by Shawn Jones
“H’uum told me that Heroc herself killed a hundred of the Tapons. Zandra killed twenty more before their poison overcame her. All told, there were over a ten thousand H’uumans lost and they killed five thousand of the Tapons. And now the monkeys have two entire species coming for them. Three if you count Bazal.”
“What did they call Dalek again?” Kim asked.
“Dalek, Son of War,” Cort replied.
Cort was glad that Kim could smile when she said, “Son of War. I wonder if they meant you or me?”
Cort smiled himself and said, “I’m proud of you Kim. Most mothers would be hysterical right now. I had to ask Bazal if he was calming you.”
“No, and I have asked him not to. I want him to devote his full attention to Dalek.”
“That’s what he told me. And that makes how calm you are ever more impressive.”
“That he is constantly talking to his Little Warrior helps a lot, but I’m married to War, baby. I wasn’t nervous an hour ago, and now I know there are millions more looking out for our son who are just as invested in this as we are.”
A series of clicks came over the ship’s speakers. “Attention. Ares Federation humans, please prepare to enter jump space. You have five minutes.”
Kim climbed higher and into the hatch to give Cort a kiss. “I’ll see you on the other side, baby.”
When she left, Cort sent a message to Dar, updating him on the situation and dictating his orders regarding the H’uumans, making it clear that regardless of the fight’s outcome, they were to be treated as allies moving forward, even at the expense of alienating the Collaboration.
--
After the jump, Kim went back to see Cort and she took a medic with her. She hadn’t wanted to tell him before the jump, but Cort looked horrible. Worse than that, he smelled bad. He protested the doctor pulling his medical stats from the suit, but Kim’s presence kept him in line. After going over the data, the doctor told them it was bad. She said to Kim, “His synthetics can’t keep up with the infection, and we can’t get enough fresh ones into him while he is in armor.”
“You just have to get me through another day or two, Doc.”
“You aren’t going to make it that long, sir. I recommend you sit this one out.”
“Not on your life, Doctor. We are talking about my son, and I am going to get him.”
“General, I have heard the rumors. It is my understanding that there are millions of armed men and women out there, from two different empires, who are going to get your boy. One more man, even you, won’t make a difference. With the radiation hit you just took during the jump, if you go down there, you won’t see your son again anyway. You are dying, sir.”
“And if I stay?”
“Then I can keep you alive, and with time, you will probably get better. But I have to get you out of this suit and into a medical bed. And you will be going home the long way, because even a small additional dose of radiation could be fatal.”
Kim climbed up to the suit’s combat couch and unplugged the Atlas interface. Before Cort could protest, she said, “Doctor, get to work on him. He’s not going down to the planet.” Turning to Cort, she said, “Not one word. We have enough people here without you.”
“Bazal promised him I was coming to get him,” Cort said. The emotional pain in his words was clear.
“Don’t worry, baby. You are still his hero, and you always will be.”
As a team arrived with a gurney, Cort said, “Bring Lex to me.”
--
In the medbay, Lex said, “You asked to see me, sir?”
“I’m sure you have heard that I’ve been grounded.”
“Yes, sir. It is my understanding that it is the right thing though. Your son needs you.”
“Yeah, but that means your battle plan has to change. Without the HAWC, it will be a purely infantry action. Move the wolfpacks to your flanks and execute Sparta 1. Then…”
Lex interrupted, saying, “Sir. I know how to fight. And your plan doesn’t include the H’uumans. My new one does.”
“You’re right. I forgot about them. I’m sorry. This is your fight, now. But keep something in mind. Bazal will be influencing the ones who are guarding Dalek. They probably won’t fight much. And we can come back and kill these fuckers anytime. Getting Dalek is the number one priority.” Cort’s voice was raspy. “I need to address the Marines and the H’uumans.”
“I’ll do it, baby,” Kim said.
“Yeah, I guess you are the best one to say what needs to be said. Tell them about Heroc’s Law. The Marines need to know how deep the alliance is between us now,” Cort said as he began to fade out. Turning to the doctor he said, “Can’t you at least keep me awake?”
Looking between the General and Kim, the man relented. “I can do that, General. But do not get too agitated. Your health is more important than you being able to watch the fight.”
“Sir,” Lex said. “Captain Munroe wants to see you. Should I delay her?”
“No. She knows the game. She wouldn’t be asking if it wasn’t important. Bring her in.”
A few minutes later, Jane Munroe entered the makeshift infirmary and saluted. Kim, Lex and the doctors stared at her until she started to speak. “General, we need the HAWC. A million warriors or not, it is a symbol to both us and the H’uumans.”
“Get out, Captain!” Kim yelled as she pushed the captain backward. “I will not kill my husband just to give you a fucking flag to rally around!”
Munroe held her hands up and said, “No, Ma’am. That’s not what I meant.”
“Then what the hell did you mean, Captain?” Lex demanded.
Munroe turned around and pulled down the collar of her FALCON to expose her neck. After parting the shoulder length hair, a small port came into view.
“What the hell?” Cort asked.
Turning back around, Jane dropped her hair and said, “It doesn’t make sense to only have one person in the entire federation who can utilize the suit, sir. When I was growing my legs back, I had the Atlas interface implanted as well.”
“There is a huge learning curve in wearing that suit, Captain. You should have told me sooner so you could have been training in it. Had you done so, we would be in a much better position.”
Munroe held up her hand and said, “Sir, I trained for several hours a day while I was recovering. I have over thirteen-hundred hours in a sim that is based on the HAWC.”
“Where is there a sim for the HAWC?” Cort asked.
Finally understanding, Kim said, “It’s in every game system in the federation. The family trust released it as a video game.”
“And I hacked my system to add the military version of the software,” Munroe added.
“Which you still had access to because you never signed your separation papers,” Cort said, surrendering.
“Well that would have been stupid, General.” Jane smiled and said, “So how about I jack in and run through the power-up cycle. Then you can decide.”
“Fair enough, Captain.” Turning to the others, Cort said, “Get me a flexpad.”
Six
Tapon Homeworld
Miku was at his desk when he heard the knock. After finalizing his strategy for defending the planet, he planned to go to the rainforest for a few days. Just a little while longer and he could leave. The relaxation would be needed if what he knew of the humans was true. Addison was probably still alive. Having not heard from the squadron assigned to kill the warrior, it was prudent to assume they had failed. And intelligence reported that nearly all of the human fleet had left their systems in warp bubbles. Assuming that somehow the humans knew exactly where the child was, he had a third of a season before the humans arrived. By that time, he would be ready. The outer worlds were sending thousands of fighters, and around the planet the defensive net was already at thirty percent defensive capacity. Once Addison and the humans were gone, it would be time to move against the Nill. Then we will be back home, and this world, while lov
ely, will no longer be our beautiful prison. Another knock. “Come in.”
Che was nervous. “What is it Che? You look as if you have seen your mother fall from a bough.”
“They are here, sir.”
“Who? The council? It is about time. They are nearly half a sun late. Send them in.”
“No, sir. H’uum’s fleet is here.”
“What? How did they escape the humans?” Understanding began to sink in. “Why are they here?”
“I cannot say. They are not responding to our hails.”
“How do they have a fleet? The humans would not allow that.”
“Perhaps the humans are in ships they took from H’uum’s people.”
“You said the humans cannot jump in their ships.”
“It would do great harm to them sir, but the jump is possible.”
“Is H’uum here to cast his loyalty to us?”
“That would not be their way, sir.”
“How many ships?” Miku was genuinely concerned. He had only a few million fighters on planet, and the defensive net, while functioning, could not survive a heavy assault yet.
“Thousands of ships.”
--
“Bloody hell. Are you seeing this, General?” Lex was on the bridge but had no doubt that Cort was following the invasion from his bed in the infirmary. In the first wave, a dozen ships were lost to the underpowered satellite array around the planet. But for every ship that was lost, ten more targeted the arrays.
The swarm of ships was not what was incredible though. Once the ships began gliding through the top of the Tapon atmosphere, they slowed down and began dumping H’uumans into the air. Lex had never seen a locust swarm, but in primary school he did a paper on them. They are swarming. They are going to destroy this planet. Oh gods!
“Yeah, I see it, Lex. It’s like a swarm of moths,” Cort said, remembering the miller moth invasions of the Denver area three hundred years before.
“I was thinking locusts, sir. If they had been able to invade Government World, we would have lost.”
“Probably. I’m glad they are on our side this time. I’ve been through an attack from them before and I don’t want to be on the wrong side of one again.”
The image was from a ship in the middle of the group that was dropping troops. As Cort and Lex watched, the sky turned a grey-brown color as it filled with H’uumans.
How is my boy, Bazal?
Dalek is fine, Cortland. And those guarding him are diligent about their duty, but they won’t harm him. For some reason, they have unloaded their weapons.
I wonder what would cause that. Thank you, my friend. Tell him we are almost there.
Dalek sees that the sky has changed color, so I told him that we are here. He is excited to see you.
Soon.
--
“The H’uumans are still not answering, sir,” Che said.
“It does not matter. Clearly they are here to attack us. H’uum is perhaps buying his people’s freedom. Whatever his reasons, we will lose the first battle of this war. Can we evacuate?”
“Yes, sir. If we leave now, most of our government can evacuate.”
“Very well, bring me the human child and we will go to refuge.”
“Yes, sir.”
--
H’uum contacted Cort and said, “General, have you been able to ascertain where your son is?”
“Stand by, H’uum.”
Bazal, have you found him yet?
I have, Cortland. Just now. In the daylight area there is a city on the smaller continent. If you look at an image of the planet, I can tell you which one.
A moment later, Cort thought, Okay, I’m looking at the planet.
Do you see the small continent on the lower part of the planet, the one that is just touching dusk?
Yes.
Dalek is in the city to the upper right. Just to the left of the mountain range.
Okay, I see it. The scanners can find him from there. Keep me informed if you find anything else. Bazal...Thank you.
I love him, Cortland.
“Okay, H’uum, look at a map.” Cort went on to explain the boy’s location and added, “Can you drop my people near there?”
“Yes, General. Tell them to prepare. Gliding into the atmosphere will be turbulent, but the effect will only last a brief time. You people will have two minutes to disembark before we re-enter space. The shuttle you are sending should depart now, to save time.”
“Shuttle K-1, launch!” Cort ordered. A moment later, the shuttle left the barrel-shaped ship, and H’uuman crewmembers began assembling the drop rails that would deploy the Marines.
Lex spoke to the humans. “Okay boys and girls, we know where Cowboy is, let’s go get him. Remember, when anyone is within five klicks of him, everyone’s HUDs will start pinging. Swarm that location the second you get it. Signal any nearby H’uumans, the bug kind, too. They do not have the pingers.”
On a private channel a moment later, Cort asked, “Cowboy, Lex? Where did that codename come from?”
“He rides Heroc… he rode Heroc like she was a horse. So some of the base personnel started calling him Cowboy. I guess it stuck. I’m surprised you didn’t know about it.”
“You should know by now, Lex, that for every item of scuttlebutt a leader knows, there are ten that he or she doesn’t. That fact is as old as command structure.”
“Yes, sir. I had better get back to the team, General,” Lex said.
“Thanks, Lex. Good luck.”
Lex heard anxiety in Cort’s voice and wanted to reassure the man, so he closed the channel with, “Don’t worry, Grandpa, we will bring Dalek back.”
--
“We cannot get to the human child, sir,” Che said a few minutes later. “His guards are not responding, and we do not have enough time to go there. We must assume they have overtaken the holding facility.”
“Send someone, anyway. That child is the only leverage we have over Addison. It must not be lost.”
“Yes, sir.”
--
After the shuttle left the ship, the wolfpacks were the first teams to offload. Like all Marine drop troops, the human-wolf pairs slid off the rails and began a free fall that would reach upward of two hundred and fifty kilometers per hour. Once they were below one thousand meters in altitude, gyros on the suits would change their attitude so that delta wings could deploy and the men and women could glide to the ground, releasing the wings just before they touched down. The maneuver allowed them to land at a dead run. The wolfpack troops had to slow enough to drop their wolf pods, but the unencumbered Marines would continue at full speed until they were in formation.
As the ground troops formed into a recognizable unit, the shuttle landed behind them. First off the shuttle was Jane Munroe in the HAWC, followed by Kim in her CONDOR, because the latter was not trained to execute a high altitude deployment. The shuttle immediately lifted off again, and took station over the advancing ground troops.
For Munroe, it was like a dream come true. She was in the HAWC finally, and she knew things about the suit the General probably didn’t. After all, in her sims, she had torn it apart, rebuilt it, and destroyed it hundreds of times. Should I do it? What will the General say? Fuck it. I am here. She jumped, landing on both legs and, after squatting and springing forward, began to run the way the wolves around her did, instead of on two legs.
What the hell? Cort thought, watching her deploy from thousands of kilometers overhead. She won’t be able to do that while using her sidearms, but I wonder if she’ll use the shoulder mount.
As if in answer to his question, Munroe deployed the railgun from her shoulder. When the first enemy appeared over a hill in front of her, Jane started firing.
--
“Sir, the humans are here. The Ares Federation humans. They launched from one of the H’uuman ships.”
Miku looked up from the case he was packing as he prepared to evacuate the planet. “Then they are in league. But
why would H’uum’s people help their captors? Where are they now?”
“Attacks are taking place all over the planet. But the federation fighters are all near the city.”
“This city, Che? How could they know the child is here?”
“I cannot answer that question, sir. Nonetheless, they are almost here. We no longer have enough time to evacuate.”
“When will the child be here?”
“We have lost contact with the team we sent to retrieve him, sir. Their comms are online, but they are not responding.”
Miku opened his screen and looked at the updates for himself. “Che, what is happening out there?”
“They responded more quickly than we expected. I have already notified the other planets. A secondary plan is being advanced, and we are to delay the enemy as much as possible.”
“Very good, Che. Let us do so then.”
“Sir…”
“Yes, Che?”
“I have been ordered to take you into custody.”
Miku’s sigh was like a low growl, but it carried no malice. “Do you remember when the humans first stood before the Collaborative Government?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I thought the timing was divine providence. To have that lower species arrive just when the Core was about to be disabled seemed too good to be true. The Cuplans were the only threat to us retaking our ancestral home, and the humans neutralized them. And that same threat, now as H’uumans, have been the demise of our attempt anyway, because they now stand with Addison. The one thing that could stop us, and it has come to fruition. Is that also divine, or has our real enemy been the insectoids all along?” Miku waited for Che’s answer. When none came, he said, “I suppose we shall never know. Perhaps the shrewdness will learn someday, but I will not.”
“I am truly sorry for this, Miku. In addition to my leader, you have been my friend for a very long time. And I do not believe you are at fault. As you say, providence has stood against us, it seems.”
“Thank you for that, Che, but there must be one who assumes the blame. I have been chosen this time. How many times have we ordered that fate upon others? The circle is complete.”