Retribution: The Augmented Human Rebellion - Book 2

by Lefler, Terry

  There isn’t any hope for change until that dictator is removed. After that, it will be up to the ‘good’ people in the verm species, to rise up and overthrow the evil Empire.

  ***

  As the group discusses the upcoming assassination attempt, they examine the reasons for their success in the assassination of the Darinx Emperor.

  The successful outcome happened because they spent a lot of time studying the Darinx Emperor, and then waited for an opportunity. That opportunity would not have come, if the Darinx Emperor had not taken a space voyage and passed close to the AH Navy ships.

  They don’t have a blind spot to hide in this time. How are they going to be able to study the Emperor’s habits? How are they going to be able to know where he is?

  ***

  Searching for Ideas

  What would cause the Verm Emperor to leave his Palace and take a space voyage?

  o Going to his son’s graduation at the Military Academy, which Melissa and Shiela once attacked?

  o Or, to meet the Darinx Emperor?

  o Or, because there is an asteroid headed toward the planet, and they evacuate the Emperor just in case they can’t stop the collision?

  o Or, because there is a fleet of 5,000 warships due to emerge in Tenock’s space?

  ***

  And the discussions range far-a-field:

  o “We don’t even know how old he is, or what he looks like. How can we get some intelligence about the Verm Emperor?

  o There must be some kind of empire-wide information system. How can we get linked into that?

  o The Emperor must have some natural enemies. How can we get in touch with them? Is there a verm underground?

  o How about planting some spy bots inside the Emperor’s Palace? How could we do that?

  o Honesty and Shiela could birth some small Artificial Intelligences, housed in bodies which appear to be bugs or animals. Those could be sent to the Emperor’s Palace, and used as spies.

  “Wait,” says Melissa. “That’s the first idea with any promise. Let’s talk about that. What kind of small Artificial Intelligences can you make, girls?

  “They could be small enough to appear to be bugs, or some type of decoration – decorations would probably be better because they will try to kill bugs,” answers Honesty.

  “How would they be different from the small spy bots that we already have?” asks Justice.

  “They will be able to ‘think’, not just ‘do’ - like the current spy bots,” answers Shiela. “And if we make them smart enough, they can monitor the Verm comm links for important information – such as the Emperor’s travel plans.”

  “They wouldn’t need to be in the Palace to monitor the comm links,” notes Justice. “That would make them much easier to place. And even if all they do is to monitor the comm link for the Emperor’s travel plans that will be all we need.”

  “How will we be able to receive that information?” asks Melissa.

  Shiela answers: “I can imagine an AI spy bot being placed outdoors – perhaps on a light fixture. The AI spy bot can decode the wireless comm link transmissions and can extract the useful Emperor’s travel plans information. Up to that point the AI spy bot has been passive - it hasn’t done anything to attract the attention of Verm Security.

  Verm Security will be monitoring for unauthorized transmissions, but the AI spy bot can use a lightning storm to hide the transfer of data. The information can be uploaded to another AI spy bot, via a focused laser comm system – the light beam will be super-fine, and will be pulsated so that it will be difficult to detect. That second spy bot will be in geosynchronous orbit above the Emperor’s Palace.”

  “That orbiting AI spy bot could retransmit the information to a deep space receiver, which we can ‘ping’ when we want the information.”

  Melissa comments: “There are plenty of technical details to work out, but it sounds like a workable plan. It’s our best hope and doesn’t risk too much loss, if the plans go awry. What about the AIs? Are we going to recover them?”

  “We will signal them to go into stasis mode when we leave. Sunlight should provide power to sustain them indefinitely, and if they are discovered or destroyed before we collect them, they won’t feel loss or pain,” responds Shiela.

  “That’s as good as we can do right now,” says Justice. “I say we run with it, and see how far this plan will take us.”

  ***

  Getting Close

  Getting the AI spy bots positioned is a long and difficult process.

  The one that is in geosynchronous orbit is relatively simple. It rides into the Verm system disguised as a tiny asteroid. When it gets close to the planet, it maneuvers by means of compressed gas. It gradually settles into an orbit around the planet and slowly moves to a position, directly above the Verm Emperor’s Palace.

  There are a number of satellites in geosynchronous orbit, above the Emperor’s Palace and Capitol City. In order to hide, the AI spy bot sheds its asteroid disguise, and attaches itself to one of the Verm communications satellites.

  ***

  The AI spy bot on the planet’s surface is much more problematic.

  There are many choices to make about how to get the AI-spy-bot from space to the planet’s surface. One suggestion is to hitch a ride on a ship, which is landing. Another is to let it arrive aboard an asteroid. (Asteroids seem to always be the ‘weapon of choice’ for AH Navy planners.)

  But this time, the AH Navy geniuses decide to give it wings, so that it can fly to the ground and relocate at will. The concept is good, but the implementation has to go through a few iterations. The first two attempts result in dead spy-bots. This newer version has a much better heat shield.

  The latest AI-spy-bot enters Tenock’s atmosphere slowly and adjusts its wings to catch the wind so that it can cruise to a landing. The landing takes place at night, so that there will be no bird watchers finding fault with the spy-bot’s body or flight techniques. By morning, the bird has found a good position, in a nook of a building that faces the Emperor’s Palace. The small bird attracts only admiring glances in the Capitol City.

  ***

  Then there are the usual problems, with getting three remote ‘focused laser comm systems’ connected, And finally, after the three units can communicate with each other, the bird on the planet has to ‘crack the code’ on the secure wireless comm system used by the Verm military.

  This bird is very bright, in spite of its small size. And since this bird doesn’t have to eat, most of the body contains brain code.

  ***

  All systems are GO on the spying on the Emperor project. The bird will take some snippets of visual information, if the little AI thinks the activity is relevant, but most of the information will come from decoded Verm comm link communiqués.

  The bird has been instructed to only transmit the stream of laser data, during lightning storms – fortunately, Tenock has a lot of lightning storms.

  ***

  Waiting for an Opportunity

  With the spy-bot system in place, there isn’t much to do except play with baby Justice Junior. He demands and gets a lot of attention.

  He is almost 4 months old now. He recognizes his mom and dad, but he still has trouble distinguishing some of the AIs in their Exoskeletons. He knows Shiela and Honesty, but still gets confused about some of the wasps, until he hears their voices.

  Melissa is thinking that being deprived of a normal ‘babyhood’ may cause some delay, in the development of his social skills. And it is important for Junior to have his brain implants installed before his first birthday. That way they will become a natural extension of his thinking processes. She is hoping that this mission will be over soon, so that they can all ‘get a life’.

  Everyone is living together aboard the Galactus, and they are enjoying each other’s company. One of the wasp AIs was killed during the battle to kill the Darinx Emperor. She is missed in the family time meetings. Everyone held a memorial service for her, a
fter they arrived in Verm space.

  War always has a lot of loss and death in it. Everyone is sorry for the loss of Erica, but everyone is also grateful that they didn’t lose more souls.

  ***

  Streams of data come in, from time to time, as the bird uploads images and text. The Verm communications are beginning to make more sense, as the AH Navy personnel become familiar with names and job functions. All of the text communications are about the Emperor. The group is beginning to get a feel for who the little rat is. He’s nasty, selfish, evil, mean, deceitful, and spiteful - among other things. Melissa Meyers won’t have a problem ‘taking him out’. The universe will be a better place, when he is dead.

  There have been communications about the Emperor, when he takes a trip. The texts about ‘His Excellency’ quadruple, when he is about to make a move. That increase in comm link activity is their leading indicator, which tells them that the Emperor is getting ready to travel.

  ***

  The volume of Verm communications, concerning the Emperor, is ‘off the charts’. There has never been any activity surge like this, and some of the texts refer to an Academy. Perhaps they are referring to the Military Academy where Melissa destroyed the tower and the statue of the first Great Dictator.

  ***

  The AH Navy personnel begin contingency plans for an assassination attempt. Melissa remembers the assassination of the Darinx Emperor, where they missed the easiest assassination opportunity. That was when the Emperor’s ship lifted off from the planet. The Emperor was unprotected during the time that the ship was in between the surface and the orbiting Escorts.

  According to the newest bird transmission, there will be a 100 warship Escort for the Emperor. One text mentioned the Darinx Emperor and the AH Navy. Apparently, they are aware of the attack on the Darinx Emperor and don’t intend to let it happen here.

  A 100 warship Escort Fleet pretty much rules out an attack in space.

  ***

  “Wait a minute,” says Greg, one of the wasp AIs. What if the Galactus were to emerge as part of the Escort? We might have time to kill the Emperor, before the security team could respond.

  “Wow,” exclaims Melissa. “Give that boy a prize. What a good idea. Let’s give that scenario some thought.”

  “When the Emperor’s Escort emerges, it is reasonable to think that at least half of them will emerge before the Emperor, in order to establish a defensive position. Then some will emerge with the Emperor, in order to shield the Emperor’s ship, and probably a third will be a rear guard, which will emerge after the Emperor.”

  “But we don’t know the exact location or time, of the emergence. Unless the coordinates and time for emergence are know this plan is not likely to succeed.”

  The planning team will put this possibility on the back burner, until they know the time and emergence coordinates.

  ***

  Right now, the planning team’s focus of discussion is the time at liftoff or at landing, at either the home planet or at the Academy planet. That gives the planners 4 windows of opportunity.

  Waiting until the return trip offers some advantages. For one, they will get to watch the procedure for a takeoff and a landing - that will give the AH Navy team a chance to tweak their plan. Also, waiting for the return trip might take the edge off of the alertness of the Escort force. They might lower their guard a little.

  But there are about 700 warships in the Verm home system, as compared to about 300 warships in the Academy system - so the Academy planet is chosen because of its smaller contingent of Verm warships.

  Now the planning team – which includes everyone but the baby - needs to think of a way to attack and kill the Verm Emperor during the minutes of a takeoff from the Academy. Any ideas?

  Trying to emerge and taking a quick shot will not work – the Escort would destroy the emerging vessel.

  ***

  And there is a new wrinkle to the Emperor’s plans. The bird spy-bot reports that three ships will launch from the planet Tenock, so that no one can know which ship the Emperor is on.

  “You have got to give the Verm credit,” thinks Melissa. “They have really outdone the Darinx Empire, on protecting their Emperor.”

  “This new information complicates every plan. Now instead of destroying one ship, they must destroy 3.

  Time to rethink.

  ***

  The Plan

  OK. The AH Navy assassination team has a plan – subject to change, as needed.

  The attack will take place at the Emperor’s place of emergence, in the Military Academy system. That system was chosen, because there are fewer Verm warships in the Academy system, than in the home planet system.

  The place and time of emergence are approximately known. Justice Nemo’s ship – the Retribution – will be doing a high velocity flyby of that location, at the planned time of the Emperor’s emergence.

  During Justices’ flyby, all of the wasp fighters will exit the Retribution some distance before the Emperor’s place of emergence. The wasps will be spaced so that there will be a wasp available to attack all three of the ‘Emperor ships’ – assuming the emersion time is approximately right.

  After the attack, the wasp fighters will continue their high velocity flight and will be scooped up by the Galactus, which has been following the Retribution in the high velocity path.

  ***

  The probability of the mission being completed according to the ‘ideal plan’ is almost zilch – there are too many approximates and unknowns.

  There are contingency plans:

  o If the ‘Emperor ships’ emerge early, the Retribution will launch missiles at them.

  o If the ‘Emperor ships’ emerge late, the wasps will need to slow down, and fight, while they wait for the three ‘Emperor ships’.

  o That would mean that the Galactus will be past them, before they are ready for extraction. The contingency plan for that scenario is for the Retribution, and the Galactus to be flying in ‘loops’ around the retrieval site, until the wasps are ready for extraction.

  o If there are wasps which fall behind or are damaged and can’t make it to the ‘extraction’, those AIs will need to eject from their fighters, and go into stasis mode. The plan is for someone to come and search for them, at a later date.

  Well, it is a plan. The probability of success is low, but no one feels like doing a suicide mission.

  ***

  After the mission starts, there is no way of communicating with the laser comm system on Tenock, because the Emperor’s entourage will be traveling faster than light. They put the bird and the satellite AIs to sleep, and launch for the Acadeny system.

  ***

  The Assassination Attempt

  The assassination attempt has been launched, using the latest reliable data – that is the best that they can do. If the Emperor went back home and changed clothes because the colors in his outfit clashed, then all bets are off.

  ***

  The wasps have exited the Retribution and they can see that ships have emerged, at the predicted point. So far, so good - the plan is on track.

  Now the wasps are reducing speed so that they aren’t past the emergence point, when the Emperor emerges. More ships emerge, and one of those ships is an ‘Emperor ship’. The wasp in front launches its missile toward that vessel. Success! The first of the possible ‘Emperor ships’ has been destroyed. The missile was moving too fast for the Escort vessels to intercept.

  The wasps continue to slow and the wasp that fired his missile heads for the pickup zone. The mission is still following the ‘ideal plan’.

  Now there is another ‘Emperor ship’ emerging. This time 2 wasps fire their missiles. One missile is destroyed by the Escort warships, but the other gets through and the 2nd ‘Emperor ship’ is destroyed, as it is emerging. Those two wasps head for the pickup zone.

  But the third ‘Emperor ship’ is delayed, and does not emerge as expected. Now the remaining wasps slow and circle, while t
hey wait for the final ‘Emperor ship’. They are now being targeted by about 50 warships, so they begin evasive maneuvers - which slow them even more. Now it is ‘dogfight time’.

  The speedy fighters dart in and out of the emergence area, while dodging missile and energy weapons fire from the Verm warships. Two of the wasp fighters are destroyed, by the time the 3rd ‘Emperor ship’ begins to emerge. The remaining 9 wasp missiles are launched at the emerging ship, and then the surviving fighters head for the pickup zone.

  They can see, in their rear view-screens, that the last ‘Emperor ship’ has been destroyed. They can also see that there are lots of missiles chasing them. Most of the wasps are able to outrun the missiles, but the slowest one is destroyed.

  The Galactus has already passed the pickup zone, and has looped around for another pass. The Retribution is the next opportunity for pickup. Shiela reduces speed and snatches the first 3 wasps but can’t wait for the others. The Retribution is past the pickup zone, and begins another loop.

  Some minutes later, the Galactus is preparing for another pickup attempt. Honesty has slowed the big ship to match speed with the wasps, and scoops them into the cargo bay. Unfortunately, the delay in the pickup has given the Verm warships time to chase after the wasps. And the barrage of missiles, which was chasing the wasps, is now targeting the Galactus.

  Honesty makes a valiant effort to avoid or destroy the multitude of missiles, but one of them explodes near Galactus’ Engineering section, and the real space thrusters are knocked off-line. The Galactus is dead in the water and the Verm warships are almost upon them. Honesty tries to engage the Faster Than Light drive, but the Verm warships are firing energy weapons, so the FTL drive can’t function.

  The situation looks dire. There doesn’t seem to be a way out of this conundrum. Honesty and Melissa trade glances and bid each other a silent farewell.

  Then suddenly, the Retribution emerges from FTL space, behind the Galactus! The bulk of the Galactus shields the Retribution from damage, while emerging. After the Retribution has emerged and is fully functional, the ship attaches its tractor beam to the Galactus, and uses the beam as leverage to ‘flip around’ the Galactus. Now the Retribution is between the Galactus and the Verm warships.