The Cicciles flew down the Straight below roof height. A pair of Wasps followed them further above. Their primary target had been destroyed and they were seeking opportunities. The smoke from the burning buildings was an irresistible lure to them. The ragged bunch below them, some of whom turned and waved as the planes passed overhead, were obviously the defenders. Maybe beyond the smoke would be the enemy.

They climbed as they reached the smoke, just in case, then dipped back down again as they cleared it. The buildings on either side were gutted now, the fires extinguished by the collapse of roofs. There were troops, withdrawing to defensive positions, but, despite the occasional burst of small arms fire, they didn’t offer any interesting targets. The Cicciles strafed them for form and continued. At the end of the great boulevard, troops were feeding in from another major road. The planes banked and aimed down it.

A thousand spans back along the road, almost too close to level and aim, was the target they sought. A group of softskins were arrayed in a square, tarpaulin stretched between them. Around this command centre were artillery and heavy tracks.

Heavensent 10.10
Heavensent 10.8
Heavensent 1.1

Technorati tag: Fiction, Heavensent

With the demolition party destroyed and the supporting troops in disarray, the defenders of the Straight came out in force. Smoke from the burning buildings confused matters and confounded the snipers, but strike teams found they could outflank the attackers down the narrow alleys that ran parallel to the boulevard.

Shara’s squad were granted a reprieve. They had achieved so much in their one attack that it was time others were allowed to grab some glory. They fell back through the side doors and alleys all the way to the command centre.

The girl, Tenna, and a number of others were tended by medics. Tenna had a blistering scar running diagonally down her back, where her clothes had caught fire, that hurt a lot more than she wanted to admit. Such denial was common in the hospital rooms, where even the hopeless talked of the great victory to come. Shara left her squad clustered around their new heroine and went searching for Aurile.

She wandered the halls. The old administrative building was busy again with a different kind of organisation. Grand old desks had been turned into operating tables and filing cabinets were as likely to contain weapons stashes as paperwork. The command centre had been set up in the old debating hall. Aurile was laying out strategies and their possible repercussions, all culled from his vast knowledge base. He nodded at Shara as she entered, they wandered into a corner. “Your attack was a great success. Did it cost much?”

“Three dead and four wounded. I turned some children into killers.”

“We were naive to expect some sort of utopia without conflicts. Things weren’t supposed to run for so long without intervention.”

“No….”

“This battle would be on without us here. It’s our best chance to head North. And there was never any directive against intervention.”

The windows rattled as a single engined plane flew low over the building. Despite themselves they both ducked. Aylo ran into the room. “They are bringing heavy artillery up. We should move to another building just in case.” He began gathering up the maps. More planes passed overhead.

Heavensent 10.9
Heavensent 10.7
Heavensent 1.1

Technorati tag: Fiction, Heavensent

The presence of Jayn had given them just enough time to make their case and for Bobb to process enough of the dialect to become almost fluent. They had been trapped on the ocean, he explained, picked up by the huge ice ship and held prisoner- but treated fairly. They had escaped, repaying their debt by rescuing a downed flier. Now they were ashore, and willing to offer their assistance if it would buy them passage to the North of the fjord city.

“Why do I need your assistance? I have my assistance.” The rifleman, Yoll, gestured out to sea, where the troop ships were offloading.

This was Sheel’s cue. She stepped up and pointed at a tree down the beach. Her upper body shook slightly, as if someone had pushed hard at the outstretched arm, and there were three close pops. The trunk of the tree shattered and spat white splinters in all directions. It toppled and landed in an explosion of white sand.

“Can you all do that?” Yoll asked after a moment.

“No.”

“A shame. I have my army, what use do I have for even someone with…. Whatever power it is you possess?”

“I will take responsibility for them.” Jayn volunteered.

“You?”

“They pulled me out of the water. I believe with some tribes that means I must travel with them until I can repay the debt.”

“Very well. You would do well to select a weapon.”

Gimm offered Jayn her own gun back. It had been stashed at the bottom of a sack that no-one had bothered to search. “Thank you for your help.”

“Consider it a debt repaid. Besides, I’m the curious type, and after that little display I want to know more.”

The ships out to sea had spawned hundreds of smaller craft. Half were heading for the beach, the rest angled toward the islands and the fishing port for what might be a contested landing.

Heavensent 10.8
Heavensent 10.6
Heavensent 1.1

Technorati tag: Fiction, Heavensent

Word was getting out to the many smaller military bases that ringed the twin cities. There was no ground battle to fight yet, but troops were dispatched to the cities.
The pride of the districts fighter and bomber forces had been on Stran Island, to keep them safe from sabotage. They were incapacitated now. The remaining squadrons could only muster a few Corkscrews and a number of older aircraft. They couldn’t even muster superior numbers. Cicciles and Wasps entered into aerial combat around and above the twin cities.

There were few military targets remaining in the city limits after the first two waves of attacks. The great military and civil headquarters, despite having the largest barracks, was untouched in the hope it could be liberated and would give up secrets and prisoners. What planes were able, with fresh crews if possible, were sent out with waymarked routes past outlying airfields and camps. These planes bombed runways and depots, or found convoys of troops on the move along wide major roads.

It had always been supposed that the attack, if it came, would sweep down the snow fields as it had done in the Glacier War. Now the occupying force was rushing troops from this front to fires and gun sites seaward.

Horse’s fleet of trimotors, enrolled in the military and liveried in white and grey parachuted squads of engineers onto the ice. They would return the following morning with equipment- crevasse bridgers and load spreading planking. The engineers were to use the diversion of the battle to move about the snow field severing detonation cord and clearing a path to the Willno Slip, an old man-made ramp onto the glacier.

It wasn’t easy work, the winter suits made everyone bulky and clumsy, but they stayed ahead of schedule. Soon troops and armour would be moving on the city from two sides.

Heavensent 10.7
Heavensent 10.5
Heavensent 1.1

Technorati tag: Fiction, Heavensent

Landfall was a long thin beach, sheltered from the worst of the coastal currents by a string of tiny islands. The flying boat skipped over the light waves and drove a way up the sand.

Sheel was first out, scanning the tree line for signs of trouble. She signalled and Jayn stepped down. Gimm and Bobb came next, laden with any useful equipment they had been able to remove from the plane.
They walked up the beach, the sand giving way to pebbles and then earth. Under a tree curved by the wind off the ocean, they laid out the map and calculated their position.

“There is a fishing community amongst the islands.” Gimm did Jayn the courtesy of talking in a language she could understand. “But these red marks I believe are military camps.” He looked at Jayn, to check her response. Knowing she should not, she nodded assent.

“There is swampland behind the beach almost the entire length.” Bobb noted, “But that is a major highway and there are minor roads to the shore all along its length.” His head jerked up and he looked around. After a moment he returned to studying the map as if nothing had happened. “We have company.” he told Gimm and Sheel in their own language, then to Jayn. “There are a number of people in the trees watching us. You expect a welcoming party?”

“Not my mission. I do not know.” Jayn stood up and stared into the green darkness. She could see nothing and only heard the rustle of branches moving.

A figure moved from behind a tree. Others joined it and advanced toward the group around the map. They were all armed, though only two of them held guns. The rest brandished harpoon bows and the larger implements used to hook and kill fish. One of the rifle carriers stepped forward and studied the little group, who had now all stood. “Wrong place. Landing there.” He pointed down the beach.

“Not marked.” Gimm held up the map and indicated the beach.

Heavensent 10.6
Heavensent 10.4
Heavensent 1.1

Technorati tag: Fiction, Heavensent

Suddenly the mountain squadrons were back in their element. They swept up the fjord, dodging the expected gun blister on the cliff walls. There was no return fire, which was a disappointment to some of the pilots. They were under orders, with the exception of the lifting blimps, to only engage if fired upon. Any sunken vessel would have to be recovered or removed and they wanted the port operating again as soon as possible.

The soft grey shapes were clustered around a control ship, easy targets even in morning shadow. The lead Cicciles lanced incendiaries into the nearest blimp and pulled away. It deflated and began to sink, suggestions of flame making the bullet holes larger. The second pair of Cicciles were lining up when dirty yellow flames rolled over the blimp’s skin. Once it had started, the fire transferred rapidly to the other balloons.

There was one other blimp before the bridges. The Cicciles took a pass each at it then left it to sink toward the water.

The flight climbed out of the fjord as the bridges approached, and started to take fire. There were defences on either end of each bridge, checkpoints to control the flow of citizens. If any bridge had charges set on it, they would be fired from one of these bunkers.

The attack should have involved more planes, now they just had one Wasp per bunker. The Cicciles strafed the first bunkers as the designated Wasps lined up their bomb runs. Fire zones had been cleared around the bunkers, so the sandbagged emplacement was an easy hit.

By the time they reached the last bridge, the defenders had fled their posts.

Heavensent 10.5
Heavensent 10.3
Heavensent 1.1

Technorati tag: Fiction, Heavensent

The demolition charges were tossed to the teams from the back of a softskin trailer being towed by an unarmed track. It pottered down the middle of the wide boulevard a few lengths behind the armed mini tracks. Further back another track towed a bowser of incendiary fuel and a pressure pump to refill the back tanks of the flame thrower troops. Even against undefended targets these contraptions were risky to wear, so there were twenty troops wearing them, but only two at a time fired theirs up.

In better times the building had been a lawyer’s offices, with a big door painted dark green and small windows to protect the privacy of clients. The charge layers were no longer nervous about approaching buildings, having razed so many without any serious opposition. They sauntered up with the charges, quite light loads wrapped in linen, coiled around their necks like heavy scarves. They each had an assistant engineer, who would scamper ahead and hammer mounting nails into the top corners of the door frame. Behind them was the flame thrower, adjusting the feed to his pilot flame.

This door was taller than most, even the taller of the assistant engineers had to stretch to place his nail and drive it home. They stepped back and the charge layers hooked the ends of their long thin explosives over the nails. They, in turn, demurred to the flamethrower. Each of the layers had a finger hooked in the pull fuse of their charge whilst they waited for the word. The troop with the flamethrower lit a large cigar on the pilot light. He took a few deep pulls on it before smiling and nodding that he was ready.

The layers pulled the fuses and the black strings began sparking. They stepped clear as the flamethrower was levelled at the door.

Something exploded in the centre of the door. The soldier with the flamethrower was lifted off his feet by a projectile that punctured the tank on his back. The tank ruptured, the contents ignited and the wearer- and several charge layers and support troops around him- was swallowed by the flame.

Around the door, the charges went off. The door didn’t fall in, propelled by the blast, but collapsed outwards under the weight of a cupboard leant against it. The solid cabinet crashed down the short flight of steps and slid out into the street.
Windows were smashed along the second and third floors and guns brought to bear from them. These were single shot scatter guns, antique hunting rifles and old three shot duellers. The first salvo cut down troops all the way back to the charge truck. When a gun was empty, its owner stepped aside to reload and another took their place. Few had more than six shots, and they were all to retreat when they were out.

As the second volley was fired from the upper floors, Shara lead a squad of more heavily armed fighters out of the door. The tracks were beginning to turn, this stage had to be completed before they could bring their guns to bear. The squad raced for the charge trailer. The few in the group armed with autoguns fired down the avenue at the confused mass of secondary troops and the other flamethrowers. A larger group swarmed over the trailer and commenced firing on the second demolition squad beyond.

The door to the opposite house had been blown from its hinges, but the flamethrower hadn’t been brought to bear. He turned it toward Shara’s squad, faltering as he realised what they stood on. Shara pointed at him, jerked and he fell. There was no immediate conflagration this time, but fuel gushed in all directions.

In the trailer the autogunners gave covering fire whilst the rest of the squad enthusiastically pulled fuses and threw the long thin charges at the tracks. Two of the squad, a Glacier war veteran and a girl, spotted the bowser, with all its defenders dead or fled. They grabbed two charges each and ran for it. They found the ground near the tank slippery with flamethrower fuel, and skidded and slid to a halt against it. They draped the charges over the top of the tank, pulled the fuses and ran.

By fluke, one of the charges tossed from the trailer had wrapped around the barrel of a track’s gun. The occupant had thrown it into reverse and was jerking from side to side in an attempt to dislodge the payload. Other charges had landed all around the tracks, and had begun going off. In the confusion, Shara and her squad jumped from the trailer and its track and sprinted for the blown door. Fuses were pulled from some of the charges in the trailer bed for good measure. The track with a charge around its gun ran right over another charge just as it went off. The explosion punched a hole in its underarmour, killing the occupant and lighting the fuel. The charge around the gun destroyed the weapon but did far less damage overall.

The girl and the veteran skidded away from the bowser, changing direction when they saw the rest of the squad. The old man slipped and fell, cracking an already wounded knee on the road. He didn’t cry out, knowing that doing so would damn the girl to pause and die. Struggling to his feet he continued his hopeless charge.

From the safety of the building the rest of the squad watched. They saw the explosion destroy the bowser and the flower of flame spread from it. The old man was picked up by the rolling yellow wave and carried along the boulevard. The girl, somehow, was just below the fringe of the flame front. Her hair was singed and a chunk of incandescent debris streaked past close enough to set her jacket alight. A quick minded youngster grabbed the huge greatcoat from the stand inside the hall and stood in the doorway with it held wide. The girl bounded up the steps and into the wings of the coat and the arms that held it. The youngster was bowled over, but he still managed to wrap the heavy material around her and smother the flames.

Everyone was on the floor now, they knew what came next. The explosion of the trailer turned the nearest tracks over and sent the flaming bowser tumbling back toward the remaining troops. Windows shattered on either side of the street for hundreds of spans in either direction and the smoke from the burning buildings pulsed in the shockwave.

Through the whistling of tinnitus there was near silence. Burning wood crackled in the distance. The youth released his grip on the coat and the girl pushed herself up. She looked down at the boy and flushed. “Rad.” A childhood crush flushed her cheeks.

“Tenna.”

The girl looked around. “Where is my grandfather?”

Heavensent 10.3
Heavensent 10.1
Heavensent 1.1

Technorati tag: Fiction, Heavensent

Shara had descended to street level, where the action was, and was proceeding down the Straight side door to side door. She had lifted a bag of ammunition from a surprised child and sent him back to his mother. Now she was feeding cartridges into the wound on her upper arm.

The combat telegraph had been strung between buildings through sewers and drain pipes. There was a handset in the lobby of every building. Shara stopped halfway along the Straight to talk into one, getting an update from Aurile.

The destruction squads were moving behind one man tracks, the heavy autoguns of which kept defenders out of the open. The squad would wait until a building’s door and windows were behind the tracks, then smash the door down with charges. As the door fell, a soldier with a portable flamethrower lit up the inside of the building. Further charges and incendiary bombs were then thrown in to complete the job. Another squad mopped up anyone who fled the burning building. The squads were three buildings away from Shara.

An ever growing band of would be defenders was growing in the lobby, stopping on their way to or from the relentless arson to stare at this striking woman with her warrior’s bearing and strange language. Shara returned the handset to its cradle. “Are you ready to fight?” she asked the assembled throng. There were mumbles of assent, growing in volume as she stared at each defender individually. “Then come with me. It is time for you to fight back.”

Heavensent 10.3
Heavensent 10.1
Heavensent 1.1

Technorati tag: Fiction, Heavensent

The depleted Wasp squadron flew over Stran island. No defensive guns fired on them. Black smoke from the fires whorled around the ends of their wings as they passed through it. On the ground small figures ran to and from the flames. They would make easy targets for a strafing run, but the Wasp pilots were heading for their moments of glory in the fjord.

There were small boats on the grand lake behind the island, turning in tight fast circles to keep from being easy targets. Spotting the Wasps, they broke from their pattern and started heading into the attack in line abreast. Anti air arced up long before it could be effective.

The Wing split, the incendiary armed Cicciles and half the Wasps going high, the rest diving for water level. The low group hadn’t quite reached zero spans when they came within range of the anti air. A Wasp was hit, one engine flaming briefly the trailing black smoke, as tracer webbed around the planes. At wave height the planes flattened out, so low each trailed its own wake. The closing speed was phenomenal, and at zero elevation the gunners on the boats found their shells sailed over the planes.

Two of the boats turned away from the attack, presenting larger and easier targets. They were sliced by lines of converging gunfire as the planes opened up on them. The others fared better, presenting smaller targets, but the white spray from falling rounds traced toward them.

And then the planes were past the boats. Apart from one Ciccile, which pulled up too late and shattered its propeller on the radio mast of the boat it flew over. The plane dived, like a sea bird after fish, under the water. The rest of the flight didn’t see it pop back to the surface several counts later. The pilot, dazed but not even wet yet, wrestled the canopy open and climbed out.

Only four of the boats could raise fire at the receding planes. The wounded Wasp circled and headed back out to sea as its companions climbed to rejoin the rest of the Wing.

Heavensent 10.2
Heavensent 9.17
Heavensent 1.1

Technorati tag: Fiction, Heavensent

Area commander Janssen was getting more information than he could handle. Things were happening all over his city, in no sensible order. He needed his deputy commanders, but they were dead. Or his civilian assistant, but he was in prison.

“Sir. Reports from Stran Island say three of the runways are out of action and half the….”

“Spotters report hundreds of planes from seaward.”

“Spotters?” Janssen was furious, “Can they not see anything with that damnable RADIF!”

“Sir, the RADIF was on Stran.”

“Stran docks report ten coastal craft of forty are operational.”

“Sir, our men outside are being fired on.”

The man next to Janssen realised he was shaking. Rapidly everyone in the room noted their commander’s state. The voices faded as they waited for him to collapse or recover.

“KILL THEM!! Kill them all!”

“Sir?”

“Raze all the buildings! From here to the glacier! If they are coming to relieve the city then I shall leave no city for them.”

“Sir, is that the best….”

Janssen had drawn his gun and was pointing it at the young officer. It had always been suggested that the weapon was for show and never loaded. But this was not the time to find out if that were true. “Do you question my orders?”

No sir.”

“Then begin it. Now!”

So the order went out. The assembled troops weren’t to report to defence stations, but should proceed to destroy the old town.

Heavensent 10.1
Heavensent 9.16
Heavensent 1.1

Technorati tag: Fiction, Heavensent

They banked the flying boat away from the smoke of battle, reassessing their route to shore. “They are probably aiming for the same landfall as we were.” Gim pointed to the ships forming a staggered line in the distance.

“We can still be there before them.” Bobb pointed out.

“But we would need a bargaining chip sooner than we had planned.” Sheel added.

“Perhaps some of their people are still in the water. Drop down and head back toward the battleground for a while.”

They banked and dropped height, heading for the oils slick where there had previously been a ship. The debris field was being stretched out along the tidal path, just beginning to arc away from the distant shore. There were barrels, shards of planking, bodies and, finally, a yellow life raft.

The figure in the raft spotted the plane and stood to wave their oar in the air.

They circled the dinghy twice. “She has the same uniform as the fliers earlier,” Gimm decided, “and she expects us to rescue her.”

“Well let’s not disappoint her then.” Bobb flew a distance away then banked to line up a landing. With the flaps down, the plane flying as slowly as possible and the nose pointing upward in near stall, they settled toward the uneven surface of the sea.

The plane landed, and the nose pitched forward and a wave of water washed over it. For a moment the windows were green as it seemed they must continue diving. Then they bobbed up again, wallowing in their own swell until the propellers gained purchase and they began moving.

The woman in the raft shouted greetings as they drew near, but her expression was confused when Sheel opened the side hatch. She took the grappling pole when it was offered her, and accepted Gimm’s helping hand when she was alongside, but obviously knew this was no ordinary rescue party. She knew better than to argue when Sheel lifted the gun from her belt.

“What is your name?” Gimm asked, his accent a jumble.

“Jayn.”

“We go ashore. Where your people head.” He pointed out of the cockpit window, though there was nothing but grey haze in the direction he indicated. “Sit. We are taking off.”

Jayn belted herself into the indicated seat. Her captors, or her rescuers- she still wasn’t sure, turned their attention to the view ahead as they lined up for take off.

Heavensent 9.17
Heavensent 9.15
Heavensent 1.1

Technorati tag: Fiction, Heavensent

The satchel was passed down the ravine and trip grenades set across the widest gaps. By twos, the squad pulled back to the level of Kess’ sniper perch. The young marksman, meanwhile, had been putting sabots through the fuel tanks of the exposed softskins.

The troops down by the road hadn’t noticed the spreading fuel. They had taken up positions in what little cover the drainage ditch afforded them and were holding back until the flanking squad caught Lensman’s men in a cross fire. In all the shooting they hadn’t heard the fire fight in the woods and didn’t yet know they were waiting in vain.

Kess was about out of rounds for his long rifle, he had scattered his spare bag when he was shot. So he was, reluctantly, ready to abandon it. But, before that, he wanted to experiment. There was some tracer ammunition in his bag from a heavy autogun that was almost the same calibre. His original plan had been to experiment and make up a long range incendiary. He would mount them in one digit shell casings and wrap them sabot style so they would seat correctly into the rifling. But he didn’t have the time for that now. He wrapped the shells and casings in thin bandages, knowing it could jam in the barrel and destroy the gun.

“We do not have much time, young man.” Lensman reminded Kess.

“Three shots. I promise to make them count.”

Kess lined up on the fuel tank of the middle truck. He didn’t know exactly how the bullet would fly, but hoped aiming for the middle of the tank would allow him enough margin of error. The sound of the shot was totally different to normal and flaming wadding expelled from the barrel and gave his position away. He cycled another round in as quickly as possible.

Down by the road everyone caught sight of the high speed firefly. They followed its path to the truck where it exploded in a shower of white sparks. The fuel lit, flames rushed away from the truck and its canvas cover darkened and set fire. Another tracer came from the forest, flying high and wide. It didn’t matter. The fire had spread to the other trucks. In the middle truck, ammunition began cooking off. Explosions sent shrapnel and flaming debris flying in all directions. The soldiers huddled deeper into their cover and hoped that it would keep them safe.

Kess examined the remains of his beloved rifle. The second shot had shattered the barrel. He threw it away into the trees. “Well done.” Lensman congratulated him, “But now we really must leave.” Kess was helped up and given a branch to use as a prop. He wasn’t the only injured member of the squad, which dropped its speed to accommodate them.

The gully narrowed even further, forcing them to make their way by hopping from rock to rock. Halfway up this ravine they heard explosions behind them, the first of the trip grenades. They lightened their explosives load by packing satchels full of charges under overhanging rocks and leaving them on timed fuses.

Heavensent 9.16
Heavensent 9.14
Heavensent 1.1

Technorati tag: Fiction, Heavensent

Ec and Mid treaded softly, testing the forest floor at every footfall. The flanking squad of soldiers they sought were nowhere near as careful, and could be heard before they were seen. The pair found a clearing of storm felled trees. They skirted the edge and planted themselves behind larger trunks. Between them they could cover the open area with crossing arcs of fire and cut down anyone in the clearing.

The squad grew closer. Ec held up a hand, splaying the fingers. He closed the hand and opened it again, thumb and one finger folded into his palm. Mid nodded. He nestled back against the tree trunk, checked the magazine on his autogun and waited.

They came through two abreast. Ec and Mid allowed the squad most of the way across the clearing, to check their initial estimate of eight was right, then stood and opened fire.

Four soldiers dropped immediately. Two dived for cover, Ec aimed for them. Mid turned toward the remaining two, standing to fire from the shoulder. He pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. He braced the autogun against his thigh and pulled the cocking handle to eject the misfiring round. It was too late, the nearest of his two targets had his gun up and was firing from the hip.

Mid was hit three times. He slumped back against the tree trunk. Ec turned and empted the last of his magazine at the two soldiers. He ducked back down, changing magazines and cocking the autogun in quick fluid movements. When he stood again the clearing was silent. There was movement, one of the squad trying to pull himself under cover. Ec fired a three shot burst and the movement stopped. He checked back in the direction the squad had come from. There was no movement or sound.

Mid was dead. Ec made the sign of the cross over him, collected up his ammunition and headed back across the clearing, moving from body to body. One of the squad had a satchel of trip grenades. Ec jammed the spikes of a couple between the tree roots by the most obvious exits and stretched the wires across the gaps. He glanced across the clearing once more, then headed for the ravine.

Heavensent 9.15
Heavensent 9.13
Heavensent 1.1

Technorati tag: Fiction, Heavensent

Null saw the twin engined plane pass overhead, tracer dancing down either side of it. Then bombs exploded in the antennae above the bridge. He was sliced by a dozen splinters of wooden shrapnel and knocked off his feet.

The bombs from the second plane penetrated the roof of the bridge and the interior was gutted in a flash. All of the command and control crew were dead. Down in the engine room they could hear the explosions, they knew they were under attack, but no-one thought to check the steering and adjust their course. The Waltzer began to wander away from its targets, swinging into a long lazy turn toward the second of the convoy’s defenders.

Despite the loss of their wing leader, the Wasps continued their bombing runs, shattering the Waltzer’s decks. The big gun managed one final round, which flew high and wide. Then a bomb finally smashed through into the magazine. The fireball and shrapnel tore the next Wasp along to shreds and shattered the ship down to its keel.

Finally everyone in the engine room knew there was no hope for the ship. The last of the crew still alive, they headed for the deck, dodging fires and flooding compartments. There was one launch still intact. The last five of the crew clambered in, cut it loose and dropped the spans to the sea. They paddled away as the Waltzer snapped and the two sections sank rapidly.

There were groups of sailors from the sinking attack ship, clinging to makeshift rafts and bobbing in the swell. The battle was over for them and the crew of the Waltzer, so the law of the sea ruled that the sailors in the launch had to help those in the water.

Heavensent 9.14
Heavensent 9.12
Heavensent 1.1

Technorati tag: Fiction, Heavensent

“Bank and come due South.” Jayn instructed.

Half the flight followed Reed’s plane. “Fan out and look for surface contacts.” He added to their instructions.

The order had come through shortly after they had grouped up. The troop transports, taking what they thought was a safe Southern route, were under attack from air and sea.

Above and ahead of the Wasps, the Cicciles kept a look out for the reported fighters. Jayn scanned the sea for the trails of ships’ wakes. “Contact. Red Seven has contact, bearing 200.” Came the report.

Red Seven was on the Eastern arm of their spread. Jayn rapidly calculated the necessary course adjustments. “All Wasps come to….” Explosions shattered the engine bay of the Ciccile ahead and to the left of their plane. Robbed of power, the tail dropped, forcing the fighter into a false climb. It faltered, reached stall speed and tumbled backwards out of the sky. Ahead and to the right another Ciccile went into a flat spin as shell severed most of its right wing. Two fat, tubular shapes with wide square wings shot up through the gaps, climbing rapidly.

“Wasps, follow Red Seven to target.” The unspoken order to the Cicciles was obvious. Some climbed to intercept the Corkscrews, the rest formed cover above and below the Wasps.

The surface battle came into view. Four transport ships- one damaged and lagging as the others broke for shore- two combat vessels and a messy slick where another was sinking. Both of the fighting ships looked familiar. Similar types had escorted the Heavensent. “Can we contact the ships?”

“We were not told the frequency or any of the call signs.”

The single gunned ship fired on the transports, the shell falling just short. “No matter. I think that is identification enough. Wasps, form up for attack behind me.”

They did not have the right bombs to puncture a warship’s hull. The best they could hope for was to destroy the command and control. Reed lined up for an attack along the length of the ship. No different to hitting trucks on a road, he told himself. They came in low, from the rear. “You have the plane.” He told Jayn.

She made some basic adjustments, lining up the rockets, then pulling up when they had fired. They exploded in the antennae behind the main island, just as the bombs were released. One bomb overshot, bursting just behind the turret. Jayn pulled up, ready to hand control back to Reed.

Something exploded behind the cockpit, then inside it. One of the fat tubular planes passed overhead, trailing smoke.

Red smoke.

No, the red was inside the glass. The arrowhead shapes of two Cicciles passed above the Wasp, chasing down the Corkscrew.

Jayn kept the plane level. Why wasn’t Reed taking the controls back? She glanced over. He was slumped back in his seat, his chest a big red hole where the shell had passed through. She didn’t feel nausea, or even panic, still running on the adrenaline of the bombing run. However, the plane was beginning to shake and sink.

It was possible to fly and land a Wasp from the bombardier’s seat, and Jayn had trained to do so. She had never had to land in the open sea. She was heading over the transports, a little more power kept the plane a safe height above them. A little bank brought it perpendicular to the rollers and then she let it drop. Letting the flaps out slowed the plane, but Jayn had to fight to keep it level.

The tail dipped and clipped the top of a roller, pitching the plane nose down onto the top of the next wave. The propellers and nose dug into the water, tipping the plane forward. Another wave hit, bringing the tail splashing back down.

Water was flowing into the cockpit. Jayn stared at it as it washed over her boots. She was numb, now the shock was beginning to set in. Suddenly the clasp on her harness was too complicated to unlock. The water splashed over the top of her boots. She remembered how to unfasten the harness. When all the belts had fallen away she stood on her seat and pushed at the emergency panels. Another wave hit the plane and for a moment it rode along on the crest, threatening to tip over.

Jayn looked back into the cabin. The water was up to the bottom of the seats. There was nothing she could do for Reed, she kept telling herself, but she had to survive. The floatation aid she wore would not serve as well as the life raft the plane carried. There was a panel above the rear of the cockpit. She twisted the handle and opened it. The big yellow bundle was hard to handle on her own, but she managed to push it into the water, grabbing the pull handle as it went. When it was inflated she leapt into the water and swam over to it.

Only when she was safely aboard the life raft did Jayn allow herself to lean over the edge and be violently, painfully sick.

Heavensent 9.13
Heavensent 9.11
Heavensent 1.1

Technorati tag: Fiction, Heavensent

The Waltzer’s gun thundered. Thick grey smoke wrapped around the turret then washed back over the bridge. Everyone had jobs to be doing, but they forsook them to stare at the shot’s target and will the shell to land true. A fountain of water shot up just before the second transport. “You have one more shot and then we shall take evasive action.” Null shouted into the communications pipe.

The gun roared again. This time Null was spinning the control wheel before the recoil had even subsided. The stricken attack ship came into his view as Waltzer heeled over. They would pass close to it, but not collide. The seamen in the water around their old ship would not be so lucky, pushed under by the wash or churned over by the screws. The sailors’ code did not apply in the middle of a battle.

“Hit sir!” a spotter cried. Null allowed himself a glance at the transports. There was black smoke over the nearest one and a large jagged scar in its plating. If they could inflict a few similar hits to the other transports they might be able to halt the invasion fleet. “Planes!” shouted another spotter, “They are not ours.”

Heavensent 9.12
Heavensent 9.10
Heavensent 1.1

Technorati tag: Fiction, Heavensent

I reached a natural end for Heavensent last night. It’s not really the end of the tale, as there are a few plot threads still up in the air, but it is a point at which everything has become clear and back story has been filled in and info-dumped. I could go on and start a third part to the tale, but I think it would be something of an anti-climax so it’s best to leave it as is.

You won’t get to see the end for a month or so, but just be aware that it’s on the way.

Technorati tag: Fiction, Heavensent

Heavensent will return on Monday.

Technorati tag: Fiction, Heavensent

The wing was flying low, torpedo height. Fire was reaching out from the ship, still falling short. “They will find us soon.” Karn whispered.

“We hold steady.”

“I know.”

The front bomb bay held six torpedoes on an S-curve rail. They would be fed one by one out of the quarter width door. “Torpedo gone! Bank!” The light bank as the rest of the torpedoes were released spread them in a narrow fan.

“Pull out!” The anti air was closing on them now, tracer passing on either side. There were cracks as shells hit home.

“Hydraulic pressure on the bay doors has dropped off.” Karn announced, “Switching to back up. Nothing. We cannot open the rear doors.”

Four of the torpedoes struck home, raising towers of water. The ship began to list immediately, flooding faster than bulkheads could be closed.

One ship remained, but it was out of range of the Waltzer and the old attack ship had some free space to close on the transports.

“Hand crank the front bay closed. We are heading home.”

“Stran?”

“Hardly. I do not think there is enough of Stran left. Communications, raise the Corkscrews, and anyone else you can, and tell them we have to retire.”

Harren adjusted his course so they passed by the Waltzer again, wagging the wing as it passed. “And the best of luck to you brave souls.”

Heavensent 9.11
Heavensent 9.9
Heavensent 1.1

Technorati tag: Fiction, Heavensent