AMP Private War

by Stephen Arseneault

  I then spoke. “Hit ‘em right in that gun turret with all we have. I don’t know what to think about this magic coating we now have, but I like it!”

  Frig pressed the fire button and the Durian ship took a direct hit to the cannon mount that had fired upon us. The cannon exploded as the ionic charge expanded and a deep crater was left in its place.

  The Durian ship began to turn. “Hit her again and keep blasting until there is nothing left!”

  The Swift shuddered as each new bolt of energy left its cannon. The Durian ship quickly lost its left engine and a third strike took out a second cannon. The Warmonger returned fire as it attempted to flee and again the Swift absorbed its blows.

  I continued, “Target that second engine before it… grrrr!”

  The Durian ship shot off into the distance as its remaining engine came on full. Seconds later the first of the Milgari battleships rounded the gas giant with its cannons blazing. Two precision shots by Frig took the battleship’s cannons offline. It accelerated past us in an attempt to flee. Frig hit its vulnerable spot, just before the engines and the battleship quickly lost thrust. I pitied no one onboard her as she began to descend into the methane atmosphere of the gas giant we orbited.

  I then began to push our own throttle forward. Frig reached out his hand to stop me. “No Sir. If we move we risk damaging this armor with the debris from those ships. We are going to have to wait for them to come to us!”

  I pulled back my hand with a frown. “Always gotta spoil the fun don’t you!”

  Four more of the Milgari battleships then rounded the planet and began to fire. The Swift rumbled as each bolt of energy was absorbed. Frig then opened up with our cannon.

  I spoke, “Just take out their engines and let that planet do the rest. Those cannons are no longer a threat!”

  The ion engines of all four battleships were taken offline with precision shots from our single cannon. The four ships then began their slow de-orbits towards a corrosive death that would be hard to imagine. We were then joined by the Colonel and the other ships.

  The Colonel spoke, “Grange! You never cease to amaze me! A Durian ship just turned tail and ran from you. You are… well… I just don’t have words for it right now.”

  I pressed the comm button. “Colonel, I can explain later, right now we need you to pull us into your hold and move us over to the rest of that fleet. We can’t move ourselves without risking damage.”

  The Sleuth pulled alongside and its bay doors opened. The Swift was pulled inside and the doors closed. The process was then repeated in reverse as the other ships began to engage the small Milgari fleet. The Sleuth froze the first cruiser in place and then began to obliterate it with its twin cannons.

  The Slayer and the other Defenders moved into battle with the Milgari as the Slaughter headed for the freighter and the bounty that it carried. We sat in the middle, begging for any ship to come our way. Two cruisers were quickly annihilated by our cannon as their own blasts went off without damage.

  I spoke, “Frig. Can we safely maneuver over to that freighter? I don’t think we are going to get any of those other ships coming our way now that they have witnessed what we can do.”

  Frig punched commands into his console. I have limited the throttle to 1%. It will take approximately 22 minutes to reach the freighter Sir, if we leave now.”

  I pushed the throttle and we slowly made our way to the freighter. The remaining Milgari ships were putting up a fierce battle. They had moved into an asteroid field that made direct shots difficult, but they were fighting a war they could not win.

  We pulled up to a docking bay on the freighter as I clicked my helmet into place and secured my blaster in my belt. I then picked up my AK-47 and a backpack full of clips.

  I turned to Frig before opening the hold door. “Keep the engines running as I probably won’t be long. I’d bet the Colonel’s men have already taken the Bridge.”

  I then hopped out of the hold doorway and scrambled across the bay deck.

  Frig closed the door behind me before coming on the comm. “Sir, if you have not noticed, the power is still on. The Ghouls have not used a negative ion bomb Sir. Blasters are armed.”

  An instant before I could reply a bolt flew just over my head. I sprinted towards a stack of crates as more bolts came my way. Once behind cover I turned to see where they originated from. There were two Milgari crewmen standing behind a row of barrels. I loosed several rounds from the AK before pulling out my blaster.

  AK-ak-ak-ak!

  The empty barrels rattled as the .762mm rounds from the AK penetrated and exited through the back. The crewmen scrambled for new, more substantial cover.

  A bolt struck the crate in front of me sending splinters of wood in every direction. The concussion of the exploding bolt knocked me backwards onto the floor. The next bolt obliterated the crate behind which I had been hiding. I rolled to the left and pulled a grenade from the backpack that I carried.

  The pin was pulled and the grenade tossed in the Milgari’s direction. Four seconds later the blast could be heard and felt.

  Booom!

  The Milgari blasters went silent. When I sat up to look over the crate in front of me I was given a scene where the two crewmen were writhing about on the floor. One had lost a leg and the other was bleeding heavily from his torso. I sprinted across the deck and ended the affair.

  Ak-ak-ak-ak! Ak-ak-ak!

  My immediate battle was over. Frig came on the comm. “Sir, I detect one more crewman on the deck, he is in the corner over to your left and is armed with a steel pipe. I pulled another grenade from my pack and tossed it towards the hiding Milgari crewman. As the grenade left my hand he charged out from behind the stockpile of material he had been using as cover. The grenade detonated in the corner without causing injury.

  As the crewman raced towards me with the pipe lifted over his head, I pulled my blaster from my belt. I squeezed the trigger and a bolt of ions entered his chest and exploded. The dead Milgari fell to the floor with a thud.

  Seconds later an ion bomb detonated and the lights in the bay went out. I was now reliant on the night vision built into my helmet. I spoke, “Frig. I’m heading through those doors over there to my right. If the layout of this freighter is like the last I should see engineering and maintenance through those doors. Any crew that is not on the Bridge would normally be in there.”

  I slowly pushed open the double doors and looked up and down the empty hall beyond. The signs on the wall translated into engineering on the left followed by maintenance. My hunch had been right. I proceeded down the hallway with my AK-47 at the ready. I stopped at the first door. It was engineering. A tink-tink sound could be heard coming from within. I slowly pushed open the door and was met halfway by a mad rushing Milgari crewman. He hit the door hard, sending me violently backwards into the far hallway wall. My helmet hit the wall with a clang, snapping my neck forward.

  In an instant the raging Milgari was on top of me. Its small mouth and sharp teeth were gnashing at my face shield as it attempted to rip the eyes from my head. I reached for my knife and with a single move swung it around toward its temple. My swing was stopped by an outstretched arm and the knife knocked to the floor.

  I struggled with the weight as the Milgari flailed its arms, thrashing at my torso. When my outstretched hand once again discovered the knife I picked it up and plunged it into the Milgari’s side. It howled in pain and then continued with its beating. My grip on the knife was lost as the crewman thrust the claw on its right wrist into my left shoulder, repeatedly stabbing deep into my flesh.

  As I winced in pain the crewman pulled my knife from its side and raised it over its head. I was an instant away from having the steel of my own blade rammed through my chest! A single shot then rang out!

  Ak!

  It was Frig, he had come from the Swift to offer support.

  “Sir, are you OK Sir? I
think we need to get you back to a medic. Your shoulder looks in bad shape and those Milgari claws carry bacteria that can be toxic to Humans.”

  With a single grunt Frig hoisted me onto his shoulder and began to move back towards the Swift. Seconds before I lost consciousness I again heard the sound of the AK.

  Ak-ak-ak-ak-ak!

  When I awakened I was in the hospital bay on the Sleuth. Our raid had been successful and we were headed home with another freighter full of ore. The Colonel was sitting in a chair beside me reading over reports. “Grange! Glad to see you are still with us! Doc here says you were touch and go from those wounds. Looks like you are going to be laid up right here for the ride home.”

  I’ll give you chance to heal up a bit before I give you a beating of my own. You can’t keep taking these chances Grange. You are too valuable to the cause. Anyway, you rest up here for a bit, Nurse Martha will take good care of you, she might even give you a sponge bath. Hahahaha!”

  The Colonel winked and spit a chew of Omega root on the sheet on the end of the bed. The nurse scowled as he started to leave the room. I managed a few words of my own. “Colonel! No risk no reward…” I slipped back into unconsciousness.

  Chapter 15

  My recovery was coming along slowly. The bacterium from the Milgari attack had made its way into my liver and was causing havoc with its normal function. I had been in and out of our hospital on the Suppressor a number of times as I waited for an antibiotic to be shipped from the Grid. I was now hoping that my eagerness to be involved had not cost me a vital organ. Transplants were common, but they remained a major undertaking that was fraught with risk.

  Frig entered the hospital room with a report. “Sir, it seems the Hunter has been quite active and highly successful. We just received a report over the comm. It originated three weeks ago. They are deep within the Milgari supply lines.”

  “They say we should have five small freighters and material haulers that they have captured heading to the assigned coordinates. The ships should be there waiting by the time we arrive. The Colonel took the liberty to send the Slaughter out with a crew to evaluate them and bring back what is of value.”

  “They have also been able to interrogate a number of private citizens and others who deal with the Milgari. It seems our raids on the Tantric ore have caused a significant setback to their plans. Their normal modus operandi is to build up a fleet and attack, then repeat the process as necessary. Without Tantric, their ships are not being built.”

  Frig continued, “They also picked up that the Prassi war had taken a significant toll on the Milgari fleets. It is possible that we have pushed their plans back by as much as a year or more. If we begin to disrupt their trade and supply routes, those plans may get pushed back even farther.”

  “We sent a response to our boys regarding the Durians that we have seen interacting with the Milgari. They were warned to not engage as they would be well outgunned.”

  I sat up in my bed, my energy levels were low. “Any casualties? Anyone injured?”

  Frig responded, “Their data report did not mention any. I would surmise that it means that they did not have any of significance. I believe our heavy regimen of training and their prior experience is likely paying dividends.”

  The first of the Raider ships had been an early success. The newest Raider, the Helix, was preparing for its initial trials. The word from the construction docks was that they would be producing a new Raider at a pace of one per month for the remainder of the year. I wondered how much we could grow our organization with the booty we were capturing from the Milgari.

  The second massive ore freighter we had captured now sat parked beside the Suppressor. Its nearly full load of Tantric was being refined for sale into our markets. Our credit store continued to expand faster than we could spend it. George was having thoughts of purchasing an automated construction dock. If we wanted to turn out a large number of ships, an automated dock was a necessary asset.

  As I continued my convalescence I began once again thinking about Ashley Elizabeth. There was too much at stake for me to risk allowing her into my world. I still knew little about her. It then dawned on me that I had a resource on the Grid at my disposal that had already proven her ability to dig up information. I sent out a crewman in George’s flyer with a note to Doris Jenkins. She was to find out whatever she could about Ashley Elizabeth without exposing herself or the company.

  With my note away I paid a visit to George. I inquired about altering my vocal cords to change my voice and if there were any way to change my biometrics such as finger-prints, retinal images or DNA. The vocal chords were a cinch and the procedure was scheduled. The other identifiable metrics were either extremely difficult to change or altogether impossible. Don Grange would always be Don Grange.

  During the next several months I regained my strength through the use of antibiotics. Our docks had turned out two more Raiders which had been outfitted with crews and launched on their year-long journeys into the Milgari supply routes. The Raiders would now fly in groups of two so that assistance could be given if needed or destruction of a ship could be performed if it was disabled beyond repair. The captured freighters and other supply ships were stacking up at our designated drop site which we had named the Delta site.

  Several hundred laborers had been hired and given the task of identifying all marketable goods that had been acquired. George had hired a crew of 27 sales executives to move the goods throughout our sector of the galaxy. A wholesale warehouse had been opened on the Grid to assist in the moving of product.

  Since all the goods had come from the Milgari territories there were no claims of stolen merchandise. If complaints arose due to competition we merely raised our prices so that the legitimate businesses remained profitable, a tactic which only added to our wealth.

  The rocky world of Jarhead that we had claimed as our home had a breathable atmosphere and a temperate climate, but it lacked water and as such had remained a barren planet. With our vast and growing resources we had begun an effort to terraform Jarhead. A number of the captured freighters had been put into service with crews whose sole purpose was to acquire and deliver space ice.

  The ice, delivered in the shape of enormous blocks, was pulverized and then pushed into a decaying orbit. Frig performed an analysis and stated that clouds of water vapor should begin to form in less than a year and that rainfall would begin shortly thereafter. His estimates placed Jarhead at being ten years away from being a habitable planet. The undertaking was expensive, but we had credits to burn.

  Bucci was hard at work with Gy and Rita trying to unlock the secret of the Aquamarine skin on the Swift. We had taken a direct hit from a Durian cannon without receiving so much as a scratch. There was something about bonding the Aquamarine with Tantric and then dissolving the Tantric that left a layer of material capable of dissipating a tremendous ion charge. Their goal was to attempt to make it durable.

  With free time on my hands I had tasked Frig with providing data on our burgeoning organization. It had grown to more than 5,000 members who were eager to claim citizenship in the Defiant Nation. After spending the afternoon perusing the data I came to the conclusion that we were in need of a government. It was a task that was beyond my ability.

  A trip to the Grid was planned where a team of historians, engineers and everyday citizens were contracted to do a study. They were given the task of designing the perfect government by taking examples of existing governments and analyzing what about them worked and what did not. More than a hundred personnel were involved with a six month timeframe for completion.

  I was certain the arguments between the groups would at times be heated, but the resulting compromises would hopefully yield a form of government that was adaptive, responsive and only interfered with the lives of its citizens for a common defense or when differences of opinion required a judgment to be rendered by an authority. Government was a tricky game that was often easy to manipulate if t
he wrong parties were able to take control. The proper checks and balances would be required.

  In the months following our encounter with the Durian we had not been witness to another sighting. But reports were beginning to come in from our Raider teams that supply ships were being found abandoned, empty of all personnel and materials. It was reasoned that either pirates were active in those areas or some other entity was copying our game. I planned a special trip out to inspect the findings.

  The Swift’s armor was restored to its prior construction and then two new Tantric Aquamarine layers were added. In addition the inhibitor field generator was modified with the same conical field enhancement as on the Sleuth and the Raiders. We could now capture and hold a single ship for an extended period of time.

  Frig and I paired up with Davis and Wright on the Hammer and set out for the Gonquin sector where the Raiders had been having their success. It was a two month journey, deep into Milgari territory. Our progress was slowed slightly by adopting a zig-zag pattern as we went so that if spotted along the way our origin and destination would remain unknown.

  When we arrived in the Gonquin sector the Hunter and the Helix were waiting with a fresh capture. I spoke, “Helix, this is the Swift. Looks like you have a new toy. Mind if we come aboard for an inspection?”

  The captain of the Helix, Jarrod Mashburn, responded, “No Sir… I mean yes Sir, please come aboard. The bay will be ready when you get here. We look forward to your visit… err… Captain.”

  I had to chuckle at the attempt of a formal greeting that Jarrod attempted to espouse. “No need for formalities Jarrod. Just call me Grange or Don like everyone else.”

  We touched down in the bay and we made our way to the conference room closest to the Bridge.

  Jarrod replied, “Welcome aboard… Don. You came at a good time. We just apprehended this fella with a load of Emeralds. I would say at least half a million carats worth of high quality stuff. That is going to fetch us quite the credit load back home Sir. Emeralds are in high demand in our sector. We are interrogating the pilot as we speak. He was alone on the ship.”