by David Nash
“Sir, I have a signal from the President, he wished to speak with you.” Relayed my communications ensign onboard my flagship
I set my helmet to black out and block any outgoing audio so I could speak privately with my President while crammed in the back of a bus.
“Go ahead and connect the call ensign.” I said.
Another beep sounded, and the face of the Republic President appeared inside my visor.
“Sir, we took out one kernel command post in Shanghai and are in the process of preparing to take out the second in New York. Once that is done, we need to debrief, a lot has been happening in the past few weeks.”
“General, it’s good to hear your voice, as always, you are the master of understatement. What are your plans for taking out the New Your Command post?”
“Mr. President, as you are probably aware, the Kernel has started enslaving biologics through the use of implants. It is a hideous process, which we are unable to reverse. IF we kill the controlling Kernel, the human falls into a coma. Basically they are brain dead. We believe that instead of using a single Kernel to enslave its human Captain, this time they are using a hive mind. In Shanghai it was a room size device. Once we destroyed it all the implanted humans fell unconscious and we could destroy the implantation machines.
The kernels have industrialized the implantation process and are able to process thousands of humans an hour. We were unaware of the second hive mind as the large one hid the signal. We sent a team in and believe it to be lost.
Frankly sir, the math says a precise orbital strike on the location will save more lives than would be lost to collateral damage.”
“An orbital strike on New York City! Are you out of your mind?” President Eastman sounded as if he disagreed
“President Eastman, the Legion is en route, however, our assault ships are not in the fight, getting our men down will take time and time means casualties. I hate collateral damage, but let’s face it sir, they are dead anyway.”
“General Davis, I do not authorize an Orbital Strike, I understand what you are saying, but the risks are too great. What if you miss?”
“We don’t miss, sir.”
“Dammit Davis, do not drop kinetics on an inhabited city, those are our people. Any humans that die, will die by Kernel hands, not our own. Do you understand?”
“Yes sir, we are en route now, our ETA is 9 minutes. It will take another 20 to get our people on the ground and in position to assault the target. That’s 30 minutes of humanity becoming brain dead meat puppets. If those are your orders, I will comply.”
“William Tell, we don’t have a good option on the table. We are in a war. Just get in there and hit the off switch on those computers. Then get your ass back here and tell me what is going on. If it is any consolation, just remember, you don’t have to like it.”
“I just have to do it, Mr. President; the Legion will get it done. If I may, I have a lot to do.”
“Yes General, get it done, you are dismissed.”
With that I reset my helmet and rejoined the attack in progress, I notified my fleet to cancel the orbital bombardment plans for the moment, but not to undo any preparations.
Every second we are in the air is more humans stolen by the Kernel. Every Legionnaire knew it, and we were all ready to fight.
Since we could not do an orbital bombardment, and we did not have drop ships, we had to get creative. We decided to use the busses as penetrators. We would fly directly above the building and slam straight down through the roof. Hopefully we would bypass most of the security.
We were not taking any chances or playing any games.
“30 seconds to impact” The warning sound throughout the bus. We all brace for impact. I use my maglock and press myself against the wall. Basically lay down with my feet orientated to the hatch so I can drop in. Others do the same.
“15 Seconds”
“5”
“4”
“3” I tense and stop listening, the remaining seconds fly by until we impact with a terrific jarring crash. The roof and floors in the old building is no match for the ram ship. After-all, it was designed to pierce battleships.
As soon as the crashing subsided and we came to rest, we blew the hatch and released our mag locks. Three platoons of Legionnaires dropped out of the 4 ships sticking out of the top of the building like the nubs on children’s plastic blocks.
We fell straight down, landing with a thud. The surprise and violence of our entry shocked the defenders, not the ridden, as the mindless human slaves had no thoughts, the hive was expecting us, but not in the manner we arrived.
A master sergeant started yelling “Go! Go! Go!” as the teams started toward their objectives. A Germ had found the blueprints to the building in the NYC Planning Commission database and triangulated signal strength to give us a location to search. I felt a twinge, as that was Marvin’s job.
The Kernel was supposed to be in the subbasement, 2 levels underground, we stopped on the third floor. That meant we had to fight our way down 5 levels. Some took the stairs; however, I took a 16 man platoon and created a diversion. We mounted our hover shields and rose a few inches above the floor. In a 7 foot tall set of powered armor standing on a thick metal shield, we did not have room for much more. The team took up positions around the walls of the room leaving the center open. On command we all used our forearm cannons to blast a hole directly below us, dropping the remnants on the floor on the heads of the ridden humans serving the Kernel.
We did not bother to descend; we simple blasted the next floor, and the next. Only when we were starting to become less effective at blasting a hole in a shot or two did we hover down.
When we got to the basement, and were above the level of the hive mind we stopped. I was the only one with an implant, and without Marvin, I dared not go any further. At that point, my team searched out any defenders, using our scanners to triangulate the weaker signals controlling in individual implanted humans. Our overt destruction made the Kernel focus on us, allowing the other teams to approach with little obstruction. Still reeling from the thought of losing Marvin, the entry team did not hesitate. They blew the door and wasted no energy talking, 16 directed energy cannons firing at the hive mine destroyed it almost instantly.
Our fleet sensors picked up the cessation of control signals, and performed scans to ensure the alien presence on Earth was destroyed.
21
A shuttle picked me up as well as one team of legionaries. We flew directly to the President of the Republic in his headquarters located at the former United Nations Headquarters in Manhattan.
As we arrived, they were till removing the corpses and unconscious bodies of the implanted humans that were attacking the building.
Any thought to the political nature of President Eastman’s call evaporated as I realized he made the call to reduce human collateral damage occurred while his location was the subject of a massive assault. He put his life on the line by that call. I can’t help but think I was wrong twice today.
Security ushered me directly to the President’s command bunker under the headquarters building. We soon were sitting in as replica of his normal office.
“Have a seat General” The President motioned toward a couch
“Sir, I’d rather not, my armor is pretty heavy, besides it is dirty from the last few hours’ effort.”
“William Tell, sit the hell down, we designed the furniture with your armor in mind, they can handle the weight, and don’t worry about getting anything dirty, some asshole introduced replicator tech. I can drop it in a machine and get a new one.”
I sat.
The President handed me a tumbler of Jack Daniels, and poured himself a couple fingers of Scotch. As he poured he spoke, “So what in the hell happened out there? How bad is it?”
“It’s bad, sir, but it could be worse. The Legion installations are secure, at least the planets and special projects are. The orbital platforms in this system are inoperative; I
don’t have a full accounting of them yet. All Sangren planets, including our home-world, are completely under Kernel control, as are the planets we stranded the implanted Barkun. The ‘peaceful’ Barkun planets that are orbited by our fortresses are still under our control.” The President nodded and I continued.
“The attack took us completely by surprise; frankly, I believed what they did to be against their programming, as their methods are wholly outside Confederation law. However, the nature of the attack did have some unanticipated consequences that are in our favor.
“Do tell” President Eastman says, looking me in the eye
“The Kernel on our side also believes the Kernels actions are illegal. It was so egregious to them that they have decided they are a separate species than the Kernel. They now call themselves the Germ. They ruled that the Legion is the rightful enforcers of the Law and that our primary function is to eradicate the Kernel as a species. Furthermore, they now are actively reproducing. I may have overstepped by bounds, but in the spirit of what they decided, I ordered that all Germ in the Legion will no longer be commanded by a biologic, but will partner with one and be commanded by the military chain of command as any other soldier would be.”
By the look he gives me, I could tell that the President agrees that I overstepped.
“General, that decision is outside of your authority, and will cause a lot of political backlash, especially after the Kernel sneak attack.”
“The Germ is not the Kernel, Several Germ fought and killed Kernel in hand to hand combat when they found out what they did. I have chosen to trust them. Remember that Marvin died to save me from being ridden.”
He nodded gravely, “I heard reports, I am sorry.”
“Sir, that is not all, our mission to the Centaurus was a total success, I sent you a briefing, their desire and aptitude at flying gives us an entirely different set of capabilities. They have upwards of half a million warriors and a religious call to exterminate the Kernel so they can reclaim a planet and the ability to go to heaven.”
“Yes, I remember reading about that. At the time I was worried that ideology, but now I welcome any support.”
“Sir, I have one more thing to tell you, but it is of the utmost secrecy, if you can turn off you recorders I will end the briefing.”
President Eastman looked surprised, but without a word, he went to his desk, opened a console and put in a code.
I pulled out a “cone of silence” motioned the President closer, activated it, and told him our closest held secret.
When the briefing concluded, the President got a second drink, swallowed it and said, “Well General, we have a hard fight ahead of us, but we have the edge. Once again I find myself offering you whatever you need. As soon as you leave my office I am calling congress and asking for a formal declaration of War. I am calling up the militia and am considering a draft, not that I think you will need it. I would like you to stay around; a press conference with you telling about your experience with the kernel attempting mind control will help recruiting, and me getting the votes.”
“Yes sir, however, if time permits, I do need to check on someone.”
“William, I think I can give you an hour or so, especially since I have recalled a particular Major to the headquarters. She is waiting outside. My team will contact you later with the arrangements. You are dismissed”
22
“Renata! I am so glad you are safe!” I said, as we embraced just outside the President’s office.
“WT!” She said, as she hugged me tightly, “Talk about being safe, I heard about your attack on the Kernel. I am so sorry to hear about Marvin.”
The shame of my headstrong act is still fresh on my mind. “I am to; I should have listened to him. I have heard that as soon as his body got aboard the ship, the Germs took control of him, went to a laboratory, and locked themselves inside. I can’t deal with that now, as I am heading up to see how the transit rings and the other in system installations are doing. Frankly, we bypassed them all and went straight to Earth.“
“Well, General, before you do that, President Sabol has asked me to invite you to meet with him before you leave Earth again.”
“Alright, Major, I guess duty calls. I wish I had time to spend time with my girlfriend, but war tends to ruin plans.” I say, still cringing at her tone. I am smart enough to know I said something to make her mad, but not smart enough know what words were wrong.”
Being President of Earth meant Sabol was not in Washington, but rather in the same building as the Republic President. It took moments to cross the hall and have his secretary announce us.
“Will, I am so sorry to hear about Marvin” Adam Sabol said as he rose from his desk with his hand extended for a friendly handshake. Our hands clasped and the politician in him could not help but clasp my hand in both of his.
“I have heard Eastman is going to ask Congress to declare war on the Kernel, for Earths part we are already on board. I have called up the militia, and we are preparing to start sending you all the personnel you need.”
“Thank you Adam, I read about your project to put domes over hazardous zones like Chernobyl and Ranipet and use autonomous machines to mine the contamination and use it to harvest replicator mass. Even at war, I think that is still doable.”
“Yes, so do I, and frankly I felt the need to do something positive with the replicators besides make implements of war. Believe it or not that tech is a bit of a problem, it is killing traditional industry, and we cannot retool the economy fast enough. Luckily, we have enough replicators that we can shovel dirt in and get food, so we don’t have food riots to deal with, but I even before the attack I had billions of people scared to death about their lively hood. Now they are worried about being turned into zombies.”
“Well, I give me time and I can use a couple billion or so out there with me. It is not looking good; this sneak attack has cost us entire worlds. While I haven’t confirmed it, we may have lost the Sangren species.”
“Is it that bad Will?” Sabol concern is obvious;” I had no idea.”
“Yes, and I am going to need immediate support when it comes to recruits.”
“Good, because I wanted to offer you some recruits. How would you feel if started the training process here in mass? We have the capability of the first and second phases of training planetoid. We can get the recruits in shape, and then plug them into the Sangren educators to teach them what they need to know. Then, you can take the infantry types to McCall for the space based training. I was thinking you could then have the ability to train larger classes at a time.”
“Adam, you didn’t have to call me here to offer that, it’s a good idea, and I accept. Everybody you have I will take, and with Earths infrastructure, you can be in charge of personnel records as well, I need nearly as many welders and techs as I do killers. This won’t be a short war this time. We are going to have to build ships. We have to build lots of ships that are much larger than we have currently.”
“I know, William, I know. I didn’t call you here to offer you people, I called you here to tell you that you cannot do this all alone. You are NOT all alone.” The Earth President’s eyes were serious and searching mine as we shook hands again and I left to get back in the battle.
Part III
Para Bellum
23
The ring forts gave better than they took. We mourn the lives of the legionaries lost in the battle, but the forts proved the concept. In the end, being that close to the transiting ships cost them a lot of damage, but crews are already working to repair, refit, and reinforce them.
The moon went dark because they set off an electromagnetic pulse to try to cut off the Kernel’s attempt to take over the base. It was not effective at all; actually, it only served to harm us. The Kernels were shielded but our Comms were not. In the end, the Moon, Mars, and the Geodome Shipyard fought the Kernel man against machine just as we did on McCall.
We had a huge loss of legionnaire life,
but it seems like bringing most of McCall and the Dozers with me helped. We get a jump start in training the hundreds of thousands of new recruits.
Sabol was right; the jump in technology had severe economic impact, as entire industries shut down. Cash becomes worthless when you can make anything you want out of dirt. Gold, Diamonds, rare elements, everything that once held intrinsic value due to rarity lost it.
If it weren’t for the massive need for manpower to equip warships, build spaceports, and colonize space Earth would be in chaos.
Earth had entire teams doing nothing but building Big Bertha replicators, others kept pushing out components. We were on a war footing, but Sabol had a group of environmental advocates creatively thinking about where to get mass. One group even suggested using the replicators to put out the massive Centralia coal seam fire in Pennsylvania. They dug in and started producing halon gas to smother the fires, and then went back and salvaged the mass from the abandoned town and the burnt mine.
Landfills were mined for trash; cities began filling replicators with refuse and sewage. Even the Great Pacific Garbage Patch was mined for mass.
Steel workers, welders, and all manner of tradesmen went to the stars to work on massive orbital shipyards. We created small single person ships with grapes and welding arms, ass the huge replicators made parts, these skilled workers maneuvered the individual parts and welded them to create massive ships.
I even had some recruiting efforts in prisons and parole offices worldwide. With the offer of a pardon for a term of service in the Legion, we were able to raise several battalions of hard core individuals. They may not play well with others in the free world, but they don’t have a problem with violence. With leadership and the iron discipline provided by my Dozer’s, the constant yet unobtrusive monitoring of the Germ, and my promise to treat them fairly, reward them with pardons, and to personally kick any troublemakers out of an airlock, we had few problems. At least, we had few problems after the troublemakers had a few instructional combative lessons by my Dozers.