Shadow Sun
Expansion Wars Part I
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It was a beautiful day: sunny and warm without being swelteringly hot, a few clouds in the spring sky with a gentle breeze. "A perfect day for some yardwork," Aleksander Lashenko said to himself. Yardwork indeed, he was planting a fresh patch of grass after the installation of a new septic system had torn up part of the yard. He took a moment to gaze into the sky with satisfaction when he saw what looked like a daytime meteor shower.
"Crash down pods!" he said breathlessly. Yardwork forgotten, he dashed into the house to grab his pulse rifle and to get in contact with central command.
1st Lieutenant Lashenko, 2nd Marines, 1st Batallion, 7th Expeditionary Fleet was one of the original colonists of Cassius Prime, a colony on the outskirts of the ever expanding Terran Alliance. It had been decided long ago that colonization was too dangerous for anything but military personnel, with the colony on Cassius Prime colonized under the authority of the 7th Expeditionary Fleet. Cassius Prime was a beautiful, lush planet with a future as a vacation spot once it was more developed.
Just as he grabbed his pulse rifle, he heard the raid warning sirens off in the distance. "No point in contacting central now," he thought. Rumbling explosions could be heard outside as the crash down pods carrying the first soldiers of the invasion force landed with a sonic boom.
Lashenko knew how it worked--he was a Marine, after all--the crash down pods were first. Crash Soliders were shock troopers with a high mortality rate, often over 50%. If they weren't killed on impact, they were killed with anti-air defenses, or if they had landed, anti-tank weapons before the soliders could get out of the pod. Each pod carried about 3-5 soldiers that were tasked with establishing a foothold on the planet for heavy invasion forces to land: tanks, artillery, personnel carriers and the like. He ran over the scenarios in his mind as he struggled into some basic combat gear he kept at the house.
"Now to get to the depot," he thought. Crossing the living room on his way out, the large glass window exploded, tossing him like a rag doll across the room. He landed in a heap, his pulse rifle somewhere out of reach. His face stung with small cuts from the glass, and his ear drums were throbbing from the sonic boom of the pod landing just outside. He had just enough time to realize what had happened when he lost consciousness.
******
"SOLDIER, why aren't those anti-aircraft guns online," barked the Master Gunnery Sergent, yelling to be heard over the booming discharge of other nearby gun emplacements.
"It's not the gun, sir, it's the--" he paused for the din of a nearby explosion to fade, "sir, it's the targeting system. We have this problem with them--"
"Son, I don't care if it's a problem with your mother, I want this gun online if you have to fire it yourself!"
"Sir, yes sir!" Corporal Jeremy Fakult worked furiously at the problem, vowing to use manual targeting next if what he was currently trying didn't work. He could feel cold sweat running down his back as explosions provided the background music as he danced his shaking hands furiously over the gun electronics. It was strange he didn't feel a great amount of fear, only pressure to get the gun working.
The Boarder Wars were years ago, and there were few combat veterans left. Most of them had retired or were in command positions, not many were left on the front line. Hell, he thought, the 2nd Marines, 7th Expeditonary Fleet didn't even exist during the boarder wars. It seemed they were all getting first hand combat experience today.
"SOLDIER," barked the Master Gunnery Sergent just as the targeting system came online and fired the first shot. "It's a good thing, soldier, or I would have had yours and your mothers hide! Now grab your weapon and get to the RP!"
******
"That's the thrid colony, sir."
"Report, ensign!"
"Sir, Cassius Prime, Acturus Shipyards, and Vega VII all report invasion forces splashing down on the surface. Casualties are unknown at this point."
"Damnit, where did these ships come from? Why wasn't there more warning?"
"Sir, Acturus Shipyards reported the ships were extremely fast, faster than anything we have. They came into sensor range and with in an hour or less they were assaulting the planet."
Fleet Admiral Jack Austin looked at a holographic display of the systems under his command which showed the planets being attacked and where his forces were. "This makes no sense. I can understand Acturus Shipyards, but the other two?" He furrowed his brow. These colonies didn't have any partictular stategic value. Acturus Shipyards was far from a primary ship producer and really only had the capacity to build light system patrol vessels. Right now, reasons didn't matter.
"Dispatch BB 102, 103 and 104, one to each colony. They are to engage forces as necessary but to fall back in the face of overwhelming force to RV 126. Send 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 8th squadrons to RV 126 and wait for further orders." He knew it would be too little too late. The destroyer squadrons were at least 2-3 weeks away from RV 126, and BB102 would take 72 hours at least, but those battleships were the fastest in the fleet, equipped with the newest warp drives.
*******
He couldn't hear his breathing, but he was alive. He had to be alive, because he figured a dead person couldn't have a headache this bad. His whole body hurt, it hurt to move. He opened his eyes and then started to remember what happened.
Lashenko froze. If there were enemy soliders around, they might think he was dead, and he didn't want to do anything to persuade them from that belief. He looked around as slowly as he could...all he saw was his house in disarray from the sonic boom that had shattered the window. He turned his head slowly as he tried to look around more...nothing.
"Rifle...I've got to find my rifle," he thought. He collected himself and looked around briefly. His rifle was no where to be found. He grimly drew his knife, but knew that without his hearing he stood little chance of catching someone off guard to get close enough to use it.
Staying low, he crawled to the window that had blown out. He peered out and saw the crash down pod that had landed in his yard. He looked again in disbelief: "Torians?" Well he knew how to kill them too, so it didn't much matter beyond that. He had to get to his ground car and to the nearest depot where he could regroup with his platoon.
Moving slowly and carefully, he saw the pod was empty. No sign that the occupants died on impact. It still glowed hotly from entering the atmosphere and was still smoking. He couldn't have been out long, he decided. Relying on his vision and the electronics in his goggles, he moved towards his garage. He crept up and peered around the corner...
Lashenko dropped as a rifle butt impacted the back of his knees. His knife clattered to the ground, out of reach. He felt a flash of pain on the back of his head and he fell back into unconsciousness.
"Crash down pods!" he said breathlessly. Yardwork forgotten, he dashed into the house to grab his pulse rifle and to get in contact with central command.
1st Lieutenant Lashenko, 2nd Marines, 1st Batallion, 7th Expeditionary Fleet was one of the original colonists of Cassius Prime, a colony on the outskirts of the ever expanding Terran Alliance. It had been decided long ago that colonization was too dangerous for anything but military personnel, with the colony on Cassius Prime colonized under the authority of the 7th Expeditionary Fleet. Cassius Prime was a beautiful, lush planet with a future as a vacation spot once it was more developed.
Just as he grabbed his pulse rifle, he heard the raid warning sirens off in the distance. "No point in contacting central now," he thought. Rumbling explosions could be heard outside as the crash down pods carrying the first soldiers of the invasion force landed with a sonic boom.
Lashenko knew how it worked--he was a Marine, after all--the crash down pods were first. Crash Soliders were shock troopers with a high mortality rate, often over 50%. If they weren't killed on impact, they were killed with anti-air defenses, or if they had landed, anti-tank weapons before the soliders could get out of the pod. Each pod carried about 3-5 soldiers that were tasked with establishing a foothold on the planet for heavy invasion forces to land: tanks, artillery, personnel carriers and the like. He ran over the scenarios in his mind as he struggled into some basic combat gear he kept at the house.
"Now to get to the depot," he thought. Crossing the living room on his way out, the large glass window exploded, tossing him like a rag doll across the room. He landed in a heap, his pulse rifle somewhere out of reach. His face stung with small cuts from the glass, and his ear drums were throbbing from the sonic boom of the pod landing just outside. He had just enough time to realize what had happened when he lost consciousness.
******
"SOLDIER, why aren't those anti-aircraft guns online," barked the Master Gunnery Sergent, yelling to be heard over the booming discharge of other nearby gun emplacements.
"It's not the gun, sir, it's the--" he paused for the din of a nearby explosion to fade, "sir, it's the targeting system. We have this problem with them--"
"Son, I don't care if it's a problem with your mother, I want this gun online if you have to fire it yourself!"
"Sir, yes sir!" Corporal Jeremy Fakult worked furiously at the problem, vowing to use manual targeting next if what he was currently trying didn't work. He could feel cold sweat running down his back as explosions provided the background music as he danced his shaking hands furiously over the gun electronics. It was strange he didn't feel a great amount of fear, only pressure to get the gun working.
The Boarder Wars were years ago, and there were few combat veterans left. Most of them had retired or were in command positions, not many were left on the front line. Hell, he thought, the 2nd Marines, 7th Expeditonary Fleet didn't even exist during the boarder wars. It seemed they were all getting first hand combat experience today.
"SOLDIER," barked the Master Gunnery Sergent just as the targeting system came online and fired the first shot. "It's a good thing, soldier, or I would have had yours and your mothers hide! Now grab your weapon and get to the RP!"
******
"That's the thrid colony, sir."
"Report, ensign!"
"Sir, Cassius Prime, Acturus Shipyards, and Vega VII all report invasion forces splashing down on the surface. Casualties are unknown at this point."
"Damnit, where did these ships come from? Why wasn't there more warning?"
"Sir, Acturus Shipyards reported the ships were extremely fast, faster than anything we have. They came into sensor range and with in an hour or less they were assaulting the planet."
Fleet Admiral Jack Austin looked at a holographic display of the systems under his command which showed the planets being attacked and where his forces were. "This makes no sense. I can understand Acturus Shipyards, but the other two?" He furrowed his brow. These colonies didn't have any partictular stategic value. Acturus Shipyards was far from a primary ship producer and really only had the capacity to build light system patrol vessels. Right now, reasons didn't matter.
"Dispatch BB 102, 103 and 104, one to each colony. They are to engage forces as necessary but to fall back in the face of overwhelming force to RV 126. Send 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 8th squadrons to RV 126 and wait for further orders." He knew it would be too little too late. The destroyer squadrons were at least 2-3 weeks away from RV 126, and BB102 would take 72 hours at least, but those battleships were the fastest in the fleet, equipped with the newest warp drives.
*******
He couldn't hear his breathing, but he was alive. He had to be alive, because he figured a dead person couldn't have a headache this bad. His whole body hurt, it hurt to move. He opened his eyes and then started to remember what happened.
Lashenko froze. If there were enemy soliders around, they might think he was dead, and he didn't want to do anything to persuade them from that belief. He looked around as slowly as he could...all he saw was his house in disarray from the sonic boom that had shattered the window. He turned his head slowly as he tried to look around more...nothing.
"Rifle...I've got to find my rifle," he thought. He collected himself and looked around briefly. His rifle was no where to be found. He grimly drew his knife, but knew that without his hearing he stood little chance of catching someone off guard to get close enough to use it.
Staying low, he crawled to the window that had blown out. He peered out and saw the crash down pod that had landed in his yard. He looked again in disbelief: "Torians?" Well he knew how to kill them too, so it didn't much matter beyond that. He had to get to his ground car and to the nearest depot where he could regroup with his platoon.
Moving slowly and carefully, he saw the pod was empty. No sign that the occupants died on impact. It still glowed hotly from entering the atmosphere and was still smoking. He couldn't have been out long, he decided. Relying on his vision and the electronics in his goggles, he moved towards his garage. He crept up and peered around the corner...
Lashenko dropped as a rifle butt impacted the back of his knees. His knife clattered to the ground, out of reach. He felt a flash of pain on the back of his head and he fell back into unconsciousness.
.
