“Start taking the weapons,” he ordered, tightly. The mystery could be solved later. “No, don’t bother with the battlesuits, just the light body armour. The battlesuits have to be fitted for each user and we don’t have time.”
He watched grimly as the rebels armed up, knowing that it would only be a matter of time before someone came by and demanded to know what was going on. Quinn had his men working in shifts, taking weapons and moving onwards to their predetermined targets, combining enlisted men with more experienced junior officers who could take control of the vital systems at once. He had underestimated the sheer number of weapons on the station, whatever Admiral Wilhelm had in mind. If the other teams were finding the same levels of firepower, the entire planetary defence network would be fatally compromised.
“Come on,” Quinn said, finally. He looked like a pirate, carrying enough energy weapons and grenades to pose a serious danger to his fellows if one of the grenades was hit by enemy fire, but there was no mistaking the determination in his voice. “You three, stay behind and ensure that no one who’s not with us gets in here… and drag the Blackshirts in here. We may as well try to keep them from being discovered.”
“Good thinking,” Sasha said. She hefted her own plasma rifle and smiled. “The command centre?”
Quinn nodded and led them through a twisting maze of maintenance corridors and internal tubes. Their passage was slow and cumbersome, but it had the advantage of being almost deserted; they only met two people on the brief climb through the fortress’s interior, both of whom were stunned at once. If the rebellion succeeded, they could be recovered later. If it failed, their fate would hardly matter.
He clicked once on the handheld comm he’d taken from the armoury as they climbed out of the maintenance tubes, just outside Officer Country. Not unlike a superdreadnaught, Officer Country — and the command centre beyond — was right at the heart of the fortress. It was intended to give maximum protection to the command crew, although if the fortress lost its shields, the protection wouldn’t be enough to save the fragile human beings crewing the massive fortress. The core of the fortress itself might survive, but the crew would die in any number of horrific ways.
The other advantage of Officer Country, of course, was that there were only three ways into the centre of the fortress. Quinn had spotted that particular weakness at once; he would, Charlie had decided, have made a good Marine, or Imperial Intelligence operative. Once they were inside Officer Country, it would be extremely hard to dislodge them, even if the remainder of the fortress crew felt inclined to try.
“Team two, take the entrances and seal them,” Quinn ordered, calmly enough. “The rest of you, with me.”
The two guards at the command hatch were suppressed quickly, allowing Quinn to lead the way into the command centre. The fortress’s crew had no time to react as the rebels opened fire with stunners, knocking the commander and the remainder of his command crew out before they could do anything to sabotage the fortress. Quinn had wanted to demand their surrender, but Charlie had advised him to knock them out, just in case one of them felt like being a hero. People reacted in the oddest ways when faced with an unexpected challenge; there was no point in risking disaster just to be melodramatic.
“We did it,” Quinn said, astonished.
“Not yet,” Charlie snapped. He stepped over to one of the consoles and rapidly brought up a display of the fortress’s internal status. The other two teams had succeeded in their mission, capturing the power systems and life support, all without any casualties. The rebels were sealed inside their captured sections, while the remainder of the crew had no idea what was going on. “We have to find out how the others did.”
There were fifteen fortresses orbiting Cottbus, each one powerful enough to scorch the entire planet without support, controlling a secondary array of automated orbital weapons platforms, emplaced missiles and other surprises. Quinn had dispatched teams of rebels to each of them, but statistically Charlie feared that one or more of the teams would fail. If that happened…
“They’re checking in,” Quinn said, relieved. “We have twelve of the fortresses outright and one more is being contested.”
Charlie frowned. “What about the superdreadnaughts?”
His gaze slipped to the tactical display. The three squadrons of superdreadnaughts on guard duty were orbiting within firing range, but they would have time to react if a warning was transmitted from any of the enemy fortresses. He was surprised that they’d been allowed to remain within the gravity shadow while Admiral Garland was running amok in the sector, but the shipyard had to be defended at all costs. He hadn’t told Quinn — it would only upset him — but their backup plan involved using the fortresses to destroy the shipyard to prevent it from producing any more war material.
“They’re untouched,” Quinn said, grimly. He hesitated. “Is this really necessary?”
“Yes,” Charlie said. They couldn’t raise combat shields without warning the enemy ships, but they could target them with missiles, linking the combined fire of all twelve fortresses into an irresistible salvo. “If those ships remain active, the Admiral will be able to use them against Cottbus, or Earth.”
He finished typing commands into the computer network. It had been a long time since he’d used such a system, but the Imperial Navy’s basic interfaces, designed for officers and men with very little education, rarely changed. They didn’t even have any safeguards programmed in to prevent them firing on friendly starships, although that was hardly a surprise. Admiral Wilhelm would not want his systems balking at firing on the Imperial Navy, or the Shadow Fleet.
“I know,” Quinn said. He sounded older than before now. Charlie almost pitied him. Rebellion meant turning on friends, family and commanders, breaking sacred oaths in the name of a higher calling — or naked ambition. Had Colin ever entertained such doubts? “Do it.”
Charlie pressed the button. The fortress barely shook as it unleashed the first spread of missiles. The other fortresses fired at the same moment, catching the superdreadnaughts in a deadly crossfire, even as their point defence linked them into one entity while their shields snapped up, ready to receive incoming fire. The enemy commander had had a little warning, perhaps a signal from the contested fortress, but it wasn’t enough to save most of his ships. They didn’t even have a chance to get out of the gravity shadow and flicker away.
“Seven superdreadnaughts have been badly damaged,” Sasha said, as the first results came in. Charlie hadn’t stopped firing. The second and third salvos were already on their way as the superdreadnaughts started to return fire. Without arsenal ships or Independence-class superdreadnaughts, the battle was almost old-style, with the remaining superdreadnaughts giving as much as they got. The fortresses had better point defence, but the superdreadnaughts and their escorts were acting as a single weapon, while the fortresses were scattered. “Two have been destroyed.”
Charlie watched as a third joined its companions in death. The superdreadnaughts were adapting quickly to the battle, even though they had been caught while they rushed to battle stations. They were concentrating their firepower on his fortress, while almost ignoring the others, despite the firepower being hurled at them. It was their best tactic, he acknowledged, grateful for the computers that were handling most of the engagement. He couldn’t have handled it himself. Even so, the fortresses were at a vast disadvantage in a long conflict, despite their greater firepower. Their point defence was going to be more than a little predicable.