by Kocho
“What will be my role in this?”
“Your company will have complete control. The mining ships will be yours and you will pay them in the long run. How long it will be decided later if we survive this. But I need you answer as fast as possible. You are the right man for the job and it is yours if you like it.”
Le Blanc rose and approached the window. He looked outside at the sky and then to his president.
“Even as a kid i always dreamed about the stars. What you are offering me is making sure that that dream comes true.”
As the president looked at him a huge grin appeared on the miner’s face.
“My answer is yes Mr. President. Hell yea.”
As he heard his last words the president smiled as well. It was a joyful smile, a rare one since the attack.
“Very well Mr. Le Blanc. You will get what you need from my secretary. She will give you all the information’s you need.”
Le Blanc got the hint and took the president’s hand. After that he turned and exited the room and as he did he noticed the several men in uniform that waited outside. He nodded and went towards the woman that was waiting for him.
Carter looked through the window of his office. It was a beautiful night with a cloudless sky over Washington. He smiled as he noticed the now expanded space station circling high above. The station now held two more ships that were being built up there. But these ships were very different from the Deadalus. They were warships that together with the ones being built on Earth would try to stop the invasion at its tracks.
He hoped that they will too.
“The Federal government has approved the operation Valhalla Mr. President. Four ships from the fleet will be launched as soon as their crew and passengers are assembled.”
Carter turned towards the man who spoke those words. The man was his oldest friend and at the same time he was the commander of the newly formed EFA (earth federation army). And looking at his face it was not an easy job. Just keeping and managing an army the size the US had was difficult enough. The EFA had far more man, massive military formations that needed to be incorporated in to one unified body. That was almost impossible. Given time Carter knew that it would succeed. But time was something they didn’t have. So soon after the forming everyone decided that the national armies should stay that. Instead of incorporating them all each country contributed some of its military units in to what was now becoming the real EFA. That made it easier to incorporate them and train them as one cohesive army that could react everywhere in cooperation with the national armies. It also made Taylor’s job a lot easier.
Together with them were also two admirals, admirals Johnson and Simonson and one captain, captain Jennings.
They were here because they were involved in the first conflict, the battle with the Dacarian scout fleet, and because they were planned to take command of the fleet that was now being built. The decision was understandable. They had firsthand experience in fighting them and with ships that were by a large margin weaker than the ones they would have a chance to command. As for Jennings he was here because he was the man who commanded the first mission to another star, three stars in fact.
And he was also going to be a part of Valhalla as he was the commander of the ship that was going to transfer people and equipment to Eden. That was the name of one of the three habitable worlds in Alpha Centaury, the world they all agreed was a real paradise, a planet that just like Earth was placed at the perfect place to allow life to flourish. It had no native civilization, and it was almost as big as Earth with a strong magnetic field that helped it to stave of the radiation from the two stars that it orbited. In fact it only orbited around Alpha Centaury but to an outside observer it would have seemed that it orbited both Alpha and Beta. It had six continents and vast deep oceans and inland seas and lakes and rivers. Large mountains the highest over ten miles were scattered on all continents and vast jungles and forests could be seen everywhere. The examinations of the soil and the fauna and flora gave stunning results about the similarity with Earth. Earth animals and plants could survive on that lush world with ease. That made the colonization of Eden a priority. It was decided that one hundred thousand colonists should be relocated to that world with hope that by keeping a low profile and not announcing their technology and no space transmissions of any kind they would remain hidden even in case Earth falls. The colonists were now being chosen.
But that was a concern that was for another time and with other people.
“That is in the hands of the Federation. Let us hope they will have the same success captain Jennings had in his mission. Congratulations captain. Hope it felt good.”
He presidents comment brought a smile on Jennings face. He relaxed a bit.
“Thank you Sir. It did.”
The president smiled back and sat down on his chair. He looked at the four officers in the room with him.
“I’m glad it did. It might be the brightest thing we will see in a long time. But that is not the reason we are here.”
“Yes sir.” - The comment came from Admiral Johnson. The president just nodded and continued.
“Gentlemen three months ago we sent captain Jennings and his crew with the Deadalus filled with hope. They managed to give us that and much more. As you are well aware besides the two ships that are now being built in space fifteen other smaller ones are being constructed in several countries down here on Earth. But we all know that they might not be enough. We need more, we must have more. How does the Nautilus project go? The report says that it will be ready for a test in three weeks.”
“Yes sir. Four submarines are entering the final process now, two of ours, one Russian and one British. The Los Angeles class that we plan to conduct the tests on will be ready in three weeks. It will give us the chance to test how much armor will be needed for a ship to be able to stay in the battle even without shielding.”
“Let us hope that the tests will prove to be good. Time is running out and we need those ships. The engines will be ready in ten months and we need to have the hulls for them. And we will gentlemen. Even If the armor proves that it can’t last long we might have to use them. That invasion has to be stopped there.”
As he said those words he pointed outward towards the sky.
“We have to stop them up there. Those ships must not reach Earth, no matter the price.”
None of the officers answered that.
They all knew what their superior meant, and they all felt the same. They knew their mission and they knew that every soldier that served under them, every soldier that in that moment that was approaching will find himself facing that threat will feel the same. They knew that they might be required to die but at that thought all they felt was pride that they might be asked to do that…
Several minutes later they all excited the office. Carter was still looking outside, his view sometimes turning toward a picture on his desk. The picture was from his two children. He knew what he was asking form his men, what every leader in the world, was asking from the soldiers and the fleet that was now being built. But that was so that humanity has a chance, a future so that all the children in the world could live free.
He took the picture in his hands.
It was for them, for them…
18 July 2018 12:30 hours
Battleship Argus Earth Orbit
Admiral Johnson stood on the bridge on the Argus and watched as the USS Los Angeles disengaged from the hull of the Demetrion. As it did the cruiser slowly moved away. The submarine looked a lot different from the way it looked several months earlier. It was larger and its hull was a lot stronger. The places where the weapons were supposed to be placed could be seen easily.
The submarine was the product of the project Nautilus project that was the brainchild of Adam Archer a young engineer who proposed the idea that with redesign and some changes the submarines could be turned into spaceships. His proposal, a proposal that in the past would have been met with laughs, was taken ser
iously by everyone considering the impending danger and the immediate need for ships. Johnson knew that the proposal wasn’t something that was exactly new. Both the navy and NASA looked at that idea several times earlier. But until now no one thought about actually trying to produce a starship.
Adam got assigned as one of the heads of the project that was named Nautilus. He was here now along with several members of his team, and a lot of officers. The commanding officers of the Los Angeles were here also. They all knew that they were about to watch their submarine, their home die but they brushed those thoughts aside. What was now important was will the armor that was installed on the submarine be enough.
Johnson looked at the report in his hands. The specs of the submarine were there.
The armor was the same as the one used in the ships that were now being built on Earth and in the slips. It was in a smaller quantity and density in order to conserve the structural integrity of the submarines.
Steps were taken in order to strengthen that integrity as well with additions and some changes in the submarines as well. A smile appeared on his face as he read that last word. The Los Angeles now was anything but a submarine. With the amount of armor she had she was by far the strongest ship ever constructed on Earth.
Five meters of steel plates covered the entire submarine. Over them a layer of titanium plates with a thickness of forty centimeters. And the final amount of armor was represented by the combination of ceramics, carbon nanotubes, and titanium diboride and boron nitrides. The composite armor was the most advanced armor that was known to men and that could be produced. The first outer defense of the ship was consisted of thirty centimeters thick armor plates that had an electric current going through them. That was the electric armor, the most advanced armor currently used in the modern military, and a type of armor that everyone hoped would be capable of standing against the energy weapons of the enemy ships. It was a derivation of the famous star trek series a form of polarization of the outer hull of the ship. The US, Russia, Britain, China and several other advanced countries used it and developed it in secret but the attack and the coming invasion forced many of this countries and black projects out in the open. Some thanks to the interference of the AI’s who easily hacked Earth computer systems and revealed in public many facts that everyone wanted to remain hidden. The electric armor was upgraded thanks to the information’s the AI’s shared with humanity. Johnson smiled at that thought. That was the word Anaya used when she sent the information’s on the net. The AI didn’t care about what some high placed humans thought about things that had to be kept secret. Medical cures and formulas that the pharmaceutical companies never admitted having were now on the open market. The world was changing and empires were shattering and in that process slowly humanity was uniting, becoming a unified civilization.
He turned and saw that everyone was watching outside. As they did they could notice the cruiser taking a position in the distance, preparing just as the Argus to fire.
He couldn’t see it but he knew that both the Argus and the Demetrion were preparing to fire. The Los Angeles didn’t have crew on board, only a small copy of Anaya that had control over the ship.
“My copy reports that the ship is ready. The sensors show that the Los Angeles has polarized its hull.”
“Is the Demetrion ready?”
“Aria reports that all guns are hot and ready to fire.”
Johnson turned towards the other people present on the bridge. He noticed captain Pitters looking at him.
Without noticing he saluted. The captain saluted back.
“You may start the testing. The mission is a go.”
“Thank you Commander.”
Although both ships had crews on board the AI’s took control at the moment. The results of the test were too important and it was known that the crews needed more time to get fully acquainted with the ships and their positions and responsibilities.
Anaya disappeared and they all felt the ships weapons discharge just seconds later.
There was no sound in space and it took just seconds for the energy weapons and the kinetic strikes to reach their target.
The Los Angeles rocked as it took the hits. The ship’s hull showed flashes of light were the weapons touched the ships shield at the beginning.
At the same time an icon on both the cruiser and the battleship showed the status of the shield of the Los Angeles.
It was surprising that it took almost more than a dozen hits for the shield to drop. It was dropping fast but as Anaya pointed out it considering the fact that the Los Angeles was stationary and not firing any point defense it was expected.
When the shield finally dropped the hits started hitting the hull and reacting with the armor. Huge explosions and broken pieces of metal were shown were the weapons impacted. The debris field reacted with the energy weapons acting like a shield. The damage was extensive but it showed that the sub was still capable of fighting back. The test lasted only two minutes when the hull of the Los Angeles was breached at several places and the AI on board announced that it was disabled. But on everyone’s faces a smile appeared as the AI reported the results. The fears that the armor won’t be able to hold and that the energy shield will be vaporized instantly was forgotten. They all knew that it might not be enough to protect the crews and that many ships might be lost but it also proved that it will allow the fleet to be much bigger then it was first predicted.
Johnson turned towards the young engineer behind him.
“Mr. Archer I believe that you deserve our thanks and congratulations. Good work. The Nautilus project is a success.”
The young engineer smiled and returned the admiral’s gaze. But the smile faded away quickly.
“Glad it proved sir. I hope that by the time we are finished the armor will be even stronger. And so will the shield considering the power output of the engines we will have in several months. They are a lot stronger then the nuclear reactors we had now. I promise you by the time you have your ships they will be a lot tougher than her. They will give those bastards hell, i promise you that.”
The admiral smiled on that comment. And a smile could be seen on the holograms of both AI’s. Anaya looked with admiration at the group of people on her bridge. They were celebrating but they were also aspiring for more. She didn’t expect that the armor would hold that much. The young engineer was right. With the fusion reactors the shields would be stronger. And she also looked at the notes the young engineer made in his small book. He already planned to increase the amount of armor on the next submarines. That was going to make them even tougher than the Los Angeles and with the point defense and the weapons and capability of movement they would prove a lot tougher and she was certain that they will be able to give the Dacarians a pause. The same ability her creators showed so long ago when knowing that they could never compete with the weapons the more advanced races had, they invested in the armor and defense capabilities of their ships she was seeing in these humans now. They too knew that they could never compete with the Dacarians with their weapons but they knew how to defend them self. It was the first step. And they were using the information’s she gave them to further advance on every field. If they managed to stop the invasion the future looked great. The Dacarian Empire was right to fear the humans. They just might be the ones that will stop the menace once and for all. And she hoped that she will be there on that day.
Archer saw the AI looking at him. She nodded with her head when their eyes met and he saw that she approved of his work. Without delay he returned to his notes, taking all the results of the short test and seeing where improvements could be made Even before the test based on the computer simulations he already had a new design made, a design that would make the next ships a lot stronger than this one, and now with the complete results from the test he knew that he would be capable of making suggestions that will improve the defense even more. With the materials that were starting to arrive from the asteroid mining that was finally get
ting started Earth would get even bigger amounts of the materials and metals that were needed.
Titanium was the most important metal at the moment but others were as well. With the factory ship they had in the fleet he knew that materials could be produced in space as well as on Earth. That only made his job easier.
“You will be sorry when we are done with you. That is a promise.”
After the test and a short cocktail the soldiers and most of the crew left the huge ship. The engineers and the scientists returned to Earth and started working on how to improve the armor of the next ships. And high above the work on making the Argus stronger and repairing the damage on its structure started. Every engineer knew that they will never be able to really restore the huge ship to its former glory at least not until the battle but they all promised that the ship that was now their pride will be a lot stronger when the enemy arrives. And after that…
It took almost a month for the final preparations to be made and the new advances on the additional armor on the submarines to be calculated. In the same time as that the project Valhalla was entering in its final stages.
The ships that went to the close star systems that brought news that stunned the scientific community and proved that the long guesses of habitable planets in several surrounding systems were well founded. For long years astronomers suspected that Tau Ceti, 82 Eridani, Epsilon Eridani, Gliesse 876, CD 4611540/GL 674, CD 4913515/GL 832, Lalande and Wolf 1055 B. Now those suspicions got confirmation. The VALHALLA project and the ships that were launched ten scout ships that the large fleet had and that were operational returned with news of 23 habitable worlds in fourteen systems. Ten of those worlds were almost twin planets of Earth two were in fact moons, and they were the priority for the VALHALLA mission. The fleet that twelve thousand years ago brought the surviving members of the first human interstellar civilization back to their home world had four colony ships in it. Engineers helped by the AI and their knowledge worked since the day the Demetrion took the first crew from Earth to the large fleet in orbit around Sedna. The AI’s information’s said that the total capacity of each ship was twenty thousand people but the crews that they brought back eons ago were far smaller. The need for speed when they were launched meant that they took in total twenty three thousand people back then. The stasis pods in each ship were left unused. Tests were being conducted now to see if the pods worked. The mission planers hoped that they do. If they did the ships could carry a lot more and the real mission of VALHALLA could be started. When Valhalla was first proposed the plan was to send the colony ships as far away from Earth as possible. As the plan was developed and as the settlement of close by star systems was put in to it the mission parameter changed but the plan stayed in effect. The fear behind it and its blind spot was that there was no real knowledge of a habitable planet in a system that was more than a hundred light years distant, and even if there was there was no guarantee that it won’t be inhabited. So instead of that of launching the ships and their crew in to the unknown a different approach was suggested. A certain number of people will be placed in to stasis and on board the four colony ships and they would be sent in the Epsilon Eridani. If Earth falls to the invasion the ships would be launched on their final mission with a skeleton crew and travel on distance beyond 100 light years from Sol. After that they would start searching for a habitable world that would be as far away from any civilization that they might encounter. Considering that each of the ships was well armed and could carry a number of support smaller ships there was no fear that they wouldn’t be able to defend themselves. Those colonists were already chosen and would go on the colony ships after the first settlement of the discovered planets was finished. They all hoped that that part of Valhalla won’t be needed but it was a way to ensure mankind’s survival and considering the knowledge they had now at their disposal in some distant future returning back to this world and every other and striking back at their enemies.