Wrath of the Shaitans

by Sudipto Majumdar

  As could be expected in any human system, there was intense politics where various blocks tried to jockey for influence and a say in the functioning of the USC. These politics was however on minor bickering like allocation of budget or recognition of revenue. There were no severe stress within the organization even amongst the so called US bloc and the Chinese bloc when it came to major issues, and that was because the humans had one overriding unity of purpose – its own survival.

  That is what made the USC one of the smoothest functioning multilateral agency in the world. It needed to be a smooth functioning organization, for it was not a civilian agency that could accommodate a lot of dissent. It was a military organization and needed to operate on a strict chain of command. The only debates were in the USC council, which acted as the commander in chief of the USC. Once the directives were issued to the Admiral of the fleets, it was completely in the domain of the military organization of the USC to execute it.

  That didn’t mean that the USC didn’t have to live with compromises made by politicians. There were many major and minor clauses in the USC charter, which made life difficult and complicated for the military brass of the USC. The minor irritants were mostly caused due to composition and nationality of fighting units especially larger units like a brigade, or the composition of crew of certain ships.

  The USC brass tried to solve those problems mostly by trying to keep nationalities together as much as possible, so as to make a more cohesive fighting unit, but it was not always possible to have such neat separation. The other challenge they faced was in standardization of equipment and interchangeability of parts.

  Many of the issues had been solved by the brass especially with the arms and suits carried by the USC-GCF, popularly known as the space marines. The standardization of fighting ships was an altogether different matter. The Chinese made their ships to a completely different set of specifications compared to the US, and the ESA-ISRO-JAXA combine had a third set of specifications altogether.

  There was one logistical issue faced by the USC though, that was deeper and philosophical in nature, harking back to the days of the Roman Empire and Julius Caesar. The charter of the USC clearly stated that independent USC had operational command over all military resources only from the orbit of Mars and beyond.

  Any ship that came closer to earth than the orbit of Mars or the orbit of Venus in the inner part of the Solar system, would technically revert back to the operational control of the respective nation that the ship originated from. This was obviously impractical, and for all intents and purposes the ships remained under the control of the USC all through. However there was a deep seated fear that was addressed with this restriction.

  The Roman Senate had mandated that any Roman army that crossed the river Rubicon had to disarm before doing so. The river Rubicon was considered the border of the nation of Rome proper in those days. The senate had mandated so, to prevent the possibility of a coup by a standing Roman army against the senate. Julius Caesar had confirmed those fears of the senate as justified, when he crossed the Rubicon with his Legions fully armed and took over power by force from the Senate.

  When the politicians and the people of Earth had agreed to create a unified space force to fight the Shaitans, they had been wary of creating a monster, which might come to bite them back in the future. Thus the politicians had created a Rubicon, a line in the sand of their own in this space age. The line was the orbit of Mars.

  In theory every commander of every ships reverted back to the military command structure of their individual countries the moment they came in any closer than Mars’ orbit. This was to ensure that no Admiral or General of USC could ever entertain the notion of world domination. How effective that would prove, only time could tell. It didn’t work out very well for the Roman Senate though.

  The practical problem that USC faced was that almost all the command and control structures of the USC was on Earth, Earth orbit or on the Moon. The current level of space competence of the humans meant that their presence on Mars and beyond was still fledgling and tentative. The structures on Mars were still flimsy, and life was still precariously balanced for the few who lived there on a rotating basis.

  There was no way that command and control structure of USC could be moved to Mars or beyond till humans mastered living in Mars or beyond far better than they had till this point. Daniel had made it one of his priorities to make a permanent USC base on Mars the moment he had taken over, and his first budget reflected that priority.

  However it would take decades for such a shift to happen, assuming humans kept progressing at the current rate. In the meanwhile USC brass had to deal with the weird situation where they were commanding people and resources, who were technically not within their chain of command for most of the operations. That was because, most of the operations and exercises of the USC still happened close to Earth.

  Daniel let go of those thoughts. He dismissed them as growing pains for an adolescent humanity’s space ventures. It would sort itself out in a few decades. His immediate problem was to anticipate the next move of the Shaitans.

  Are they waiting to gather bigger reinforcements before attacking? Are they going to attack from a different direction? Do they plan to sneak in unpowered? These were the questions going through his mind.

  The first option was definitely possible, but it left him no wiser. How long would the Shaitans wait to gather sufficient forces? A few years, a few decades, a few centuries? That didn’t help his planning at all. So he decided to leave that option alone.

  USC in particular and humans in general were already preparing as fast as they can, there was nothing much for him to do on that account. The later they come, the more prepared humanity would be hopefully. He was a bit scared of the scenario where the Shaitans attacked after a few decades or a century. While Daniel may not be around at that time, but he knew human nature. Humans would start slacking off with vocal voices demanding money and resources be taken off space program.

  World economy was strained as it is with the massive mobilization in space. Ironically, the same mobilization was also fuelling a large part of the human economy, which would collapse if investments into space were stopped.

  Daniel was confident that USC in particular and various space organizations of Earth had covered the second possibility – the Shaitans attacking from a different direction. Every sector of space was watched by dedicated organizations for the last 40 odd years since the discovery of the first Shaitan ship.

  The third option was the one that worried Daniel the most, although astrophysicists had assured him that it was the least plausible of methods in the short term. For the Shaitans to approach unpowered would mean that they would have to decelerate much further away from Earth, where their deceleration burn could not be noticed.

  This would mean that they would have to travel a large distance at a very slow speed. This in turn would mean that they will have to travel a lot longer, probably a decade or two more. Other than the longer travel time that the Shaitans would have to endure, whatever advantage they would gain by sneaking in and catching humans unaware would be lost due to the additional preparation time they would give the humans.

  Daniel was struggling with these options in his small office with a fantastic view. He was thankful about the artificial gravity this structure had incorporated. This was the first structure humans had built in space, which incorporated the simple solution of rotating a part of the habitat to provide artificial gravity. It made living in space for long duration far easier on the body and the mind, as well as on the health of one’s bones and muscles.

  His com interface buzzed suddenly on every surface possible with a priority one call. It was his aide. “Good morning Zhu, what important news do you have for me today?” Daniel asked in good humor. Lijuan Zhu took everything too seriously. Her youthful exuberance meant that almost everything that she had to report was marked important. That’s why Daniel took a subtle dig at her about ‘impo
rtant’ news.

  “Sir they are back!” Zhu said in an excitable voice. Her face was brimming with excitement. Daniel could see the anticipation on her face to the coming battle. For her and many in her generation around the world, this was the culmination of all they had prepared for their whole lives. They had grown up dreaming of fighting aliens but not actually fought one yet. Daniel had fought the Shaitans before, and he knew better than to be excited about the prospects.

  “Sir I have sent the details to your desk. Hawaii reported at 17:37 GMT a single ion plasma burn signature, exactly matching the signature of the Shaitan ship that you fought over Titan. If you don’t mind my saying sir, looks like you are going to get to kick their ass again!” Zhu said excitedly.

  “The ass kicking wasn’t one way last time Lieutenant. They destroyed all our three ships with that single ship of theirs, keep that in mind. The fact that I and some of the others lived was sheer luck. It was definitely not a walk in the park.” Daniel reminded her.

  “I am however surprised that they have sent only one ship again. We are far better prepared this time and should be able to stop that ship easily this time. It doesn’t make military sense for the enemy to be sending just one ship, when their first one got beaten.” Daniel said almost to himself.

  Over the next one month, USC started planning the confrontation with the Shaitan ship that would happen in 5 years’ time, when it finally enters the solar system. There was an atmosphere of smugness and confidence in the planners as they went about preparing various contingencies. Humans had more powerful ships, and far greater number of them than last time. This time the Shaitan ship should really get its ass kicked.

  It was nearly 6 weeks later, and Daniel was back on Earth. He was going through the usual rigmarole of liaison with the bureaucracy and sitting through interminable meetings of budget appropriation committees. There were the unglamorous things that the top brass of any military had to do, which no one ever realized took up more time than battle planning. He was about to get into the bed for the night, when he got a priority one call on his com.

  “Sir, you are not going to believe this! There are more of them, and they are coming from different directions!” It was his personal aide Zhu again, excitable as usual.

  “Calm down Lieutenant, and give me a proper report.” Daniel said in a friendly admonishing tone.

  “Sorry sir, Hawaii reported at 05:47 hours GMT that they have detected ion plasma burn consistent with Shaitan engine burn, that is seven minutes ago. USC assets activated immediately across the world and in space. I just got independent confirmation, and I am sending the details to your terminal. They detected not one but three additional engine burn signatures! There are a total of four of them coming!” Zhu stated as calmly as she could, but her excitement was brimming over.

  “Relax Lieutenant, it was expected that they would come in larger force this time, we have prepared for such a force. Our war games have consistently planned for defense against a fleet of 4 Shaitan ships. We expected them to increase their number of ships in powers of 2 – 4, 8, 16, 32 and so on, because that is the way they think. In fact we have even war gamed for the worst case scenario of 8 ship Shaitan fleet, although that scenario does not turn out very well.” Daniel said.

  He was not that anxious since it was not the worst case scenario. As he was speaking, the terminal bleeped again with incoming data. Daniel thought it was the data Zhu sent about the Shaitan fleet detected, but Zhu was still on screen and her gasp caught his attention.

  “Sir you are not going to believe this! Three more new Shaitan engine burns have just been detected!” Zhu said.

  “That’s strange that all the ships of the fleet did not start up their engines at the same time.” Daniel wondered.

  “Sir that is because… you have to see this on your terminal. You are not going to believe it if I just told you. The new three new Shaitan ships are coming from the opposite direction!” Zhu said.

  Daniel flicked his terminal and saw the data for himself. It was not exactly from the opposite direction of the planet Shaitan, but at an angle of 164°, almost opposite. Now there were 7 Shaitan ships approaching from two different directions.

  It was strange that the Shaitans sent 7 and not 8 ships. This would be the first time they would have done something that was not in powers of 2. Ships coming from opposite direction meant that there must be another Shaitan world somewhere in that direction. That was certainly not good news.

  “Zhu, call an emergency conference of war room in two hours, and make sure that all the admirals and their staff are sent the data immediately, so that they have had a chance to review it by the time they come into the meeting. I am going to be attending from my office.” Daniel ordered his aide as he started putting on his uniform again.

  Daniel sat reviewing the data known so far, waiting for the conference to begin in a few minutes, there was much to ponder over and discuss and there were so many new and unanticipated things to ponder like the new ships type that the ion plasma signature is suggesting and the new planet that the direction is suggesting, but a trivial thing kept riling Daniel at the back of his mind. Why have the Shaitans sent 7 and not 8 ships? Why break their penchant for working in powers of two?

  The table pinged and he accepted his aide’s call. “Sir, sorry to be adding to the bad news every time I call you. The NASA deep space observatory is reporting that most likely there is a fourth ship coming from the new direction. The engine thrust of this ships is extremely faint suggesting that it is decelerating very slowly. That is the reason it was missed earlier.” The excitement and cockiness was gone from Zhu’s face and voice. Daniel could see from her face that this young woman was realizing what it really meant to fight off a Shaitan invasion.

  “Sir, now with 8 Shaitan ships approaching, it this our worst case scenario?” Zhu asked anxiously.

  Daniel replied with a sigh. “Lieutenant, we have not even conceived of a plan to tackle 8 enemy ships coming from opposite directions. I would say that this is worse than our worst case scenario.”

  Chapter 8

  An Admiral’s internal battles

  Earth

  June 2078

  Daniel was in New York, at the heart of the civilian headquarters of the USC. The next few weeks were going to be excruciating. He would have to battle bureaucrats, match wits with politicians. He would have preferred a battle with the Shaitans any day.

  As the military head of USC, it was his burden and responsibility to deal with the byzantine machinations of civilian bureaucracy and politics. He had never realized how much energy it took to get things done here, compared to the military. He now had developed a special respect for his predecessor, who probably had a tougher time getting things done when USC was just a fledgling department of the UN.

  This task however was more important than anything else for not just USC, but the safety of Humanity. Even though it doesn’t seem to percolate through to the thick head of the bureaucrats and the politicians that the USC needed the new vessels now.

  It didn’t matter what it cost, this was not the time to be counting the cost. Without those new ships, USC will not be able to defend Earth. What is the point of watching budgets and counting costs if there is no Earth remaining to use the balanced budget?

  He had called in all the chips he had earned in his career to help him sway the decision. He had called in his old friends Takamori and Cheng, both of whom held considerable clout with their own country’s military establishment. Takamori was technically a subordinate of Daniel, but USC-GCF worked fairly independently under its own chain of command. As the chief of USC-GCF or the space marines, Takamori was not just a formidable voice in this debate, but Daniel could use his wisdom and the respect he commanded.

  Cheng had not opted to join the USC organization. He had remained with the PLA, which made him and even important voice, especially to sway the Chinese bloc. He knew both the civilian and the military administrations very well.
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br />   Daniel had been desperate enough to even request the venerable senator Jason Golombek out of retirement to help him in this battle. In many ways Jason was the oldest veteran of fighting the Shaitans. He may have fought with remote ships, because that was all that human technology allowed at that time, but he fought the first ever Shaitan scout probe.

  His most ardent supporter and star campaigners were his two old friends from Titan. The eminent astrophysicist Jorge Sterner and his lifelong friend and now a senator Ramesh Srinivasan. The career and life of the introvert computer science geek had taken a turn which no one could have ever predicted.

  Ramesh was the undoubted leader and spiritual guru of the ‘Human First Faction’. It was not a party as much a movement. Although Ramesh was technically a Republican, his faction was spread across the political divide into the Democrats. The Human First faction formed a coalition which advocated belligerent budget and measures for the defense of Earth, and even advocated a preemptive strike on the Shaitan home planet, the technology for which was still being developed.

  The real opposition for the Human First faction came from the Greens on one end and extreme fiscal conservatives on the other end, for different reasons. The Greens were still hopeful of reconciliation and treatment of Shaitans humanely if they were defeated. They had for example raised a stink at the massacre of the Shaitans in Titan. This had angered everyone who had fought for their lives in Titan.

  Even a known pacifist like Mischa had been disgusted with the Greens when they called the battle on Titan cold blooded murder. The Greens had raised a stink and the questioning and the purported torture of Shaitan prisoners. Thankfully the Greens were a very small minority in most places except the Scandinavian countries.