TOW21

Chapter 21 - The Other War
07/20/3060 Location – Eden, Pentagon Worlds
Meanwhile in Yang's Bazaar the Armorworks Merchant Factor Leopold was still on the phone with Star Colonel Ravenwater when the Falcons arrived in a small convoy of five wheeled vehicles, two APCs, two Tankers filled with Ammonia and Hydrazine, and an Ordnance Transport and its trailer loaded down with bombs and missiles. They presented themselves to the Horse Patrol outside and demanded to speak to the Factor.
A slender brunette woman stood outside the Patrol station with hands on her hips while the Patrolmen had their hands on their sidearms. She was already in her bright green Talon Aerospace Flight-suit with a bomber style jacket over it with the words 'Filigree Flight' emblazoned on it in gold.
Leopold stepped out and the woman eyed him sharply, “About time, Factor Leopold.
I am Star Commander Mia Binetti of the First Falcon Dragoons. I am here for my fighters. We have a lot of work to do,” she looked at her wrist mounted comm-pad, “and less time. Show me where they are.”''
The Factor spoke to the Patrol Captain and the Horses reluctantly took their hands of their sidearms or lowered their rifles. A Patrol truck powered up and led the Falcons to the ten Jagatais that were supposed to join the flight wing of a Horse Comitatus Patrol Jumpship. Now the brand new recently painted Strike Fighters belonged to the Jade Falcons. The APCs disgorged their passengers, a complete flight crew for a Fighter Star whose Warriors and Technicians composed mostly of Raven Abtakha. Both bird Clans had come to an alliance under their Khans Marthe Pryde and Lynn McKenna to protect their interests from the ascendant Snake Alliance whose Steel Vipers had launched multiple violent Trials against them.
Star Commander Binetti was pleased that the fighters were already armed and in several different configurations no less. Her Ordnance Carrier was only there for bombs and ammunition and carried no omni-pods while her technicians already had enough to do readying the fighters for combat. The tanker loaded fuel tanks with liquid ammonia and hydrazine that would also circulate in the heat sinks while the Techs attached bombs and extra fuel tanks to the wing hard-points. Within an hour they were ready for takeoff; record time and testament to the Raven's hard earned experience with omni-fighters. They even had time to paint on the Jade Falcon and Zeta Galaxy emblem on the fuselage.
Mia climbed the small ladder which folded back into the fuselage with the help of a technician. She closed the cockpit and activated the APU which provided starting power through both the on-board stores of hydrazine powering the RCS and a superconductive nuclear thermal battery adjacent to the reactor. The Falcon Fighter pilot donned her neurohelmet a miracle of modern science with its own basic life support and a direct link to the fly by wire and targeting systems.
A technician stood in front of the sleek fighter and she went down the pre-flight checklist, coolant circulation, control surfaces, RCS nozzles, life support, heat shielding, comm systems. She engaged the armored cowling that would envelop the cockpit and heard it latch into position, the neurohelmet filled with an AR view outside the craft receiving stimulus from RADAR, MICRO, IR, UV, GAMMA, and other spectra flashed into her view as the on-board computer synergized them all together. The two parallel computers checked themselves and confirmed they were operational. “All techs clear area for ignition.”
''
All the technicians and their vehicles moved away taking cover in a bunker nearby as the flight line came alive, she activated several toggle switches in a precise series. “Activating SPARC. All Points standby.”
The SPARC (Selective plasma activated reactor core) system was the key to Aerospace engines and made them the most complex pieces of machinery in the galaxy. Compact high performance nuclear fusion powered rockets capable of launching a fighter into space within minutes by themselves. Even the powerful engines of Warships were less complex than their smaller cousins. Warships were amazing for their compact KF drives and immense nuclear fusion reactors that were less powerful by weight but pushed the limits of known physics even to the Clans that didn't lose most of the knowledge of the Star League.
The fusion engine activated with a roar as the coolant began circulating preheating itself from the thermonuclear furnace within and pressurizing propellant systems. The initial pressure was released with minor out-gassing of Ammonia before the system sealed itself. The Jagatai fighter warmed to 473K and that was cold for this fighter but hot enough to burn all the skin off anyone touching it without proper protection. Heat shimmers surrounded each of the ten fighters that were readying an Elephant walk combat pattern.
“Successful ignition. Raising bottle to decomp.” The reactor powered up heating some of the ammonium nearly to its decomposition temperature of 1073K almost as hot as regular jet exhaust.
“Bazaar Tower this is Filigree Actual. We are ready to take off on your mark.”
“Filigree Flight, skies are clear. Take off when ready.”
“Roger Filigree Flight on me.” She tipped the throttle forward and flew almost vertical until she was high in the stratosphere and rising. The hard burn to suborbital rapidly depleted her fuel tanks and she discarded the excess carbon fiber tanks which flew behind with those of the other Falcons. The tanks would deploy parachutes for later recovery if feasible but were relatively cheap to manufacture. Eden opened up below her and the horizon rose until they were in the exosphere and suborbital allowing the planet to rotate below them. Atmospheric flight switched over to suborbital mechanics as they adjusted their heading toward the wasteland escarpment of The Abaddon Heights on the dry cold continent of Novy Sakhalin.
Back at the Elizabeth Hazen Starport Magnus waited aboard the Sassanid-Class DropShuip, CJF Ruby Velite. The Horses had rapidly transported most of the 40th Mechanized Cavalry and 232nd Combat Engineering Star there via C-1 Spheroid small craft and were currently loading them into the dropship's cargo bay. While the Sassinid normally carried only 75 Elementals there were far more than that packed into the space. Burnt Umber Salamanders, Jade Green Elemental Suits, Dark Gray EXO-FIVEs, and recently repaired Black and Blue Rhino suits lined up in 4 rows of 25 cradles.
'Above' them the cargo bay was packed with Patrolmen waiting beside up-armored gun-trucks and troop transports. Each of the vehicles carried the equivalent of a Elemental worth of weaponry but was more fragile and required three people to operate to the fullest. Long benches were anchored into the deck where the heavily equipped but still 'Light' infantry would wait out the two hour long suborbital hop to the Abbadon Heights from Yakut.
Ten Hell's Horse Ares Light Tanks and a pair of Falcon Wildfire (Chaparral IIC) Arrow IV Carriers would provide the major offensive punch but would take time to unload once they reached their destination. Until then it was up to 100 Elementals, 400 Mechanized Infantry, and Filigree Flight to hold the line against whatever awaited them.
Star Colonels Zymot and Ravenwater expected fierce resistance from the 'Radioactive Spiders' as they had come to be known and had spent the last hour going over the battle plan within the Ruby Velite's planning room. The Abaddon Heights were filled with radioactive minerals that not only made sensor tracking difficult but could be lethal to an un-shielded human within several hours of exposure despite the gene editing that all modern humans carried dating back to the earliest days of the Age of Exploration and Terran Hegemony.
These edits which were done whether or not the subject wanted it (most did) and made them more resistant to the rigors of space travel, infection by exotic diseases, or the conditions of marginal colony worlds which had coincidentally raised the lifespan of everyone with the exception of Clan Laborers and Combine Serfs. However no Laborers or Serfs died of cancer or heart disease instead it was often accidents, bad water, toxic dust filled with heavy metals or oxides, and malnutrition that killed them.
Magnus and the others remained in their suits as the Sassinid went through its pre-flight check and lifted off veering southward toward the icy continent of Novy Sakhalin. Without an acceleration couch the thrusters seemed so much more powerful and he was never good with spaceflight. Power Armored suits shook and rattled in their cradles before going into free-fall. The cradles kept the suits in their proper orientation and the machines were designed for this purpose particularly the EXO-FIVE Light Armor which was a popular one used by Armored Marines although the Salamander was growing in popularity as it had Harjel and two claws whereas the X-V didn't. The verdict was still out however as no Armored Marines had engaged each other inside the corridors of a Warship or Space Station in more than 20 years.
Time slowed during their suborbital hop but he could hear constant radio chatter, Filigree had taken off right on schedule and had matched velocity. A small cheer went out among the Elementals as a bombing run by ten Aerospace fighters was a great way to soften opposition and punch holes that could later be filled with SRMs. The revised battle-plan came in over the battlenet which gave the troopers a half hour of preparation to memorize geological points of interest that might hold enemy strong points.
The Heights were a vast and rugged uplands part of a massive rift that had created an escarpment greater in size than the Grand Canyon of Terra. This has unearthed a large number of heavy metals and more importantly uranium and thorium which provided the fuel for Nuclear Fission Reactors still used in Enclaves, Space Stations, and other Large Craft despite the existence of fusion power.
Outside Mia Binetti and Filigree Flight could see the Ruby Velite on RADAR. Their mission clocks ticked down and their noses dipped toward the surface once more. “Ruby, we are diving in. Switching back to atmospheric flight mode.” The heat of reentry caused the heat shielding tiles protecting the fuselage to glow bright white. All of her Jagatai A's weapons were shielded against the heat by a mixture of armor, heat sinks, and a recessed bay protected by a sliding door. As the heat died down and the plane returned to the atmosphere the bay doors opened on all surfaces exposing the heavy cannon, PPC, and missiles.
The surface grew larger as she dove faster toward the target area, the radiation would scramble sensors but a Lion dropship was impossible to hide and that meant it was likely a trap.
One she was going to dive right into the jaws of with her fighter screaming like a Jade Falcon. Squat double Flak cannon armed Hachiman and Gauss armed Glass Spider AAA units revealed themselves. As she neared they angled their weapons up to fire at the incoming fighters.
Her bombing sight focused in on one of the lumbering dome headed Mechs. She flipped open the switch that enabled the KKD (Kinetic Kill Device, nonexplosive bomb).
“Talons out Filigree.” Three 1 ton molded depleted uranium slug fell free at Mach 10 bracketing the target. Her KKDs smashed into the Glass Spider shattering its right leg and causing it to fall to the rocky ground. The other two caused huge impact craters. Mia nosed up to evade incoming fire and slow down while clearing the flight path for the rest of her Star.
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