Team one all applauded, while their insignia changed. We did the salute thing, and they sat. There was a more general applause.
“All the team leaders for the new teams will be coming from our existing teams, and there will be some changes. We have a list of leaders prepared, and as teams are formed, the next on the list will be promoted to either Major or Sergeant Major.” I paused, looking around the room. “Let me be clear about something. Marine teams are our elite, and will always be formed based on the needs of the team. Rank is a secondary issue. The leader is the leader, and all leaders are equal, regardless of rank. Officers will lead teams of any rank. Sergeant Majors will lead teams who are all NCO’s. But the teams themselves are equal, and anyone who has a problem with that will feel my boot.”
Silence.
“The marines will continue to go in at the shit end. They will be joined by Knight General Willow’s special units, and backed up by the armies. The traditions of the SAS, Rangers, and Seals, will continue.”
The applause started up again.
“Space Commodore Lacey,…”
“Please, please, tell me you’re busting me down to Squadron Leader.”
The room burst into laughter.
I stared at him, and he held my gaze, until I shook my head, and looked away.
“Fleet Admiral O’Neil, please stand.”
“No, no, no, no.”
“Yes, yes, yes, yes. Stand please.”
He reluctantly rose and braced.
“Rear Admiral Hallington commands Orion’s Belt, and remains in command, but we need an admiral on Orion’s Stars.”
He cringed. There were a few stifled laughs.
“The amalgamation dreadnaughts made from cruiser hulls are soon going to become second tier warships, as we bring more Chaos class dreadnaughts into the fleet. And as the war goes on, those original ships of ours are going to be relegated to support operations where heavy fighting isn’t expected. We’re getting battleship and cruiser drivers from the sector militaries, and some of these will be taking over our older ships.”
He didn’t look any happier. I knew he loved John Wayne, and it was going to hurt leaving the ship.
“Fleet Admiral, you are promoted to Rear admiral, and appointed to command Orion’s Stars. The upgraded design of the carrier titans will leave four squadrons of fighters on board, and when we get CAG’s assigned, the CAG will fight the ship in battle, leaving the Rear Admirals to command the overall battle.”
He looked a little more happy now. His insignia changed, we did the saluting, and he sat, getting a kiss from his wife sitting next to him.
I paused again, this time for breath.
“Fleet Captain Greer, please stand.”
He shot to his feet, and braced.
“You are promoted to Fleet Admiral, and placed in command of the Havoc Fleet of Chaos class dreadnaughts. Congratulations.”
He saluted immediately, and his insignia shifted after I returned the salute. He sat just as quickly.
I intercepted a quick glance from Miriam. Her turn would come soon enough, once we had enough of the new dreadnaughts to make two fleets. At the moment we only had five, but this would double soon enough, and once we had enough for two fleets of six, Miriam would get her star as well. But Greer had always been senior to her, even though some of their promotions had come at the same time.
There was only one left to do now.
“Feet Admiral Sato, please stand.”
He did so, bowed to me, and braced.
“Admiral, you’re the only captain of a titan class ship below the rank of Rear Admiral, and I know you expected it to be a temporary billet. I hereby rectify that, by promoting you to Rear Admiral, and confirming you in command of Sceptre of Kali. Congratulations.”
He looked surprised, but quickly bowed to me again. His insignia changed, we saluted, and he sat.
What I wanted was a two star in command anywhere where a titan was stationed. And I trusted my people better than any I’d seen elsewhere. The time would come when I needed to bring in more flag officers, but for now, I was promoting those I had.
“All the titans are now commanded by two stars or senior, and they will take command of all space forces, wherever they are.”
I allowed myself to grin, trying to lighten the mood in the room.
“That’s all for the formalities. Let’s eat!”
Twenty One
“Algy, what is it you want to do?”
I’d called him into my ready room on BigMother, as soon as we made it back onto the ship, even though it was now late. The dinner had gone off really well, although some of the captains had left earlier than others to get back to their commands. With the missile spamming and attacks by the Trixone still going on, I could understand them not wanting to leave their XO’s to handle something new if it happened.
Lacey sat there looking at me, apparently trying to figure out how to say something.
“How long has it been since your read the original Wars extended universe books, boss?”
I blinked at him a few times, caught off guard.
“Not in a long time. I remember them though. Like millions of readers down the centuries, I was really pissed off when they stopped dead for no apparent reason other than the rights got sold.”
“Me too. I’ve been reading them again recently, and they gave me an idea. You remember the fighter squadron stories?”
“Sure.”
“I want to do that.”
“Which that is this?”
“The fighter squadron formed for special operations, with many more skills than just flying.”
“Really?”
“You’ve not thought about it?”
“It was never feasible…”
I stopped. Now it was. He grinned at me.
“Yes, now we have jump drives, a fighter squadron doesn’t need a carrier anymore, just a jump drive. We can be into a battle zone in minutes, launching from a home base station, or one of the titans, or wherever is closest to where we end up each mission.”
I thought for a moment.
“How many fighters would you want?”
“A wing of four squadrons ideally. Six when we have the pilots.”
“And what will you fly?”
“Excalibur fours to start with.”
“And after?”
“We need a new fighter. In fact, what we really need is a proper bomber designed to carry the new missiles Grace tested, which will then be able to take on Trixone fighters.”
“I thought the fours were supposed to be a fighter bomber?”
“It’s a compromised design, and only basically does the job. I think we need a ship twice the size of the Excalibur, but smaller than Gunbus, with say three decks instead of six. Very small living area in case we need to kip while out in space, and enough supplies for a few meals in space, as well as emergency rations in case we crash on a planet like George did.”
“Actually, I’ve been meaning to address that. Can you take it on for me? We need food which is ready to eat, and doesn’t need any technology to prepare. Also water and medical supplies, in easy to grab and run backpacks or whatever. Co-ordinate with Jane, and get them on every ship, including fighters.”
“No problems. I can do that.”
“What else for the new design?”
“Front end very like the new destroyer upgrade, firing the new capital ship missiles, and cruiser guns, preferably about four or six of them. Hence the third deck, as it will need serious extra power.”
“So about a third the size of a Cobra or Gunbus?”
“Not as long as a corvette, yes. And half the decks, with only the top deck having life support, and not all of that. Or maybe the middle deck being the flight deck. Needs thought. I’d also like them to have a combat suit on board, and perhaps a fire team of combat droids. That way if nothing else is available to go in to an emergency situation, we could, and be able to project some firepower.”
“I can start with a single squadron if need be, and we can train with fours. I’ll want to pick people very carefully anyway. Getting it right is more important than doing it quickly.”
“I agree. Eagle wing is approved. But run the new ship design past me before Bob builds one.”
He laughed, and mock saluted me, before heading to his suite.
I sat there for a while, mulling the idea over. I’d always loved those books, and especially the fighter stories. I really needed to read them again, even though they never actually ended.
Aline was waiting for me. But I had to do some serious cat settling action, before Angel would let me in the bedroom. When I did make it in there, she, Aline, not Angel, watched me naked from the bed as I prepared to join her.
“You caused a bit of a stir.”
“Did I?”
“You know you did.”
“Err…”
“Come on Jon. Fess up. You did it deliberately.”
“I do a lot of things deliberately. What exactly are we talking about?”
“BA.”
“Ah.”
“No-one, and I mean no-one, has ever, made BA cringe before. That one goes down in the record books.”
“Do I need to watch my back?”
She chuckled.
“No, you’re fine. She saw the funny side of it. Eventually. I had to explain the teams working to her though. In fact, none of them have quite grasped NCO led marine teams yet.”
“How hard is it? I mean, the teams go in and they follow BA. Every time. Not the twins who have the rank, BA. So what’s different now?”
“I know. I think BA likes the new rank, but she wasn’t counting on formally leading a team. She’s always liked being the senior NCO, but even then, she’d never really been a formal leader before.”
“It’ll be a new experience for her.”
“Talking of which…”
Talk ended.
Experience began.
Twenty Two
“My fellow Americans.”
The American President was on a media broadcast, and thanks to our comnavsat system, it was the first one to go out live to the whole sector at once.
“I have several announcements to make, which may shock some people, but are for the long term benefit of the sector. First, the war with the Sixth Reich is officially over.”
He paused for shock value.
“Not because either side won it, but because of my second announcement.”
He paused again, milking it.
“Three days ago, the question of is there intelligent life out in the galaxy besides our own was answered by the arrival of two ships. One of them is human in origin, but technically way beyond our ability to construct. The other is station sized, and as a space carrier, puts our biggest in the small class. Most of those on these ships are human, and represent an offshoot of our own race, who left to form a new society.”
Well, sort of.
“Also on those ships are humanoid species, and species we would identify as animal based, but most of whom are technologically more advanced than we are. They belong to an Imperium, newly formed for defense and trade purposes. They’ve come here because out there a war is raging, the likes of which we can’t imagine.”
“Why should we care, I hear you ask? For several very important reasons. As I just said, the war with the Sixth Reich is ended. The Imperium ended it for us as a demonstration of what they can do, by closing the jump point permanently. No ship can ever enter American space from down the spine ever again. As a gesture of good faith, it bought them our attention. Our military and diplomats met with theirs two days ago. Yesterday, I walked from their ship, to a station forty thousand lightyears away, and then through to stations above other planets, talked with those who run the Imperium, and walked home for dinner. I’ve never in my life seen anything like what I saw yesterday.”
I could just hear the cries of BS from millions of mouths at the same time, but he made no attempt to explain further.
“What does the Imperium want from us? Two main things. People, in the form of troops and pilots, ship crews and marines. And trade. The trade possibilities alone are worth negotiating for. But the Imperium has something more important to offer us in exchange for providing them with the military resources they need to fight the war going on out there.”
He paused again, letting people wonder for a moment.
“Our biggest problem is the overcrowding of our planets, and our inability to find jump points to other systems which might have habitable planets. The Imperium has mapped our space, and can provide us with the locations of an additional twelve systems, all of which have habitable planets in them. Twelve new planets would allow half our population to move to planets which have never seen a human footprint before, and the Imperium has ways of making this happen without needing colony ships.”
“What will this cost us? In the short term, exploration, city planning, and building operation costs on twelve planets. This will take some time before we can start moving those people who want to move. We’ll be supplying our military personnel immediately, and they will continue to be our expense, even though they fight in the Imperium’s war. The training and formation of additional military units will also be ours to bear. But offsetting this, the Imperium’s trading network will be operational inside a week, and the boost to our economy will be significant.”
He paused for breath.
“Some will say joining the Imperium is losing our identity, and giving up our independence. But this isn’t true. We may be the American sector now, but we are just a part of the Human spine of systems, and while no longer beholden to Earth, we never actually formally severed ties with Earth.”
“On this day, I say to humans everywhere, the American sector is no more. We are now the United Planets of America, and members of the Hunter Imperium.”
There was a shocked silence from the media recording his speech, and then suddenly, a thunderous applause. I wasn’t entirely sure the applause came from the people actually there. But then, we couldn’t see more than the first few rows of them. He waited for the applause to die down.
“Details will be released as they become available. It will take some time for new planet details to become available, but those wishing to express interest in immigrating to a new world will have an ability to do so in the next few days. Those wishing details of how to join the Imperium trading network, will also have the means shortly.”
“The Imperium has asked me to make one announcement on their behalf. They are recruiting military personnel, especially those with Special Forces training, combat pilots, or senior ship officers, and any ex-service people will be considered. Some disabilities will not be an impediment I’m told, as they apparently have a blind combat pilot who’s an ace many times over. Details on how to apply will also be available shortly.”
“This is an exciting time. A war is over. New planets for us to colonize, and a galaxy out there for us to trade with. I’m damned proud to be an American at a time like this. God bless.”
The broadcast ended, and the media started going crazy. I had an immediate ping from Amy telling me she was putting that on the Imperium media immediately. It was big news after all. Jane then told me all the appropriate media informational pages were already active, and she’d supplied the links to Amy.
I looked down at Angel on my lap. She looked up at me.
“Meow.”
“Yeah.”
I was so glad I wasn’t in politics, and she was so glad she was a cat.
Twenty Three
An hour apart, each of the other three sectors made similar announcements.
They’d obviously planned it, and they were all similar, if tailored to their own people. Government people reached out to Amy for Imperium information, and themselves started fielding enquiries on how to become an emigran
t, join the trading network, or how to enlist.
The British sector was once again Great Britain, Canada simply dropped sector from their name, and the Australian sector became Australis. And of course, they were all challenged on the basis of not having been put to a popular vote. It didn’t matter to us, as they could change their names any time they wanted to. But for now, it was about asserting complete independence as a way of hiding losing it. Not that they were, of course.
Jane was making available a single ship for each of them, to ferry teams to each planet for surveying, and everything they needed to do the job rapidly. For now, the locations of the new planets were going to be a closely guarded secret to keep claim jumpers from moving in. Now it was known there were jump points to be found, people would go looking for them. This would change when building began, and when each sector had police forces in place to ensure no-one tried to make a grab for the best places. In the meantime, only jump capable ships were going to them.
Several hours after the Australian announcement, another more quiet one went out. It didn’t stay quiet for very long though, and caused yet another media frenzy.
“Scifiers rejoice, for it is my great joy to announce the long awaited planet for us to move to has been found!”
The man grinned like a Cheshire cat, and was obviously waiting for elation to settle down.
“And just when you thought the news couldn’t get any better, it’s not one planet, but six!”
His grin got even bigger. I wondered if some image manipulation was going on here.
“You’ve all heard the announcements of other planets being given to other sectors by this new Imperium, and I’m proud to have been the one to approach them for a homeworld of our own, visit their homeworlds myself, and be able to come back to you with this momentous news.”
“Details are being sent to every member as I speak. Like the other sectors, we are joining the Imperium, but here’s something we’re getting that they are not. They have a station which is practically deserted, and in exchange for those among us with military experience joining up to fight for the Imperium, we get to move immediately to this station, where we can reside until our new cities are ready to be occupied.”
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