[sachmo]

Invasion

2408.5

In the Remorhaz system, a new domed mining colony was founded. Though not as efficient as a colony with an oxygen atmosphere, the short distance from the shipyards of Remorhaz more than made up for the cost of the new colony, which was named Vilnius. The colony immediately began building mining facilities, although it would have been best suited as a refining colony. However, the war effort required mostly minerals, and so that was the priority.

In Yukra, the RSS Virtue was able to join with Falcon and Peregrine and form the Yukra Defense Fleet. The Ukra-Tal sill had not made any movements into the system. If they could hold on for 3 more months, the space yard would be complete, and the fleet would grow in strength much quicker.

The Naval Design Bureau was excited to hear that in only a few short months, the Research Guild had been able to improve on the existing shield generator technology, doubling the strength while only increasing the size of the generator by 1/4th. The new shields were put into the Glory B Class Destroyer design. One missile tube was removed, but the extra shielding and a depleted uranium cannon were a fair enough trade-off.

In the Xillantha system, RSS Mercury arrived to join the Xillantha Defense Fleet, as all Rage fleets had vacated the system. Rear Admiral Sakazawa detached the frigate Manticore and the destroyer Honor and ordered them to Glory for refit. This refit was scheduled to take roughly 3 months to complete. Sakazawa hoped that the Rage decided not to press any attack while he was short of the two ship’s firepower.

In the Regotha system, the Marine Assault Fleet moved into orbit over Regotha III. Captain Jager brought all of the ship commanders from Zeta Fleet and the commanders from the Assault Fleet over the Nemesis for a strategy meeting. Also present was the senior Space Marine Officer present, Major General Steven Brooks. While he was the highest-ranking officer in the room, while the Space Marines were on board the transport, the senior naval officer was in command. That officer was Captain Gina Jager. Once everyone was seated, Gina began the briefing.
“Well folks, here we are. We are about to assist Major General Brooks in capturing the Last planet in the Norak Continuum.”
Laughter rippled around the table. Everyone seemed to be excited, which made Gina relax a bit.
“As all of you know, this is a first time operation. Everything up until now has been done with simulators and mock-ups. In 72 hours, the Space Marines are going to do this for real.”
Gina tapped some keys on her data unit, and a holographic image of Regotha III appeared. Multiple colored displays appeared on the image, marking potential targets, population centers, the drop zones, and other information.
“The Marines have brought along 135 Blazer Assault Craft, which represents an over-strength brigade. The entire force will be deployed in one combat drop. Zeta Fleet, along with Comet, is going to provide fire support for the Space Marines. The red triangles represent troop formations that we have already bombarded with missiles. The green circles…” Gina continued to brief the officers present.
The Navy was to remain in orbit, in direct contact with the commanders on the ground. They would provide instant fire support for any commander who called for it. Also, the ships could provide a picture of the battle that might not be readily available to the ground commanders. Major General Brooks be in overall command of the entire fleet and ground operations until the planet was secured. Brigadier General Henry Townsend would be the ranking officer on the ground. The brigade was actually under the command of Colonel Pedro Marquez, but Townsend was the division commander and wanted to be present for the actual combat drop.
“Ok, folks, that’s it for me. General Brooks?”
The General stoop up, and moved to the front of the room.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I have the utmost confidence in each and every one of you. We all know what we have to do, and we know how to do it. I firmly believe that we will be able to overcome any obstacle that stands in our way. Good luck and God bless.”
The Major General turned to leave. Everyone stood up and came to attention. When he left, the other officers left in small Groups, discussing various issues that had come up during the briefing. Gina watched as the room cleared. She noticed Captain Brennan, commander of RSS Artemis, watching her as he walked past. He nodded to her. Brennan had always given her the creeps. Even back when they had attended the academy together, he had always looked at her with that same cold stare. She knew he was a motivated and capable officer, as well as an excellent tactician. He was also incredibly arrogant. He always seemed to hold those who he deemed inferior in contempt. It made him come off to others as cold and unfriendly. She didn’t know him very well, but she did know that he seemed to view her as one of the “inferior”. Good, she thought. I hope it eats him up inside to have to take orders from me.
Another thought struck her. Would his feelings about her drive him to cause problems? So far, he hadn’t made any trouble for her, and in fact had been a model officer. Their days at the academy had shown her that Brennan could be a vengeful son of a gun, and she had been given command of RSS Eagle when by all rights it should have been his billet. Could he be holding a grudge against her still? Was it possible that he would do something intentional in the upcoming invasion to put her in a bad light, and take her down a notch? Was he capable of such a thing? The more she thought about it, the quicker she chased it from her mind. Brennan was a professional officer in the Remorhaz Navy. He was above letting his personal feelings get in the way of his duty. At least, she hoped he was.

Captain Brennan glanced at Captain Gina Jager as he walked past her on his way out of the briefing. He flashed her the most sincere smile that he could manage. So far, she had managed to not get all of them killed, a circumstance that made him eternally grateful. He was surprised by her performance in the operation so far, but he fully expected the pressure to get to her as the invasion progressed. Once things started to get hectic, everyone would see that she just wasn’t up to leading a fleet into battle.
It wasn’t that he so much wanted her to fail, as that would put people’s lives in danger. He just knew that she wasn’t a very effective leader. Not every officer was up to the task of commanding large-scale operations. He had watched her performance at the academy, and while she was not unintelligent, it wasn’t quite up to par with what he considered essential to becoming an effective officer. His greatest fear is that she would make a major mistake before he and Major General Brooks were able to avert it, and that mistake would be big enough to get a lot of Space Marines killed. He really did hope that nothing went wrong, but his gut feeling was that it would. When it did, he would be there to take her place as commander of the fleet.

PFC Jake Renton looked up toward the ceiling of the cavernous drop bay that made up the bulk of the Landing Ship RSS Mongoose. High above him, the bay was segmented by catwalks and platforms. Resting on each platform was the open troop ramp of a Blazer assault craft. Each Blazer was held in place by a series of electro-magnetic clamps. Once the Mongoose was in drop position over the planet, and her huge drop bay doors were opened, the clamps would release, and the Blazers would free fall into the upper atmosphere. Once free of the landing ship, gravity would take over. The Blazers would enter the atmosphere are the maximum possible angle, coming down at high speed to hit their drop zones in the minimum amount of time, while at the same time reducing the exposure time of the Blazers to enemy anti-aircraft fire. Just before landing, the retros of the landing sled would fire, and the Blazer would touch down. It would then detach from the sled and fire it’s own hover engines. From here, the Blazer would transport the Space Marines as close to their target as possible, until the troops were ready to assault, in which case they would disembark from the Blazer and attack on foot. The Blazer would follow along and provide fire support with its three depleted uranium cannons.
Renton had been thru one actual drop. When Mongoose had pulled into Nora to pick up the Last of their brigade, they loaded all of the troopers up into their Blazers and dropped them en masse upon the heads of the unsuspecting wildlife that inhabited Western Norak. The ride was like sitting in a runaway elevator as Renton had remembered it, but it was over pretty quick. Actually, now that he thought about it, it was more like sitting in a runaway elevator that was being smashed on the outside by thousands of hammers, and all the while someone was kicking you in the rear with a steel-toed boot. Yes, that was the sensation. Once they were on the ground, his training took over. They captured the mock objective, and their projected casualties were “only” 40%. Renton had hoped at the time that when they attempted a real combat drop that the experts were proved wrong about those casualty figures.
“Renton! Get your butt in gear!” The gravely voice of Sergeant Chuck Williams cried out. Williams was always mad about something. He was the guy who kept the platoon moving, though. He raced down the line, eyes locked on Renton. He was beside him in seconds.
“Renton, I was wondering if you noticed that we were deploying for a COMBAT DROP TODAY?”
Renton shouted, “Yes, Sergeant!”
“Then could you kindly get your thumb out of your butt and deploy to the Blazer? Am I asking too much, Private?”
Renton shouted again, “No, Sergeant!”
Sergeant Williams started to pull away from him. “Good. Thank you, Private First Class Renton. I guess I won’t have to kill you. The Noraks will still be able to do it for me! Move it, 4th Platoon! Get your butts into the Blazer! Move! Move! Move!”
The 20 marines of 4th Platoon, 1st Battalion filed into the Blazer and quickly took their seats. They secured their gear under their seats, and their rifles in the clamps beside their seats. Then they strapped themselves in for the drop. Sergeant Williams prowled the left side, and Platoon Sergeant Jefferson inspected the right. The sergeants inspected each Space Marine, and ensured that everyone was locked in correctly, and their equipment was stowed. A loose pack could turn into a missile during a high-g drop. After a few adjustments, everyone was deemed secure. Sergeant Williams stuck his head up into the crew compartment to inform the loadmaster that everyone was secure. Then Williams took his own seat, while the loadmaster double-checked everyone. Once he was satisfied, he headed back for the crew compartment.
Renton looked over at the Sub Lieutenant. His face was white as a sheet. He’s going to lose his lunch again, Renton mused. When someone's stomach empties in free-fall, it’s not pretty. During the Norak drop, Sub Lieutenant Mike Diamato had emptied his. Renton though that just having that experience would keep someone from doing it again. He imagined that his theory was about to be tested. He looked across the troop compartment, and watched the light display near the ceiling. It was still red, which meant that they weren’t ready to drop yet. Suddenly he could feel the Blazer shudder. He glanced at the light display again, which was now burning bright amber. The Blazers on the lower tiers were dropping.
Sergeant Williams shouted on Last time, “Remember to deploy in formation, troops. When that buzzer goes off, I want weapons in hand and your butts on that ramp. Got it?”
They responded in unison, “HOO RAH SERGEANT!”
The light turned green, and a muted clang was heard. Suddenly the world fell out from under them.

“Captain, all Blazers have been dropped. Mongoose is now beginning her climb out of orbit,” the sensor officer reported.
Gina didn’t look away from the tactical display floating in front of her captain’s chair.
“Weps, I want you ready to knock out anything you see. Pay particular attention to the mountain ranges. If we’re going to have trouble, it will come from there.”
“Aye, aye, Cap. I’ll hit whatever you tell me to.”
Gina’s mind whirled a mile a minute. She was trying to access threats from whichever quarter they may appear. Nothing so far, but the invasion had just begun.

PFC Renton opened his eyes. The entire drop was just almost a distant memory. He had just felt the sideways tug as the landing sled’s retro engines fired, braking the Blazer. In a few moments, they would be on the ground. He was half expecting to wind up scattered across the atmosphere, but that was not to be his fate today. Absently, he wondered how the other platoons were faring.
Suddenly there was a thud. That would be the sled touching down. The pilot of the Blazer was loose from the sled in moments. The hover engines of the Blazer began to whine, and the pilot moved her forward a bit. He then pivoted the Blazer on its axis, turning a full circle and scanning the horizon. No buzzer meant no enemy close by. After a few tense minutes of waiting, Sergeant Williams held up the ok sign for the sub lieutenant. That meant that the entire company had survived the drop. Then Renton remembered that the lieutenant had most likely been sick all over himself. He turned to look, and saw nothing. The sub lieutenant sat in his seat, attempting to get his headset back on. He looked a little beaten up, but he hadn’t lost his lunch. For some reason, Renton felt proud of the sub lieutenant. Enlisted men weren’t supposed to like officers, but maybe this one would turn out ok. He gave the sub lieutenant the thumbs up. The sub lieutenant, having gotten his headset back on, smiled warmly and gave Renton’s thumbs up right back.

On board Mongoose, Major General Brooks watched the battle unfold from his command center. The tensest moment had been during the actual drop, when the Blazers were sitting ducks falling thru the atmosphere. The Blazers had made it down in one piece, every single one of them. Since the planet only had one major landmass, the entire brigade moved from the three drop zones and converged 10 miles from the main city. Brigadier General Townsend ordered the entire brigade to assault the city. General Brooks watched closely, expecting troops to come swarming out of their hiding places to try and overwhelm the Space Marines. It never happened. The planet of Regotha III was taken without a shot being fired.

PFC Jake Renton was up before and standing by the ramp as soon as the buzzer went off. Sergeant Williams was the first in line, and shouting orders to the platoon.
“DO NOT fire unless you are fired upon. General Townsend has reported no resistance to our assault, and he doesn’t want any if he can help it. If you fire without provocation, you will be brought up on charges. Is that clear?”
As one, they replied, “HOO RA SARGEANT!”
Sergeant Williams turned around. “Ok, get ready…”
The ramp opened with surprising speed. Renton was out and on the ground before he knew it, his rifle pointing ahead. It wasn’t until he had a moment to access the situation did he become surprised. Choking the streets, lying prostrate before them, were millions of Norakians. They were chanting something, but they did not move from their positions. One Norakian moved from out of the crowd, his three legs making his move with a curious gait. Renton aimed his rifle at the Norakians head, and tensed. Suddenly the Norak stopped and shouted in a strange, lilting voice, “We wish to no more fight. Norak surrenders! Norak surrenders!”
A cheer rippled thru the brigade. Regotha III was theirs, and the Norak were out of the war.

Grand Admiral Urian and Commandant Shawn Hunter entered the Chairman’s office. He was sitting on his balcony, drinking what looked to be dachenberry juice.
“Out here, gentlemen. Join me outside and help me to enjoy the day.” The Chairman was sitting at a table, his uneaten lunch sitting before him.
Hunter cleared his throat. “Sir, we have news from Regotha III. We have taken the planet, sir. There were no casualties on either side. It appears just before the Space Marines dropped, the High Priest had a vision from their goddess. She told them that it was their destiny to join with us in harmony, and that we would form one society that would rule the galaxy. Sir, the Norak no longer oppose us.”
Both men saw the Chairman’s face flush with color.
“Gentlemen, this is a great day. You can’t know how happy this makes me. Also, it makes me happy that we did not have to wipe out their entire race. Thank you both for this. Without you, this would never have happened.”
The two officers beamed with pride. The Chairman invited them to stay for lunch. He had suddenly regained his appetite.

The people were buoyed by the bloodless victory. While there was still a long way to go in this war, the victory over the Norak was a sign that they might be able to come thru this war intact. Chairman Sachmo had Regotha III renamed Providence, in honor of the bloodless end to the conflict with the Norak. The 1st Space Marine Brigade secured the planet until regular Army troops could be brought in to keep the peace. Also, construction was immediately begun on the first Urban Pacification Center. The Chairman was determined to bring the remaining Norakians into the Remorhaz Society.

Artemis, Hawk, Mongoose and Comet were docked at the newly captured Providence Space Yards, and a refit was begun. Comet was to be refitted as a Nemesis Class Frigate. If there were a need for it, another planetary attack ship would be built, but Chairman Sachmo wanted to avoid the destruction of colonies, and so wanted to avoid using them, and specifically planetary napalm, if at all possible. Nemesis and Furious were ordered to rendezvous with Gamma Fleet at Norak.

2408.6

This month was spent mainly in consolidating gains and redirecting forces. Once Gamma Fleet had most of it’s assets reattached, they would attempt to access the position of the Rage forces. Since the Rage had a rather large fleet patrolling the Lundra system, Gamma Fleet would have to be very careful not to get caught in a bad situation. Once again, it was hoped that a Rage fleet could be lured into the defensive system outside of the Lundra-Lapzooli wormhole, but that couldn’t be counted on.
In the Yukra system, once the shipyard was constructed on Timerron, more ships would be added to the Yukra Defense Fleet. Once sufficient asset strength was built up, offensive operations could be considered, but the General Staff decided that the Rage would have to be knocked out first. After gaining more intelligence on the Rage disposition, the main offensive would begin. The target would be the Fezzran system, and the liberation of Cirius. It was time to turn the tables on the Rage.

To be continued...

[ July 11, 2002, 15:35: Message edited by: sachmo ]