by Ben Winston
“Very good. Remember people, we shoot if we’re shot at, but if she turns to run, we let her,” Brasten replied. “Mal,” Brasten used the shortened version of the AI name. “Please try to record as much information as you can on the hostile. This could be one of those Veranorian ships Sarah reported. We’ll need the data.”
“Understood, Captain,” Mal replied. She had been doing it anyway, but her crew still had not gotten used to her yet. “Sir, the decoys at the Base are beginning to move. They should arrive in three minutes.”
“Damn fast response time. Let’s hope the Veranorians aren’t suspicious of it,” Brasten said.
“They shouldn’t be Sir, given that they knew we had been responding to activity out here anyway,” the TAC officer said. She doubled as the intelligence officer during combat operations. “If this is a Veranorian ship, it would be the first time they have actually been in a combat situation.”
“That we know of. They also have the advantage of knowing our tactics and how we fight,” Brasten replied. “Which is why Vance created this plan. Let us hope it works as well as his other plans have.”
“All ship decoys, save the one destroyer decoy protecting the base, have jumped Sir, twenty seconds to arrival,” Mal reported.
“Understood. Status on the hostile?” Brasten asked.
“No change in profile, Sir. They are simply waiting,” the Navigator reported.
“So far so good,” Brasten said.
“Fleet has arrived, Commodore Vance is on the comm for you, Sir,” the Communications officer said.
“Put him on my screen up here, stand-by for fleet orders and maneuvering,” Brasten ordered.
“Brasten, as you can see, we’re here. Form up on the left flank, and we’ll go greet our visitor.”
“Yes Sir,”
“Remember, don’t fire unless fired upon. This is an unknown vessel, first contact protocols are in effect.” Vance said. Brasten knew Vance was acting. He also knew the Vance wasn’t actually on one of the ‘ships’ that just arrived.
“Understood, Sir,” he looked up, “Flight, recall our fighters, but maintain a CAP. Coordinate with the flag.”
He muted the comm channel and said. “When our fighters land, get them serviced, and back in the launch line-up as quickly as possible. TAC, maintain our defensive profile.”
After they acknowledged his orders, he unmuted the channel.
“All units proceed to contact. Comm, has there been any reply to our hails?” Vance asked someone off screen.
Mal leaned in to speak quietly to the Captain. “Vance and the ‘fleet’ are linked into our systems. They are now using our data on the hostile.”
Instead of replying, Brasten nodded.
“Ten seconds to weapons range,” the TAC Officer reported.
“Sir, the hostile is moving. It’s turning to starboard, main engines are online. She’s attempting to move away,” the navigator reported.
On Brasten’s screen, the lights around Vance turned red, and Vance looked back at him. “Multiple hyperspace events forming in Earth orbit! This was a diversion! All units, spread out and jump to Earth! We have to protect the planet!” Vance said sounding like he was about to panic.
“Sir! What about this ship?” Brasten asked right on cue.
“Fuck them! They can’t hurt anything out here. We have to protect the planet!” Vance said. “Jump to Earth now! That’s an order!” Vance ordered. Brasten had to really fight to keep the grin off his face, from the look of Vance he was having the same issue.
“You heard our orders! Navigation, get us to Earth!” Brasten replied, shouting. Some of his crew looked a little shocked, and scared, so he muted the channel to Vance.
“Relax everyone, we are putting on a show for our ‘guests’. This is all part of the plan,” Brasten explained.
“You didn’t tell us this part!” the XO replied, grinning. “We actually thought the Commodore was panicking!”
“I don’t think it’s possible to make that man panic. Remember that mess we got into on the way here? He didn’t even bat an eye, just did what needed to be done,” Brasten replied. “Just keep acting scared and shocked, but remember, none of this is real. We have a surprise waiting for our friends back at the planet.”
When he saw everyone relax and nod to each other, he reopened the channel to Vance.
“All fighters are on board. Ready to jump, Captain,” the TAC officer replied.
“Very good, Navigation?” Brasten asked, almost barking orders.
“Jump plotted, Sir. Ready for jump.”
Brasten opened the ship wide channel. “Attention all hands! We are making an emergency jump to Earth. Remain at Battle Stations, as we are most likely jumping into combat. Flight, prepare for a full combat launch. Weapons control, local safeties off, master safe will remain on for the jump. Combat jump in...” he looked at the timer on his console. “Ten seconds. Mark!”
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Fleet Command Battleship, Honor of Vengeance
Geo-stationary orbit, North magnetic pole
Earth, Sol System
Senior Fleet Captain Edgigly, Commanding.
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I was in the core vault and had just activated the AI when the lights flashed red, indicating Red Alert status.
“Honor, please report ship status and the reason for the alert,” I asked. My suddenly nervous guards also paid strict attention.
“Certainly, Doctor Cowan. Several large warships belonging to the Aracnise Grand Hive have arrived and are moving to planetary orbit. According to the battle plan outlined by Commodore Vance, Captain Edgigly has brought the fleet to red alert, pending the order to begin operations to defend the planet.”
I nodded. “Let's get to the bridge and introduce the AI to the Captain, then get the hell out of here.”
“Agreed. Perhaps we should figure out a way to forgo that formality in the remaining two ships,” Tul-sa suggested.
“When we’re on our way to the next ship, I’ll call the Captains, and see if we can work it out,” I replied.
“Let’s just hope we’re out of here before they actually have to start fighting. Flitting around an active battle zone in an assault shuttle is not my idea of fun,” Tul-sa replied.
When we got to the bridge, the Marines let us through immediately.
“You’re still here?” Edgigly asked. “Honor introduced herself a few moments ago, and asked that we call the last two ships and make arrangements for the new AI to do the same there. Damn good idea. Now, get the hell outta here! You’ve got about fifteen minutes left before Ghia opens the gates to the underworld. When that happens, you keep your ass on that ship! You’ll never make it back to the moon after combat starts. Just find someplace out of the way, seal your armor, and wait out the fight. Understood?”
I nodded to him once. “Thank you, Sir. Good luck!”
“To you as well, Doctor Cowan,” Edgigly replied, as we turned and ran for the flight deck and our waiting shuttle. However, by time we got there, things had already changed.
We ran up the ramp, and it closed and sealed behind us.
Tul-sa called the pilot. “We’re in and buttoned up, Felse. Let’s get the hell outta here.”
“No can-do, Sergeant. Flight control has grounded us. Looks like we’re going to ride this one out right here,” the pilot answered.
“Okay, Felse, can we at least listen in?” Tul-sa asked.
In reply, the intercom in the passenger area was filled by the sounds of the ship’s combat controller. I couldn’t really understand most of what was said, but there were a few things that troubled me. For one, one of the large carriers that had arrived was launching hundreds of landing craft, which would follow if they were trying to invade Earth, but the troubling part was that several of those landing craft looked to be set up as tankers. Instead of carrying assault troops, or equipment, they were a fly
ing tank of some kind of liquid.
“If they are trying to invade the planet, why would they be gassing it?” I asked Tul-sa.
“It’s not lethal. Think of it as sleep gas. They spray the stuff at a medium altitude for an area they want to take over, and anyone in that area not wearing environment gear just drops over. Resistance all but disappears,” Tul-sa explained. “It’s an effective surprise tactic, but it doesn’t work on us anymore.”
“I wonder if anyone told the people on the planet that,” I asked.
“There’s no way to know for certain, but I doubt it. There really wasn’t a lot of time to tell them anything other than they were about to be invaded,” Tul-sa replied. “But they would have a hard time of it anyway, Aracnise armor is pretty tough, those light mass drivers they use won’t do much more than piss them off.”
“They’ll adjust, they always seem to. I just hope they have the time to adjust,” I said.
“Well, the goal for the enemy here, is to establish a hive on the planet. Once that happens, it’s next to impossible to destroy it without destroying the planet,” Tul-sa explained.
“I can’t help but think of that as an infestation of sorts,” I said.
She nodded. “That’s a good explanation of what it is. The Aracnise infest a planet. Once they get one or two queens established, they will eventually take over the entire planet. A single queen can produce an almost unending supply of warrior drones.”
“Do they respond to fire?” I asked.
“They don’t like it if that’s what you mean, although they seem to be able to tolerate extremes we can’t. For example, they only need a breather when fighting on an airless world, or in space. They are pretty tough opponents,” Tul-sa said.
“They’re not sure of that anymore, Sarge,” one of the other troopers replied. “One of the bright boys said that the ones that fight in hard vacuum are either special units, or have to acclimate slowly to the condition. They think there are ones for fighting underwater too.”
Tul-sa nodded. “That makes sense I guess. It never did set right with me that those bugs could just jump out an airlock and fight. They’re still tough bastards though.”
“Doctor Cowan, is it true that the Aracnise were actually created by the Veranorians?” another trooper asked.
“Where the hell did you hear that, Bethsar?” the first Marine asked. “That’s nuts!”
I didn’t know what Vance wanted kept quiet, but I made a decision that I hoped he would forgive me for. “Okay, I don’t know if I’m supposed to keep my mouth shut or not, but I’m going to tell you guys everything we know, so you understand, and hopefully, can spread that understanding around.” I paused to take a sip of cool water from the suit.
“Yes, the Aracnise are a bio-engineered species created by the Veranorians. We think they created them as soldiers and as a stalking horse for the Alliance to focus on as a common enemy. Now, before you jump to any conclusions, the Veranorian Synod is the culprit here, not the Veranorian people.
“I say that because only those at the very top of the food chain on Veranor were aware of these events. As you all know, the Veranorians primary contribution to the Alliance has been their computing systems. Well, what you might not know was that those systems, primarily the teaching systems, had conditioning programming incorporated into them. Based on our analysis of that code, we have discovered that the Veranorians were trying to take over the Alliance while they focused on the Aracnise as the enemy.
“When I arrived, and brought Sarah with me, she discovered a few things, including that bit of programming in the Veranorian systems. Commodore Vance ordered her to remove it immediately, and she complied.”
“We know all of that, but the rest of this is new to us. What’s the deal with the Aracnise and the Veranorians?” one of the Marines asked.
“Simply put, the Veranorian Synod is the real enemy, and we believe they actually control the Aracs. I can assure you that, the Veranorians here, with the exception of LSE Order Fen and his second, LSE T’harnes, knew nothing about the programming, or the link to the Aracnise. LSE Corhen Nori has spoken to her people on the base and from the ships of this fleet. They have all agreed that the Synod has gone insane, and have separated themselves from their rule. For now, LSE Nori is serving as Matriarch of the Apollo Veranorians. So, if you see a Veranorian here, believe me when I tell you that they have as much, if not more reason to hate the Synod than you do. Yes, the Aracs may have killed your friends and families, but how would you feel if you found out that your friends and families were the ones responsible for billions of deaths?”
“As it stands right now, the rest of the Alliance is still under Veranorian control, but that will be changing soon. The Veranorians know we broke their conditioning, and believe that we will do all we can to free the rest of the Alliance, to that end, they have sent the Aracs to Earth,” I finished.
“So, why attack Earth? Why not wipe out the base?” one of the other Marines asked.
“The Veranorians think they can use the planet as hostage to control us. They don’t want to destroy the base because they want what we produce,” I explained. “I don’t understand it either, but that’s what Commodore Vance believes, and Nori agrees with him.”
Before anyone else could ask a question, the ship rocked from an explosion. “Okay, everyone, strap your asses in! The ship’s under fire,” Tul-sa ordered. I jumped for my seat, and followed her instructions.
She took the seat next to mine, and strapped herself in. “Listen up,” she said, held up her pulse rifle. She briefly explained everything to me, and how it functioned. How to reload the power module and recharge the unit. She also walked me through the interface between the weapon and the armor suit I was wearing. When I was holding an active weapon in my hands, the targeting and function information for the weapon would be displayed on my visor, making it easier to aim. She stressed that this was a line of sight weapon, and there was no recoil from the discharge, nor was there a drop to the projectile, as there wasn’t one. She also warned me that I wouldn’t actually see anything when I pulled the trigger. One the beam was too fast for the eye, and two, it wasn’t a part of the visible spectrum. I would, however, see the result if I hit what I was aiming at.
During all of this, the big ship was being rocked by explosions as it was hit with Arac weapons.
“Sarge! Man the weapons! The bay we’re in has been breached!” the Pilot called. We could hear her spinning up the engines.
“I thought we couldn’t take off?” I asked.
“We need the power from the engines for the weapons systems,” Tul-sa said as she used hand signals to direct her people. “Felse, drop the ramp. We need to be able to run for cover if we need to, then get your pretty ass down here and grab a weapon!”
The rear troop door began opening, as the pilot door also opened, and a slim-looking Marine slid down the railed steps to the cockpit. She opened a locker at the bottom of the steps and pulled out a rifle of her own.
Beside her little locker, I saw the receptacle for an emergency replicator. “Felse, do you mind if I borrow your replicator?” I asked, while I pulled my data pad out of my pack.
“That should be fine, why, do you have something up your sleeve?” she asked.
“Not in this suit!” I replied. “Just something I would like to test on the Aracs if we see any.” I plugged my data pad into the replicator terminal and began selecting what I wanted.
“Somehow, I don’t think its ‘if’ anymore, Doctor. You know I’m supposed to keep you out of combat, right?” Tul-sa replied.
“That will be difficult if we get boarded, Sergeant,” I replied. “Just think this might surprise a few of them.”
When she saw what I was doing, she snorted. “Let’s just hope that they’re the ones surprised!”
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