by JR Handley
Nhlappo filled Folta in on what had happened in the universe and the anti-White Knight positions of the Human Legion. Upon hearing that war raged anew against the tyranny of the White Knights, his bright jade eyes almost started glowing. Purring, he finally answered the unspoken proposition.
“Secret deal as head of the of the Hidden Dale Clan, in the absence of Sangurian Clan Council, I am ready to talk for whatever is left of the people. I do not mean for you to be concerned, our eternal oath of loyalty is now to the Legion. Now that you have accepted it, can you please tell me what ‘human’ you speak for?”
Curious creature, Lance thought to himself. Despite those pointy teeth and claws, this fuzzy Sangurian isn’t exactly the monster I had envisioned as a child.
Nhlappo introduced herself as one the humans in question, before giving the Sangurian a brief history of the Earth and humanity’s entry into the White Knight Sphere of influence. Satisfied with that answer, Folta purred his approval.
“I shall fix the order of battle for my brethren, and we shall fight for this ‘Human Legion.’ Provisions must be made for the viability of my species and ultimately a new home.”
Marchewka told Folta he would have their engineers analyze if the Hardit incubation stations could be modified for the Sangurian’s needs. He speculated that an artificial womb which could birth a Hardit, might work for a Sangurian. Then Marchewka agreed to give them the second habitable, yet unpopulated, planet in the Rakasa System.
Folta’s ears flicked toward Marchewka after the Jotun finished speaking. Lance was surprised to see Marchewka’s shorter ears flick back.
I wonder if this is some sort of nonverbal communication? Lance mused. Great, more alien body language for me to try to decipher.
As Folta explained his supply requirements to the field marshals, Lance looked past them down the long, metal walkway. His eyes scanned the perfectly spaced cryopods stretching out in front of him on either side. Casting his icy blue eyes upwards, he realized how many pods there truly were.
I wonder how many bodies those Hardit frakkers have? Lance thought. This should help us even the odds at least. If the White Knights do come back, we’ll have some surprises for them.
— Chapter 45 —
Late Evening, Post-Revival Day 5
Hanger Bay 24 Delta, Beta City, Serendine
Human Legion Integrated Command, Tranquility System
Beta City was buzzing with rumors of Sangurian warriors walking amongst them as Lance made his way to Hangar Bay 24 Delta for a planning session. The briefing, in part, would help senior leadership figure out how the Sangurians would fit into the battle plan, and what the next steps were in reclaiming the planet. Walking fast to avoid constant saluting, Lance was dreading yet another briefing.
If I spend any more time in briefings, they might as well move me to an intelligence company, Lance lamented. I wonder what I would be doing if I was squad leader right now? Probably sleeping.
Walking into the hangar bay, he felt a sense of relief knowing this grouping was smaller than normal ones. The Human Legion senior officers only invited pertinent personnel: three independent regimental commanders, the ranking Sangurian, and the three field marshals collective staff members.
Additionally, Major Meadow Trevino and Marine Sashala Kraevoi were invited, in case their knowledge of the planet proved useful to the strategic planning. Once everyone was seated, Field Marshal Marchewka scaled platform to the podium, signaling the start of the meeting.
“Beta City is now secure from the Hardit Militia, thanks to the fine work of the 6907th Independent Regiment. As an independent regiment, you’ll go wherever the Human Legion needs you to be. This means you’ll always be training in new methods of fighting and occasionally paying it forward by training other units. Now that we’ve praised the 6907th for their martial prowess, on to the more pressing issue of competent officership. Colonel Scipio, if you ever rush into the fray like some adolescent cadet, I’ll drop you so fast you’ll pray for a promotion to Auxie. Understood?”
“Understood, Field Marshal,” said Lance as he shifted in his chair.
“You were to add Marine Sashala Kraevoi to your TO&E, and you did not. The result was me almost losing the only Marine in my command who has knowledge of abandoned weapons and technology. This was a foolish oversight, crècheling human. This instant, she is promoted to lieutenant and assigned to you as personal security. If you require handholding, I will ensure you have it,” said Marchewka.
Thoroughly lambasted, Lance glanced over at Sashala. She met his eyes and nodded. Lance felt sorry the newly promoted Lieutenant Kraevoi would have to tag along with him everywhere. He hoped she enjoyed attending briefings as much as she claimed to enjoy stabbing things with knives.
“Now, Colonel Scipio, redeem yourself in my eyes and again show me your worth. Prove to me it was not a foolish oversight to promote you. I have glanced at the Operation Breakout notes, fill in the blanks,” said Marchewka.
With that “warm” introduction, Lance stood and tried to focus. Hitting a button on his Aimee to bring up a holo-display, mostly to get everyone’s eyes away from him, he gave them a second to look at it. The holo-display showed four tiers. Each tier had unit assignments hovering below.
“Good evening, field marshals, I’ll get right to the point. Operation Breakout is a four-tiered approach for conquering Serendine and freeing it from the Hardit New Order. As you can see, each objective has its own task force and individual commander. Based on intelligence gathered from scouts, we can predict the positioning of the Hardits above ground.”
Lance hit another button on his Aimee, and the holo-display projected the planet with enemy forces highlighted in red.
“The plan is a simultaneous assault to confuse and overwhelm their forces. Because this can’t happen with an enemy at our back, we will have to send a small special forces unit to cause issues for the troops at New Detroit. They will make some noise and keep them busy until we have the luxury of dealing with them at our convenience.”
The tiers floating next to the planet expanded to show more information, then arrows connected them to places on the planet’s surface. Lance looked to Marchewka and Gaarjar as he spoke.
“Task Force City Builder will be led by Field Marshal Marchewka with Colonel Gaarjar and Tech-Major Basil Terloar as his task managers. The team fortifying the orbital elevator will consist of auxiliary personal and the 428th Independent Marine Engineering Regiment. This portion of Task Force City Builder’s objective will be to build a defensive system for the Serendine Orbital Elevator. They will focus on building the underground supports it needs, and link these defensive warrens together with underground passageways. I would suggest some Marines be sent to provide security, so our engineers can do what engineers do best.”
Turning toward Basil, Lance addressed his friend. He felt more at ease speaking to Basil.
“The second part of Task Force City Builder will be supervised by Marine Tech-Major Terloar as he builds a new Akoni City under the ruins of the old city. He will ensure that any surface defenses account for the mountain passes I used during the Cadet Combat Training Exercise. All final tactical decisions will be approved by Field Marshal Marchewka. Once that is done, Field Marshal Marchewka will organize patrols to secure the upper portion of the continent.”
Lance’s hand swept down to his Aimee and pressed a button. Target locations began to flash. Watching everyone studying the information, he pushed forward.
“As you can see on the holo-display, I’ve marked several sites of interest. Mainly farms and other areas of supply value. Speaking of farms, Ledatic will arrange to have his habdisk farming operation installed in the new city, accounting for the nutritional needs of Jotuns, humans, and Sangurians. Obviously, Tech-Major Basil will monitor the Hardit’s activities closely.”
The Sangurian colonel, Folta, purred loudly and his ears perked at the mention of his species. The assembled group jumped in unison and looked at
the green-eyed colonel. Oblivious to the eyes peering at him, Folta’s ears drooped as his toothy mouth let out a giant yawn.
“Moving on… the next tier is Task Force Carex. Named after the bravely retired commander of the 428th MER. This will be led by Field Marshal Nhlappo and will consist of whatever units from her regional army she needs to capture her objective, the Makoni Ship Factory. The final task force will be Task Force Keita, which is also named after a recently retired Marine. Senior Sergeant Keita died so his commander might live, giving his life for his brother Marine – a truly noble thing. Task Force Keita will be led by Field Marshal Grigonna and is comprised of the 6907th Regiment, 828th Regiment, and three of the recently revived Sangurian regiments.”
Colonel Folta’s loud purr paired with a clawed fist banging the table again caused the room to jump. Lance looked at Folta and saw he was clearly smiling. His sharp, two front teeth gleamed as his long whiskers twitched. Before Lance could say anything, the rabbit looking officer burst into the air and landed nimbly in his chair.
“Yes, it is a call to battle,” said Folta. “We slaughter these Hardits! We will run clean the areas and underground cisterns Hardits possess, and breath of life granted to our Dales. Let us cleanse mother dirt.”
Plopping back down into his chair, Folta yawned loudly again before letting his ears droop down over his eyes. Half cringing, half smiling, Lance looked around the assembled room. Typing a command into his Aimee for Xena to save the video, Lance clarified Folta’s rantings.
“Yes, the Sangurians will be under their own officers, organized into the 1209th, 2298th and the 2405th regiments. As Colonel Folta indicated, they will be tasked with clearing the Hardit Incubation Station so the New Order Janissaries can’t reproduce. We will have engineers in route to see if the incubation station can be converted into a warren for the Sangurians.”
Colonel Cresil, who now commanded the 828th Independent Regiment, interrupted Lance. Cresil’s eyes were still glued to the apparently disinterested Sangurian.
“Colonel Scipio, we do not yet have mobile assets. According to the map, you intend to move approximately 12,700 miles above ground to this factory and 9,800 miles to the incubation station. Even the fastest Marine would take at least four months of hard marching to get there. Solutions?”
Lance cursed himself for forgetting to mention transport. Xena updated the planet schematic to show interlocking lines while Lance replied.
“Ma’am, there are a series of transportation tunnels connecting every Human Marine Corps facility. These tunnels house a Maglev Rail System that can surpass speeds of 2,000 miles per hour. At the end of this battle, we’ll want every Makoni facility linked into the maglev. This also means we’ll have to add Akoni City to the maglev system. In the meantime, each task force will still have about forty-eight days of marching to get from the nearest Human Marine Corps outpost to their destination.”
Field Marshal Nhlappo started speaking the moment Lance took a breath.
“Why don’t you simply bring a battalion of engineers with each task force to stay behind and start the process of linking the various maglev systems? I doubt it would hamper the construction of the new city that much.”
Lance immediately realized Nhlappo was right. He had hadn’t considered that option, but once it was presented to him, his mind began to process every facet of the idea like a living machine.
“That is an excellent idea, Field Marshal Nhlappo. We were to leave tomorrow but will delay by a day. The engineers will leave today and head towards Human Marine Corps Outpost Sierra 4 and begin extending the rail system towards the incubation station. On your maps, you’ll see that I’ve used an alpha-numeric naming system for the various outposts based on the continent they’re on.”
Lance took a moment to add those notes and shift the timeline. Looking back up to ensure the dates had changed on the holo-display, he continued.
“Given this adjustment, by the time we march to these locations the engineers should almost meet us with the maglev. Once the incubation station is conquered, we can ride the rails to support Task Force Carex. The Hardits will never expect us to hit them from underneath while Field Marshal Nhlappo is marching topside.”
Scanning the room for effect, Lance paused before speaking. With no questions to slow him down, he moved forward, hoping for a merciful end to the briefing.
“Aligning with the Human Legion and Field Marshal Nhlappo has made the Marines under Spartika at New Detroit City our enemies. After wiping out the New Order here on Tranquility, we will need to fight Spartika for Baylshore. We can’t do that without real-time intelligence. We also need her to be distracted while we are preoccupied with our current battle plans. I mentioned special forces troops earlier. They will harass and interdict Spartika’s forces. While she is distracted by the perceived threat, we can handle things here. Then we will know more when we are ready to fight them.”
With that ominous statement about the obstacles in their paths, the meeting began to wind down as Lance took his seat. Marchewka spoke of honor, Nhlappo of vengeance, Grigonna of rebuilding, and Folta continued his incessant purring. Sipping his tea and watching it unfold, Lance thought of the future.
— Chapter 46 —
Early Morning, Post-Revival Day 6
Level 29 Maglev Station, Beta City, Serendine
Commander, Task Force City Builder, Human Legion
Colonel Gashi “GG” Gaarjar slowly crept down the Level 28 maglev rail line on all six appendages. The sound of metal grinding and rivets being hammered echoed down the long tunnel as her eyes keenly studied each rivet, weld, and connection. While GG understood she couldn’t look at every inch of the track, visibly inspecting portions of it would set an expectation for the Aux engineers swarming around it.
Reaching the head of the line, GG stood upright and watched the boring machine grind into the rock toward Old Akoni City. Happy that the engine tune-ups she had suggested were working, she marveled at the smoldering, smooth polycrete walls it left in its wake. Breathing in the acrid smoke, she looked behind her to see Senior Aux Colonel Ashanti Okoro was busy typing information into a Digi-Sheet.
“Dear human, the industrious nature of your species never ceases to honor me. How goes the scheduling?”
“Colonel, I have disseminated your new ranking structure for the Auxiliary Division, as well as scheduled the new combat training regimen for the Auxiliary Militia Regiment,” said Ashanti as she looked up to GG.
After giving the report, Ashanti began typing again. GG wasn’t happy with the new ranking structure. Normally, a division would be commanded by a general, but the highest rank this Human Legion would allow for an Aux Marine was Colonel. The plan was for the best officer in the Aux Division, Ashanti, to command the 1st Regiment and simultaneously the division. To signify the role of the Aux Division Commander, the Legion had agreed to add the title of “senior” to Ashanti’s colonelship. GG wanted more for her capable protégé.
Trying to turn off the part of her Jotun brain that demanded a higher honor for her underling, GG instead focused on the work needing to be done. As she watched her brilliant human furiously type on her Digi-Sheet, she consulted Ashanti.
“While we build the new city, we will create a schedule of thirds for the regiment that remains. I want a third of the Aux training, another third resting, and the last third completing the buildup of Fortress Beta City. It is imperative that the fortress be ready to defend the Serendine Orbital Elevator. We could have used my two engineering battalions and the 6,000 or so Aux we sent south to build the maglev, but the two task forces are taking half of the 428th MER.”
GG turned from Ashanti and gazed at the smoking orange and red walls of the newly formed polycrete tunnels. Taking a couple steps forward, she could feel the heat radiating from the walls.
“Much like the forward progress of these drills against cold rock, we can’t let losing two thirds of the Aux slow us down. Instead, we will train those remaining he
re so efficiently that the rest are jealous they missed out. I kept my best two battalions, the 1st and 2nd, here with us so we weren’t overly hampered.”
Looking over her shoulder, she studied Ashanti transcribing her commands and sending them to the appropriate parties. Reaching out with one of her hands, GG gently placed it on Ashanti’s shoulder to get her full attention.
“Learn from this. I sent my worst battalions, the 3rd and 4th, with my best two officers. The result should be that each unit improves. A strong officer will build a better command. Since we have two crack battalions of engineers here, the new fortress should be done relatively quickly, as we can tie into the existing defensive structure of Beta City. Besides, Field Marshal Marchewka has authorized us all the bulk muscle we need to speed up this process. I intend to take full advantage of that offer.”
When it was clear Ashanti understood and was waiting to ask a question, GG nodded her assent.
“Colonel, how long will it take to tunnel over to Akoni City? I imagine that some of the infrastructure from Beta City could end up being needed in Akoni City. Shouldn’t we wait to build the fortress so the building of the new city doesn’t interfere? And how long will it take to tunnel to the new city location?”
GG stood a bit taller, preening the fur along her lower appendages. She was quite pleased that her new protégé had asked such an insightful question.
“The good thing about being the senior engineer, young one, is that I decide what stays and what goes. Securing the orbital elevator trumps the building of the new city, though the city is important. As for the tunneling, the new site is approximately 2,200 miles away, and we can tunnel at just over 80 miles a day. Adding a buffer for equipment breakdowns and shift changes, I expect to have finished tunneling in 30 days. The deciding factor will be how motivated the Marines are to create a more secure location for their abodes. This, my young human, is why we are inspecting the track and not spending our time holed away planning.”