Koban 5: A Federation Forged in Fire Read online

  Koban: A Federation Forged in Fire

  By Stephen W Bennett

  Koban: A Federation Forged in Fire

  Text copyright © 2015 Stephen W Bennett

  All Rights Reserved

  Cover art designed by:

  Athanasios: Author/Creator

  http://www.mad-gods.com/CoverHIRE/

  This is the fifth book in the Koban Series.

  You can review all books currently available at:

  https://www.facebook.com/Koban.the.series

  and

  http://www.kobanuniverse.net/

  or my page at

  http://www.amazon.com/Stephen-W-Bennett/e/B008ZPQ12I/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

  This eBook is licensed for your personal use and enjoyment only. It may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the many months of long and hard work of the author.

  This book is written in “American” English, so there may be some differences in spelling and usage than in other countries use of the language.

  This is a work of fiction and all characters are fictitious or are portrayed fictitiously. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

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  My thanks to Paul Benkert for taking the time to perform proofreading, spotting innumerable typos, odd phrasings, and story inconsistencies. Doing it before and after serious surgery made it even more appreciated, and I’m indebted to him for his willingness to stick with a hard task, despite such personal distractions. I wish you continued improved health my friend. There will surely be more errors than we both can find, even on a second pass by us both, so I’m certain I’ll be posting new editions when that prediction is proven right.

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  Contents

  Chapter 1: Showdown at the OK1 Corral

  Chapter 2: Divide and Conquer

  Chapter 3: Catching a Virus

  Chapter 4: New Dublin

  Chapter 5: The Pursuit

  Chapter 6: Birth of a Federation

  Chapter 7: Diplomatically Speaking

  Chapter 8: Facing Challenges

  Chapter 9: Odds and Ends

  Chapter 10: Khartoum’s Destiny

  Chapter 11: Retribution and Judgement

  Chapter 12: A Malevolent Force

  Chapter 13: The Thandol

  Chapter 14: Meeting the Neighbors

  Chapter 15: Snug as a Bug in a Rug

  Chapter 16: A Federation at War

  DRAMATIS PERSONAE

  About the Author:

  The End

  Chapter 1: Showdown at the OK1 Corral

  “People, we have only seven days to save Koban and Haven from destruction.” Mirikami said this with absolute certainty.

  “To do this, we have to find a way to destroy or disable all clanships on or around K1.” His iron willed determination was clearly sensed through the Comtap link.

  “There will be a brief open discussion, with ideas offered in a quick orderly fashion. Each ship will submit proposals only through their captain, after vetting by those under his or her command. Ideas that make it past your captain will be considered by Task Force Command.”

  The rippers were included in the discussion by frill contact with members of their personal family pride, or via human friends if they were not part of a family. Twenty-three “wild” rippers, predominately young males and unmated, had elected to participate in this hunt, and joined with the two hundred fifty nine mature rippers that came with their own human prides. They no more wanted the genocidal and wasteful Krall to return to their home than did humans. They now considered all Kobani as a distantly related extended pride. A pride which not only shared many of their values, but who smelled somewhat like rippers did, due to shared genes.

  One of the ships, out of the hundred seventeen, carried only a small complement of Kobani, and it would stay out of direct combat. Now named the Vanguard, it was transporting representatives of the Raspani, Torki, and even Prada as observers and technical advisors, as well as human scientists and technicians. The aliens participated by mind enhancers and Olts, and the Prada simply touched hands with a Kobani.

  The Prada intellectually recognized that the Krall had to be defeated. Nevertheless, as a species older than the Prada, it felt awkward for the former obedient slaves to participate in an action that had as its goal, the destruction of “Rulers” that they had obeyed for almost fifteen thousand years. This subservience had lasted nearly as long as they had been a star faring species before being conquered by the Krall.

  The ideas started to arrive. One concerned modification of anti-ship missiles, others concerned methods of infiltrating down to tarmacs and domes, of disabling war material and clanships parked on tarmacs. What was required to do that was resetting their quantum-coded locks to deny their use by a Krall’s DNA key. That was done simply by passing a Denial chip close a lock, with the Krall DNA pattern recorded in the untrusted list.

  This Olt’kitapi security feature depended on the quantum interaction of an intermediate range fifth force of nature. Had that ancient race devised a longer-range system of shutting down the military equipment they provided to their intended “police force,” the Krall would never have succeeded in their revolt. The problem for the peaceful ancient species was that they thought about long time scales, had no inherent military ability, and had not recognized the speed and ruthlessness with which the Krall would act.

  The ECM pods the Kobani had used in the past had a limited range of roughly ten miles, and couldn’t block landlines, which the Krall were known to have laid between domes on K1 now. They were as small as an anti-ship missile, and launched like those, so other uses for them were suggested.

  The spec ops trained recruits of the Kobani had the usual range of devices they could use, but not as many were with them as they’d like to have. There were some innovative ways proposed to use the limited number of spy bots they did have.

  There was modification going on continuously of .50 caliber slugs, replacing the Krall Killer chips that triggered rounds to explode when close to a Krall, installing the circuits now being called Denial chips, taken from quantum coded door keypads and Krall made plasma rifles and power packs. There would be no use of belt fed machine guns in this attack. That was simply because they were too wasteful of the limited number of Denial chips they had.

  It wasn’t possible for the Torki to manufacture additional copies of the complex chips fast enough, or in the quantities needed in the short time available. Fortunately, there were numerous existing chips on the captured clanships, which even unskilled people could recover from keypads.

  Methods of chip replenishment was discussed after they landed on K1, and based on the data they had from the previous attack there, they knew where to find the fingernail sized chips in quantity. After discussion, the noncombat advisory role of the aliens suddenly grew to one that was directly supportive, with the greater risks that entailed if they went to K1.

  The AIs on the Mark of Koban and on the Avenger provided detailed visual data, recorded from the last attack at K1. Via Comtap, Mirikami and Noreen shared the images of where the various clan domes were located, the equipment and supply stores that would likely still be in place next to them, and tarmacs where clanships were expected to be parked.

  Around K1, the debris fields of destroyed clanships and the D-Ram fragments from the fleet battle would narrow down the available l
ow-level orbits where Krall defenders should be on watch when the Kobani arrived. The AI’s calculated how widely the clutter fields should have spread, and where the more open orbital lanes should exist for the Krall to occupy. Those would be early target areas, but not the first targets attacked.

  They assumed previous orbital and dome landing codes had been changed, and there was zero chance that a White Out anywhere close to orbit at K1 would be ignored. Although, there still was a way to approach the planet’s upper atmosphere without a White Out revealing reentry, or detection by the long wave radio frequency system the Krall now employed. The frequency, or rather wavelength, of the radiation the Krall used to detect an object the size of a clanship had been adjusted for optimum signal reflectivity. Optimum for detecting a clanship, that is.

  Max Born and his technicians, bolstered by intimate Torki knowledge of clanship sensor systems, felt confident that small stealthed spacecraft could slip past the new detection thresholds set for something the size of a clanship. Specifically, it was set for clanships that were using the improved Kobani stealth system. The enlarged Krall single ship design, which the Torki and Prada had scaled up to a four person craft, was a fraction the length of the new radio wavelength being used as radar by the Krall. The small ships had the same absorbent stealth coating that defeated most standard detections systems that used high resolution, high frequency radar or lidar. It came down to this concept: If the wavelength used was much longer than the size of the target, the target should not be visible because of poor signal reflection, and a lack of resonant frequencies.

  The earlier fighting at K1 had demonstrated that long-wave radar could detect a Kobani clanship even when using its Torki improved stealth system, but that did not provide enough information to fully identify it, target it effectively with weapons, or guide anti-ship missiles to kill it. The small radar cross-section, more rounded edges and much shorter length of four-ships, combined with their existing radiation absorption hulls, and the fractional wavelength their physical length presented to low frequency waves, meant in theory they should evade detection. A lot was about to be risked on that theory, with no opportunity or time to test it while enroute in Tachyon Space.

  Days later, Mirikami started his final briefing with fresh news. “I had a Comtap chat with General Nabarone, and because so many clanships had previously been diverted to K1 to form the failed invasion fleet, the Krall forces on Poldark were running behind on their regular supply deliveries. There was an influx of nearly a hundred clanships there in the last two days, loaded with replacement weapons, ammunition, food, and other supplies. They have not yet departed for a return to K1, apparently because they’ll be used as support for new assaults.

  “Since the same supply situation existed for New Dublin, it’s probable that another hundred clanships were sent on supply runs there as well, and that’s several days farther away. I sent Chief Haveram ahead in the Falcon to stop at Poldark, then to fly to New Dublin. He’s two days out from Poldark now, and he has sample Denial chips with him to infect others. Until he arrives at New Dublin, we don’t even have a Comtap user in that system, but I think it’s a safe assumption that the Krall there were also resupplied. That’s good news for us, because that means there are roughly two hundred fewer clanships at K1 that we don’t have to disable. We can worry about them later.”

  Next, Mirikami summed up their initial approach and infiltration plan. “We’ll divide our arrivals up in a full sphere around K1 at about 1,000 AUs, so we don’t trigger a wave in Tachyon Space, which they might detect if we all came in as a single compact group. There will be no gamma ray bursts from you because nearly everyone will ghost in place and stay in Tachyon Space.” He paused to allow for questions. There weren’t any.

  “By saying nearly everyone will be ghosting, I excluded the Mark and the Avenger, because with our AIs, we’ll perform White Outs behind different moons of the closest gas giant to K1. Our two ships are better equipped for rapid surveillance and computer analysis. The Krall may have clanships in high orbits around K1 that can see behind the planet’s mid-sized moon, named Cheetah by the original colonists of Greater West Africa. That low and fast orbiting moon surely will have a periodic blind spot from clanship observers at some point in its orbit. I can decide when it looks safe to Jump in close behind its White Out shadow. The Mark will go in first and send the rest of you pinpoint coordinates for that location. Take care to get the numbers right, which will be based around my position in concentric rings. Using instant Comtap communications, I can signal when another blind spot in any observation of Cheetah’s backside occurs. That’s when every one of you will come running to join me. Noreen, on the Avenger, is my backup, and she’ll join me just before the rest of you do.

  “With the planetary mass scale of intersect protections disabled on our ships, we can exit much closer to the moon’s mass than the Krall are able to do. I’m aiming for a quarter mile above the highest crater peak, on the center of the moon’s backside. After Noreen and I get there, we’ll make certain every captain receives an accurate entry point, with a tight but safe spread of White Out coordinates.

  “We obviously don’t want any ship-on-ship intersects, nor any with the moon. Not only would it ruin your day, our sneakiness up to that point would be wasted. If we get everyone in that close to the surface and undetected, we’ll be shielded by ground return clutter from long wave radar detection if a clanship gains a radar view of the backside of that rugged little moon. Once there, we will promptly deploy our four-ships, and hundreds of single ships, which can then separate and move rapidly from behind the moon and fly inward, to gently enter atmosphere and disburse to the domes we’ve assigned them. Max, Coldar, and Blue all agree, as do I, that the greatest risk on that approach is encountering orbital debris that could nick your hulls and spoil your stealth. Questions?” He paused again for any requests for clarification.

  He received one question. “Sir, this is Arnold Drake, leader of a squad of five four-ships aboard the Eagle. I was busy helping to modify missile warheads over the last three days, and I’m not sure I know what the fallback plan is, if we’re seen before we reach atmosphere. ”

  “A good point Arnold, discussed previously but worth repeating. If we’re seen arriving at Cheetah, or the small ships are detected flying inbound from there, you little ships will race at all possible speed to reach your assigned tarmacs, to try to disable as many clanships as possible before they can launch. The rest of the fleet will immediately Jump to the orbital coordinates that my AI Jakob, and Noreen’s AI Karl, will provide to each ship. We’ll be going after them in orbit anyway once the small craft are all down, using our lighter weight modified missiles and ECM. A clanship using long wave radar can’t target the small craft like yours Arnold, even if they knew you’re coming, so you’ll be safe as long as you have intact stealth. Avoid nicks on your hulls from orbital debris.”

  After another pause without any new questions, Mirikami concluded, “Get some rest, hydration, and food in you some hours before we arrive. I’ll want everyone at assigned battle stations thirty minutes before we enter ghost mode surrounding K1. Take a pee break before then, or hold your bladder until you find a tree or bush on the planet. I don’t anticipate more than a thirty or forty minute wait at the gas giant moon before I Jump in behind Cheetah. The rest of you will join us within minutes or seconds after Avenger arrives beside me.

  “We have a half day until arrival, so finish what work you can on missile and ammo conversion with any remaining Denial chips you have. We’ll talk again shortly. Mirikami out.”

  ****

  The Mark of Koban was poised close beside the second largest, but unnamed moon of the Saturn scale gas giant in the K1 system. The Avenger was similarly adjacent to the largest moon of the same planet. They had used the two moons to shield their White Outs, and had been observing the remote inner system for almost twenty minutes.

  “Tet, Karl has identified thirty-six clanships around K1,
and one of them is holding station well above the northern pole, at about a hundred thousand miles. Another remote clanship is orbiting at about a hundred fifty thousand miles, in an orbit with a thirty-degree inclination from the equator. Only the northern clanship has a continuous view of Cheetah. The other one can see the back of the moon for eleven hours, when Cheetah overtakes it lower down in its faster orbit.”

  “Jakob agrees on the two outer observers, Noreen, but he counted forty two close-in clanships. Another six went around the limb of the planet just after I moved from behind this airless moon. I think the methane atmosphere of your moon partly blocked your first passive scans. The fewer ships in orbit and their placement between the debris lanes suggest the Krall have kept the number of orbital watch standers down, as we’d hoped. They’re clustered more closely than on our previous visits, for debris avoidance as expected.”

  “Karl has calculated a sizable area on the backside of Cheetah that’s always in shadow from that pole sitter, but the other clanship can see that spot about sixty percent of the time.”

  “Right, Jacob reported the same. We have at least four hours of decent shadow time for each orbit of Cheetah. None of the low orbiting clanships would have a chance of picking up our gamma rays. Considering we’re forty-one light minutes out, we’ll have another hour of full shadow from the second wide orbiting observer. I’m Jumping inwards as soon as Jakob has finished a recheck of my lowest safe exit altitude. As soon as the AI refines that, and I descend closer to the surface after exit, I’ll send you the exact instantaneous coordinates for your exit next to me. If that result looks good to us, we tell the others to be ready to copy their own coordinates, and to Jump within a one-minute window of reception after they have the location and velocity adjustment we furnish. No longer delay than that or they need new coordinates calculated. That moon is moving too fast.”