The first wave was deflected by the still partially working shield. Only fingers of plasma swept around to the broad opening that had been cut into it by the Ogle on their earlier visit. The scarred Earth was still visible on the surface below. As the waves grew ever stronger the shield around the opening began to fail causing section after section to buckle and then incinerate due to the million degree matter that washed over it.
My heart sank when the forward quarter of the shield collapsed all at once, allowing the white hot plasma to begin its work of boiling away the atmosphere. As the oxygen in the air and the matter on the surface began to burn I turned my head away. I could no longer watch the destruction of that which I so cherished, the destruction of my home and everything I knew.
The full shield collapsed only minutes later and the mass of super-heated particles began to scorch the remaining lands. The plasma wave continued for hours as the surface of the Earth turned from life giving molecules and minerals into the hard black lifeless substance of Carbon. Earth... was... gone...
I sat, drifting in space, staring into the black void beyond. My emotions were spent, my feelings gone; there was nothing left to care for. No Grandfather's farm, no family, no Astronaut's Academy or Council of Governance. My complete life had been wiped from existence. My complete life was now meaningless.
As the shock of my situation began to wear off I started to wonder about what was left. I was alive, but for how long? The darkness then began to overtake my innermost thoughts. I contemplated how I might bring my life to a quick and painless end.
I could override the suit med dispensing algorithms and put myself to sleep with a fatal overdose to follow, I could simply raise the face shield on my helmet allowing the vacuum of space to do the deed, or I could set my BHD glove on full and aim myself at the Sun, knowing that my shield would fail as it was overwhelmed causing me to be instantly incinerated.
But my faith soon stepped in with a voice of reason "Never give up... ever". I had 43 days of power left in my power pack and a radio transmitter that still functioned. Perhaps there was a ship out there, a ship that would rescue me from a cold lonely death, a ship that would allow me to again one day take the fight, my fight, to the soulless Ogle species that had destroyed my world.
My despair slowly turned back to anger and determination as I pointed my glove towards a large chunk of burned out ship and pressed my throttle to full. In the coming weeks I made 26 such jumps, each time realizing that the mass of debris held no means of refuge or escape. The despair began to return as my power storage dropped from four days, to three and then to two. A quarter section of a Frekkin globe ship was my last reachable destination.
The section was largely intact but devoid of any means for survival. I sat on an exposed deck plate, my arm wrapped around a piece a railing that was bent and twisted from the fight. I stared out into the blackness as the quarter section slowly turned. I began to sob lightly when the view of a black scorched Earth slowly moved before me. My personal war with the Ogle and my fight to stay alive... was over. I had nothing left to do but wait for the inevitable loss of power followed by a quick death from the cold of space.
As I stared at the charred remains of the Earth the image began to ripple and distort as if a wave of heat had passed between us. I was then shocked into a state of confusion as a voice came over my radio link. "Are you ready to come home?" was uttered in a voice that sounded eerily like Zack. Then, in an instant, my view of the Earth was blocked by a massive AMP battleship as its Sodium skin was deactivated.
Seconds later a shuttle craft emerged and was soon pulling up beside me. I sat, shocked and unable to move as the door opened on the side and Zack and his two boys emerged. His face was all smiles as he worked to release my grip from the bent railing. I remained in shock as my rigid body was carried aboard the shuttle and the door closed.
Zack continued to grin as he removed his helmet and then mine. When the shuttle had docked the battleship quickly turned and in an instant we were slowing down on the opposite side of the Sun. A giant black plate then filled the space before us. The plate then began to spiral outward revealing the wonder that lay beneath. As the ship moved through the opening in the shield I could see the full beauty and wonder of the Earth I had always known. The Earth had survived!
I sat motionless, unable to speak as Zack told the story of our defense. The Earth I had fought to protect, the Earth that I had watched being destroyed, was nothing more than a decoy. AMP command had constructed a transport of such immense size that an Earth sized planet could be moved from another star to our own.
The billions of terraforming robots that had at one time refactored the surface of Toledus and Mabia had been used to alter the new planet’s surface and atmosphere to mimic that of the real Earth. A Sodium shield was constructed with the eventual intent being that it would fail. If the Ogle thought the Earth had been destroyed they would not be prepared for the war that was coming their way.
At that moment, a firm yellow hand gripped my shoulder from behind. It was Hershen, he had survived! He had also given AMP command the location of the Ogle home world and the mighty AMP force of more than 500 battle fleets was preparing to pay them a visit. War was coming to the Ogle, a war that would only end when the last of the vial species had been snuffed from existence.
I attempted to stand but my legs gave way, I dropped back into the chair as Zack and Hershen steadied me. A technician then stepped in behind me followed seconds later by the twin beeps of an audio implant coming to life as it rebooted. He stated that the old device would be replaced by a new bio-organic one when the doctors had a chance. The new "living" device would be a part of me that could not be removed or switched off, it was also undetectable to any medical scan they knew of.
A warble tone soon signaled my first call. It was my parents and as they spoke I again began to cry. The BGS meds from my suit could not keep pace with the adrenaline from my changing emotions. My earlier desperate situation continued to get better and better.
It took much of the day before I began to regain my composure. I had many questions concerning what had happened. Had the Kurtz worlds been destroyed? And what of the Gidden and Nickarians? And why did the Frekkin attack? My questions were many and the answers were given, but slow to come as the information covered a complex array of topics.
The Kurtz had been transported to another planet, a planet they had worked on for five years. A suitable star had been located with a planet, similar in size to Toleda, a planet that already occupied a habitable zone. The massive planet pusher had been used to move the new planet to its optimum orbital location. From there, the billions of terraforming robots were released. Within three years the Kurtz began to move their population.
A suitable atmosphere, oceans, land masses and rivers were constructed as a close match to those of their original planet. Cities were dismantled on Toledus and Mabia and reconstructed on the new Toleda. The population was moved soon after and construction of the Sodium shield began. Toledus and Mabia were then given the faux planet makeover for the benefit of the Ogle attackers.
On Earth, the planet Alvin had been moved from its location at Epsilon Eridani. Alvin had been terraformed to appear Earth-like in almost every way. A shoddy Sodium shield had been constructed with the full intention of it having an epic failure. Alvin was placed in an orbit on the exact opposite side of the Sun. A moon was borrowed from Jupiter to act as Earth's moon. I had been witness to the destruction of a duplicate Earth.
The Gidden and Nickarian planets had indeed been wiped out by the Ogle along with billions of their people. Earth was busy with our own defense and our fleets had not been updated to the newest shields, shields that could withstand the Ogle particle beams. Amp Command could offer nothing but transport assistance once the assault had begun. It had been anything but well planned and executed.
Four billion of their citizens had been saved before the attacks on their worlds subsided. Those citizens wer
e now living on the transports that had been hastily forced into service as they looked for a new home. AMP Command promised full assistance once the Ogle threat had been removed and a suitable planet located.
I then asked how it was that I had watched Zack's death, and yet here he was standing before me. The answer seemed every bit as farfetched as the faux worlds explanation that had been presented to me. Amp Command had been hard at work creating cloned bodies. With the new bio-organic audio implants those clones were easily controlled by a human at the other end of a QE Comm connection, much like the ever popular human controlled robots I had been witness to a decade before.
With the new implant and a properly trained mind a Human could control their clone as if they were controlling their own body, even while sitting in a chair on the other side of the galaxy. Techniques for sensory pain suppression had been mastered allowing the cloned soldiers to fight without fear of pain or death. I had been witness to numerous clone deaths, all as part of the charade.
AMP Command was only beginning to explore the possibilities that the clones could offer. One could imagine going into war with no fear of death, traveling to distant stars with the clone in stasis while the "natural" human went about their daily life. The possibilities were near endless.
I asked why the mass of AMP fleets, with their clones, had not been used against the Ogle. The answer was that we were only now training soldiers to use the clones throughout the AMP force. The military was in the final stages of training and were expecting to give word within days as to when they would be ready. The crews of 518 fleets plus the 129 million cloned Marines that went with them would be used in a full on assault of the Ogle world, but not before they were ready.
The force numbers were staggering as compared to when I had last been in contact with home. Our capabilities, including shields, drives and weapons had been updated across all ships. Cesium reactors now powered the fleet as well as the Sodium skinned shield surrounding Earth. Our ships could travel at one-half million times the speed of light. Our new static field shields could deflect the most powerful orange glow of the Frekkin as well as the neutron particle beams of the Ogle. Our weapons however, even though improved, lagged far behind our propulsion and shielding.
A recon destroyer that had been stationed near the Ogle home world told us that the majority of their fleet had been committed to the battle for Earth's destruction. Eighteen Ogle battleships were all that remained and several of the 18 were older models. But the Frekkin had a superior planetary shield and our weapons experts had predicted that our weapons were not powerful enough to penetrate it. Our Marines would be going in on foot along with a multitude of mini-fighters.
I asked Hershen about the species survivors that he had escaped with, were they still alive? His answer was "yes" and that as soon as the Ogle threat was taken care of new attempts could be made to open the DaCuban doors. It had taken many hours to convince the captives that he had rescued that they were now free citizens of the AMP. We would be asking one small favor from them that they would be fully compensated for. The Frekkin and Ogle were the only species who had stubbornly refused.
I then asked about the Frekkin and why they had made the sacrifice they had. It was a question that no one had answers to. From the number of ships that had been involved our experts had guessed that they had committed fully. Knowing as little about the Frekkin as we did, the possibility was still out there, that a substantial force was waiting for us. But our forces were far superior to what they had been and AMP Command was not overly concerned.
As preparations for battle continued I was taken to the ships infirmary where a new bio-organic QE Comm link was implanted just behind my right ear. It was now constructed from living cells and could not be detected by any scan known to the AMP scientists. It just looked like any other living tissue that would normally be found in its place.
With the minor operation complete I was taken to another room where a clone of me was seated. I was then introduced to my virtual self; they had taken to calling them "Virts." I sat down in a chair to the right of the clone and gave it a curious look. Its face was stoic, no expression could be found and its eyes were open and stared straight ahead, they seemed to be devoid of life.
I was told to close my eyes and to enable channel 477 on my new QE Comm. After a short pause my eyes were suddenly open. I looked to my left and became confused as an identical me was now leaning back in the chair with their eyes closed. I was seeing through the Virt's eyes!
I quickly opened my eyes and sat up fully in the chair, the Virt was now once again on my right with the blank stare on its face. I was told it would be confusing to my mind at first, but with training I would one day be controlling the Virt as if it was my own body. The initial training would take three months where I would learn to walk, talk and do simple tasks. It would be followed by another three months of advanced training and then another three if I was interested in enabling my Virt for combat... I was.
As I worked at my clone training another four weeks had passed before the military gave the thumbs up. AMP force clone training was complete and they were satisfied with the abilities they could field. The fleets were divided with 112 fleets remaining to protect the Earth while 306 would be used in the assault of the Ogle home world. Seventy-six million BGS Marines would be directly involved in the invasion.
I was bummed when the fleets began to depart as I would not be going along as a Virt. But I had been told that I could sit back in my chair and channel in to any Virt in the force where I would be able to see and hear whatever they saw and heard. It was an exciting thought to be able to freely move to any fight in the battle while sitting safely in a secure location so many light years away.
I was curious to know where all the live soldiers were being housed while their Virts went out to play. I was told that the location was one of our most highly guarded secrets as those lives could not be replaced if lost. If you lost a Virt in battle another could be trained given the nine months. It took time for the clone brain to learn to manage the thoughts and movements as it was commanded.
Zack then entered the room and struck up a conversation. We talked for half an hour about our lives over the last decade. He then revealed that I had been talking to his Virt the entire time. I knew Zack well, but I could find no indication that the man sitting in the chair before me was a Virt. The potentials for its use were nearly endless, as were the potentials for abuse.
The tech guiding me on the use of my own Virt then told of a little known secret about the QE Comm link. All link data was routed through a main server before being passed on to either the host or the Virt. A system of monitors was being put in place so that any abuse of the Virt system would be logged and held, if needed, for later criminal proceedings. Everything your Virt saw, everything your Virt heard and everything you had it do was captured and recorded.
It was scary how quickly the thought of "big brother" came to mind. Until such time as the laws caught up with the technology the Virts were all to be thought of as GFE (Government Furnished Equipment). The individual might have control, but they were only temporarily in charge.
I then turned to Hershen and asked if he had a Virt in training. The answer was no as no Kurtz had been successfully cloned. The tech then offered a further explanation. AMP scientists had been unable to replicate normal DNA from both Humans and Kurtz. That is, except for that of one individual... me.
They had been able to use my DNA strands as a base while further implanting the pieces that made each of us unique. My long compact strands had made the advance possible. The Kurtz however, had no base DNA, such as my own, and as such were unable to be cloned. I winked at Hershen and stated that at least I knew I would be talking to the real thing. He was less than amused.
Out of curiosity I asked the tech what would happen to the Virt if the real Human was to go unconscious or die. The answer was that the Virt would continue to function on the knowledge that it had. It was thought that
at some point they would be able to continue on as their own individual, but none had yet achieved that level of understanding or awareness.
I asked how the Virts would respond to faster than light travel as the QE Comm link would cease to function once that threshold was broken. The tech informed me that the AMP scientists had solved that problem. The transfer technique used in making the bio-organic Quantum Entanglement had a side benefit of the unbroken link when moving at faster than light speeds. Once a QE link was enabled and embedded it would be in continuous communication with the other side until one or both ends were destroyed.
The entire concept of the Virts was fascinating. Man could now live his life without fear of injury or early death. Dangerous jobs would be a thing of the past as Virts would surely be utilized long before natural humans. Several hundred scientist Virts were already being readied for a journey to the other side of the galaxy, there they would be free to explore new worlds through their virtual selves. Again, the possibilities were endless.
With a new battle with the Ogle approaching I made an offer to debrief my own personal war aboard their ships and space stations. A group of military strategists listened intently as I described the Ogle's activities and habits. I talked for 32 hours straight before the meeting was adjourned. The intel would be parsed and passed on to the scene commanders for use in their individual team efforts.
With the meeting adjourned and hostilities about to get underway I was taken to a chair filled room and seated in front of a holo-display. It would be my post for the duration of the battle. As I had been told earlier, I would be allowed to attach to the stream of any Virt in the force where I could see, hear and feel the results of their actions. I scrolled through what seemed like endless lists of BGS combat soldiers before settling on a young Captain from Alabama. The Virt of Capt. Jenna Ross would be my eyes and ears for the beginning of the coming battle. I tapped into her stream and then settled back in my chair, waiting for the action to begin.
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