Democracy's Light

Chapter Forty-One

Being on the massive orbital fortress was just like coming home. Charlie had anticipated that there would be all kinds of changes, as there had been at Earth, or on the starships of the Shadow Fleet, but instead the routines were almost the same. The enlisted men and women, which included both himself and Sasha, were assigned to a maintenance pool, with orders to do as they were told and otherwise be seen, but never heard. The Empire had never invested much in educating the enlisted men and women and, when not on duty, they tended to do as they pleased.

Admiral Wilhelm, it seemed, had decided against democratising his fleet. It made sense from one position — there had been starships that had tried to join the Shadow Fleet that had had to vote on going into battle or not — but it was also a weakness. Charlie would have bet good money that the fortress actually had a lower efficiency rating than the Shadow Fleet’s starships, where ideas and contributions from the lower ranks and enlisted men were actively encouraged. They certainly wouldn’t have moved enlisted men around from fortress to fortress, breaking up friendships before they could form and preventing the men from developing any loyalty to their fortress. It might have prevented conspiracies from developing — although it had proved surprisingly unsuccessful at that — but it also hampered the planet’s defences.

Midshipman Quinn had performed his task perfectly. Enlisted men and women were normally housed in the barracks on a first-come, first-served basis, but he had ensured that all of the conspirators were sleeping in the same place. It made sharing information, once the handful of bugs had been located and neutralised, much easier, while they could plan their next step in some comfort. Charlie had been relieved to discover that Quinn was genuinely liked and respected by most of the enlisted men, rather than acting like a tyrant or a boy afraid of his own shadow. That was a rarity in the pre-revolution Imperial Navy, but the Midshipmen and women who listened to the enlisted men tended to go further in the fleet before they hit the glass ceiling. It was amazing just how much the enlisted men picked up in their long careers.

The other advantage of being enlisted men and women was that very few senior officers really paid attention to them. “We kept an eye on the armoury as you instructed,” one of the enlisted men said. Charlie hadn’t been introduced to him and had refrained from accessing his file in the computer databanks. What he didn’t know, he couldn’t tell, if everything fell apart. “There are two guards, both reprogrammed SD Troopers, and of course there’s the computer locks.”

Charlie dismissed the second concern at once. The Empire’s persistent refusal to develop any form of AI ensured that their computers were stupid enough to accept anyone whose details were on the authorised list. Quinn, or himself for that matter, would have no difficulty accessing the armoury once the guards were removed, allowing them to take over the fortress. The fortress had been carefully studied and, like a starship, most of its monstrous bulk was irrelevant to its operations. Once they’d taken the command centre, the power generators and the life support systems, the remainder of the crew could surrender or die. With the armoury, the only source of weapons on the fortress, in rebel hands, they wouldn’t be able to offer resistance. If all of the fortresses fell at once, if the plan worked perfectly, Cottbus would have the choice between surrender or being bombarded into submission. If the plan didn’t work perfectly, the resulting chaos would still weaken Admiral Wilhelm’s rear area.

“Good,” Quinn said. He shared a long look with Sasha. “I think it’s time to go now.”

He led the way as the small group headed down through the corridors, looking for the entire world as if they were just another bunch of enlisted men, carrying the standard toolboxes of their trade. It was amazing how many components on a fortress failed on a regular basis and few of the enlisted men knew how to repair them, if repair was even possible. The vast majority of failed or defective components would have to be replaced. It was, in fact, the main task of the enlisted men. They had access to almost everywhere on the station and hardly anyone would even think to question them.

Sloppy, he thought, tiredly. It was a security weakness that Colin, and hundreds of others, had taken ruthless advantage of to launch his mutiny. It was a weakness that was inherent in the way the Empire did business, but Admiral Wilhelm, for all his bombast and tactical competency, couldn’t change it. The culture the Imperial Navy had encouraged, to strengthen their own position, meant that that couldn’t even question their own preconceptions. Enlisted men were harmless, stupid and barely competent. Everyone knew that…

The armoury itself was in the heart of the fortress’s security zone. It should have been manned by Marines, who would generally use it for their own training simulations, but Admiral Wilhelm had moved all of his fleet’s Marines to other postings. Charlie hoped that they were alive, wherever they were, but they would have represented a clear and present danger to Admiral Wilhelm’s survival. Colin had worked with his ship’s Marines to take the ship, but Admiral Wilhelm wouldn’t have such links, would he? The safest course of action would be to kill them all.

He pushed Quinn to the rear, insisting on Sasha and himself leading the way towards the reprogrammed SD Troopers, who watched them with dull unconcern. Admiral Wilhelm’s mind techs had reprogrammed them with a complete lack of concern for the consequences, or their own later well being. SD Troopers were completely expendable. Everyone knew that. They were loathed, hated and feared all over the Empire, men — always men, no women — who had been altered to serve the Empire without question. They committed horrendous atrocities without batting an eyelid, looting, raping and burning their way across any world that had displeased the Empire. They had no consciences. They’d been burned out of them.

“You may not enter this area,” the lead SD said, lifting a plasma rifle to firing position. He was slow, too slow, and Charlie caught him with his knife. The SD didn’t even have a chance to press the firing stud before Charlie cut his throat and sent his body falling to the ground. Sasha threw her knife directly into her SDs head and sent him staggering back against the bulkhead. He was dead before he hit the dead.

“Nicely done,” one of the enlisted men said.

Quinn looked sick. “Did… did you have to do that?”

“Yes,” Sasha said, flatly. “They would have killed all of us without hesitation if they had caught us doing something we shouldn’t be doing. They cannot be reasoned with, or converted to your cause, whatever they may have been in their previous lives.”

Charlie nodded, concentrating on opening the access hatch. The computers accepted his access codes and opened for him, allowing him to step into the armoury. It was loaded with hundreds of weapons, including enough heavy weapons to outfit an entire Marine division. Puzzled, he inspected it carefully, trying to understand why they were there. No one in their right mind would fire such weapons onboard a fortress — the incidental damage would be too great — and there was little point in keeping them in orbit. They were designed for use on the surface of the planet.

“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.

The fortress shuddered for the first time as missiles burst through the point defence to impact against their shields. He looked up at the display, watching grimly as indicators jumped towards the red as the shield generators struggled to compensate for the sudden influx of new and deadly energy, and winced. If the superdreadnaught commander continued the bombardment, they were likely to take out at least three fortresses before they were destroyed, unless they were foolish enough to close to energy weapons range. Somehow, he doubted that they would be that stupid…

“They’re pulling back,” Quinn said, softly. Charlie felt his eyes go wide. They were going to live! One by one, the superdreadnaughts fell back, rising up towards the gravity shadow and escape, protected by their handful of remaining escorts. Most of the superdreadnaughts had taken some kind of damage, and seven of them had been destroyed. The firing slacked off as they moved out of range, leaving the fortresses in possession of the high orbitals… and hence the planet. “Why…”

The superdreadnaughts passed above the gravity shadow and flickered out. “They’re heading towards Drood,” Sasha said, after a moment. Her hand worked the console for a long moment. “It’s listed as a minor supply dump, nothing too serious, so I dare say we can let them go.”

“As if we could stop them,” Charlie said. He paused. “I wonder why they decided to leave,” he said. “They could have inflicted more damage…”

The display sparkled with red icons. “Incoming ships,” Quinn said, grimly. Charlie cursed. Were they going to lose after all they’d accomplished? “They’re breaking out of flicker-space now on a raiding profile.”

Charlie stared, refusing to believe his eyes.

“That’s the Admiral,” Sasha said, in delight. Charlie found himself chuckling helplessly with naked relief. “Hail her, now, before she starts shooting. Tell her that we’re in control and we’d really like some Marines to help make our conquests permanent.”

Quinn stared at her. “Every textbook in the Empire swears blind that it is impossible to coordinate operations between two fleets in different locations,” he said. The suspicion in his voice was palatable… and written all over his face. “How did you manage to get the Admiral’s fleet here right on time?”

Sasha winked at him. “What can I say?” She said. “We’re pretty damned good.”

Charlie rolled his eyes behind Quinn’s back. It had been a coincidence, although perhaps not an unexpected one… but there was no reason why Quinn had to know that. Imperial Intelligence needed to recover some of its reputation…

And besides, the truth would only upset him.