Rumors of Wars: The Askirti Chronicles - Book 2

by Danny A. Brown

  Still, she hated risking them.

  After waiting for two days, it was just killing her wanting to know what they found.

  “We would have detected if they were destroyed,” Alice said, tiring of Jacking pacing back and forth.

  “I know, I’m anxious!” Jackie responded. “I wish they could use their comms to talk to us!”

  “You know they can’t do that.”

  The FTL communications gear offered instantaneous communications across a broad area, slightly bigger than a solar system, but not large enough to communicate star to star. One of the detriments of FTL communications was that it was incredibly easy to detect. While it did not provide suitable positioning information, it was announcing you were in the neighborhood. As such, when running silent, it was standard procedure for ships to communicate on narrow band line-of-sight, which was not detectable at all but relied on being close range.

  Being on the outskirts of the system, they had identified twelve places the pirate base could be, which took all of ten seconds with their computers. However, it took less time than that to determine the actual base as the pirates were not hiding. Not here.

  There was a giant asteroid, almost a planetoid. It was irregularly shaped and had visible artificial protrusions. Buildings. And plenty of activity.

  “Sir, an incoming call! It’s the Yosi!” the comm officer said.

  “Captain Johns,” Jackie said.

  “High Queen.”

  “Report.”

  “Sending the details now. But the main thing we learned is they are actively holding slaves. Large numbers of them,” the captain said. “The Naozumi and the Nikita are remaining on station as planned to report any changes to the disposition of the enemy.”

  “So much for nuking the facility, this is as much a rescue operation as it is a seek and destroy one,” Jackie responded. “Well, we all knew that was the likelihood. Job well done, Captain.”

  The connect ended.

  “Pari, evaluate Captain John’s logs and provide a summary of your findings.”

  Pari was allowed to project itself onto the flag bridge, and a limited number of other areas of the ship. The same technology that allowed for the holotable was enhanced and expanded. It did not look lifelike, and it was somewhat transparent. But their technology was nowhere near that of the Homem Empire which gave birth to the AI. Without a jumpstart in technology, they would have to wait another hundred thousand years for some stuff.

  “The facility hosts hundreds of freighters and a few liners, all believed to be stolen. They have over five hundred pirate ships. Most are warships of every class, others are supply or freighters that were converted into haphazard warships, having a few lasers and a couple of missile tubes bolted onto it. By and large, the ships are similar in level of upgrades and maintenance we’ve seen from these people in the past. The vast majority of the warships are more than a hundred years old, and initial scans reveal problems on the exterior. I would hazard a guess the inside is the same or worse.

  “There are over half a million slaves on the station, and there are over a million pirates,” Pari concluded.

  “How do you know the number?”

  “The Naozumi sent a small team of two marines and five ACUs to tap several of their systems physically,” Pari answered.

  Jackie was unaware the ‘killer robots’ were capable of such delicate operations, though she should have guessed.

  “Tell me about their patrols.”

  “They are a lazy bunch,” Pari said. “They believe themselves well protected because of their location. There is one dreadnought in deplorable condition, one battleship in even worse shape, and five destroyers that look decent.”

  “Small task force for watching almost two million souls and a thousand ships,” Alice said, chiming in.

  “Didn’t say they were a smart bunch,” Pari retorted.

  “Colonel Amori, Commodore Reynolds. Time to discuss details.”

  ##

  While no one was feeling particularly charitable about this group, Jackie wanted prisoners. Perhaps some of the pirates were civilians captured and pressed into service, perhaps more of them were slaves than initial intel suggests. It would be easy to nuke the place or to use the powerful railguns on the capital ships to decimate it. No, the plan was much more complicated than that.

  She wanted not just prisoners, but survivors, people who were taken as slaves. She also wanted their facilities as she was going to make this planetoid hers. And she wanted the ships, all of them. Well, the ones that could be returned to their owners would be, whereas the rest would become part of her empire.

  What made her happy was knowing she was going to free half a million slaves, innocent men, women, and children whose lives had been destroyed or were in the process of being destroyed.

  She would also find the worst offenders as they would not live. The rest of the prisoners would spend their remaining days on a prison planet.

  ##

  “I find this unacceptable!”

  “I find it very acceptable.”

  “You cannot go down there!” Reynolds said.

  “It’ll be okay. Just me and a hundred thousand of my best friends,” Jackie answered.

  Indeed, she was bringing most of the marines in her task force and almost all of the ACUs. This was an outright invasion, and she was going to be a part of it.

  “I’ll have my personal guard.”

  Her personal guard included every marine and every ACU on the Hania, three thousand in all.

  “I’ll also be wearing a vac-suit like everyone else.”

  Alice Reynolds was beside herself.

  “I’m not going to win this!” she said a few times out loud while pacing.

  “No, you are not. But, I’m also not suicidal. Believe me, I know my place has changed, I will not be on the first ship down there,” Jackie said, trying to alleviate the fears of her commodore.

  I’ll be on the seventh.

  “I have every confidence in you and the plans we’ve set forth. I believe we are going to succeed and not by a small margin.”

  ##

  As Jackie’s MAC approached the pirate base, she was staring at Rick sitting directly opposite of her. He had a look of absolute glee, one she certainly felt.

  Does it make me a monster to look forward to killing?

  <>

  It is my job, isn’t it?

  <>

  Jackie considered her time with Rick. She thought about the kiss. She thought about the headlines. While media annoyed her, it was nice thinking about, toying with, having a life with this man.

  Instead of date night, we go killing pirates for fun.

  The plan was brilliant. MACs and drop ships would be used to approach all the ships on patrol and board them. They would also be used to board all the “warm” warships. Some ships were kept in a state of standby, being the reactors were not shut down and could be crewed and sent into action in less than an hour. The “cold” ships would be ignored. They were crewless, as were all the civilian ships. The rest of the invaders would bring marines and ACUs down to the planetoid.

  The fleet would stay alert for approaching pirates and disable or destroy any ships fleeing.

  The last part of the plan needed more intelligence. The Nikita had to send another small team out to tap more equipment to get this, but in the end, it was worth it. There was a section of the base that was free of slaves. Depending on the time of day, there would be upwards of three hundred thousand pirates in that area, and the grand plan was to asphyxiate them. Pari provided a computer virus that would disable certain emergency systems, not that the pirate systems could be counted on, but most people living in the void did pay more attention to life support. Jackie felt nothing as she approved the deaths of a third of a million people who made a living destroying the lives of others.

  But what if some of those were pressed i
nto service?

  <>

  I know. I don’t have to like it, though.

  It was all to happen at the same time. The MACs and drop ships pursuing the pirate patrol had already attached to the hulls. The same with the ones on the “warm” ships. The same with those on the base. This was a massive operation with down to the second timing.

  “TEN, NINE, EIGHT,” boomed a voice over the intercom.

  “…THREE, TWO, ONE! GO! GO! GO!”

  There was a loud explosion nearby, the wall of the facility collapsing inward. The MAC itself served as an airlock in a situation like this, where they wanted survivors. It the situation became too hot, the MAC could just leave, decompressing that section of the base. But due to the nature of this mission, it would cover the area with a thin sheet of artificial material coated in nanofibers, creating a boot. Thankfully many of the ACUs had already deployed in advance of the marines. They did not care whether they waited in a vacuum or a pressurized, air-conditioned room.

  Instantly, a hundred thousand marines and androids poured into the now chaotic base. They were coming from everywhere, or so it seemed. As Askirti forces flooded the corridors, their HUDs instantly identified people they came across as not just friend or foe, but armed or unarmed. The decision as to what a soldier should do was an easy one at that point.

  “Jackie, this way!” Rick called out. It was hard to have personal freedom of movement when your personal guard entailed three thousand guns. It was also hard to get the first kill as so many guns were in front and behind her.

  Finally, out of a storefront rushed eight pirates.

  All armed. Good.

  Jackie wasted no time opening fire, the pirates going down just a little too quickly. She glanced to her left seeing there were three ACUs, her special ACUs that were smarter than the rest. They killed six of the pirates.

  Killer robots. I knew this was a mistake. They’re taking all the fun away!

  <>

  Jackie was astonished. They hadn’t been here but a few minutes.

  And our little problem with the pirate-only section?

  <>

  Where you able to verify success visually?

  <>

  Too easy a death for what they are guilty of.

  She stood up and ran into the shop before any of those with her could stop her.

  Going through there, she found a few people hiding, though they could not hide from the electronics in her helmet, it saw everyone in the store.

  Seventeen. Three too small to be adults, and one…what the hell? One is locked in a box?

  Activating her Askirti gift, she ceased emitting sound, and now emitted anti-sound resulting in complete silence. She always had this gift, along with the near invisibility, since she was very young. It was her visit to the ancient facility on Wellington where she received her birthright, authentic Homem Empire Royal Family nanites, which enhanced her previous abilities and introduced new ones.

  She shouldered her weapon and took out her katana, it was time for the silent kill.

  She was close to her first victim, coming up from behind him. Once she was close enough, she sliced through one of his lungs at the same time she placed her hand over his mouth. He made no sound as she lowered him to the ground. Her next two victims were standing side by side.

  Brother and sister? Perhaps husband and wife? Who knows.

  She came up directly in front of them, full invisibility engaged, and in a single swing of her blade, she sliced both of their throats.

  Then the marines and the ACUs made their way in.

  Babysitters.

  <>

  Her team made short work of the remaining pirates in the store.

  Two older children stood there, looking at the mechanical soldiers and the two marines with them.

  “Are you going to kill us too?” one of them said.

  At that moment, Jackie came forward. “No. No harm is going to come to you.”

  She ran over to the box that her HUD indicated contained a child and opened the box. In there was a bruised and beaten kid, somewhere around six or seven years old. Except for the lack of Askirti features, she looked remarkably like Amanda, her oldest daughter. This girl had brown hair and brown eyes. Her skin was even the typical light brown that most humans were. But her facial features were uncanny in their resemblance to her oldest child.

  Jackie’s breath caught as the child stood up and looked at her, held out her arms as if to be held. In the middle of a battlefield, seeing what could have been her daughter was not what she was expecting. But this was why she was here, to help them.

  She picked the child up, handing her off to the nearest marine and told them to take the children to the nearest survivor’s center. These were being put up all over the base as section after section was secured. Freed slaves, and lots of them, generally in bad health, were expected.

  “Let’s move,” she said to the rest with her.

  She caught up to Rick who turned to her and said “nineteen!”

  She smiled, knowing that meant nineteen pirates killed. Nineteen murderers extinguished from this universe.

  Suddenly, there was a nearby explosion. And out of where a wall used to be, enemy PAUs started pouring out. They came barreling down the corridor tearing through marines and ACUs.

  Jackie watched in horror as two of the enemy PAUs shot a group of slaves that were chained to the wall nearby, presumably in some slave market. These two were more concerned about murdering the innocent than in fighting her and her soldiers, such were the sick minds at work.

  Enemy soldiers were amassing behind the PAUs. They were heavily armed and pushed back, ready for blood.

  Instantly she changed. White fire began to envelop her as energy seemed to flow into her from the power conduits. Yes, she did not have the strength of a planet full of Sevinc nodes, but that which was available could still bring quite the pain, just on a far smaller scale.

  As the PAUs noticed her, they turned in her direction, firing only on her as they ignored all the soldiers around her. It was to their astonishment that their lasers, many of them right on target, did not seem to do anything to stop this woman.

  She reached her right hand out, showing an open hand. She then squeezed it shut. At the same time, white fire leaped out from her directly at the PAUs, and they each crinkled up like a small metal can that was squeezed. Those dwelling in them died grisly deaths.

  She then outstretched her other hand, and fire leaped from both hands to the crowd of several hundred pirates that had gathered behind the PAUs. As the fire hit the first few rows of wide-eyed bad guys, they were ripped apart, limb from limb. The next few rows collapsed, dead before they hit the ground. It was later found the bones in their bodies had been completely shattered. Further back the pirates were severely injured. The ones at the rear though, they ran.

  Too bad I can’t pocket that power.

  <>

  I know, but a girl can wish.

  “Can you do that a few more times?” Rick asked.

  “No, I need to rest,” she said, heavily panting. “As much as I’d like to zap ‘em, I’m tapped out. I’m fatigued,” she got out, breathing heavily and looking like she was going to fall over.

  “Platoons Beta and Delta, form up!” Rick boomed.

  Two platoons of mixed marines and ACUs formed up around her.

  “God, I said I was tired, not injured!” Jackie exclaimed.

  “High Queen, we are not taking you out of the fight, but it is right for us to protect you.”

  It was an ACU. At that moment, she realized that she had never spoken to one
before.

  It’s concerned?

  <>

  “Thank you, Unit AC-1501,” Jackie said. “Let’s proceed deeper into the base.”

  ##

  Around the base, hundreds of marines were perishing and thousands more ACUs meeting their end. Tens of thousands of pirates were dying. The pirates were losing, but the fight was bleeding the marines. Then the Askirti PAUs made their appearance.

  The powered armor of Jackie’s forces had been enhanced in every way over what they were beforehand. But the best enhancements were in the area of the “safe shot” feature, which meant it did not shoot anyone on the “friendly” list, but automatically fired at everyone else. The main enhancement to that feature was it now had a far higher rate of fire from earlier models as the computer was able to catalog armed combatants much quicker, and network with other nearby PAUs to coordinate fire. Thousands of Askirti PAUs began tearing through the corridors of the base, shredding the pirates wherever they went, completely decimating their defenses.

  Chapter 8

  Section 4-2 of the Non-Aligned Zone

  Planetoid Pirate Base

  The marines and ACUs had followed closely behind the PAUs, which was the plan they should have followed before. But no plan survives contact with the enemy. At least the ‘sketch’ of the plan did.

  “That’s the fifth child sex shop we’ve passed,” Jackie grimaced.

  This place was a bazaar for the lowest of the low.

  “And they even offer to torture the child for you, if you can’t do it yourself,” Rick added.

  Though roughly half the pirates had surrendered, some of them would never be allowed to live as their crimes were too gruesome.

  Jackie was expecting it to be bad, but she had no stomach for this.

  Today I must wear the mask. They expect the Ice Queen, that is what they will get.

  She slowly exhaled, gathering herself.

  “Execute the owners of this shop,” Jackie ordered. “Go through their records, and compare clients against pirates who’ve surrendered.”

  “What do we do then, sir?” the marine asked.

  “Execute them,” she responded evenly.