The Landfall Campaign (The Nameless War) by Edmond Barrett

That means it ran for its life. Every man for himself type of thing. They reckon the Nameless fleet is now moving towards Earth. ”
    “ But the Home Fleet …” she said quietly.
    “ The fleet here, it didn’t even slow them down. There’s nothing magic about the Home Fleet, no guarantee that it will succeed and if Earth falls, ” he waved back towards the trenches, “ well, all this won’t make any difference. ”
    “ You ’ re saying this is pointless? Is that what you’re saying? ”
    “ We’re awaiting developments, Doc. If Earth falls they’ll sweep us up in due course. If Earth stands, then we still have a chance. But unless the Home Fleet gives ‘ em the mother and father of all spankings, we’re going to be a long way behind enemy lines. Now if we’re really lucky, they’ll see this as a sideshow and ignore us. If less lucky, they want the planet but they want it in working order. That means a siege, which means they ’ ll have to come down here and root us out the hard way. If we’re flat out unlucky they ’ ll see this place as a weakness in their support areas and as they don’t give a rat’s ass about the planet, then we’re back to being royally boned. They’ll lob enough nukes at us to saturate the defences or if they want to do it in style, simply bolt an engine onto an asteroid and use it as a planet cracker. ”
    His voice never altered in tone all through his monologue. If anything he sounded slightly bored.
    “ Is that really what you believe? ”
    “ I ain’t selling a religion here Doc. Belief don’t come into it. I’m talking military probability. ” They reached the truck while he was speaking. The other civilians were already in and waiting impatiently.
    “ Be seeing you, Doc, ” Rob said as he helped her up into the truck. “ Just keep your wits about you. ”
     
    She was reunited with the rest of the Harbinger crowd back within the base proper. For the night they were sent back to the civilian accommodation they ’ d vacated days earlier, in anticipation of their return to Harbinger . There wasn’t much conversation, people just wanted to eat and sleep. But Alice and Leah stayed awake long enough to talk for a while.
    It seemed that Leah hadn’t spoken to any member of the military. Whoever it was she ’ d talked to, had seemed to take a far more upbeat view of things. According to this unknown individual the trenches and fortifications were a precaution. They were a distraction to keep people busy and things would soon be back to normal. After her conversation with Rob, Alice found such a view naive. But Leah was happier than she had been in days. It was a terrible thought to have in relation to a friend but as the conversation went on, it struck Alice that Leah wasn ’ t good at handling harsh truths. But she didn’t say anything to shatter her friend’s illusions. It wouldn’t have been fair to do so. As Rob had put it, they were awaiting developments.
    ___________________________
     
    9 th August 2066
     
    Message start: ++ To Commander Ground Base Douglas - On First August Home Fleet engaged two enemy fleets in the region of Alpha Centauri - Enemy advance checked - Enemy sighted retreating back along supply lines - Estimate they will not retreat as far as Landfall - Intelligence indicates Nameless jump drives are, repeat are, subject to constraints by mass shadow - to what extent though unknown - Report any sightings ++ Message End. Coding: G FIFTY-ONE, CORRECT. Frequency: CORRECT. Authorisation code: CORRECT. Conclusion: MESSAGE CONFIRMED AUTHENTIC.
    Eulenburg blew across his coffee as he considered the message. It was a real mixture of the good and the bad but at least they’d finally remembered Landfall back on Earth. Rumours of the worst kind had started to circulate and at least those could now be laid to rest. The lack of detail was maddening but the limitations of FTL transmitters, plus the security implications, meant he wasn’t surprised