow you down.

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