The comm was silent for nearly a minute.
Jack said, "We have comm with the Talisan transports."
A Talisan general stood at attention before kneeling. "Your Highness! How can we serve!"
I looked back at the Odenta commander. "I have one more thing to add, Commander. Take my offer and we will have fifty million trained and armed, Talisan ground troops that go with it! You want to enact justice on the Grumar and Grotus? Let us help. Let us be the heavy maul that you wield in battle!"
The commander let out a deep breath. "As always, Mr. Beutcher, your words are wise."
The commander turned from the display and barked an order. "Stand down on the missiles, Mr. Frick, but keep them at the ready."
I let out a long sigh.
Jack took over the open comm to the fleet. "Captains, it has been determined that your lives will be spared. On your maps of Doomlight you will find a former city named Okree. You will begin immediately to shuttle your crews to the surface to that city. Take enough supplies to feed yourselves for a month. More ships will be through here before then to take you home.
"And just so there are no misunderstandings, I want to see confirmation that all weapons have been taken offline. As a show of compassion, since there are dangerous animals down there, you may take your hand weapons with you if you like. Oh, and any ships not in immediate compliance with these orders will be... immediately terminated."
Jack turned. "That sound tough enough?"
I nodded. "I thought it was perfect."
I focused on the comm to the Odenta commander. "Commander, I suggest we try to find everyone we can who is even remotely capable of piloting those ships. We are in need of a couple thousand captains and crews."
Garrett said, "You know, we could probably get most of those captains and crews to defect. What do you think?"
I shook my head. "That might be true. But I don't think we can risk it. We are in too weak a position still to handle any kind of internal revolt. I say we just leave them here and be on our way. We can be out of here in three or four hours."
Joni came over the comm. "OK, I'm on the ground. What do we do with all the stuff the Odentas built down here? It's actually pretty substantial given the short time they've been here."
I nodded. "Have them strip any components they feel are worth taking, given the timeframe we have to work with. We'll destroy the rest from above."
Joni replied, "Got it!"
Jack turned toward me. "I've been keeping a count of our captain and crew volunteers. We don't have enough to even make a dent in taking that fleet of ships with us."
I frowned. "If we don't have a solution by the time we have everyone off that planet, we may have to drop back to the nuke 'em strategy. We can't leave them to be used against us at some future point. Keep looking for a solution."
Over the two hours that followed, the Odenta ships shuttled their crews down to the Doomlight city of Okree. When the ferry mission had ended, each shuttle was placed on autopilot for its journey back to the heavens. Once an inspection of all Alliance warships had been completed, the Odenta transports landed to collect their people. Ninety minutes later, the last of the transports took to the air.
Garrett and the other Odenta cruisers sat in high orbit above the Odenta outpost. "OK, Commander. Let's light it up!"
Gravity beams raked the buildings and ground that made up the former Odenta haven. Every piece of technology related to the gravity beams had been loaded aboard empty transports. Nothing of consequence was left to chance. Jack flew the Garmon low over the crushed ground and our ion cannon was put to use.
Five minutes into the final destruction, Jack said, "There won't be anything but complete scrap left of that town. Gonna look like one big burn spot in about two more minutes. Oh, and the Jess lifted out of the docking bay about five minutes ago under Garrett's control. Just thought you'd want to know."
Joni came over the comm standing next to Garrett. "We have a solution for our captain problem. Garrett and I have transferred to the Jess. He thinks he can remotely pilot all of those ships from here at the same time."
Jack smirked. "That's just over two thousand ships. How will you manage that?"
Garrett smiled. "Well, I have the comm channels into all of them. Give me ten minutes without any counter-hacking and I should be able to control the lot of them from here. I only have to send simple nav commands once we're in."
Jack shook his head as he looked around the bridge of the Garmon. "Every day I wonder how it is that I'm surrounded by so many geniuses."
Jack took a deep breath and continued: "Look at the things we've accomplished. Fighting massive ground and ship battles, inventing technologies, jumping through wormholes… I have to slap myself every day I wake to make sure I'm not living in some dream. It's sometimes a nightmare, but mostly a dream."
I laughed. "Save those thoughts for once we're out of here."
Several minutes later, Garrett said, "OK, I'm in! Give me two minutes to tie all these ships together and we'll be ready to go."
I jumped in my chair as Jack yelled, "Crap! We have incoming! Another thousand ships coming from the direction of the portal!"
I gave an order to my Talisan fleet to move ahead to a rally point.
I raised the Odenta Commander on the comm. "Commander, we have several options available to us. Option one, we stand and fight just as we did before. Option two, we leave, nuking these ships as we go because we can outrun those Alliance ships. Or option three, we try to negotiate a peaceful exit. They get their trained crews back, we leave unscathed."
The commander frowned. "Had we just nuked them to start with we would be gone from this place and it wouldn't matter. Since we are now in a new predicament, I say we take option two. Nuke them and go."
I looked at Jack who was shrugging his shoulders. "I have to agree with him."
Garrett said, "How about option four? Why limit ourselves when we have so much more to offer?"
I replied, "What's option four?"
Garrett smiled. "Watch this!"
In unison the two thousand abandoned ships turned toward the new vessels. Two thousand heavy ion cannons fired at once, their effective range being far short of the incoming ships.
Garrett pressed the fire button again twenty seconds later. "Bet they stop and run!"
I leaned forward in my chair. "And if they don't?"
Garrett grinned. "If they don't, then I have the self-destructs ready to be set. We're clear of any blast, so I have the timer set to zero. Oh, and I guess I should mention this—I just realized we can't take these ships with us anyway."
Jack replied, "Why's that?"
Garrett shook his head. "Well, it only occurred to me a few seconds ago—and I'm guessing it slipped your minds as well— but we knocked the forward shields out for all these ships. They're pretty much stuck at sub-light speeds. It would take us days to get them safely out of this system. And then days to get out of the sensor range of anyone coming here. I think they're a lost cause. Too bad though, would have been nice to have as a starter fleet."
Joni said, "The incoming ships have stopped."
Jack leaned forward. "Just because they lost their forward shields doesn't mean they can't move ahead at full speed, right?"
Garrett nodded. "That's true. You just run a high risk of taking heavy damage. And I think I see where you're going with this. Hang on."
"What's he doing?" I said.
Jack crossed his arms. "He's chasing off the new ships. He just ordered them up to half full speed. And... there go the new ships, heading back toward the portal. I am quite certain they are massively confused at this point."
Garrett said, "They're moving away at full speed. I'll follow for a few minutes until they are out of sensor range. Then we get out of here."
I frowned. "Can't we just run those ships at full speed? In a line behind one of ours?"
Garrett shook his head. "Won't work. Those battleships are far larger than a
ny of ours. The lead ship would take hits down the sides which would impact the ship behind it even further. We could try it, but that just means we take longer to get out of here."
Several minutes after the New Alliance ships had moved out of sensor range, Garrett set off the self destructs. The dark empty space of the Doomlight system had a brief moment of bright white light as the two thousand warships self-incinerated. Without hesitation, we were quickly off to meet the Talisans at the rally point. Our journey back to Odenta with the slower transports would take a full four weeks.
I sat back in my chair, reflecting on all that had just happened. The Odentas had been rescued along with fifty million of my Talisan citizens. We were heading to Odenta to hopefully establish a new colony. My family? They were safe for the moment. Our incursion at Doomlight would cause delays for any plan the Saltons had. Bolitha would have to wait. I hoped it would give us enough time to bring up a fleet of our own, a fleet large enough to defend the Odentas and the Gruntas.
The galaxy we occupied was a hostile and unforgiving place.
~~~~~
What's Next!
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OMEGA
(Vol. 6)
Brutal
Chapter 6.1
* * *
Housing construction for the Odentas was complete. The clean area on the planet's surface now stretched out eighty-six square kilometers with another four being added every day. The number of AIs and their autobots was doubling every three days. With the additional Talisan forces with us, our surface area requirements had grown substantially.
Jack said, "The food rationing is going smoothly, but we need to get some farming online here soon. We have about eight weeks of rations left, and that's stretching it."
I replied, "Construction of the greenhouses and breeding pens begins today. I wish there was an alternative. How are you supposed to feed almost fifty-five million people?"
Jack nodded. "It'll be tough. I was wondering if there might be an opportunity for us back at Doomlight."
I turned with a suspicious stare. "Doomlight? Why would we go back there?"
Jack held up a hand. "Just hear me out. What if we took a force back there for a raid? If there are transports or supply ships, we steal them and bring them back here. They can always send more food through the portal."
I frowned. "While I like the sound of that on the surface, I would have to believe that Harden Salton now has at least five or ten thousand warships guarding that planet. And I doubt we would be able to get away with that comm stunt again. We got lucky the rest of those captains didn't think of switching to direct comms."
Jack nodded. "What about other star systems around here. There might be a populated planet we could trade with. Or if it's not populated, but habitable, we might be able to land the Talisans there while we build this place up."
I shook my head. "I think we would have the same issue there with having to build farms and livestock, only we would be that many weeks further behind."
Jack crossed his arms. "I just hate sitting here when there is so much to be done."
"I have a job for you," I said. "Have the bots on board build enough of those passive probes to lay out a network around this star system. Kind of an early warning system should other ships come this way. You might have to deploy thousands of them, but that could give us extra hours of warning if someone was coming. After that you can work with the Odentas on a fast evac plan should we need to load everyone back on the ships."
Jack sat forward. "If we have to do that, we will be in a world of hurt soon after. We won't have the supplies to sustain us on those ships for quite some time."
I half smiled. "Well, you wanted something to do and that should keep you busy. Once those things are in place and we get our food resources straightened out, it will at least give us options."
Jack stood. "Now that... we can agree on."
I looked at Jack as he began to stare at me. "What are you doing?"
He laughed. "I'm waiting for your big gray ass to get off my ship so I can get started! Come on, I'll walk you to the ramp."
As we walked, I said, "Go seems to be doing well. Tires quickly, but gets right back at it when he's rested."
Jack nodded. "He's neck deep in projects he's loving. He thinks the AIs might have an artificial arm almost ready to run a few tests on in the next day or two."
As we passed the lab I had to stop and look. Go was standing over a table. From his torso down to his ankles he was wrapped in an exoskeleton.
I stepped into the lab and said, "What's with the mechanicals?"
Go turned. "Oh, I got tired of the bots picking me up to carry me around so I had them build this. It just gives me the bit of assistance I need. The muscles down my right side are still in decline. I really miss that suit. It had me in the best shape I had ever been in."
Jack chuckled. "Looks like we have the makings of our first cyborg."
Go replied, "Hey, it helps. Until I get myself back online, I need these mechanicals to give me mobility. You can't imagine what it's like to have all these things to do, and you can't get them done without major hassle. It just drives me nuts."
Jack nodded. "I get yah. Was just pulling your chain. We all have things we want to get done that take us too long. You just have to keep plugging away at them. And by the way, you've been at that almost every waking minute. You might take a rest and just find something to do that's relaxing. We all need a little recharge sometimes."
Go looked up. "This is my recharge."
I patted Jack on the back as we turned toward the ramp. "Keep an eye on him. We don't want him burning himself out. And if you get bored, poke your head in and nose around in his business. He might get annoyed with the distraction, but it might be the break in his pattern that you say he needs."
Jack stopped at the top of the ramp as I walked down. "I probably won't be back for a few days."
I waved over my shoulder. "We'll be here. Just keep an eye on the sensors for other ships. Any warning is good warning."
As I walked toward a newly-constructed building, the ramp of the Garmon closed and she lifted off. I stopped and watched as our majestic light cruiser headed toward the heavens. She had been a good ship, and a ship that was worthy of her namesake. I had to take a moment to wonder about Layda and Jallis. Had Harden's people taken control of Effica? Had our efforts in Omega really saved anyone?
My attention to my current efforts returned as an Odenta citizen stopped in front of me. "Mr. Beutcher, I'm sure you've heard this before, but we really do appreciate all you have done for us. We're alive, we're home, and we have a light in the heavens that says we will come through this. Just this morning my neighbor gave birth to twins. They are named Knogek and Knogral. I just thought you might want to know."
I bowed my head. "I appreciate the gesture and I thank you for your kind words. I'm just out here trying to survive and to save my family like everyone else."
The Odenta returned the bow and smiled before walking away.
Garrett came up behind me. "Did I hear that right? The Odentas are now naming their babies after you too?"
I shook my head. "In a few years time they will all be living in a very confused world. I am honored at the thought, but not worthy of the deed."
Garrett laughed. "Yeah, keep telling yourself that."
Garrett followed as I continued wal
king toward the first farms and pens that were under construction.
Garrett said, "I sure hope this works out. These people are badly in need of a break. Almost everything they've ever known has been destroyed, the mass of their population killed... we need at least a year or two of peace to really get this place in shape. They expect to have the first gravity beam cannon set up by the end of this week. It'll mirror the one they defended themselves with on Doomlight. They plan on covering the surface of this planet with them."
I placed my hand on Garrett's shoulder as we walked. "Speaking of needing a break, I am glad to see that you and Joni have finally had some time together. How is that coming along?"
Garrett shook his head. "Well, I know I'm in love because nobody has been able to push my buttons like that before. You say something completely innocent, they twist it around and then you feel horrible about what you innocently said. It's like they have this hidden switch they can flip whenever they want you to feel sorry. If I could just figure out how to get over that ... well, the rest is fantastic. Couldn't be happier."
I smiled. "Such is the plight of the male in almost every species. We will fight and die for them. We'll work our fingers to the bone for them, and we can spend our entire lives trying to make their lives better, but we somehow lack a simple understanding of what drives them. We somehow lack the conversation gene they require. I speak in generalities of course. There are always those who will give us all a bad name."
Garrett shook his head. "You know, up until now I had to laugh at every guy story I heard where they were complaining about a woman. That's all changed. I can now relate to that lack of understanding you’re talking about. Sometimes I just don't have a clue, and they don't like that."
OMEGA Hostile Page 23