by David Nash
Marvin, target all weapons on the ship you have detected. Gunners, after the first shots hit the cloak it should drop. Fire at will. We have no support in the area so you can go free gun after the first shot.
“On my command drop the shield and fire the stern torpedo and then immediately go to full shields. We are going to try to disable this thing and run for it. Is everyone ready?”
Grim nods signaled everyone’s understanding.
“Alright people, this is when the Legion really begins. Execute!”
Dropping our shields to fire at them was something the Barkun hadn’t seen before. Barkun used the law and their role as enforcer as protection so they never really developed the warrior spirit humans carried. The closest example to how I see the Barkun would be that they like a really big guy that never learned to fight because everyone was scared of his size. The first time he really gets punched in the face the bully backs down, that is how I hope this will play out. Regardless of how the tough the Barkun were, that torpedo and the follow-up cannon fire from my blood thirsty gamers quickly took the ship out of action. Unfortunately, I had really pissed off the Barkun empire and as soon as we took out that first ship 9 more uncloaked and attacked us.
Submarine and surface warfare was not space combat. But, tactical thinking and handling pressure applied to all. Our unexpected action and the willingness to fight gave us an edge. Marvin was great, but Commander Hickerson was better. The technological skill of Marvel made him a precision flyer. He made no errors. However, the human element was our strength.
The Commander, was not as precise, but flew like an acrobat. Given the ability to move in all directions and to instantly start and stop without battling inertia allowed his natural talent and years of training to really take piloting to the next level. As outnumbered as we were, he used something fighter pilots called the guns defense. He flipped and twisted and jerked around so that the Barkun could not get a lock on us with their cannons.
Then in a moment of shear stupid aggression he followed a basic Marine infantry tactic for a close in ambush. With a savage growl our wild man charged the nearest ship. It was hundreds of kilometers away, but in space combat that was mere yards. He went straight at them and before the lizards could process what they were seeing Oni and Jones dusted it.
The Commodore was not happy,“Commander, that Yank trick won’t work again. Please don’t murder us!” Johns yelled.
In response, Hickerson feinted toward the next ship and then barrel rolled into a quick 180 degree turn and headed flat out for a meteoroid in orbiting the sun.
“Marvin, I am going to get close to this meteoroid, I am going to slow and change our vector, can you throw us in a total cloak and we glide for a while?” Hickerson yelled.
“General?” the Ensign questioned
“Ensigns are outranked by Commanders, he’s flying the ship!”
“Ready to execute on your orders Commander”.
“Marvin, while he is flying, I have an idea. Can you modify torpedoes to cloak and act as mines.”
“Yes sir, but not before we reach the meteorite.”
“Okay, hold off on that idea for the time being, but as soon as we cloak and begin to glide I want you working on the problem.”
The Barkun ships raced toward us. Firing at us and getting hits. Hickerson went straight at the back of that meteor. For the next few minutes we went opposite of sub tactics we went fast and loud. We also took damage.
As soon as the rock hid us from our pursuers, Marvin took over, he used the gravity of the sun and the mass of the meteor to sling us 70 degrees off our course. He immediately went to full cloak and took all energy emitters offline. I wasn’t happy with our guns offline, but if it gave us that extra percentage point to stay hidden I allowed it. We coasted for 2 more days. The Barkun brought more ships from throughout the solar system and began a search pattern around L3. They knew that was our destination and when we disappeared from their sensors our ship was only a day away at normal speed.
Oni got to play with the replicator as the crew discussed mines. Ensign Marvin assured us that the Barkun did not use them. The Confederation considered them a historical oddity in modern warfare.
We basically took a normal plasma torpedo and rigged it with a cloak and a proximity alarm. Any Barkun signature within a thousand kilometers would cause the torpedo to activate and home in on the ship. At Kapitan Volk’s suggestion we also had Marvin modify another torpedo to act as a decoy. It was remotely activated and would broadcast a signal replicating our sensor image at the appropriate speed of the torpedo.
Our plan was to seed the area between us and L3, launch the decoy toward our assumed target and then turn around and then sneak to L4, which is now our closest transit point. The only problem is to do that we will have to lower our shields and open the rear hatch in order to toss out the torpedoes by hand.
We all suited up, and for an extra measure of covertness Marvin was able to vacuum our life support rather than vent it upon opening the hatch. We did not want anything, no matter how small, to potentially give away out position. Lastly we turned off all interior lights and clipped in so we could open the hatch and throw out our presents.
I knew we were pressing out luck, but the decoy worked. The Barkun found it and blew it up just minutes of travel away from the L3 transit point. By that time we were seconds to arriving at the L4 transit point.
Our nerves were fried, and I came away with a massive appreciation for submarine warfare. Needless to say, we not only let out a sigh of relief when we transited to hyperspace, we have one less bottle of Jack Daniels in our stores.
The other jumps went smoothly, we did encounter one Barkun patrol, but besides sending a decoy and a couple of mines, we didn’t have to fight. I had the team start thinking about a cold launch process that would allow us to lay mines without opening the back door. The team took the drills and our new combat experience to heart. They kept throwing out ideas for ships and space combat nearly faster than I could keep up.
14
As soon as we arrived on New Aubagne and everyone got settled in I gave a tour that ended with a strategy session. We all agreed that 9+ years was not enough time prepare to meet the Barkun head on. However, none of us were used to losing. Like all Green Berets that came before him, Captain Askew was in favor of taking the fight to the enemy and using their ships against them. He suggested focusing on harassing tactics, hit and run attacks, and boarding and capturing Barkun Punishment ships.
Kapitan Volk also suggested taking the fight to the enemy. He wanted to create ships that could sneak into Barkun territory and launch devastating kinetic bombardment onto the Barkun home world.
Commodore Johns wanted to build huge carrier groups and static defenses around the LeGrange points within Earth’s solar system. Commander Hickerson agreed.
Each military officer predictably wanted to prioritize their specialty. By training and experience, each one was convinced their own military profession was the right choice for the job. The former civilians in the bunch all voiced agreement with one or the other except Sabol. He wanted to gather as many people as possible and leave to search for a suitable planet to colonize as far away from the Confederation as possible.
The disagreements became heated, we all knew the stakes. Only Marvin and my redshirted petty officer abstained from comment. Finally I needed to make a decision.
“Okay the best minds of the Legion have made their arguments, and now it is time to decide a course of action.” All eyes were on me, and I could tell each officer believed I would choose their plan. They were right.
“I choose all of the above. Without a three pronged attack we are doomed to fail. Defending against planetary bombardment is extremely difficult. It is cheap, and simple attack. The defender has to destroy every single shot dropped while the attacker only needs one lucky shot. We have to prevent the Barkun from getting to Earth. That means we control the battle space. “ Johns and Hickerson looked s
atisfied.
“Besides, I see some justice in making the Barkun eat from the pot they have been preparing for us. Kapitan Volk is going to show our enemies what happens when you threaten humanity.”
I look over to Captain Askew We need new Kernels, as that is the only way to make hyperspace jumps. The only way to do that is to kill the enemy and take their shit. First we need to locate every Barkun on Earth, look them in the eyes, and kill them. I also want a plan to board the Punishment ships.
Oni, Dr. Farholm I want you two to focus on the replicator tech, we need a way to turn atomic schematics into blueprints. Earth can’t use the replicators, but they need to be able to mass produce cannons, shields, and cloaking devices.
We need ideas to get it done. I have been thinking about a carrier ship. Saucers can operate with only a human pilot, but they can’t jump to hyperspace. If we had a mother ship, we would only need one Kernel to make jumps with many smaller fighters attached.
I also want to replicate this base on as many unclaimed worlds as possible. If we have bases of 50 or 100 people seeded throughout the Galaxy and pumping out war materials we stand a much better chance of having humanity survive.
Let’s all break up and spend some time coming up with designs. I want a list of must haves in ship design by tomorrow morning. Any comments for the good of the order? No, well then lets get to it. Dismissed!”
While everyone broke up into smaller functional groups there was a lot of productive chatter. The excitement was palpable. With the notable exception of Sabol, the other guys really did not like the idea of running.
“Hey Adam, walk with me a second will you.” Sabol looked up and shrugged, but he followed me down the hall. When we got out of earshot I began. “I know this all has been a lot to handle, and more than you bargained for but more than anyone your skills are essential.”
That got his attention.
“I have never met a more legalistic society that the Confederation, they only have one punishment, and that is death. Of course you know that. What you may not know is that while it is their greatest weakness, it is also their greatest strength. While I don’t agree with their law, I also know that it is the only thing that keeps order in the Galaxy. We need that in the Legion. We are about to grow exponentially. Legion members are about to get virtually unlimited power, but one wrong move will eradicate our home world. Good order and discipline is the one thing that is indispensable. Do you understand.”
“I think so, you want me to write law. I could adapt the UCMJ to our situation. At least parts of it. I could also study Confederation law, I was never the best in court, but I am a killer in contract law.”
“Absolutely, but think bigger.”
“Bigger, Sir?”
“Mr. Sabol, right now we are just a small team trying to build an army, but what happens after.”
“Oh, wow, you want a political structure.” Unsurprisingly, my lawyer was quick on the uptake.
“That’s right I want you to be the Legion’s Thomas Jefferson. Keep it between us for the moment, but we need a Constitution. I have some ideas, but I’d like to see what you come up with. I will have Marvin send you some reading material that contain some ideas I would like to incorporate into our new system. Think of it like the Mayflower compact. Take everything you know about what is good and bad in all forms of government currently in use on Earth, as well as historically. Feel free to get creative.”
Later that night, Bob Hall and I were relaxing in my suite drinking a dark liquor and building a friendship when he asked me about my old Colonel.
“Tell, since it's just us in the room, tell be why your old CO hated you so much. I know what is in the records, but what little is there just doesn’t add up.”
“Well Bob, if you know the record you know before my last year or so under the Colonel’s command I was a 5.0 5.0 Marine. My proficiency and conduct scores were maxed out, and my professional education was covered. I ran a perfect Physical Fitness Test getting a max 300 every time. I made Sergeant early and truly loved being in the Corps. Everything was good and I was looking to make Staff Sergeant early as well”
“All a matter of record, Tell, so why did your CO develop such a clear hatred and did your evaluations suddenly tank with no formal charges or explanation?”
I laugh, take a sip of Tennessee Whiskey and begin. “It’s the typical Jacksonville love story, lonely Marine meets local girl. We even met in a bar. It was all pretty normal, except, unlike the typical romance, I actually fell for more than her body.”
Robert took a sip of his drink and nods knowingly.
“Melissa was everything I thought I wanted in a woman at least on the surface, she was smart, funny, and confident. I felt like she understood me, and shared my dreams and my future plans.”
“So what happened.”
“Her Dad is what happened.”
“Let me guess, your old CO?”
“Yes, it’s a made for TV romance is it not. I never asked her who her daddy was, and truthfully, I didn’t care. I loved her for who I thought she was. I found out the truth after the Colonel did a surprise inspection on my room at 2300 one Saturday evening. “
“Daddy’s do get mad when young men are caught with their pants down around their daughters.”
“It was nothing like that, I mean I am not going to say nothing ever happened, but we were just sitting in my room talking about her plans after college and my plans in the Corps. It was innocent talk at that point in the night. Suddenly my door busts open and it’s her father. The Colonel puts me at attention and began accusing me of using his daughter to gain favor. Obviously that was ridiculous and I tried to prove my feelings by getting the ring I was saving out of my wall locker.”
“Big step man, how did that work for you?”
“It didn’t, Bob, when I showed her that ring, she laughed. She told me she would never be stuck with some low class Tennessee hillbilly that would be lucky to ever get more out of life than a couple extra stripes. Apparently she knew what unit I was in and was with me for some weird get back at Daddy thing.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah Bob, ouch. At that point, I probably would have been on the shit list for a couple months. The Colonel was mad, but he knew I was the butt of the joke.”
“So what changed?”
“He laughed at the joke.” Bob could read people, that talent was why he was such a good covert agent. He grimaced.
“Yeah, I hit him. Knocked his silly ass out cold.
I only got away with it because no one else saw. He knew that if he charged me I was willing to go all the way and request a General Courts Martial. He didn’t want his reputation tainted with the idea that his precious baby girl would consort with the lower class. Even more than that, he didn’t want it seen like he was using his authority to shit all over a good Marine over a personal issue. He settled on making me the Sergeant Major’s pet project. My evaluations tanked and I was in charge of every shit job in the battalion. It sucked, but every time I saw the Colonel I winked and rubbed my jaw.”
Bob laughed, so I dug a little a little deeper.
“Bob, since you have my file, I guess you know that I was a legacy right?”
“Your Dad and Granddad both served in the Corps.”
“Yep, I grew up hearing about honor courage and commitment from birth, heck my daddy bought me my first gun as soon as he saw the ultrasound. But did you know I why I worked so hard to stay out of trouble?”
“No, the record doesn’t tell everything, but I did see that your family did have some trouble staying inside the lines.”
“Yeah Grandpa never made it to the NCO ranks, he made meritorious corporal, but had to tear up the warrant after knocking out his corporal’s tooth the day before it was awarded. Dad made Corporal, early also, but he lost it after threatening to beat the company gunny’s ass. I made Sergeant, and I was determined go higher. I had learned from the mistakes they had made, but I still turned out to be a squ
are peg in a round hole.”
I suddenly realized that Jack and Bob were conspiring to loosen my lips. I downed the last dregs of my drink and looked at Bob.
“Damn Robert” I said, motioning with the empty glass. “This shit makes me talk too much. To clarify, which is what I think you really wanted to know. The reason I don’t like the Colonel is not because he is an asshole, or that I got screwed over by his daughter. I hit him in a personal dispute not as a Colonel, and a man would have accepted that. However, he didn’t and he used his power as a commissioned officer to ruin my career for personal reasons and not for the betterment of the service. He’s an asshole, no doubt, but show me a Marine that isn’t an asshole from time to time. What I can’t stand about him is that he is bully abusing his power for personal gain.”
The next morning as I sat down to my breakfast of cheese grits and some atomically recreated sausage the clan gathered around. The team couldn’t wait to tell me their plans. I could see that many had not slept, or showered for that matter.
Oni, and Capt. Askew approached me first. My hacker showed me a tablet with a drawing of some futuristic super-soldier. It looked like robocop on a flying skateboard.
Before I could ask what the hell, Askew started in on his presentation.
“You know the Army has been working on powered armor for decades. They never had an appropriate power source or the material tech to make it workable, but we do. Imagine if we made a powered exoskeleton that enhanced the user’s strength, reduced fatigue, and powered weapons. Add in some cloaking tech and shields and you have the perfect super-soldier.”
Oni interjected, “After speaking with Marvin, we realized that shielding the suit would not be feasible, but he was able to suggest a portable shield. The design they showed me looked just like a shield an old knight would wear, but with a vision block to see through.”
I was impressed.
“Yeah, and I asked if we could add gravity plates and fly it like a skateboard.” My young petty officer interrupted.