ARMS Beckland's Fall: (Book 5)

by Stephen Arseneault

  Harris replied, "The Denzee being in our territory is not to our liking. No other way we can grow this food for them?"

  "Not a chance. They hold their food production as sacred. Everything has to be done a certain way and blessed by their priest class. No foreign hands can be involved. Just adds another complication we can't control to the mix."

  "So it looks like it will be Beckland no matter what."

  "Unless you have some magic way to clean up Gondol, this is all we have."

  "You have no way of knowing which way the emperor is leaning with a response?"

  "You'll have to check back tomorrow. I'm not in his confidence at the moment."

  The Biomarines returned to Midelon. Efforts were turned toward building ships and bots while they waited for the emperor's decision. In the morning, they jumped back to Eden and opened a comm.

  "I'm guessing you're already aware of the news," Bax said. "If I were you, I'd stay out in free space where I can jump away."

  "What news?"

  "It's already being broadcast on Domicile. The Denzee, with aid from the emperor and New Earth forces, invaded Beckland a couple hours ago. The research facility there has been emptied out and the Domers who were in it are heading home. By this afternoon, the swamps and bogs on Beckland will be transformed into Denzee farms."

  Tawn scowled. "So Beckland's fall came without a shot being fired. No ships there to defend it. No troops on the ground."

  "It's my understanding the last of the troops were moved out of the garrison there about four months ago. No one allowed down there but scientists. Couldn't have been easier pickings for the Earthers.

  "Oh, and in case you hadn't heard, I was relieved of my duties at the shipyards. The new boss there will be carrying on my reforms and getting credit for my production quantities. Just this week they'll turn out six ships per day on average. In three months they'll have a fleet that is once again equal to that of Domicile."

  Harris shook his head. "This just keeps getting worse. And I bet, even with this blatant attack, the pacifists are still screaming for more military cutbacks."

  "Playing right into the emperor's hands," Bax said. "I was set up to come out on the high side of this fight no matter who the victor was. Not looking that way anymore. I'm expecting to have a new boss here at the mines in the next few weeks, if not days."

  Tawn asked, "Not that you're supposed to be giving this info out, but do we have a definitive count on the number of warships the Denzee have?"

  Bax glanced at her office door before leaning in and whispering: "Eight hundred Ratoons, twelve hundred Dulons, half a dozen of those Vaakas, with the rest being colony ships, freighters and whatnot. It does appear they are moving their entire populace. And from what I understand, it's only about 6 percent of what it was only a few short years ago. The Hoya have been butchering them en masse."

  Harris rubbed his forehead. "What kind of force did they take to Beckland?"

  "Fifty Earther destroyers and a hundred fifty Ratoons. Two hundred Dulons followed and are now down on the surface prepping to plant whatever it is they want to grow."

  Bax changed her tone as an Earther came into her office. "And when we catch you, the emperor will take much joy from your demise. Get out of our space and hide like the cowards you are, but know this… we will find you."

  The comm closed.

  "That didn't look promising," Harris said.

  Tawn sighed. "We have Earther destroyers coming this way. I'm detecting multiple wormholes. Time to get home."

  The Bangor slipped away and was soon settling on the grass outside the bunker. Harris hopped out, followed by his partner. A short walk had them standing in front of the others in the supply hut.

  Harris said, "The Denzee, along with the Earthers, invaded and took over Beckland a few hours ago."

  Bannis stood. "With the Denzee? If that doesn't wake the pacifists up, nothing will."

  Tawn said, "I wouldn't expect a response of anything more than hand-wringing and wide-eyes. We should try to contact the colonel. I think there's a real risk of war here. Everything we fought for on Beckland, all those lives over all those centuries, and we're finally defeated by ourselves."

  "That's not the worst of it," Harris said. "The Denzee have about eight hundred of those Ratoons. They could wipe out every free Human colony in a matter of months if something doesn't change."

  Trish asked, "Don’t they just want to grow their food and leave?"

  Harris shrugged. "Who knows. Could be they're still just passing through, but why not sack the place on your way out? We already know they don't care about Humans. And if they do just leave, we're still left in the hands of the emperor. Don't know if things could get worse."

  Alex came on the display. "Harris, I've been conducting scans of the truce worlds and I'm afraid I have some bad news. Denzee forces, accompanied by Earthers, have landed on Jebwa. And a large Denzee force, also accompanied, has just come into free space at Viochan."

  "I stand corrected. It could get worse and it has. Alex, open a comm to the Retreat."

  An image of the colonel showed on the wall display. "We just got the news about Beckland. The people here are irate. My DDI contact says the pacifists are in disarray as to how to respond. And get this, there was a research facility there. Word of some ancient tech buried deep underground. Before the Denzee showed up I would have scoffed at such news without seeing it with my own eyes. Now I have to wonder."

  Tawn said, "You think they found the terraforming tech there too?"

  "Could be," said Harris. "It might be why the Domers didn't want to give it up. Colonel, we found the same equipment on Gondol. Predates our being here. Buried three kilometers down."

  "Terraforming tech?"

  "Yes. And we powered it up. The surface of Gondol is now a mass of hurricanes and smoke plumes. Our best guess is it's enriching the atmosphere with carbon dioxide so the plant life there can grow. Gondol had extremely slow growth due to the lack of CO2. Alex believes in two to three years that atmosphere will be ideal for growth.

  "If those storms die down, that growth could have the oxygen levels up to a level that easily supports Humans. We found an alien down in there, dead, less than a meter tall, and an oxygen breather like we are. Anyway, the biological forces on that planet are going on a rampage. Beckland is very similar, and may have the same tech buried there."

  "Interesting. How is it you came to find it on Gondol?"

  "Doesn't matter at the moment. What matters is the Denzee have taken Jebwa. And it looks like they are about to take Viochan. Tell your DDI friend the Earthers and Denzee have teamed up and appear to be taking the truce worlds."

  "So the Great War is back on."

  "The Great War is back, only the Domers don't know it, or refuse to believe it. And this time the Earthers have help. Domicile needs to reverse course on all those cuts they've been making or they're gonna get rolled over. Which means the Retreat too."

  "Don't worry too much about us here, Mr. Gruberg. We're prepared to defend ourselves. Domicile, however, is not."

  — Chapter 20 —

  * * *

  Over the week that followed, the leadership of Domicile remained frozen over how to react. News of the truce worlds of Blewitz and Theopolis falling only made the Domers more unsure. In a first sign of a crack in the pacifists’ ring of power, the senate voted to stop the mothballing of any further warships. Former military crewmen were put on notice to be prepared for a possible recall.

  On Midelon, the Banshee fleet was now eight ships strong. The number of worker bots had grown to fifty-five, with four new workers coming online every day. The eighth processor station was brought up and tested, with orders for another eight put in place.

  Harris paced back and forth on the floor of the supply hut. "Our latest scan of Eden showed forty Ratoons there. If we attack, we may not make it to the surface. A similar force is sitting at the New Earth shipyards. At the Retreat, the pacifists have positioned
two destroyers and a dozen DDI scouts. No flights are allowed in or out after the colonel publicly made some inflammatory remarks about the lack of response to the Beckland takeover."

  "Are they leaving smaller forces at any of the truce worlds?" Gandy asked.

  "Jebwa has been turned over to the Earthers for food production."

  "The colonists on Viochan, Blewitz, and Theopolis were given one week to leave. Most don't have transportation. That week of grace ends tomorrow. The forces parked at each of those worlds consist of at least five Earther warships and twenty Ratoons."

  "We could take those with what we have now."

  "The Earthers and Denzee would jump in a hundred ships before we could flee. And even if they didn't, as soon as we left they would come right back. If we attack, we have to have a definitive goal we're looking to accomplish, and we need to bring back as many ships as possible. We're only a few days away from running out of ship material."

  Trish said, "Any way we could capture a ship or two and bring them back here to dismantle? Would give us all the raw materials we need."

  "Not a bad thought. Kick that one around a bit and come back with a more fully-developed strategy."

  Sharvie sheepishly held up her hand.

  Harris chuckled. "What you got?"

  "I know we can't go down to the surface at Gondol, but our bots could. If timed right, they might be able to harvest more materials from those downed ships."

  Harris nodded. "A possible option. Get with Alex, take some scans to see if that's workable. If so, bring it to our next meet."

  Alex came on the wall display. "Harris, the Denzee and their Earther escorts have just forced surrender of the Nesua colony. There was fighting, and there appears to be heavy casualties, perhaps as high as one quarter of the population."

  Harris winced. "That's half a million people. No way they put up that kind of resistance. Those were farmers and miners."

  Tawn said, "Other than a few hand weapons, these colonies are all defenseless. The Domers have pulled their entire fleet back to their own space. Most are concentrating at Domicile. Latest count is just over five hundred warships. Our factories that were being stripped and auctioned off? They've been moved back to Domicile and are being refurbed."

  "That's a start at least."

  "Kind of too little too late though, as the remaining defense leaders are all vying for lucrative contracts. Word on the streets of Domicile says the people are only minimally worried, because they keep getting positive, flowery messages from the government."

  Harris turned. "Mr. Morgan, you have anyone you could contact back there who would be good to take charge of that effort?"

  "None that still trust me or would be willing to take on the establishment. I burned a lot of bridges when we lost Eden. Most of the rest have been torn down since. My prior staff members who I would trust to take this on have been scattered between a dozen of the remaining outfits. That is, those that have been able to find work."

  "What about the boson bombs?" asked Gandy.

  "What about them?"

  "Could we use them on these smaller fleets? We should have enough ships now to take on the forty Ratoons at Eden. Why not go in, drop a boson, destroy the small fleet, and follow up with the mines?"

  Harris stopped. "That might be our best weapon and I keep forgetting about it. Alex, we have fourteen ships in our fleet now. Given our past performances, can you give an estimate of how long it would take to destroy a forty-ship Denzee fleet?"

  "Given the data available, a rough estimate would be two and a half hours. Plus or minus an hour."

  "How many bosons do we have in our inventory?"

  "Two."

  "I could see this becoming our main strategy going forward. Start a bot team building more of those bombs."

  "I'm afraid we don't have the raw materials for that task, Harris."

  "What? You're kidding, right?"

  "Why would I kid about such? Is that something I should consider?"

  "Uh, no. Give us a list of what we need to build more. We'll do our best to acquire it. Maybe Trish's idea of pirating a ship or two gets moved up our list of possibles. In the meantime, let's focus our efforts on exploiting the two bombs we have. Do we take on Eden or the Earther shipyards? Which would have the bigger impact?"

  Tawn replied, "If I'm not mistaken, in one of our more recent conversations, Bax spilled the beans about them having new shipyards in multiple locations, just in case the Denzee actually targeted New Earth. They would still have production or repair facilities elsewhere. Eden is unique in that it has almost all the titanium production they have."

  "Sounds like we'll be hitting Eden, then. Anyone have an objection to that plan?"

  Gandy asked, "If we do this, once it gets started, what do Trish, Sharvie, myself, and Mr. Morgan do?"

  "You stay here and keep our production lines rolling as best you can."

  "Harris?" Alex cut in. "I've analyzed the possibility of acquiring materials from Gondol. I believe this to be possible over the next twenty-two hours. If those materials remain in place."

  "What happens in twenty-two hours?"

  "The eye-wall of one of those storms will pass directly over the debris field at that time. Given current wind speeds, there might be little, if anything, left to salvage."

  "OK, sounds like we need to get that expedition moving. Sharvie, since it was your idea, you run with it. Just keep in mind the value of the assets you're using. We can't afford losses but we need resources. So work with Alex on what you should go after."

  Harris turned back to the others. "Tawn and I will of course be going in on the Bangor. We'll be taking Farker with us. Gandy, keep that food production going, and help out wherever else you can. Trish, you split your time helping Sharvie set up her outing and then Mr. Morgan with our production needs."

  Trish asked, "When are you planning to attack Eden?"

  "Within the hour."

  Harris adjourned the meeting. Each of the participants moved on to their assigned tasks.

  Tawn brought up an image of Fireburg on the display wall. "Can't believe we're finally gonna take that place down. What do we do about Bax?"

  "This time Bax is on her own. We've given her every chance we could. Which has been more than she deserves. I'm not holding out that figurative olive branch again only to get my hand bit."

  "Still, she did provide us with info she didn't have to."

  Harris chuckled. "So now you're defending her?"

  "No. Not necessarily. Although, she would be a fountain of knowledge for us to have on our team when it comes to the Earthers and their ship production. If she could help us with that, it would be a redemptive act in my book. Not saying I would like her or anything, but I could let the past be the past."

  "When we get there, we'll give her a comm."

  A small fleet of thirteen ships left the surface of Midelon. Ten minutes later, a jump was made to Eden. The forty-ship Denzee force was now twenty ships, and remained out in high orbit. Four New Earth cruisers accompanied them.

  "Tawn, heat up that railgun. Those ships are coming our way. I'll be in back dumping the boson bomb."

  "Five minutes until they're within range. I'll monitor for stray shots from those disc weapons."

  The bomb was set and released. Seconds later, a bright flash told of a negated boson field where wormhole travel was no longer possible.

  Harris sat in his chair, cinching up his lap belt. "Time to clean house."

  "You dodge, I'll see if I can contact Bax."

  As the Denzee and New Earth ships rapidly approached, Tawn began to shake her head. "Not answering general hails. She has to know we're coming and what our purpose is. Guess it's her mistake."

  The small fleet came in as a single column. As invisible beams from the discs zipped past their position, the fleet split apart. At the point of no return, one of the Banshees took a modest hit, sending the AI pilot offline for several seconds. As the systems cooled, it retu
rned to the fight.

  The first Ratoon was quickly taken out of service as four Banshees were followed by two of the Legion ships. Harris piloted the Bangor toward the second ship as it came in. A hard turn to port evaded the first beam. Two Banshees moved ahead and fired the first tungsten rounds into the Eden defender.

  A New Earth cruiser was next. A single Legion met it almost head on. At first, the hypervelocity rounds of its rail cannons deflected off the starboard side at a shallow angle. As the ships passed, the six port cannons of L3 shredded the outer hull of the cruiser, exposing nearly a third of the monstrous ship to the black void of space. Bulkheads held and the cruiser turned for its next target.

  Harris pushed the Bangor forward toward the third and fourth Ratoons to reach their position. A Banshee was caught dead center of a deadly superweapon beam. In an instant the space it had occupied exploded outward as the molecules that made up the fighter were placed into a superexcited state, all at the same moment in time. Harris flew the Bangor in close as Tawn pummeled the great weapon with a half dozen tungsten rounds.

  As the high-stakes fight continued, Legion L2 was damaged and headed toward a neutral point. Two more Banshees were vaporized, both by random shots from the beam weapons of the Denzee. Another dozen Ratoons were disabled and withdrew. All four New Earth cruisers had been destroyed.

  Just over two hours into the fight, a fourth and fifth Banshee had been lost, along with the Legion ship L4. But the last of the Ratoons had fallen silent.

  Tawn said, "One last hail down to Bax. She doesn't answer... we go in and do our worst."

  Harris nodded. "We do our worst anyway. The emperor crossed a huge line by allying with these aliens over fellow Humans. Time he paid for his mistakes."

  The comm hail to Baxter Rumford went unanswered.

  Tawn looked over the nav display. "That negation field is collapsing rapidly. Time to deploy bomb two."

  Harris stood, walking back to the airlock. The second bomb was set and shoved out into space. But there was no telltale flash of its detonation.

  Tawn asked, "What happened?"