by Mark Wandrey
"After falling back they retreated in one of the transports to the garrison building. The Tanam are laying siege against them now. They can fall back through the garrison Portal, but under Concordia law..."
"If they do the Tog surrender possession of the world," Minu finished for him.
Dram nodded. "The Beezer are ready to make a run for it, but our people are trying to restrain them. So far, it’s worked."
"Okay," Minu said and looked at her tablet. Several images of the Tanam attackers were there, both from cameras in the hardened garrison building and from bots sent out by the Chosen to recon. She figured about three squads of the feline Tanam, as estimated based on the human Chosen soldiers squad formation. Their warriors weighed at least four hundred kilos each, six legs, four eyes and razor sharp elongated canines that reminded her of saber toothed tigers. They were equipped with top of the line Concordia technology and were as fast and deadly a being as could be found. The fact that they were a higher order species made it that much worse for them. Of all the species to attack the Tog's interests...it was a bad situation. Still, with only three or four squads, it could be worse. She turned to find Gregg standing there, as she knew she would. "Order up Red Army, 1st Battalion." she said with a wry smile, "we'll show these-"
"Hold up," Jacob said a few meters away, "we've already responded."
"You ordered out the soldiers without me?"
"Your soldiers are still here," Jacob said and glanced at Dram who looked a little uncomfortable.
"We sent a scout combat team," Dram told her, glancing between her and Jacob. The meaning was obvious. It was his idea, not mine.
"The scouts were reorganized under the soldier branch," Minu complained, "they work for the soldiers, not independently of them."
"This team has been training for just this sort of mission," Jacob said confidently. Minu shot him daggers and he cleared his throat. "Some believe the soldiers are overkill...subtlety is called for."
"Against three squads of a first order species' warriors?" Minu asked. "Those are well trained, well equipped and capable aliens, and they are there for a reason."
"To take that world from the Tog," Jacob said, smacking the dualloy tactical console for emphasis, "these specially trained scouts will deal with the situation, and with a minimum of bloodshed."
"Who's in command?" No one answered and Minu looked around at them. She cocked her head when no one spoke. “Will you at least give me a straight answer?”
Dram looked down and Minu felt control of her anger slipping, but then he answered. "It's a team led by Christian."
"Oh," she said and turned on her heels.
"Where are you going?" Jacob demanded.
"To wait with my soldiers for the inevitable." He called after her for an explanation but she kept on marching.
Gregg stayed behind for a minute and the others all suddenly noticed he was standing there. "What is it, Chosen?" Jacob asked.
"This is bullshit," he said simply and spat on the floor. "All this time and money and you just keep on doing the same damn thing. I'm embarrassed to be Chosen." And then he turned to follow his friend out. No one called after him.
Two levels below in the ready room, the twenty Chosen and noncoms of Red Army, 1st Battalion gathered listening to her describe the situation. There were shouts of anger and outrage when she explained how a group of only a dozen scouts were sent instead of them. Minu smiled to see that even the Chosen temporarily in charge all scowled, especially since they wore the black of Chosen instead of the tiger stripe camouflage of the soldiers. Chosen scouts they might have been, but they'd spent months training these new soldiers and wanted to see it through. After so much time and effort, the Chosen didn't leave a job half done. Gregg came in as she was finishing up, a look of satisfaction on his face and she worried about what he'd done.
A moment later Dram stormed in, slamming the heavy dualloy door behind him and pointing a thick finger at Minu. "You go too far," he said and then pointed it at Gregg, "and he's picking up your bad habits."
"What the hell have you had us doing here all this time?" she demanded and gestured expansively, taking in all the soldiers waiting with stunned looks on their faces. "I know it wasn't just to keep me busy, I've experienced that before. All this time and money, blood, and sweat and you send a few Chosen, again."
"You think I had a choice?"
"Of course I do, and I think you had a say."
Dram took a deep breath and stopped, letting it out instead of yelling back. "Look, Christian got Jacob's ear a few months back, said he was owed something after all the months he spent marooned on the frontier being chased by Tanam."
"They put him in charge of the scouts, wasn't, that enough?"
"Apparently not." He looked around and suddenly seemed to notice the command staff all watching with jaws hanging down. The muscles bunched on his jaw. "Be ready," he told her, "we don't know what the Tanam mean in this crazy attack. There seems to be little to gain, and less to be learned."
Minu watched him leave and returned to her spot at the head of the room. A man she had once thought she loved was off trying to prove she'd wasted the last year of her life on a fool’s errand. "You see?" he would say when he returned, "Real Chosen can handle anything, given a chance." She ground her teeth and cursed.
"What are your orders, boss?" Gregg asked.
"Stand down, remain on alert." All around the room the officers and noncoms nodded. "This is just the start."
"How do you know?" Chosen Daniel asked.
"I just know,” they still stared at her with wide eyes, “because it's my job."
The next move was only a few hours later. Word came from Christian's elite strike team that they'd successfully relieved the besieged garrison on Amber, forcing the Tanam back through the Portal they had initially invaded through. He only sustained one wounded and the enemy suffered no casualties. "Doesn't make any sense," Minu said back in the command center. Jacob and the others were all clapping each other on the back and laughing. A few cast disparaging glances at Minu but she refused to bite. Her mind was busy trying to sort it all out. Nearby Dram caught her eye and nodded his head. He'd heard her comment and agreed. The Tanam were well known for their schemes, perhaps only second to the T'Chillen according to many.
The Portal flashed into life, visible through a monitor in the vault, and computers began relaying data. A flash traffic message came from the Beezer on Amber. Minu read the live feed as technicians applied the cipher and the message decrypted. One of the service Portals on Amber opened and a second force of Tanam were landing, much bigger this time. They were seen by the Portal monitoring camera heading off at a high rate of speed straight towards the production facilities. The Beezer were crying for help and asking permission to retreat.
"Do they even know how to fight?" she asked Dram who just shrugged. Minu knew better than to ask that. The Beezer, huge bipedal buffalo with unexpressive faces and powerful bodies were indomitable fighters, but only when cornered. And that was something they avoided at all costs.
The Chosen councilors, led by Jacob, began to consider their moves. A few minutes later orders were given to deploy another force of scouts to deal with this second attack. The first squad under Christian would remain at the barracks to guard against a surprise attack.
Jacob cast an angry glance at her, inviting her, daring her to disagree. This time Minu kept her peace. She was beginning to get the sense of what was going on here. No sooner had that squad of scouts left through the Portal in the vault, than another communication came in; two more incursions on Amber, these forces heading to parts unknown. Moments later, communications came from P’ing on Herdhome. "This is a move against our interests," hse said in as certain of a tone as the translator was capable. Thanks to human scientists the new translator matrix for English was even clearer than the last. P'ing actually sounded somewhat human.
"Have they declared a war or vendetta?" Jacob asked in his capacity as Firs
t among the Chosen.
"No, they have not. This action is unsanctioned, but because it is a research leasehold, the attack is legal. We have been declining to sell them food stuffs in response to their attacks against you, our Chosen, over this last year or more." They all knew Concordia law to one degree or another, Minu doubted any one person could know it all. Often contradictory and easily manipulated to the needs or wants of higher order species, the Law was more usually an instrument of revenge or oppression against lower order species such as humanity. The Tog could only do so much to protect humanity as their clients. Minu was glad to be working for a species such as the Tog. From what she’d seen of the Concordia, they had a light handed approach and even some dependence on their clients for help and technical prowess. Of course that very attitude towards their clients was one of the reasons the Tog were not the most prominent of the higher orders. "They claim we are using starvation as a weapon, and this is the reason they can attack. Others will support their move, claiming we are greedy and vindictive towards them."
"Then why haven't they attacked Herdhome?" Jacob asked. P'ing spread serpentine arms wide, three fingered hands splayed in a disconcertingly human gesture. “This is escalating quickly."
"Any sign of other species involvement?" Jacob asked. Even higher order species often brought along allies to better spread the risks.
"No, thank our luck for that. We need our Chosen to deploy what forces they can immediately to defend the Amber world until the Beezer can be made ready for battle. If their home world is threatened, their instincts will be to race home, abandoning our holdings." Minu tensed, this was the moment of truth. Jacob would have to send every Chosen able to fight and still have little hope of defending four worlds at the same time.
"Concordia Master, we have an alternative," Jacob said grudgingly, all eyes turning to watch. "Our new soldiers are ready to serve. Chosen Alma has more than a thousand prepared to deploy at this very moment." He didn't look at Minu but she could tell he was shaking with anger. She understood a lot better now. Creating the soldiers and these forts had been approved under protest. Jacob had resisted her every move from the day she became Chosen, even opposing her being made a Chosen. And still she had no idea why. Maybe her father could answer that question, if only he could talk to her from beyond the grave.
If it were possible for the almost featureless face of a Tog to look surprised, P'ing almost managed it. Hse stared at Jacob through the communications relay for so long Minu began to wonder if it were a still image. Finally hse moved and spoke with their flowing gestures and gentle pulses of bioluminescent light. "We had not known they were so close to being trained. This is surprising news. Good, but surprising. Please deploy them as quickly as possible."
The Tog's image disappeared and Jacob turned to Minu. "Okay, you have your wish."
"My wish? How arrogant do you think I am?" His eyes narrowed and she continued. "I've fought to do all of this for our own sake, not as some self-serving ego trip. And after the soldiers are proven, I'll happily take a battalion command and step aside for you to put whatever of your toadies in charge you want."
"Basking in all the credit, I'm sure," one of the Chosen council members said behind Jacob. Minu couldn't tell who it was, and it didn't really matter.
"Credit? Keep the credit. I'll exchange it for a chance, just one chance that humanity can survive."
Minu turned slightly towards Dram for his approval. He gave the barest nod and she quickly left. By the time she reached the ready room her unit commanders were swarming in. The formal orders were in her tablet and she shook her head. She was to deploy to Amber in order to assist the Chosen teams already there in repelling the Tanam attack, keeping a third of her forces in reserve should more attacks follow. She nearly stormed back to the command center where she would tell Jacob what she thought of his plan when a message from Dram came in. It read simply; "Minu, don't try to argue. This is the way it is going to be. If you fight, you will be relieved and I will be forced to assume command. Just like the Vendetta, do your best with what cards you have been dealt."
She didn't like that last, the Rasa vendetta cost the lives of three good friends and hundreds of Chosen. She turned to an expectant Gregg. "We're going in," she said and the room was suddenly rocked by cheers. She tried for several seconds to shout over them until Gregg noticed and used his booming voice to obtain silence. Then she told them of the plan and the cheers turned to moans. "We can do it," she said, turning in a circle and taking them all into her view. "We can do anything we want, succeed at any task, and best any adversary. We are humanity’s soldiers, the long lost weapons of Earth!" This cheer made the previous one pale by comparison.
"Well said," Gregg told her and clapped her on the back.
"Thanks. Now put 2nd and 3rd battalion on alert, and Green Army."
"You think it can get that bad?"
"It could."
Gregg nodded and reached for a communicator. "Var'at will be thrilled. When he heard his army wasn’t going on alert he looked mad enough to chew a rock."
"He will understand," Minu said, "his troops are blooded, these are not. Once he sees the situation he’ll know why I am leaving Green Army as backup. If things go south and I yell for help, I don't want more inexperienced troops coming as backup." Gregg nodded and started talking into the device. To her surprise he hissed and popped in a fair imitation of the Rasa speech. She'd had no idea he was learning the alien language. But now that she thought about it, quite a few of the soldiers were picking up a few sentences in Rasa, and many of them were able to speak some English, even if it sounded rough and pinched because of their lack of lips. That done she turned to her commanders. There was finally some work to do.
Chapter 11
Octember 23rd, 521 AE
Planet Amber, Tog Leasehold, Elysium Sector
Visiting Amber could be either a joy, or a nightmare, depending on what season you arrived in. Minu studied the planet’s details as she uploaded the data to all of her commanders. Its growing capacity was marginal; the seasons were too unusual to be considered economically viable. The Tog applied for, and got a leasehold at a ridiculously low cost. No infrastructure, marginal growing season, who would want to live there? It was only thanks to their ingenious human helpers that they were making a profit.
Like most alien worlds, the humans gave them a unique name in their own language. No one from Bellatrix had ever visited the obscure world until the proposal was put forward. It was named based on the plan. “Amber waves of grain” someone suggested. They should have seen the world first. Minu had no doubt that if not for a shortage of water it would have been a valuable lease hold for some middle order species. Amber suffered from a severe axial tilt and an equally extreme solar orbit that took it alternately too close to the sun then frigidly distant. However, the world’s ecosystem was adapted to these yearly extremes, so for two 98 day growing cycles every 406 day year, Amber was a rich, almost lush growing land.
As Minu and her soldiers came through the Portal, it was a week after the second growing season ended. The nearly endless fields around the simple Portal facility were covered in harvest trash, cutting and leavings from the reaped plants, ready to be tilled under to help next years’ planting. The air was already frigid as the days grew shorter and the sun became more distant.
Minu crouched next to the Portal building, a twenty meter tall squat ceramic concrete pyramid with doors an all four sides. She'd come through twenty minutes ago with A Company, 1st Battalion, Red Army. Besides the need to perform well on this first mission, she was nervous because the battalion level command structure was untested, until today. By forcing her to cut back on drills, the Chosen council had also kept her from doing any full scale war games that would have seen how entire battalions would operate in the field.
"Perimeter is secured," Gregg told her. He was acting as her aide in this mission, as she'd assumed command of the battalion. The deployment through the Portal was pre
cisely executed. The soldiers swept out from where she stood guard with her personal squad, taking the building in minutes. The Tanam offered only token resistance before being thrown back.
"Casualties?" she asked.
"Three casualties, no KIA." Minu nodded. Medics were sprinkled through the ranks evenly with at least one per squad. She'd encouraged medic training in all those interested and was thusly rewarded with high levels of takers. According to her files, most Concordian species only deployed medical personnel as separate units, and kept them out of the fight until the coast was clear. She’d much preferred the Earth tradition of the combat medic.
"Once they're stabilized, transport them back to base," she ordered. “Send Recon out.” There weren’t any Chosen scouts with them, they were all already deployed under Christian and holding up in the Beezer command bunker many kilometers away. If her mission failed, she was sure the experiment of the soldiers would end just as quickly as it began. She owed it to her men not to allow that fate to come about while at the same time not spending their lives recklessly in pursuit of quick success. At the back of her mind was the body count she’d incurred the last time she’d led people into battle.
A hastily picked squad of recon, mounted broomsticks; a simple gravitic impeller powered two man flying vehicle the Chosen had used for decades, leaped into the air. They raced away with a high pitched whine and quickly located the retreating enemy.