I heard a commotion behind Monk. I looked to see Bok Soo who seemed very pleased, and had three drinks in his hand. I didn't have to guess who they were for.
I started chomping down faster, Monk looked at what I was staring at.
Monk turned around and started devouring his burrito as fast as possible. We didn't win as Bok Soo lowered his butt next to Monk placed beers in front of Monk and I.
“Found yah,” he said proudly.
I used the beer to clear my throat, holding my three-quarters burrito in my other hand. I saw Bok Soo's eyes turn to the Burrito. With a sigh I offered it to him.
“Thanks Sally,” he said, munching on it.
“Sally? Really?” I said, seeing Monk look quite amused behind his burrito.
I took another swig of the beer, realizing that it actually tasted like beer instead of damned acid.
“What, is this...? Sapporo?” I asked.
“It might just be,” Santos said from beside Bok Soo, sipping his beer.
“Someone grab shot glasses,” Bok Soo said, grabbing something from behind him, he pulled out two green bottles of Soju. I felt my internal organs recoil. Soju was great stuff, when mixed with beer, by itself it was kind of like vodka, and a touch of battery acid.
“For once this is not the worst thing that I have ever drunk,” I said, picking up the bottle and going through the ritual of opening the damned thing.
Shot glasses appeared. I poured for everyone.
“May I?” Monk asked, I handed him the bottle. He took it, pouring me a shot.
“One shot!” Bok Soo said, raising his glass, tapping it to the table, turning and throwing it back. Everyone else repeated the process.
“Glasses,” Bok Soo said, taking the bottle and pouring another series of shots.
“May I?” Santos said, picking up the Korean ritual of drinking shots.
“Be my guest,” Bok Soo said, Santos pouring Bok Soo a shot.
“One shot!” Bok Soo said again, an evil glimmer in his eye as we repeated the process for the first shot.
“Aish! That hits the spot,” Bok Soo said.
Tomorrow we would be leaving Parnmal, but for now it was time to get blind drunk, remember those that weren't with us and do them proud. The hangover tomorrow would hopefully be worth it.
Chapter Waving the Flag
I read a message for my eyes only as we drifted towards Ohular.
It was from Min Hae, its contents were rather, interesting.
Apparently the Kalu have changed some since the Union-Kalu war. I need to find out what else has changed about them. We need more information and there's only one way I can think to get it. I looked up, my face grim. That information can only be bought in blood. It suddenly seemed colder on my bridge as I knew I had already made a decision. If Min Hae was able to track the spy rings he had found, back to the Kalu controlling them, and then find where the Kalu were. Then I would lead the Free Fleet into that Kalu grinder. We needed to know what the Kalu were capable of, now more than ever.
Bregend had the forces to keep the Kalu at bay if needed. Cheerleader and Boot should be able to react to any raids by the Syndicate.
There's just too many things to go wrong. Yet if we do nothing then the Kalu could hit us literally anywhere and we would have no information beforehand. I had memorized Kalu battle tactics. If we offered them battle and ran back to Parnmal, then according to their previous battles, they would hammer Parnmal until they were unable to fight, or had taken the station. I was hoping that was still the case.
This still all hinges on Min Hae's ability to track the Kalu back to a staging area. So many damned variables!
“We have an incoming communication from Foshunti, he says it’s important,” Vort said.
“Very well, on my screens,” I said, hiding my relief at doing something simple. Foshunti appeared moments later.
“I found out where Lady Fairgate is,” he said excitedly without preamble.
I leaned forward without knowing it.
“Where?”
“A pleasure planet, she sent me co-ordinates to meet her. I also have word from some of my people I sowed into Lifendi’s fleet that he has left the planet in search of information,”
“Send it to me,” I said, getting a file a few minutes later. I sent it to the intelligence department as well.
I opened it. It looked like she had sent it as soon as she had gotten word of the Kalu entering Union space. She didn’t know anything about Foshunti betraying her trust. She talked about sending reinforcements from Rosho, and how she’d told her forces to rally there. It made sense the station was close to her hideaway, and in proximity of the Sarenmenti and Kuruvians. Pairing that with the report Boot had sent back, it looked like I had found the station, and knew its approximate power.
“This raises the issue of who we will attack, the Kalu or the Syndicate,” Foshunti said.
“Easy, we attack both of them,” I said, a plan forming in my head.
“That’s suicide, either fleet would take some tricky and crazy tactics to win against,” Foshunti said, clearly not trying to comprehend what I was asking.
“Yes, but this is the free fleet, we take risks and make leaps.”
“What if they fail?” Foshunti asked, regaining his composure.
“Then we’re doomed anyway,” I shrugged.
Foshunti looked away before looking back to me.
“Very well. I have sworn my allegiance to this fleet, as such I will do all you order me to,” he said gravely.
“That is all that I ask. Soon we will reach Worshun. Hopefully we can do something good before we bring a damned war onto everyone’s heads.”
“Thank you Commander, I have made my people wait long enough,” he said.
“No longer,” I said, “Now I’ll have a look over this information you’ve given me. We shall talk later.”
“Of course commander,” he said, cutting the channel. I put the message from Fairgate on one screen, opening another screen with the message from Min Hae.
I now knew where the majority of the Syndicate’s forces were, which made at least Boot and Cheerleaders jobs easier.
I approved Min Hae's request for more operatives in his area to try and find out where the damned Kalu were.
He would have some wait in Avapor as he went in search of the Kalu spymaster. Min Hae thought that he would either know where the spymaster was in a few weeks, or where the Kalu fleet was, possibly even both if everything went to plan.
I stared making a plan for engaging the Kalu and what the rest of the fleet would do if we were successful, or not. Planning for failure was hard, but I fleshed out three rather simple, but hopefully effective plans.
“We’re one hour away,” Milra said, snapping me out of my planning. I had been working for five hours without noticing it.
“Very well, we’re just here for trade. We’ll wait eight hours before moving off,” I said, not seeing the confused looks from everyone. I felt that it was time to see Worshun and then Avapor for myself. I had promised Foshunti and hopefully I would find out how to get this thing started, maybe I could turn it to my advantage.
***
Min Hae knew how dangerous what he was doing was. He had gone against everyone in doing it. None of them openly tried to stop him.
He knocked on the door of the shuttle, everything that came down to the planet had to drop a shuttle to get their supplies moved. If someone didn’t then it looked suspicious. The fact that this ship had done everything to go unnoticed had made Min Hae notice it. The ship this shuttle came from looked beaten up and old. Though a contact with the board of trade and inspections on the planet had said that the ship had paid a handsome amount for people to look around a bit but not in-depth and not in the quarters.
The bribe was large enough that no one was going to say anything. Well that was unless Min Hae had his claws into them.
Nothing happened, Min Hae knocked again.
“I am here t
o talk to the Kalu spymaster,” Min Hae said. “I want three hundred thousand platinum to keep quiet, or I’ll tell the Syndicate that you’re here.”
There was a pause, the ramp lowered and Min Hae saw his first Kalu in the flesh. They were sleek long creatures with eight limbs. They had a set of smaller manipulators in their faces, their faces looked like that of a squid and a dog. A dog with the teeth and snout of a squid. The skin flared out around the snout in rage, or breath, Min Hae could not tell for sure. The eyes contracted as a whole, not just their pupils as humans did.
This particular Kalu was wearing black scarred armor, weapons were raised over its shoulders and pointing at Min Hae.
“Come inside, or be nothing,” It said simply.
Min Hae followed the Kalu’s orders, walking onto the shuttle.
“Take us up, the creature seer will want this specimen,” the Kalu said to someone unseen. Min Hae studied the Kalu more. The armor was fused to their bodies, just like it was recorded in the battle logs of Resilient and the other AI. It acted as their second skin and augmented everything that they did.
The armor could be closed around their limbs, manipulators, and face. Again off of the data Min Hae had, the Kalu would only activate their additional armor if they found the enemy worth the honour of dying against the full might of the Kalu.
The shuttle closed and shot off into the sky. The Kalu barely shifted as Min Hae had to grab a wall to not fall down. The Kalu’s weapons followed him without pause.
It was a few minutes later that a door opened, a light signalling that the airlock was sealed.
“Move,” the Kalu said, Min Hae not thinking it best to argue did as he was told.
The ship’s walkways were wider than the ships that Min Hae had been on previously, probably to accommodate the bulk of the Kalu. On their limbs, they were still about five foot tall.
The Kalu prodded Min Hae in the right direction. He didn’t see anyone. Though he did see the types of relays the Kalu used, he tried to figure out the mix of their air and assessed his captor.
Min Hae was prodded into a room. It had one door and an audio-visual sensor.
It was a few minutes later that another Kalu, looking nothing like the first glided into the room. This one didn’t prowl like the first. This one had been attached to his armor with more than just the neural and muscular grafting that the first had been. This Kalu had gone through something horrific, and somehow survived.
Its limbs were mangled into uselessness except for one manipulator and two claws on a limb.
It’s squid like orifice opened, and even that was scarred and melted. One eye was missing, the opposite remained sharp and intelligent.
“Why should I not just kill you?” The Kalu asked.
“If you do, then my friend on the ground will spread the message to every merchant here and send it via fast-ship to Lady Fairgate,” Min Hae said.
“Why would giving you money make this issue go away?”
“Because me and mine will be leaving known space. We know what is coming, what would make Lady Fairgate flee as soon as she got word from ‘the line’? Only you guys. I’m going to use the money to get supplies and get the hell out of here.”
“What if I was to get you the supplies you will need to leave here, but then I pick where you wormhole to?” The mangled Kalu asked.
“I would prefer if I was the one able to get the supplies so I can assure their quality.”
“You may be allowed to do that, though it will take some time,” the Kalu said.
“The sooner is better. No funny stuff,” Min Hae said.
“As you say. Though I do have some questions for you. Who do you work for?”
“Well I used to work for Lady Fairgate, but since she ran off I thought that job might not be the best. I’ve been able to lay low and trade, well till I realized that you were making the people on Avapor work for you,” Min Hae said, taking a risk that the Kalu would think it odd that a person trying to flee from the Kalu would follow them.
“Why are you this close to ‘the line’ if you want to flee and get out of this mess?” The Kalu asked.
“Well the best survival stuff is here, plus I'm not going to head towards the line. I'm going to run parallel,” Min Hae said, Rosho was new since the Kalu had last been in Union space, it was also unknown by the free fleet. Min Hae was confident that his people would have found it before the Kalu.
“Very well. It will take two weeks until we have your supplies. If we sense that you are sending a message from your ship Verslava we will destroy you,” the Kalu said with completely calm manner.
“Understandable,” it looked like the Kalu knew what ship he belonged to at least. “May I ask what your name is? On my planet we deal in names as a sign of trust.”
“Very well, what is your name?” The Kalu asked.
“Malharva Herbert,” Min Hae said.
“Ashota an agreement is struck,” Ashota said, “Leave my ship and tell your people. I will have my ship moved into parallel orbit, any moves and you will be destroyed.”
“Understood,” Min Hae said. Ashota seemed to study him for a while.
“I think that we will have a longer relationship than either of us will like,” Ashota said, Min Hae could swear he saw amusement in the Kalu’s manner, though he wasn’t sure.
“Certainly,” Min Hae said diplomatically.
Chapter, promises at the heart of the Union
I had waved the flag, simply passing through systems. To go right up to a planet with a fleet ready for war was probably not the best bet. At least that's what I told my people. I didn't want to deal with another situation like I had on Daestramus.
We had done laps through systems until we got to Quarst, the home of the Union and where Lady Fairgate had called her seat of power.
“We're all clear,” Walf said a few hours of us being in the system. We weren't totally safe, but we would have days, to get ready for any attack, also Worshun was clear of any orbiting ships. Wrecked orbital stations still floated around the planet that looked nothing like the pictures shown in my PDF orientation when I had been recruited.
We went straight towards the planet. I was in my room with Yasu beside me, lying down and watching some television on Mecha Assault three. Earth's gaming community had recoiled after the Free Fleet had descended, it was even more interactive, closer to a simulator now for powered armor and mechas than just a video game.
My communicator beeped and Foshunti’s voice entered the room for a private talk, “Salchar, umm, I was wondering if I would be able to go down to Worshun.”
“We've heard nothing from the planet, and all indicators say that there's possibly nothing left alive down there,” I said, Yasu poked me, giving me a look that said I better allow the man to see his planet.
“I understand but I still want to try,” Foshunti said with realistic hope still in his voice.
“I will clear you to land, though you will take a security detail in full load out,” I said.
There was a pause before he answered.
“Alright,” he did not sound pleased with it, but was understanding.
“Good, see if you can't rouse something out of them, we have limited supplies right now, but there are wrecks in the area, we can drop them a few shuttles and pull those wrecks in, maybe kick-start some factories to get them started. Also point out that the traders are mostly empty, we can give them free seats as we have them,” I said, getting a smile from Yasu. I'll take that as a win, I thought.
“I will pass it on, thank you commander,” Foshunti signed off as Yasu cuddled up closer to me. For a few minutes I forgot about the Syndicate, the Kalu and how everyone seemed to be gunning for me. Then it dropped back on my shoulders as I felt an inexplicable weight on my shoulders and feeling in my gut.
***
It took Foshunti three days of conferences, private meetings and speeches before we were officially contacted by the governor of Worshun.
A Dov
ark appeared on the screen, the scenery around her looking spartan and utilitarian.
“I’m told that you are Commander Salchar of the Free Fleet,” she said, as if she was a woman used to quick answers, much like a trainee commander.
“That I am, and you are?”
“I am governor Elisati, I have been told that you offer us aid and your protective services if we submit to a payment to you,” she said.
“That is correct.” No need to sugar coat it.
“What are your terms?” She asked.
“We open up a Free Fleet recruiting facility, through that anyone can apply to be in the Free Fleet, then we work out something to make you money, and take a percentage of that, approximately two to five percent depending on certain criteria. We will have reduced payments depending on your situation,” I said, looking to my screen and sending the relevant data.
I frowned for a moment, “my relations team is better at handling this side of things.”
“And you are better at handling war?” She asked.
“Been pretty good at it so far,” I said, shrugging. She seemed to weigh me with her eyes before she nodded.
“Very well I will talk with your people, I don't trust you, but Foshunti has gone through a lot, he has the trust of the people and myself. If I find that you are lying to me, then I will make the Kalu look like a fairy-tale,” she said.
“And I will make Fairgate look like a godmother,” I said, anger seeping into my voice as I ground my teeth. I was not going to have someone threaten me on my own damned bridge. “You do not want to piss me off, or let me find out that you have gone against the laws set down by the Free Fleet,” my eyes boring into hers, anger alight in both our eyes. “We will talk soon,” I said, my voice cold as I cut the channel.
“Rubs you the wrong way a bit?” Rick said.
“A little,” I growled, the anger still making my limbs tight from the restraint I placed on myself.
***
Captain Dosa Quorn looked at the ship that had entered the system, it was trying to be stealthy, but the sensor platforms that Min Hae had ordered placed around the system picked it up easily.
Free Fleet Box Set 2 Page 39