A Greater Duty (Galaxy Ascendant Book 1)

by Yakov Merkin

  “Resume your duties,” he told the captains, “and see to it that you do not deviate from my orders again.”

  “We understand,” said the captain in the top left image.

  Darkclaw ended the transmission, and quickly checked the status of the fleet. He had not bothered to convert the command deck to its fleet command configuration, due to Algen’s extremely limited space-based defenses. Already the fleet had surrounded the planet, and most of the ships in orbit, primarily civilian vessels at this point, were being taken into custody by the Felinaris fleet, and any that still attempted to escape were immediately destroyed. This was the simple part. Despite the grand admiral’s thorough plan and careful preparations, the continent-wide city would take quite some time to fall, barring an unforeseen, fortunate occurrence. Darkclaw would be satisfied with securing the designated dozen key targets within the city, which would give his forces a strong base of operations from which to gradually take the rest. This would allow the bulk of the army to move on to the final target of this phase of the invasion, the Darvian system, in addition to securing both information and objects that the High Lord desired.

  Once it was confirmed that there was no threat to the fleet, Darkclaw made his way to his personal shuttle. He was still certain that having both Grand Admiral Nayasar and himself leading the ground assault was foolish and risky, but he had said that he would join her. And regardless, he was entitled to one foolish action in his existence.

  The flight to the planet’s surface was short and uneventful. While he could see weapons discharging within the city, nothing appeared to be aimed at any of the many transport ships descending along with him. There was urban sprawl as far as the eye could see. If the Algen defense forces were at all prepared, they could hold out for months or force Darkclaw to destroy the city, which would make the attack here almost worthless. The infrastructure was needed intact in order for defensive weapons to be installed for use against the Alliance should they try and retake the planet, but the primary objectives were the several facilities that the High Lord wanted undamaged, as they might contain information on the Saviors. While Darkclaw knew that having such a goal would make their conquests more difficult, the High Lord’s wishes would be fulfilled.

  Once his shuttle landed, Darkclaw disembarked and located the three Wraith units he had assigned to accompany him. They were already assembled in the landing area, which looked to have been formerly a large, open park. All around the area, Felinaris and Snevans were landing and moving into position. A number of Darkclaw’s own forces were landing a short distance away; preparing for their part in the operation despite the fact that it could be some time before they were needed, but the grand admiral had asked him to join her here.

  Darkclaw made his way out of the landing area, to the center of what had already become a complex base of operations, with large tents set up to both mark meeting centers and provide shelter from Algen’s highly acidic rain, which was imminent if the dark, gathering clouds and gusting winds were any indication. Stationary defensive weapons were being assembled and positioned around the base as well. While Darkclaw doubted that the Algen possessed the strength or resolve to attack the landing site, it was certainly wiser to be careful.

  Darkclaw soon spotted Nayasar under one of the tents, speaking animatedly with a group of officers around a large hologram projector, which was displaying a detailed image of a section of the city. She seemed to be managing the situation well thus far. Darkclaw felt he had made the right choice when he agreed to let her take command of the ground operation; she claimed to have been preparing for this for quite some time, and had promised to ensure that the facilities that the High Lord wished to be captured intact remained intact. So far she had given him no reason to doubt her capabilities.

  Nayasar spotted him instantly, and waved him over before dismissing the assembled officers. Most darted off for duties unknown, while a few remained, some overseeing technicians who were setting up more equipment, others seemingly coordinating troop movements. Darkclaw ordered his forces to remain where they stood and joined Nayasar under the large, yellow-gold tent.

  “I spotted weapons fire on the way to down to the surface,” Darkclaw said. “Have our forces begun the attack already?”

  “Not officially,” she replied as she undid the tail her hair was tied back in and gathered the strands that had escaped. “I sent out several scouts to locate the enemy strong points and drop leaflets warning residents to remain indoors, avoid the defense forces, and to cooperate with us. Somewhere along the way a few of the scouts ran into some of the Algen police. Don’t worry, we’ll still be leading.”

  Nayasar cared enough to risk her own soldiers to warn enemy civilians? Given her opinions of the Alliance, Darkclaw found this surprising. However, perhaps this stemmed from her own memories regarding the Selban Massacre, leading to her taking steps to avoid doing something similar.

  “Do you believe they will cooperate?” he asked.

  “Most will,” Nayasar replied, retying her hair into a tail. “The Algen aren’t terribly patriotic, and this is foremost a commercial world. A third of the population is not native and only live here because it’s convenient. They’ll prefer to save themselves—and their assets—rather than resisting. And if we’re lucky, the police will not need a great deal of convincing to surrender to us as well.”

  Darkclaw nodded and turned to examine the hologram. It was far more detailed than he had originally thought. It not only showed this section of the city in perfect detail, with glowing arrows that would presumably allow the user to easily navigate to another section of the city, but it appeared to display certain sectors in real time. As he watched, Darkclaw saw a number of brown dots, likely representing Algen police, moving down a road and converging inside a large, low building.

  “This is an incredible display, Grand Admiral,” he said. “How are you tracking enemy movement within the city?”

  “A combination of orbital tracking and monitoring devices I had my scouts hide in areas I suspected the enemy forces would converge on.” She quieted for a moment as she checked her chronometer. “But enough boring talk,” she continued, “it’s time to begin.” She unhooked her helmet from her belt, positioned her tail of hair so that it would not get in the way, and put on the helmet. It sealed with the rest of her armor with a quiet hiss, and a pair of indicator lights lit up for a moment on the top of the helmet before fading.

  Darkclaw raised a hand, signaling his troops, who marched to the tent. Darkclaw accepted his helmet from the officer directly beneath him, and put it on. Once it sealed and connected with his armor the world looked different, with numerous indicator lights inside the helmet in addition to the advanced display. A few moments later, the captain in command of the Wraith units handed Darkclaw a rifle.

  “I am prepared,” he said to Nayasar over the communication channel she had supplied earlier.

  “Great,” she replied. “Follow me.” Nayasar began to lead Darkclaw and his forces through the camp, to its edge, where a large Felinaris and Snevan force was assembled. After a quick count, Darkclaw estimated at least five thousand infantry, along with dozens of armored vehicles. Some distance away, another group of equal size was assembled. As he took in the various arrangements, Darkclaw was able to mentally see how the grand admiral’s plan would play out; thanks to their listed objectives and the observational knowledge about the enemy positions, they would not need to waste all that much time and soldiers fighting from building to building, instead focusing on the target locations. Similar attack forces would move out from other positions simultaneously.

  It was unfortunate that Darkclaw’s own troops would for the most part be waiting for the initial round of fighting to conclude; lacking armored vehicles they would take unnecessary losses approaching enemy-occupied buildings. Also, Darkclaw knew that despite their training, planning and precautions, Felinaris and Snevans would lose their lives. It would be preferable to risk his own soldiers, cl
ones with no other purpose, than people who had something more. The Tyrannodons would wait, however, until the more sensitive parts of the operation were completed, namely securing the High Lord’s chosen targets and herding the remaining enemies into confined locations. At that point Darkclaw would be able to deploy his soldiers from orbit, directly to the target. However, he would use the forces he had with him at the moment as much as possible, to gauge their effectiveness; from the subtleties he could pick up from how they were moving and holding themselves, they were eager to prove themselves.

  Darkclaw would have preferred that his forces played a larger role for another reason; the High Lord might not appreciate Darkclaw standing aside and allowing the Felinaris to take command, but Nayasar had made an excellent point when she had proposed taking charge of the ground operation: The Felinaris and Snevan soldiers had also specifically trained both for urban combat and for fighting the Alliance, while Darkclaw’s had not, another result of the Saviors failing to give them all the information that was needed. The problem would be addressed in the next batch of clones, and armored vehicle production had already begun. Still, they would not be prepared until after the invasion of Darvia.

  “You all know your orders,” Nayasar spoke through a shared channel to all of the assembled soldiers, “now carry them out. Fight for Felinar, for Sneva, for the Tyrannodon High Lord. If you would show mercy to the enemy, remember Selban, remember the unprovoked attacks on our worlds. Today, the fall of the Alliance truly begins!”

  The assembled mass of soldiers let loose with varying cheers, through their external speakers, causing the very air to seem to vibrate. Darkclaw himself nearly joined in before he restrained himself. That was for emotional beings, including his own soldiers. The people in the city nearby would no doubt have heard it. Whatever happened in the future, Darkclaw was glad that he was a part of this.

  “At my signal, move out,” Nayasar ordered, and the soldiers quieted. They were well disciplined, for emotional beings. The Tyrannodons had quieted immediately after their initial battle cry. “Executor,” she said, and it took Darkclaw a moment to realize that she was speaking directly to him. He switched his output channel to her directly as she continued. “It’s our turn.” Darkclaw could hear her smile.

  “We’re going to take the government building,” she said as Darkclaw and his forces walked along with her to the head of the army, where several Felinaris units were organizing and loading into simply designed, tracked armored personnel carriers. “There are enough vehicles for you and your troops as well.”

  Darkclaw already knew the plan, but once again there was no reason to mention that. He switched to the Wraith units’ channel and commanded them to load inside the vehicles. Fortunately, they were large enough to accommodate the taller Tyrannodons, though fewer could fit inside each.

  Darkclaw kept the commanders of the wraith units with him, along with five more soldiers. Once the rest were loaded, he joined the grand admiral and several other Felinaris officers at the front of what would become the vehicle column. They had the privilege of riding in the lead vehicle. Darkclaw forbade himself from listing off the dozen ways this could lead to disaster and ordered his forces inside.

  Once they and the lower Felinaris officers and soldiers entered the vehicle, which Darkclaw noted was larger than the rest—and as such an even bigger target—Nayasar approached him. She had added a compact rifle to her arsenal, secured on the small of her back. “Everything’s ready,” she said.

  Darkclaw nodded. “You have prepared very well.”

  “Of course I did,” she replied in a tone Darkclaw couldn’t quite decipher. “So let’s go then, before I start to think you’re afraid.”

  Was that another joke? Darkclaw decided it was safer not to ask, and followed the grand admiral into the vehicle. Before she entered, she shouted out several more commands to the Felinaris scampering around the encampment. For someone who was barely one and two-thirds meters tall, the grand admiral had as commanding a presence as Darkclaw himself did. He never would have believed it possible had he not witnessed it himself.

  The armored vehicle’s rear door shut, leaving its occupants in darkness for a moment before internal lights powered on. The vehicle began to move, and Darkclaw tightened his grip on his weapon.

  “Felinar sunrise,” Nayasar said over the general channel, signaling the attack to the entire invasion force. “Okay,” she continued, this time speaking only to those in the attack force who would be assaulting the government building, which in truth was really more a compound than a single building. “Just to remind everyone, our goal is to capture the government building as intact as possible, both to preserve the information within, and so it can be used as a strongpoint for the rest of the campaign. This means no explosives unless absolutely necessary.” Fortunately, the grand admiral refrained from going over every detail; all of those present knew their roles.

  The short ride inside the armored personnel carrier could only have been described as uncomfortable. This was due both to the cramped conditions inside—Darkclaw imagined that they had been hastily retrofitted—and due to the lack of knowledge about what was going on outside, apart from a few sparse updates from the driver, many of which were unnecessary and unhelpful, such as his cheerful announcement that the enemy was firing on them with anti-armor rockets. Nayasar had assured Darkclaw that the vehicles’ point defense systems were capable of intercepting any projectiles before they even reached the shields. Darkclaw did not share her optimism.

  The rhythmic whines of the armored personnel carriers’ top-mounted repeating plasma cannons a few minutes later told Darkclaw that they were nearing their target. What they were firing at Darkclaw didn’t know; their orders stated that they were to avoid firing directly at the compound, so as not to damage it, but this gave the enemies almost a free reign to fire at will. However, it was good to know that they were nearing their destination; Darkclaw ached to get out of this container of a vehicle.

  The loud explosion that rocked the vehicle a few moments later, on the others hand, was not good news.

  “We’ve lost the left tread!” the driver announced, somehow remaining calm. “You’ve got to bail if you want in to the compound. It’s a hundred meters away, directly ahead! We’ll provide covering fire for you.”

  One hundred meters in the open, with the enemy able to fire almost at will? Half of them would be killed, if they were lucky. Covering fire would barely help, without it being aimed at the enemies directly. Darkclaw still aimed to secure the High Lord’s information, but he had no intention of dying for something so small. If the cannons were aimed at the Algen forces, they might lead to a loss of information, but it would allow the party in the vehicle to make it inside safely.

  Nayasar was about to open the door when Darkclaw put his hand on her shoulder. “Wait,” he said. “You know full well that if we attempt to run for the compound now that many of us will not make it. You have to order the gunners to fire at the enemy.”

  She turned to face him. “But what about the information inside? We don’t know where exactly their mainframe is located. If we damage it…”

  “There will be more information sources. There is only one of each of us.”

  Nayasar nodded. “You’re right, of course.”

  Of course he was. “Can the cannons make an entrance for us?” Darkclaw asked. He should have been more familiar with the capabilities of the Felinaris vehicles. Of course, however, Darkclaw had not expected to be on the ground at all, and even he could not have learned all he needed in the limited time he had had to prepare.

  “They can. The cannons themselves are anti-personnel weapons, but each carrier is armed with a high penetration laser. Each will only have enough power for two shots, but that’ll be enough to blow a hole in their front door.”

  “Then give the order. I do not approve of sitting here, waiting to be shot.”

  As Nayasar gave the necessary orders, Darkclaw readied his weapon
and steadied himself as his heart raced.

  A moment later, Nayasar again moved to open the door, but paused. “Does self-preservation count as an emotion?” she asked, then opened the door without waiting for a response. “Everybody move!” she shouted. “No one stops until we’re inside!”

  The door opened excruciatingly slowly, the Algen daylight streaming inside the vehicle, along with a strong ozone smell from the energy weapon discharges. The brief glance Darkclaw had of the never-ending city of metal showed him that the fighting had very much begun.

  The door finally opened and Nayasar sprinted out, weapon suddenly in her hands. Darkclaw was glad that his helmet filtered out a percentage of the sounds of battle; he was fairly certain he’d be deafened otherwise, between the small arms fire, the armored vehicles catching up to their position, and the firing cannons.

  Nayasar began to run for the compound, and Darkclaw followed, not checking to confirm that his forces were following. Shards of metal and glass rained down on him as he ran across the open street, and at one point Darkclaw’s armor alerted him to the fact that his shields had taken a hit. Darkclaw looked up as he ran, and fired his rifle up at where he felt the shot had come from. He didn’t look to see if he had hit anything, but kept his gaze focused ahead, to the main door of the compound, or where it had been. When had the vehicles destroyed it? Darkclaw didn’t remember hearing it. Nayasar was somehow already in front of it, but she hadn’t gone inside. Instead, she was firing upward, providing cover for Darkclaw, his soldiers, and the rest of the Felinaris from their vehicle, who were just now speeding past him.