Attack Butterfly (Rust Bucket Universe) Page 10

  She replied, "No. We need it to attack with. If we don't stop the robots, they'll get to the shipyards and destroy the naval base. Get out, please."

  "But…"

  Her stern looks left no choice for the driver. The taut features, smeared with the blood of some of her classmates from where she had helped carry some of them, revealed a hardness few would have expected possible in her a few days earlier. She didn't know she had that hardness, either, but she was using it now. The driver got out of the hover. Ensign Tall motioned to another classmate to get in the driver's seat. Emily got in beside him and motioned two others to get in the back. They readied their rocket launchers as the hover sped off towards the oncoming robots as soon as Emily gave the new driver the signal.

  The man watched the four cadets go off to do battle in a hover with several Malakin robots. Then he walked back down the roadway by himself.

  As soon as they were in the clear and had a shot at the robots, Emily aimed and fired her rocket launcher. The hover swivelled and jerked about as it quickly dodged the return fire. As it moved away from the robots, the two cadets in the back seat fired their launchers while Emily reloaded hers in the front. The cadet driver moved the hover in skillfully and close so that the three cadets could get good shots at the robots. By the second time in, one robot was teetering from damage to one leg support. The cadets moved around the slow moving robots, using the hover's greater speed to their advantage. All the while, they constantly reloaded, aimed, and fired whenever they had a clear shot at one of the robots.

  Only when they were out of rockets did they back off and return to the rest of the group where more rockets were loaded on board the hover as quickly as possible. By then, a second and third hover had come along and been stopped. One hover was used to transport the wounded and civilians away to safety. The other was loaded up like Emily's and joined in the attack.

  Returning to the robots, one was on the ground, its weakened leg support having given way already. The two hovers each tackled one robot and made short work of them before returning to the group once more.

  "That's that for that bunch," Emily remarked. "Okay, we're going to need more hovers. Carl, take that one and three cadets with you. Drive down the road to town and commandeer the first three you can find. As soon as you get back, we'll all board a hover and keep those robots from getting to the shipyards."

  Carl drove off quickly as instructed.

  ***

  Too many of the transports managed to make it safely to the surface. However, many of them had to land their cargoes too far away from the vital installations where they posed a greater threat to the civilians instead. Many of them were simply not within reach of the cadets, even with hovers. Only those nearest to the shipyards were dealt with by the cadets. Those were few because the chances of a transport landing near them were slim, solely because the Mad Dogs Squadron were directly above part of the time.

  ***

  Dave suddenly realized that there was an alternate landing site that Thompson could head for that wasn't needed at all in the battle area. In fact, moving the space station farther away was the best thing for it in its current condition. Dave asked, "Sergeant Rendall, can we still maneuver about?"

  "Provided we do it smoothly, sure Admiral," he replied.

  Dave said, "Shirley, how about if the station moves closer to that damaged fighter coming back in? Since the carrier is tied up, we should be able to at least shorten the total distance and give her a better chance with the oxygen she has left."

  "I agree. Sergeant Rendall, go ahead and move the station to a position that can better accommodate that fighter," replied Captain Sorenson. "Communications, let the fighter know that we'll be her carrier this time."

  The communications officer got on with her task immediately. "Attack Butterfly, Attack Butterfly, come in."

  Susan stiffened when she heard her fighter being called. "This is Attack Butterfly."

  "This is Beulah Station. We are moving in your direction. You are to rendezvous with us for landing. We will take the place of your carrier. I say again. We are moving in your direction. Rendezvous with us. We are taking the place of your carrier. Acknowledge, please."

  Susan replied, "Attack Butterfly acknowledging."

  Susan smiled again for the first time in some minutes. Why hadn't she thought of heading for the space station first? They could handle a single fighter. Probably their fighter was already involved in action or destroyed. She didn't know if it was in the earlier action, but she would have been too busy to have noticed anyway, she thought. Not only could she land on the station, but they were helping to shorten the distance for her. It was beginning to look as if she could easily make it after all. She relaxed even more, reducing her oxygen intake somewhat more.

  Susan wondered who made the decision to move the station? Was the admiral involved in the decision? Had he picked up on her fighter's name and felt an obligation? Or was this just the way he was about fellow officers? Whatever the reason, Susan felt that someone somewhere was looking out for her. She hoped someone was looking out for some of the other fighter pilots as well. They all needed every bit of help they could get.

  ***

  The battle raged around Beulah with ferocity as the enemy ships tried to organize to counter the tactics of the Mad Dogs Squadron and the four Rust Buckets. However, it was too late. As soon as the enemy gathered, the Navy and Pennyweight forces joined together and charged into the enemy midst with every available gun blazing away.

  When it was over, the Mad Dogs were down to only destroyers and their fighter-carrier surviving along with the Pennyweight ships. They then scattered out around the planet to destroy any remaining enemy transports before they could either land and disgorge their warrior robots or take off to be used again.

  ***

  Susan fought off unconsciousness as the station came into sight. She slowed down to landing speed and still came in slightly hot. Somehow, between her efforts and those of the station pilot, whom she blessed, she landed. A crew came out and grabbed her from the fighter cabin and rushed her inside the station.

  She felt the station's fresher air against her face as her helmet was taken off once she was inside. "Give me an air tank! I can still fly and fight!" she exclaimed.

  Dave looked at her with admiration for her nerve and courage. "Forget it for now, Lieutenant. The main battle is over. What's left is just a mop up. Get rested and then return to your carrier to get your fighter repaired," he said.

  "We won?" she asked.

  He replied, "Thanks to you and many other people like you, yes, we won. Now rest. The war's not over yet. This was just the beginning."

  "If you say so, sir. By the way, sir, you don't mind that I named my fighter the Attack Butterfly, do you?" she asked.

  "Not at all. I feel somewhat honored that you did. Thank you," replied Admiral Oden before he went back to consult with Captain Sorenson.

  Dave said to Shirley, "Can you imagine how quickly we could have ended the Ape-oids War if we had started with a dozen like her?"

  "Yes. Frightening, isn't it?" she asked.

  Dave replied, "Maybe to the Ape-oids. Still, we found a couple dozen like her after awhile and finally did it the way it should have been done at first."

  Shirley chuckled softly before returning to her duties.

  The station reversed course back towards Beulah where it would receive repairs. Even though Susan's fighter would be taken care of by her maintenance personnel, the space station crew was already helping out some by removing the bodies of her dead crew and performing some initial maintenance to speed the repairs along.

  Chapter 9

  A few hours later, the Berserker Squadron arrived fresh and ready for whatever might come their way. They could only stare in awe at the vast amount of space junk around Beulah where the battles had taken place.

  Navy space tugs were busy everywhere, recovering Navy ships first so that the survivors, if there were any, could be
taken off or the dead could be removed for later burial. As well, they were towing the disabled ships back so they could be repaired or cannibalized to make other ships whole again. Every ship would be needed.

  At least, the Malakins wouldn't be getting a few hundred of their own ships back. As far as anyone knew, none of the Malakin ships escaped.

  Admiral Oden received a call from Admiral of the Navy Reason shortly after the Berserker Squadron arrived. "How'd it go, Dave?"

  Dave replied, "Tough, Bill. It's not easy fighting defensively and being unable to retreat. But that's war."

  "Yes, you're right about that. I understand you used Beulah Station as your flagship."

  "It was convenient," replied Dave.

  "Well, convenient or not, you will not use a space station as your flagship again. I want you on the bridge of a cruiser at the minimum and preferably on the deck of a dreadnought. Do I make myself clear?" asked Bill.

  Dave replied, "Um, perfectly clear. I'll transfer my flag to the Berserker Squadron so that the Mad Dogs can get repaired and rested."

  "Good, good. Now tell me, how bad is it there?" Bill asked.

  Dave replied, "We lost all but a handful of destroyers, the fighter-carrier, and the space station. I think only about six fighters survived, too. We've got a number of enemy transports that made it to the surface despite our best efforts. The cadets are holding off the Malakin robots away from the shipyards. Regardless of that, we could use heavy marines on the surface."

  "Those are on the way already. They should be there by morning."

  Dave responded, "Good. I'll let the cadets continue to fight until the marines arrive. Then I'll have the cadets get out of the way. Oh, we're going to be performing repairs on some Pennyweight ships as well. I called them in when I saw how things were going."

  "Sure, Dave. If they got it while helping out, the Navy will take care of them. You won't have any problem from naval finance on that. I'll see to it. How high are the casualties?" Bill asked.

  Dave replied, "Very high. I'm not sure where we're going to get the manpower for these ships when they're put back together unless we use cadets."

  "We may have to, Dave. Let me think about that. I'll give you an answer on that in the next day or two. Okay?"

  Dave replied, "Okay, Bill. I imagine that we can find enough officers in the senior class who we can graduate early to fill slots in other ships so that experienced officers can be moved into the Mad Dogs Squadron."

  "You don't want to put them together in the same squadron?" asked Bill.

  "I figure they would benefit working for experienced officers like most of us did. Is shuffling officers going to be a problem?" asked Dave.

  "That it is, Dave. The only resources you're going to have for experienced officers are the two squadrons you have now. Remember, only one is staying with Beulah. You'll be sending the other one soon enough on the offensive. If they've been baptized on Beulah, they should be able to hold their own on board a ship."

  Dave replied, "I reckon you're right about that. I'll keep that in mind if you decide that I'm to use them."

  "You probably will, Dave. Knowing you, you're probably already planning on that anyway."

  "You're right. Anything further?" asked Dave.

  "No. Echo held out. They kept their space station from being shot up by moving it away from the battle. Of course, you probably knew that Echo would be all right since it had four squadrons to fight back with."

  "How were their losses?" asked Dave.

  "Fairly light, considering. They had enough combat officers left over from the Ape-oids War who knew how to fight and they went in like gang busters. By the way, the Ape-oids did try for a breakout. Looks more and more like the Ape-oids knew about the attack."

  Dave replied, "Yes, it does. Any of them get loose?"

  "Not a one. Two destroyers held them off until a mine layer got there to blanket the planet with enough mines to keep them there."

  "Two destroyers, you say? Anyone I know?" asked Dave.

  "Is there anyone or anything you don't know?" Bill replied with a chuckle.

  Dave said, "I guess not."

  ***

  It was the next morning before another group of Navy ships, transports with Space Marines on board, arrived. Heavily armed soldiers with hover artytanks and outrigger drones capable of tackling the Malakin robots head on were on board. As soon as they landed, the cadets returned back to their own studies, after first taking off a day to nurse their wounds and bury their dead.

  Marine low altitude fighters took off from the shipyards where they were unloaded. They circled the planet in search of enemy robots that landed too far away to threaten any of the populated areas or critical resources.

  ***

  Dave was already finished with his plans for using cadets. He needed only the names of those seniors who survived and the go ahead from Admiral of the Navy Reason, who happened to also be Dave's father-in-law. Dave figured that Bill was probably upset because he, as a son-in-law, was on the space station since it wasn't really a war vessel, even though it was armed and possessed the best communications. The station's weapons were mostly for asteroid destruction to protect itself and the planet. Bill probably wasn't even worried about having an admiral using the station as a flagship. Of course, it was possible that Bill meant it from the other viewpoint since Bill never pulled any strings for Dave. Both men could proudly state they earned their rank by honest hard work.

  ***

  "God, these are worse than the Ape-oids we had to kill a decade ago when they fought to the last soldier standing," said Sergeant Ohm.

  "Well, we've got better equipment this time, Sergeant, so let's put it to use," declared Captain Gery.

  "Oh, no doubt about that. That's exactly what I'm going to instruct the troops to do. We'll send out the artytanks with their outrigger drones in front."

  "Okay, anything else?" asked the captain.

  Sergeant Ohm replied, "I'm having defensive positions established around the shipyards with lasers, sonic disruptors, Mark V bolt guns, and mines."

  "That seems to cover those pretty well. How soon will you have everything in place?"

  The sergeant replied, "Say about two hours to have the defensive positions in place. We'll already be on the offensive long before then with the other half of the plan."

  "Very well, sergeant. Let me know if there are any complications."

  ***

  Despite the ground activity still going on as an estimated fifty or more Malakin robots were being searched for and destroyed, Admiral Oden conducted some necessary affairs to get the healing started. His first action was to visit the hospitals where their few wounded were being treated. For most of the wounded, his presence was enough to cheer them up. Sometimes, a handshake was eagerly wanted and accepted. Dave did his best to see each one of them and thank each personally.

  ***

  Sergeant Ohm looked at the panels in front of him as he sat in one of the artytanks. The artytank possessed twin barrels, one for artillery projectiles as well as old style tank rounds and one that could fire line of sight lasers for their own defense. In front of the artytank floated a dozen outrigger drones, each kept in contact with the artytank by means of coded signals that were simul-cast in several ways so that the enemy couldn't block signals to them and cut down the effectiveness of the artytank.

  The outrigger drones were the real offensive power of the artytank as they were each maneuvered by a crew member inside the artytank to positions well in advance of it. They would be what actually fought the Malakin robots, rather than needlessly risk the men and women inside the artytank that hovered a safe distance away. They travelled in pairs, much like tanks did long before. Two pairs were used to protect the flanks of the artytank and three pairs scouted up ahead for the enemy. Handled properly, a single artytank could easily hold a two kilometer front against the enemy.

  On his panels, Sergeant Ohm watched as the drones fed back their pictures of
where they were and what was in front of them. It didn't take his personnel seated at their own panels long to find their first trio of Malakin robots still heading for the shipyards. The drones swept along the ground quickly and fired weapons too heavy for a man or woman to carry, let alone carry and fire. The robots seemed unsure at first of their enemy until heavy firepower cut through the lead robot from a pair of outrigger drones. The two flanking robots tried to follow the movements and return fire.

  The drone operators sitting in front of Sergeant Ohm were excited at being able to use their technology in action against a real enemy instead of mere targets as usual. The sergeant let them have their fun and make comments while they busily destroyed the Malakin robots with the efficiency he had drilled into them. At the same time, the sergeant felt sorry for the men and women he had to assign to static defense positions. It was unlikely that they would get a chance to fire a shot, unless someone really screwed up and a robot managed to get through.

  The sergeant observed and analyzed the robots, looking to see if there were any special weaknesses that the cadets hadn't learned about. He also analyzed the offensive maneuvers of the robots. Everything he learned would be put to use. He had a feeling that this wasn't the last time the Space Marines would have to do battle with Malakin robots.

  The flanking robots went down in large pieces as the outrigger drones were maneuvered skillfully and fast in circles around the robots. The enemy robots seemed unable to counter, despite being in the center where the required movement to keep up would be less.

  "Good job!" the sergeant said loudly when the men and women finally quieted down from their excitement as the last destroyed robot fell. "Okay, now let's go get some more of them. You're not through yet."

  Sergeant Ohm noted that the robots were truly as slow as the cadets stated them to be. He wondered if they would be as slow in other places than on Beulah.

  ***

  Kyle asked, "How are you doing, Mike? You looked sick earlier."

  "Much better now. I was sick earlier until I heard about the Malakin attack. I stopped feeling sorry for the Ape-oids then. After that, I just knew that we couldn't allow any of them to escape, no matter how one-sided the battle looked. Our guys had enough on their hands without us letting them down," replied Mike.