MARS: Baroque Revolution

by Matthew Ellis

  Three Star Brigade ships engaged the Space Force ships in a firefight. They tried to use only the lasers until they were forced to use their missiles or bullets. The lasers allowed for two hundred shots in a minute, and only took ten seconds to recharge when they were depleted. The pilots only had four missiles and a thousand bullets.

  The Star Brigade ships that weren’t being pursued by the Space Force ships fired their lasers at the supply ship while they looked for a weakness in that ship to attack. The three Space Force ships didn’t alter their course except to evade Star Brigade fire.

  Lane sent a coded message to his pilots, informing them of the supply ship’s weakness. Once they received it, they all fired their first missile. The missiles all exploded ten meters from the ship.

  Jack said, “What the hell?”

  Lane said, “This is not Star Trek. Ships don’t have shields.”

  Jack sent, “How the hell’d they do that?”

  Lane answered, “It must’ve been a fucking shield. There’s no other way to pull that off.”

  Lane received coded messages from his crew asking for instructions. Lane was dumfounded. He’d never seen real shields before. Now he had to figure out how they worked so he could disable them. It would take some time, though.

  The Space Force battle ships didn’t have shields, so the Star Brigade ships focused their attention on those annoying ships. It made sense to fight the enemy they could fight while they figured out how to fight the enemy they couldn’t fight. They fired missiles at the three ships pursuing them. All of them hit their targets and destroyed the enemy ships.

  Dickson said, “We can’t afford to have three ships devoted to lights. I’ll switch to sensors. Attack the enemy vessels.”

  Dickson was confident that he would be victorious and squash this rebellion against common sense.

  He thought, “My sons will have great lives because of this victory. The bonus should last a century.”

  The three ships escorting the supply ship with their lights broke formation and engaged the Star Brigade ships. The Star Brigade ships sent another volley of missiles at the Earth ships and destroyed them. They had used half their missiles, so they needed to use the rest very carefully.

  Lane sent another coded message, “Hold your fire! Three ships only have one missile remaining. We can’t afford to waste them. Don’t fire until I can figure out their damn shields.”

  He blared the propaganda music on all frequencies again. Their radio silence prevented them from hearing the propaganda, but it made sure that they couldn’t communicate with each other.

  The debris of the Space Force ships drifted through space while the Star Brigade ships followed the supply ship and awaited orders. The pilots were getting bored two days after the battle ended, and resorted to sleeping. Fortunately, the supply ship wasn’t equipped with long-range sensors or seeking weapons. The captain was blind for the time being.

  The supply ship hurtled through space at top speed, but the Star Brigade ships used the gravity of the supply ship to keep pace. Dickson decided to get rid of the troublesome nuisances in orbit around his ship. He could see that the pilots were sleeping from his scans of the area. He fired a missile at the ship behind his ship.

  He thought, “Why the hell didn’t they give me a way to see what the hell is out there? These sensors are prone to false readings. I need real information.”

  He thought, “I wish I could use the drones, but I’d have to lower the shields to launch them.”

  Dickson had an epiphany, He realized that he could fire a shot and might get lucky.

  Dickson said, “This ought to surprise them. Then I’ll finish them off.”

  The missile hit its target and destroyed ship four, killing the pilot. It was a very lucky shot in the very literal dark.

  Lane saw the terror in front of him. He had to warn his crew.

  He thought, “Who was that? It’s terrible that someone just gave their life to defend the Martian Republic’s ideals, and I don’t even know their name.”

  He went through the rolls, and found her ship’s number. He crosschecked that with the roll file.

  He said, “Jessica Frost. I barely knew her, and now she’s gone. I’ll never get the chance to thank her for her service to our way of life.”

  Lane reflected for a moment, and then realized that he needed to warn the rest of his crew about the attack.

  He thought, “Get it together. Tell everyone what the hell’s going on.”

  Lane broke radio silence to wake up his crew. He warned them that the supply ship was armed. The pilots woke from their slumber and moved out of weapons range, but tried to retain visual contact with the ship.

  The captain of the supply ship fired again at Jack’s ship, but Jack fired 150 bullets at the missile coming toward his ship, destroying it. The supply ship only had six missiles on board that weren’t boxed up, and none of them were seekers. Dickson had to make his shots count, so he decided to cease-fire until the enemy ships were in visual range to fire.

  A week went by, and neither side fired a shot. No one, however, was bored. There was too much tension and fear for that. The Star Brigade pilots were on edge, and they were fighting the urge to mourn the loss of their comrade. They needed to stay sharp in case the supply ship decided to fire on them again. Tears and grief are not conducive to winning a battle, especially when the enemy has superior technology.

  Lane figured out that the shields were electro-magnetic. They were repelling the missiles and bullets as they approached the ship. He wondered why the first shots hit their targets. He couldn’t worry about that right now; he needed to disable the shields.

  Lane sent a coded text message, “I need an electromagnetic pulse. That’ll disable not only the supply ship’s shields, but also the engines of any ships in the area of the pulse. The pilot who sends the pulse will need to use the escape pod and find one of the others. Your ship will be completely useless afterward.”

  He sent a text message to anyone on the ship who wanted to defect or surrender. It contained a full set of instructions for surrendering to the Martian Republic.

  Jack replied, “I’ll volunteer to take out the shields.”

  The other Star Brigade ships moved far away from the supply ship. Jack moved his ship to less than a kilometer from the big ship.

  Dickson said, “What the hell are they doing?”

  A subordinate said, “Does it matter? We should destroy it.”

  Dickson snapped, “I give the fucking orders on this fucking ship. Do you understand?”

  The subordinate replied, “Yes, sir.”

  Dickson stood and pointed at the sensor monitor.

  He ordered, “Fire on the incoming ship.”

  Jack fired an electromagnetic pulse at the supply ship. The ship’s shields, along with all other electrical devices, failed. Jack’s ship also failed, and he activated the escape pod.

  Dickson ordered, “Everyone to battle stations. Fire at will, and destroy that ship.”

  He was getting worried, but still felt confident that he would win the day and collect his fat bonus at the end of the mission.

  The supply ship’s crew fired lasers and bullets at the Star Brigade ships while Dickson lined up a shot at Jack’s escape pod with the missiles.

  Dickson ordered, “Fire.”

  A subordinate fired a missile at the incoming Star Brigade Ship.

  Dickson watched in eager anticipation as his sensors showed him the trajectory of the missile. He watched as if he was watching a sporting event, cheering for the missile as it made its way toward the ship.

  Jack saw the missile coming, but didn’t have any way to fire on it. His only hope was for one of his comrades to notice that he was in danger and come to his salvation.

  Dickson said, “Watch this, boys. This is how you get rid of problems and make sure you’re rid of them forever.”

  Just then, fifty escape pods left the ship. Dickson was confused and checked the ship�
�s sensors. There was no damage to the ship, so he didn’t understand why people were leaving the ship.

  He thought, “I’ll bet these assholes are trying to defect. I’ll teach them a lesson.”

  He fired a missile at a group of pods, and it hit them. The missile destroyed 15 pods, which held 30 people.

  The Star Brigade pilots were too concerned with their own lives to notice that the Allied captain murdered his own people.

  The captain said, “Let the rest go. We’ll deal with them once these insects are dealt with.”

  The other Star Brigade pilots were evading enemy fire. The supply ship seemed to have unlimited ammunition, and every time one of the ships moved to attack the supply ship it was met with heavy fire. Lane noticed Jack was in trouble and moved to intercept his rescue pod before the missile reached him.

  Jack saw the missile growing bigger by the second and realized time was running out. He saw Lane in the distance and noticed that he was coming to try and rescue him. Two seconds later, the missile arrived and destroyed the escape pod.

  Dickson cheered, “Hell yeah. Two down, four to go. Let’s kill those assholes before they destroy us.”

  Lane watched as the escape pod exploded, killing Jack. His demeanor changed from worried to very angry. He turned his ship about and fired every bullet he had at the bridge of the enemy ship. The sympathizers told him the exact spot where life support was centered, and fired on it. The bullets tore a hole in the hull of that ship, pulling the life support gases out into space. Then he fired all four of his missiles into the hole he created. The missiles penetrated the hull of the ship and exploded, tearing the ship apart from the inside.

  Just before the ship exploded, Dickson shouted, “You’ll never defeat us! We’ll send millions more to get your stupid asses!”

  The wreckage of the supply ship floated into space while the Star Brigade pilots watched. They were both elated at having won the battle and devastated because of the loss of their two friends.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Battle of Base Camp

  Jordan took his troops on an excursion to find General Rich’s base camp. He already had intelligence telling him the approximate location, but he needed to find the exact spot in order to create a diversion that would allow the Star Brigade to sneak away.

  Jordan ordered, “I need every soldier not assigned to a specific post to come with me. Move!”

  Every soldier not assigned to a post jumped to join Jordan. No one dared question his orders. He was known to get testy when his orders were disobeyed, and no one wanted to be the subject of his ire.

  Fifty soldiers went with Jordan to attack the Allied Earth base camp. They traveled for two days, following Jordan’s intelligence. Early on the third day, they arrived at a hillside just East of General Rich’s base camp.

  It was exactly where they thought it would be. The old colony’s modules were being used for heavy duties, while tents were used for barracks and light storage.

  Jordan radioed, “Lane, come in.”

  Lane replied, “Is this channel secure?”

  Jordan answered, “I don’t radio on non-secure channels. I have visual on the base camp. It’s time to set the plan into motion.”

  Lane said, “Yes, sir,” and got off the radio to prepare his pilots.

  The Allied Earth Army and Air Force were eating in the old colony’s kitchen module when Jordan spotted them. They didn’t see him, and he wanted to keep it that way. He ordered his troops to stay hidden behind the hill and not make any noise until he received the signal that the Star Brigade was ready for them to create the diversion.

  Sometimes soldiers are required to take on very boring tasks, like doing absolutely nothing to facilitate a sneak attack. The temptation is not to take it seriously, but Jordan had his soldiers so well disciplined that no one let their guard down even for a second.

  At 0400, Jordan received the signal from Lane. While the enemy soldiers slept, he ordered his people to sneak up on their camp quietly and attack. Jordan led the troops.

  He quietly ordered, “Surround the barracks tent.”

  Once they were in position, Jordan quietly ripped the tent open. He motioned for his troops to stay close. The Martian soldiers alongside him entered the tent with him.

  Jordan put a finger to his lips. He wanted everyone to stay quiet until the trap was sprung.

  He whispered, “Fire.”

  The Allied Earth soldiers heard nothing as four Martian soldiers opened fire on them while they slept. The Martian Army used silencers to allow them to kill the Allied soldiers quickly and quietly. None of the Allied soldiers were able to get to their guns before they were hit by Martian bullets. There were bodies in beds and on the floor. A river of blood flowed across the tent.

  Jordan ordered, “Keep this blood contained to this tent. If anyone sees blood, they’ll know something’s wrong.”

  A soldier replied, “Yes, sir. We should try and keep the element of surprise.”

  Jordan said, “Exactly, so keep your voice down.”

  Before the Allied Earth soldiers could wake up, the Martian Army killed seventeen of them. The leaders, who were in the command module, came to their assistance when they saw the Martian soldiers walking toward the next barracks. When they arrived at the tent, they were either captured or killed by Martian forces. The Allied Earth troops that were able to get to their weapons fired. They shot at the encroaching Martian Army and killed five soldiers. Then the Martian soldiers stationed outside that tent opened fire on it. Some Allied Earth soldiers chose to run and save their own lives, and Jordan allowed them to escape. Others fought to the end, and Jordan’s soldiers killed every one of them. Their blood flowed onto the ground, but the thirsty Martian desert drank it quickly.

  The leader of the Allied Earth Army was able to escape and radio to General Rich. Jordan allowed him to escape. The original reason for the attack was to draw Rich away from orbit, and the information would draw him to the base.

  The leader radioed, “I need air support. The Air Force has been overrun and the Army’s taking heavy casualties. I need the Space Force down here now.”

  Rich immediately broke orbit and came to assist the ground forces. He brought his monstrous ship to the base camp and opened fire on the Martian Army. He destroyed two of their trucks and killed six more soldiers.

  Jordan ordered a retreat of the remaining soldiers. They got in their remaining trucks and drove away as fast as they could.

  Rich allowed the Martian forces to retreat once he arrived. He needed to survey the damage and figure out what he needed to ask for on the next supply ship. He didn’t have the time or the resources to launch a defensive attack.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Derail the Railroad

  India Caldwell called General Rich. She had some important information to relay to him. She could not risk the General not seeing it in an e-mail.

  India said, “There’s an annoying delay with all interplanetary communications, so I’m going to try and give you all the information I have for you at once. The corporate partners are starting to drop out of their bonus promises for soldiers returning from Mars. Time has the unfortunate effect of curbing enthusiasm. We can’t guarantee as many bonuses as you’re expecting, nor can we guarantee they’ll be as large as the troops are expecting them to be. You need to either inform the troops that there’s not as much money as promised, or reduce their numbers. I don’t like having to do this, but I don’t see any alternative that allows us to keep our profits where they need to be.”

  Eight minutes passed before Rich received the message, and eight minutes more once he sent his reply.

  He replied, “Our numbers are pretty depleted right now, but we have some reinforcements coming from Earth. I assume they already know about the reduction in bonus funding. The people I have already have proven themselves unreliable, so a lot of them are expendable. I’ll do what I can to make the best people eligible for the bonus money.”
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  India waited for his reply and let him know that she received his message.

  She said, “Very well, General. That is acceptable. Now, I’m not willing to wait for a response, so I’m ending this transmission once you receive my reply.”

  General Rich received the message and thought about how to get rid of people while still accomplishing his primary goals. After thinking about it for a while, he made a decision. He called The Operative into his office.

  Rich said, “I noticed they use a railroad to move supplies from place to place.”

  The Operative replied, “What about it?”

  Rich said, “We need to take it out.”

  The Operative asked, “What is this, the 19th century?”

  Rich said, “Don’t be a smart-ass. If you want to win a war, you have to destroy the enemy’s ability to restock.”

  The Operative said, “It seems they’ve learned that lesson. We’re bleeding faster by the minute with no relief in sight.”

  Rich said, “Don’t remind me. We just lost a whole goddamn ship.”

  The Operative said, “I don’t see why you don’t just give up before you lose everything.”

  Rich asked, “What makes you think we can’t win?”

  The Operative replied, “Because they have Captain Jordan Green. We’re going to lose everything.”

  Rich said, “I haven’t lost anything I can’t get back in one battle. Now shut the hell up and listen.”

  The Operative said, “Yes, sir,” but he thought, “Fuck you, you dick!”

  Rich was getting desperate to gain back some of his massive losses. The Operative just wanted to end the war. It was a lost cause anyway.

  Rich said, “I need you to assemble a team and take out the rails.”

  The Operative replied, “That’s a half-assed solution. They have diversion rails and people working on replacement parts around the clock.”

  Rich asked, “Are the rails defended?”