Crystal World (Undying Mercenaries Book 20) by B. V. Larson

Author:B. V. Larson [Larson, B. V.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Iron Tower Press
Published: 2023-10-06T00:00:00+00:00

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“To me, sirs,” I said, “it’s high time we charged right to the unspoken meat of this overly long meeting. We must destroy these mother-effing Crystals once and for all.”

“We all know that, McGill. Do you have a plan or not?” Winslade demanded.

“I do. The answer seems frigging obvious to me.”

Winslade made a ‘hurry up’ spinning motion with his fingers, but I ignored him.

“It’s going to take all of us,” I said, building it up. “Not just with one fleet leading and taking all the hits while the others come in late.”

“Come, come, McGill,” Winslade said, not trusting me at all. “Let’s not waste everyone’s time, please.”

“I’m getting to the point, sir. I’m getting there. Our big problem is range. The enemy Crystals outrange us. We’re going to have to be mighty close-in to drop troops or bombs, for example.”

“That is self-evident, McGill.”

“Not entirely, sir. Not entirely... What I propose is that we use the power of hyperspace.”

They stared at me questioningly, but a few of them were already beginning to catch on. They were starting to frown, wrinkling up their noses as might anyone confronted with a new and unpleasant stench.

“That’s right,” I said. “We have to hyperjump from here to our destination in one-go. We have to squat right on top of their planet, with no warning. Then we’ll begin the bombardment and the troop deployment from—I don’t know, maybe two thousand kilometers out?”

“Two thousand kilometers is absurd!” Captain Merton shouted. He’d jumped to his feet like I’d stung his big ass. He hammered a big fist on the table, making the holograms dance. “It’s unthinkable! You know our hyperspace engines aren’t that precise. Next to a gravitational source like a planet, we can’t be sure where we’ll come out. If we try to come out within a few thousand kilometers… half of the Scorpio will appear in the atmosphere or in the ground itself!”

“Okay, okay,” I said. “How about ten thousand kilometers out? Still close enough to launch a quick assault, but ninety-percent plus safe for every ship in the fleet.”

“Let me hear and understand your concept, McGill,” Sateekas said. “You’re proposing a grand and brave opening. We’ll hyperspace-jump right on top of the planet, close enough to launch an immediate surprise attack. That will, as your cowardly captain suggests, cost perhaps ten percent of our forces at the outset. That’s apart from every bit of damage that those crystalline ground batteries will no doubt wreak upon us immediately afterward.”

“That’s right, Grand Admiral. You’ve got the gist of it. As far as I can see, it’s the only way. If we’re going to drop bombs, we’ve got to get in close enough to do it. Jumping in close is dangerous, but it’s the only way to beat their range advantage. If we just fly at them in normal space, they’ll be able to shoot at us for hours before we can reach them. I’d say we’ll lose ninety percent of our fleet if we go that route.”

“And what about after we fire off all of our ordnance?” Winslade asked.

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