Retribution (Shaitan Wars)

by Sudipto Majumdar

  The most notable amongst those harsh jobs, that would go down in human history as one of the most legendary and enigmatic fighting units, surpassing the mystique of the harsh draft of the Roman Legion, the Knight Templars or the French Foreign Legions would be the ‘Tyagi Legion’. These were men and women who would volunteer for just one campaign. A campaign from which if they ever returned, the earliest they can hope to return home would be after more than 15 years.

  Students of human history many centuries later would carry a lot of popular misconceptions about the legendary Tyagi Legion. One of the most common misconception was that the legion was made entirely of Africans. That was not true.

  While Africans made up nearly 40% of the legion and were the largest group in that force, there were people from all over the world that made up the force. It was true however that nearly 80% of the Tyagi Legionnaires came from poorer countries. It was their only shot at space in a venture which was otherwise dominated by people from the rich 20 countries of the world.

  A thousand years later as the legend and the notoriety of the Tyagi legion would grow in popular human lore, one of the misconceptions was that the Tyagi legionnaires were snatched from their parents as children or even as toddlers and drafted into a lifetime of service, trained for one purpose and one purpose only. To fight wars. They were compared to Roman foreign legions, where young boys from barbarian nations would be taken to serve Rome for a lifetime in war.

  The reality was that the Tyagi legionnaires were recruited at the age of 18 or later, just like any other marine or navy personnel of USC. They were given no more or less rigorous training compared to any other unit of the USC. Their service commissions lasted the same duration as any other soldier in the USC. In fact it was just another unit of the USC.

  Officially they were not even called the ‘Tyagi Legion’. They were officially called the ‘Deep Space Offense Corps’. That innocuous name however hid a terrible reality. The DSO Corps would be called upon to go on a campaign a quarter of a light year away, where a round trip on the fastest human ships would take 15 years. They would be completely on their own with no hope of a backup or rescue.

  To that extent the legendary reputation of Tyagi Legion was justified in human history because not only would they go the furthest the humans had ever gone. They would be going on the longest military campaign ever in human history. They would abandon every personal relationship they had on Earth and cut off any ties they had to their birth planet for over 15 years, more likely around 20 years.

  If they returned at all, most if not all of the people they ever knew would be dead or would have moved on in life. All the relationships that they ever valued would have been snapped. They would return back to an Earth which would have changed so much that they would barely be able to recognize it. Many would have lost their parents and other members of their family.

  Their brothers and sisters would have aged beyond their middle ages, while the returning soldiers would have aged physically only a half of the time elapsed. If they had a sweetheart or a girlfriend, then they would find them having moved on to other lives with grown up children. None of the legionnaires were cruel or selfish, so they never married, only to leave their wives or husbands on Earth.

  One can understand the fascination drama and fiction writers in later human history would have with the Tyagi Legion, and why they would become one of the favorite subjects of many classic literature. Their social relationships, emotional drama of separation was fodder for any author.

  While they were often compared with the conscripted foreign soldiers of the Roman Legions or the French foreign legion as far as cutting off personal relationships were concerned, the more apt comparison would probably have been with the Knight Templars. The legionnaires were motivated to endure this terrible personal hardship with a conviction not dissimilar to the religious conviction of the Knight Templars.

  The USC as a whole was a fairly professional fighting force. Although humans hadn’t let go of their national identities and their individual nationalistic pride, but USC was as international in spirit as a bunch of humans given the circumstances could have created.

  It was not as if the DSO corps was an elite fighting unit within the USC. They were as skilled and competent as any other corps in the USC, no more no less. It was their mental makeup, their emotional and social conditioning, and the socio economic background of a large section of the legionnaires that made them different from the rest of USC.

  Every soldier in the USC was brave, committed and patriotic enough to the cause of humanity to put his or her life on the line, as they did regularly in battles with the Shaitans. It however took a different kind of commitment and belief to be willing to give up most of your adult life to be able to fight a battle. Not every USC soldier was willing to do that. This is what distinguished the Tyagi Legionnaires. In that respect they were similar in their beliefs to the Knight Templars.

  The Battalions and Regiments of Marines formed for the DSO corps, who would make the first legendary journey outside the solar system, along with the Navy personnel and a handful of civilians would be immortalized, dramatized and eulogized over and over in human literature and history as the ‘Tyagi Legion’.

  Chapter 5

  Open Sesame

  They say that when every adult had failed to solve a problem, send a child to solve it. There is a greater likelihood that the child would be able to solve the problem, because it most probably requires leaving all your preconceived notions behind. A child has no preconceived notion.

  New Detroit, USA

  February 2085

  It had been many months since the defeat of the Shaitans, and the Holocaust that they wreaked on Earth. The emotions of humanity were still raw, and swung between triumph due to their victory and sadness because of the Holocaust. USC however had to go about its regular task. It was the sentinel for human kind, there was no relaxing for the people of USC.

  There were calls for retribution, which if authorized would have to be executed by the USC. There was no doubt either that the next time the Shaitans would come in even greater numbers, now that they knew from their interrogation of prisoners, that there were at least 6, possibly as many as 20 Shaitan worlds. The redeeming factor was that some of the worlds were probably very far away, and if the Shaitans wanted to consolidate their strength from all the worlds before attacking, they would have to delay their campaign, thus giving Earth some time to prepare. How much time the humans had, was unknown.

  It became more important than ever to crack the technologies of the Ka-let, and assimilate them to have a better chance of fighting the Shaitans when they come in greater numbers. Humanity had to thank the Shaitans though for gifting those technologies by leading them to the Ka-let.

  It was less than a year since the Ka-let base on the South Pole of Mars had been discovered, and already humans had learnt so much, especially in the field of biology, biomechanics and chemistry. All due to one computer that the humans had been able to crack in the lab, which was now known as the tomb. The biggest treasure however was lying in front of the humans, the gigantic spaceship of the Ka-let. Its secrets hidden by the seemingly impenetrable hull of the ship.

  There were serious debates going on now, to try and cut through the hull of the ship. Other than the obvious dangers of radiation leaks and explosions, which were eminently possible even in an 80 thousand year ship, there was also the risk of irretrievably damaging some critical piece of technology. Most considered cutting the hull to gain entrance as the absolutely last option, which might be considered if humans failed after a few years of trying everything else.

  Neal Arrington was an unassuming chemical engineer working in the R&D department of a large multinational company. His specialty was as unassuming as his personality. He developed improved processes to manufacture adhesives and abrasives. Most people would find his line of work boring, and if he talked about it, would probably put them to sleep.

  He lived in a
n unassuming neighborhood in the suburbs of New Detroit, a city which had been literally rebuilt from ground up after it went into terminal decline and bankruptcy at the beginning of the century. If Detroit had been identified with automobiles in the last century, it was now identified with specialty chemicals and process R&D now. It was one of the hubs of discovery of new materials for a new human civilization.

  Neal was one of the million such employees in this industry, working on an equally common and unassuming job. His joy was his family consisting of his wife and their young son Patrick. Neal had another source of joy. His internet group, a virtual band of brothers who called themselves the ‘The Very Hard Problem Solvers’ or VHAPS for short. They had not solved any seriously hard problem yet, but the online discussions and the inputs that Neal provided, gave him a source of satisfaction.

  The VHAPS had taken upon themselves a seriously hard problem this time – finding a way to enter the Ka-let spaceship. The problem was being tackled head on by some of the best minds in the world, but that never stopped a bunch of romantics from having a go at the problem. Neal was reading through all the hypothesis that had been posted on the message boards of VHAPS about the problem on a Saturday morning, when young Patrick tugged on his shirt.

  “Whatch you doing?” Patrick asked in a sing song way, indicating that he demanded Neal’s attention.

  Neal sighed and gave up reading. He turned towards Patrick and said in a mock serious demeanor. “I am trying to solve a very big problem. It might be a life or death problem for us humans.”

  “Wow! Can I help please… dad?” Patrick said excitedly.

  “Sure. The help of a whiz like you is always welcome.” Neal said in an encouraging tone. “If you can solve this problem, then you would be a hero in your school and around the world. All you need to do is to figure out how to enter the Ka-let ship on Mars. You know about the Ka-let don’t you?”

  “Sure dad, they are the other aliens who were killed by the Shaitans, and some of them ran away to Mars, but they all died there. I know all about them. I even saw that ship on the videos my friends forward me… So why can’t we enter the ship? Doesn’t it have doors?” Patrick asked.

  “That’s the problem son, we have not found any doors or any other opening on that ships.” Neal replied.

  “I bet that there is some secret code word to open it, like the story you used to tell me at bed time… Open Sesame!” Patrick said in a thoughtful manner.

  “Yeah some smart people thought about that. They tried the modern version of that secret code using radio signals, ultrasound and everything else to say those magic words. Hasn’t worked yet.” Said Neal.

  “Dad, you said that you wanted to open the ship on Mars, what about the other ship? Didn’t they find another ship on the moon, what about that one?” Patrick asked.

  “Yes they found another Ka-let space craft on the South Pole of the moon near the Shackleton base, but it was not really a big spacecraft, it was more like a shuttle. It is bigger than our shuttles, but a shuttle nonetheless. It was hidden inside a crater and covered up. There was no Ka-let base there, just the shuttle hidden there. And yes, we need to figure out how to open that as well, but the same problem Pat, no doors.” Neal said, thinking about it himself.

  “Dad, isn’t South Pole… like the bottom of the planet?” Patrick balled his fist and pointed to the lower part of the fist. “Wouldn’t the ship… like wouldn’t it fall down?”

  “No… No… No Pat. That is not how it works!” Neal said and explained the basics of gravity to his son.

  After some thought, Patrick asked Neal. “Where was the ship on Mars found dad?”

  “It was also found on the South Pole of Mars.” Neal replied.

  “What is it with the Ka-let and South Pole? Weird place to park your ship when you have the whole planet to yourself. What is so special about the South Pole dad?” Patrick asked.

  “Yeah Pat, everybody has been wondering about that as well. Everyone has their own theory about why the Ka-let prefer the South Pole, some of the theories are weird, and others are outright scientifically wrong. The only thing I can think of is that both the South Pole of Mars and Moon have the largest reservoir of water on that planet and the moon. Maybe they wanted to be near the source of water.” Neal said thoughtfully.

  “Yeah, that would be cool, otherwise they would have to carry water bottles like we have to do for our picnics. I bet the secret lies in the water. Once you figure that out, then all you will have to do is say ‘abracadabra open sesame’, and whoosh… by magic the ship will open up!” Patrick said and abruptly walked off, having lost interest in the conversation.

  The conversation however had the opposite effect on Neal. He had looked at the inventory of the Ka-let site so many times that he had memorized it. He realized that almost everything that an organic creature needs to live had been found inside that enclosed canyon, except one thing. A water tank. Did the Ka-let carry their water in bottles? Unlikely, initial estimates calculate that the Ka-let lived in that habitat for decades.

  It is inconceivable that an organic creature did not need water. Even if the Ka-let did not bathe or flush, they surely needed to replenish their body fluid, which evaporates naturally from the skin. This is true even for the Shaitans. So they had to drink water at the minimum. The current estimate is that at least a thousand, possibly two thousand Ka-let lived in that canyon habitat. It would take a large water tank to supply that many creatures with just drinking water.

  Why would the Ka-let construct so many things to make their life convenient in their habitat but not build the most essential of things – a water tank? Unless we have been looking at it all the time, but failed to recognize it as such. A large, fat water tank sitting squarely in the middle of the habitat! He was excited now. He started swiping on his terminal getting in touch with his VHAPS group, propounding his hypothesis, and how to prove or disprove it.

  Ka-let Dig site, South Pole, Mars

  April 2085

  “All right! Whose crazy idea was this?” Hollered Benedict. Many on Mars had mistaken Benedict Parsons as a military man. His demeanor and irascibility suggested that he was used to the drill sergeant routine. Benedict was in fact a civilian. A capable engineer, but an outstanding project manager. He had the reputation of getting things done, and done in time. Hollering at people came with the territory.

  Benedict and his handpicked team had been sent to Mars as the specialized team to oversee the exploration of the Ka-let site, the moment the second Shaitan invasion ended. They had replaced the battle weary and tired team headed by Yusuke, who had formed the makeshift exploration team while the war was still going on, and the humans in Kormas base had been temporarily stranded on Mars.

  Yusuke and team had done a decent job, given that they were not a specialized exploration team. Benedict and his team however had organized the job to a perfection. They had gotten everything sorted, cataloged, shipped or studied as the situation required, in keeping with the reputation of Benedict and his team. Everything that is, except the elephant in the room. More precisely the big fat spaceship in the middle of the canyon.

  That was the piece of equipment which had foxed Benedict and his team just as much as the team before. It stood out like a sore thumb in an otherwise neat and organized project routine, and that bothered Benedict no ends. He was starting to get obsessed with that damn spaceship. Benedict had spent the previous day doing nothing but eliminating all the harebrained ideas that came from various quarters about how to open the ship, till there were two that were left standing.

  One was a very technical point mentioned by a scientist which could be checked out and eliminated only by inspection. The other was sent by a self-declared problem solving group on the internet. He hated these crazy whackos, who spent all their time in front of terminals gossiping about conspiracy theories. Normally he would have thrown the proposal into the bin, just by skimming the header.

  There was something different a
bout this theory however. They had given a logic, which seemed irrefutable, and they had given a way to test the hypothesis. That was all a scientist or an engineer could ask for, so despite his prejudice, he had decided to check the idea out. Now as he was about to execute the test, he was having his doubts, and hence the holler.

  “It is not that bad boss. The thing will come off, we just have to give it some more time. This thing is 80 thousand years old. This place may not cause metals to rust like Earth, but entropy is still at work here, just like the rest of the universe. 80 thousand years does take its toll.” Benedict’s assistant replied.

  The two were talking about a protruding structure about 15 centimeters in length, near one of the wedges, which stuck out of the hull. There were many such structures all around the ship placed evenly all across the surface of the hull. No one knew what their purpose was, but then no one knew the purpose of anything on that ship.

  The X-Ray scans had shown that the protrusions had a mechanism, which could only be described as resembling a fire hydrant. That mechanism however was still under the metal skin of the hull. There appeared no cap which could be opened and the mechanism explored. Engineers had originally speculated that those protruding mechanism were provisioned while constructing the ship, so that any one of them could be used in an emergency to either fill some tank or drain some tank by cutting the outer skin and exposing the mechanism.

  The VHAPS group had a slightly different theory, which is what was being tested right now with the sonic agitator. If the theory turned out right, then the internal mechanism would leverage the energy of the strong infrasound being pumped into the protrusion and create a weak fracture somewhere along the rim of the protrusion.