ARMS
(Vol. 6)
Domers Unite
By: Stephen Arseneault
"Laws control the lesser man... Right conduct controls the greater one."
Mark Twain
View the author's website at www.arsenex.com
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Cover Art by Kaare Berg at:
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Copyright 2017-2019 Stephen Arseneault. All Rights Reserved
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used, reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher, except where permitted by law, or in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Table of Contents
ARMS Domers Unite (Vol. 6)
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3
Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6
Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9
Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12
Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15
Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18
Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21
Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24
Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27
What's Next? Books
— Chapter 1 —
* * *
The hard upward force of wind slowed considerably. Harris looked up the remaining eight flights of stairs to see the ramp of the Hailstorm jutting just into the opening. More than a dozen bots emerged, dropping down the two missing flights at the top that had been ripped away with the building.
A set of mechanical hands were held out to Tawn and Harris as a calm voice came over the comm: "Ma'am, sir, if you would care to come with us, we only have seconds."
The last flights of stairs were sprinted. As they reached the top, Harris looked up at the stack of worker bots standing on each other's shoulders, bridging the final two flights to the ramp. The bot next to Tawn held down its hand for a boost. Bot by bot, reaching down to grab their valued leader, Tawn was pulled to the top.
Harris stepped up into the hand that was held out to him. Again, hands reaching down pulled the stump up to the ramp and to safety. As the last of the bots was pulled to the top, Harris hustled up the ramp.
"Nice work, team. Using the ship as a windbreak... genius."
Tawn smacked Harris on the shoulder. "Come on, we still have thirty or so Ratoons to fight our way through."
The W66 bot said, "The Bangor is waiting in bay four, sir."
As the Hailstorm lifted up through the high winds, the Bangor emerged from its bay. Two fireballs were joined by a dozen others. As the small Human fleet reached orbit, the remaining Ratoons engaged. Three Banshees were lost before the first of six additional Ratoons were disabled or destroyed.
Harris gave the command and the fleet turned for the safety of free space. The deadly beams from the Denzee warships followed. All were successfully dodged but one. A final Banshee was vaporized. As they reached free space, a portal was opened and the ships slipped through, landing on the grass at Midelon twelve minutes later.
Harris and Tawn walked into the supply hut with grins on their faces.
"We did it!" Tawn said.
Gandy replied, "You beat thirty-eight Ratoons?"
Harris shook his head. "We managed to kill off a dozen. They took five of our Banshees. We did start up the terraformer though. They won't be harvesting anything there for a few years."
Tawn nodded. "It was harrowing, but exciting."
The fight was told as it was showed in detail from recordings of helmet cams and from those of the ships.
Harris opened a comm to the Retreat. "Colonel, we did it! Beckland has been cleaned of Denzee!"
"Fantastic news. I'll forward that to my contact, if they don't already know."
"We're down to eleven ships now. Not enough to take on any more fights. I know I keep saying we're desperate for parts and supplies, but I have to repeat it—we are. We still have that Denzee building on Jellon where we know they're producing more ships. That has to be taken out."
"I know you won't want to hear this," the colonel said, "but I've been told the Earthers are going full-out at rebuilding the mines at Eden. This time they have the assistance of the Denzee. Must be several million of those Denzee workers down there, and things look to be progressing rapidly."
Harris rolled his eyes. "Great. What we need is a way to just transport that planet out of our space. It gets knocked down and they rebuild it. I know I said this ages ago, but so long as there's titanium to be mined on Eden, the Earthers will be after it."
Tawn said, "Alex, can you add Eden to your regular scan list?"
"Consider it done."
Harris scowled at the display wall. "Oh. So she can form a command as a question and you accept that? For me, though, I just get a smartass reply."
"My apologies, Harris. Would you prefer I treat you in the same manner?"
"Yes I would."
"I don't think so. I prefer the current way."
Harris nodded. "I see. Insert knife and twist. That's how you play?"
Tawn said, "Can we get back to this important alien invasion we're trying to thwart?"
Harris placed his fists on his hips. "You have any suggestions?"
"Just that we figure out how to hit Jellon. And now Eden as well."
Harris moved over to a bench by a table and sat. "I know you'll call me crazy, but I think we should enlist the help of Bax. Maybe she has a way we could hit the Earthers hard, using what little resources we have. Maybe that means going the pirate route that Gandy is so fond of."
"She does know the Earther fleet and their routines."
"I would have thought you'd have been opposed to including her in anything," Harris said.
"We're at war. I'm not opposed to using whatever tools we have available to us to win."
Harris chuckled. "Are we nuts for even considering to include her?"
"We are. We could of course just sit here and do nothing too."
Harris sighed. "Alex, can you open a comm to Baxter Rumford?"
"I can."
Tawn smirked.
"Alex, open a comm to Baxter Rumford."
An image of the woman formerly known as the "Red Witch" and the "Red Menace" appeared on the display. "What is it now?"
Harris cleared his throat. "We need your help."
Bax stared into the comm for several seconds. "Why would you need that?"
Harris glared back. "Look, I know you're enjoying your cushy retirement there and all, but if we don't get this war under control, you won't have a station there to be retired on. The Earthers are rebuilding Eden, this time with the help of the Denzee. And I can guarantee those mining operations will be more productive than they ever were for you. They have millions of Denzee workers on the ground."
Bax half smiled. "How is it the two of you are still alive? Will I get myself killed by allying with you?"
"Maybe. Of course you can always stay right there in the safety and security of yo
ur apartment and rot. That has to be exciting, right?"
Bax sighed. "You know just where to hit a girl, don't you? Look, I'm kind of stuck here, under guard. Unless you can figure out a way to spring me from this prison, I'm not joining anything."
Tawn nodded. "Consider it done. You just be ready to go when we get there."
The comm closed.
Harris shook his head. "We must be crazy."
"She has knowledge and she has skill."
"And she has the DDI watching over her."
Harris glanced back at the comm display. "Colonel, any way you could help us with this? You can still travel to Chicago Port. We can't show our faces there without being rounded up."
"You asking me to help free a known collaborator from the watchful eye of the DDI while that same DDI is watching me?"
"If you could."
The colonel grinned. "I'll put a team on it right now. If she can be sprung, we'll do it."
Tawn said, "We can pick her up from wherever you want, Colonel. Just give us the time and coordinates and we'll be there."
The colonel nodded as the comm closed.
Harris looked over at Tawn with a raised eyebrow. "We biting off more than we can chew with her?"
"Can't say. We'll have to keep a close eye on her though. If she finds out the emperor is still scratching his head over her disappearance, she might try to use that to get back in."
"She's not going back with them. They're allied with the Denzee, and their plans are to dominate Domicile and the free worlds. Not something she has ever been in favor of."
"Let's weigh her options," Tawn said. "She can stay as a captive of the DDI… or she can run major portions of the empire while living a life of relative luxury."
Harris shook his head. "She wasn't in luxury. She was a workaholic."
"She was doing what she wanted and ordering people around. That's a luxury most people don't have. All I'm saying is if we get her out here, she has incentive to switch sides again. We'll have to make sure she doesn't have a good opportunity to do so."
After a meal, Trish, Gandy, and Sharvie moved about doing the daily tasks they had committed to. Harris pulled Idiot from the bot assembly line and walked out to the open air of Midelon.
Idiot asked, "What do you have for me to do, sir?"
"Just a simple run. My best time is fifteen minutes and forty-eight seconds. I want you to run alongside and push me today."
"Wouldn't that be cheating?"
Harris chuckled. "Not literally push me, you... idiot. Mentally push me. Give me encouragement. Call me a wuss. Whatever works to mentally motivate me to beat my prior time."
"I see. And is that not just another form of cheating? If you were out here running by yourself, you wouldn't have that mental push to help you."
Harris stared. "Would you rather be back in there on the bot line?"
"Rather? I have no preference for either task, sir."
Harris chuckled. "OK, look, just run alongside and do as I asked. Since the only competition here is with myself, I'll happily waive any consideration of cheating. Will you follow my orders or what?"
"Run, sir. Run like the wind. Run like you've never run before. Run as if there is a hot plate of bogler ribs sitting at the finish line for your enjoyment."
Harris nodded. "Now we're talking. Let's go."
A new personal best for the Midelon track was set. A five kilometer run of fifteen minutes and eight seconds saw Harris Gruberg lying on the grass, attempting to catch his breath.
Tawn stood over him. "We have trouble. The Earthers and the Denzee just surrounded the colony on Clark. They're demanding immediate surrender. Two Domicile cruisers were caught napping and never fired a shot before being destroyed. I just talked to the colonel. He talked to his contact. Our government is in a panic over how to respond."
Harris sat up. "That all happened in the last fifteen minutes?"
"Yep. The colonel said his contact is going to try to pull Bax out of there personally. He says the DDI and the DDF are in chaos. Over the past year, all the lead positions in both have been stuffed with political appointees. They're begging the old-timers for suggestions on how to handle this."
Harris followed Tawn into the supply hut. "I almost broke fifteen today."
Tawn scowled. "You seriously want to talk running right now?" As she turned away, a smirk covered her face.
Harris held up his hands. "OK, Miss Tyrant, what would you like us to focus on?"
"How about this war we're involved in?"
Trish, Gandy, and Sharvie came into the room.
Gandy asked, "What's happened?"
Tawn said, "The Earthers and the Denzee just took Clark."
"Clark? As in our Clark?"
"The one and only. If our government doesn't come to life here real quick, the emperor is gonna get his way and own us all."
"All but us," said Trish.
Tawn said, "We may have to consider shutting the boson field down as a last resort."
"If we decide to do that, just promise me you'll let Sharvie, Gandy, and myself decide if we want to go home to Domicile first."
"Not an unreasonable request."
Harris held up a hand. "We're a long way from shutting down wormhole travel. What we need is to focus our efforts on figuring out how we slow them down. Domicile needs time to fire up its war machine. Which means we might have to strike up another deal with our government to produce Banshees."
Trish said, "This is insane. They would break that deal again in an instant if they thought it was convenient to do so."
"We have to look at all the options we have available to us. Sometimes that means going against everything your brain is screaming at you to do."
Tawn sighed. "He's right. Alex, open a comm to Domicile. See if you can patch us through to the president, or at least one of his aides."
"One moment."
"Put on your best game face, Harris. We have to convince the moron to start that ship production up. It may be the only way we can stop them."
The president's image filled the display. "Moron? You people really know how to make use of your diplomatic skills."
Harris said, "Mr. President, we make no bones about how we feel about some of your policies. And we won't apologize for that. The Earthers and Denzee are coming. Unless you want to be a subject of Mervin the Conqueror, you might want to get a solid defense put in place.
"At the moment, your ships are slow, their armor is weak, and their weapons would be lucky to put someone’s eye out if used in a fistfight. We come to you this morning with another offer like we had before. You build those hulls, we'll put them into service and protect our worlds.
Tawn said, "Sad thing is, had you allowed us to build those ships before, we could have prevented the loss of Clark, and any more colonies you will most assuredly lose between now and when we can put a stop to this. Help us help you, that's all we're asking."
"I've called a meeting of my advisory council to discuss what actions we will take. They should all be arriving this afternoon."
Tawn said, "By this afternoon you may lose another colony. I'd just pull them all in on a comm and get it over with."
The president stared into the camera. "I'm the duly elected official here, Miss Freely. Please don't tell me how to do my job."
"Someone needs to."
Harris held up a hand. "OK, fighting each other doesn't accomplish anything. Mr. President, our offer stands, but if you want our advice, it would be to act on it now. It will take weeks to bring that production up to what we need, and during that time you could lose half, if not all, of your colonies. Including Domicile."
Your suggestions will be taken under advisement, Mr. Gruberg. Now, I must go prepare for the day."
Harris said, "Wait. Can I ask one favor of you?"
"Make it fast."
"We could use access to Domicile's market for raw materials. You can grant us that right here and now. Maybe we can slow the Earther and De
nzee progress while decisions are being made. We currently have an urgent need for dysprosium. We know there are supplies there. Can we be allowed access to them?"
"I will take that up at the meeting this afternoon. Good day, Mr. Gruberg."
The comm closed.
Tawn said, "Nice attempt there at the end."
"I thought it was worth a shot. Doubt he will come through for us today."
"That's because he's a moron. Every day he delays is probably another colony lost."
"Not only that, I feel bad for the regulars who will have to fight with the lame machinery and weapons they have. They'll get slaughtered, and all because of his stupidity."
Tawn raised an eyebrow. "It just occurred to me. What if he calls the Biomarines back into service?"
"They're safe at the Retreat, at least for a while."
"They're also patriots who will answer the call to duty if it's issued. All the defense and preparation at the Retreat won't help them if they aren't there to use it."
A comm was opened to the Retreat. "Colonel, we have some concerns."
"First I have news. My contact was able to extract Miss Rumford. She's on a ship heading out this way. I'm sending you coordinates for a pick-up."
"That was fast," said Tawn.
Harris cut in: "Colonel, it just occurred to us the president could call you all back into service at any time. All our efforts at the Retreat would be wasted."
"We're aware of that possibility and have taken a few precautions. Our cannons have been automated to refuse landing to any ships that don't have our transponder codes. Those of the Bangor and Hailstorm have been added to our list. Even if we leave, the place should remain defended."
"If called back, will you answer, given the circumstances?"
"We will. It's our duty."
Harris sighed. "We thought as much. Know that we'll do everything in our power to protect the lot of you."
"As I hope you will do for every Domicile citizen."
Harris half frowned. "We will, Colonel. We hold those same oaths we took as sacred. It's part of who we are. If called, we'll be there. Somewhat on our own terms though."
ARMS Domers Unite: (Book 6) Page 1