“Mister Anderson, this information raises many other questions. We require you to take a shuttle and meet us in the House of Ministers. Tomorrow, we will clear all of our appointments to address this very important issue. Are you aware of when we usually meet?”
“Yes sir.”
“Then we look forward to your report then.”
“I will be there sir.”
As captain Anderson turned off the communications he scowled. He did not look forward to tomorrow's’ meeting. He was not worried about what their position would be on the matter. He was concerned about whether they would let him return with a more militant fleet, to enforce and re-establish the colonization efforts on the moon.
He knew Victor Marcus would have some plans to defend these natives that he had come to love so dearly. He wanted to strike Victor Marcus hard and teach him an unforgettable lesson. He wanted revenge, for how Victor had humiliated him in front of his crew and the political leaders of Homeworld. He did not think that Victor Marcus would be able to do much in retaliation.
He guessed approximately only thirty ships were left behind. He would have to look at the report and see, but he knew Mister Marcus and company did not have much to use in their defense. Especially, considering the military force that he was going to try to get permission to command, for the mission that they were surely going to launch. He knew that it would take nearly a year to select and to prepare the return fleet. However, it would be time well spent. He would carefully choose the officers and especially the pilots this time. The bridge crew would likely remain the same, he had already picked the best of the best. He was determined to be back where he was supposed to be. Colonizing the moon orbiting the planet Paradise.
The next morning’s meeting went even better than he hoped. His government agreed with all of his plans with one condition. That he bring a massive mothership that would operate separately from his battle fleet. The need for population density to be relieved, was far greater than when they left Homeworld over six years ago. This was the basis for the reason why they agreed with his plans. They were desperate for more space, the steadily increasing population of their people demanded it.
Their aim had always been to spread across the galaxy in numbers and strength. So, it was not long before he was looking for individuals that were considered the elite of Homeworld’s military. The government would assign the personnel of the mothership, he had no control over that. They would mainly choose among the civilians and scientists.
Chapter Eleven: Building Devices, Battle Tactics and a Chaperone
After three more months testing the prototype devices in conjunction with each other it was decided that they would get started on the mass production of them. All villages on the planet required pulse devices and especially shield devices. The grand council agreed that several devices had to be hidden in each village on the planet. Therefore, there would be numerous devices installed on the planet. However, Victor calculated that due to time constraints, each village would have only one pulse device and two shield devices. Each of the pulse devices had required an automatic targeting and firing system.
There would have to be many incognito missions to install all these devices. There simply would not be enough time to plant more. It would be difficult to hide them all, without being detected. The villagers were not suspicious people by nature, so therefore most would not notice at all. It was thought that someone was bound to notice. The grand council decided that if they were discovered in a village, the elders of that village council would be given specific information and instructions on how to proceed. If the invading fleet made it as far as the villages, then they would all know the situation anyway. They would see the ships firing on them. At that point, it would be pointless to hide anything from those villagers. The goal, was to not let them get that far. These villages would have these devices, for the worst case scenario. Victor wanted to feel confident that it would not go that far. However, the considerable task that they had before them, would be monumental. So he was skeptical concerning this.
They had almost four years to build these devices. Thousands and thousands of them. Victor kept ten of the brightest from his research and development division including Ylil, busy in furthering the technology. The rest joined the device construction division and got to work building the devices. They would keep on building the devices until the invading fleet arrived. Every six months, Victor and Taerg would transport what was already constructed, down to the planet. They would land at the base in the Chamber of the Past, from there these devices would be distributed and hidden in each village of that city. The grand council had selected thirty very dependable individuals, to do the hiding of each device. The place they would hide them, was in the attic of the meeting hall in each village. They hid them at night. These devices would lie dormant, until they were needed. Then, they would be activated by a remote signal, or if a foreign ship was in the vicinity.
They had only three major cities of villages to look after. For these it went quite smoothly, only a few drops for each at night far enough away to avoid detection and they were done. The more difficult part, was getting them to the hundreds of other individual villages scattered everywhere. Victor and Taerg had to plan their drops carefully, so as not to be detected. Travelling mostly by night, they would land nearby the village and drop off two of the villagers. The devices were small enough to be carried in a backpacks. They would stealthily hide the devices in the village, then wait outside to be picked up. Victor and Taerg would go to five or six other villages and do the same. Then they would return to the first village, to pick up those two who had hopefully completed their assignment. It was not easy to plan all of this, being economical with their use of time. Sometimes they found themselves waiting for the villagers to return or the villagers would be waiting for them.
For the individual stand-alone villages, it took a lot longer to distribute all the devices that had been built during each six-month period. It took approximately three months of night drops, give or take a couple of days. It all depended on the distance between the villages.
Victor could not believe how good a pilot Taerg had become. He could land a vessel at night easily using topography scans of the area. Recently, he had advanced to the lead in the pilot training division as expected. He was already the leader of it, but he was now the top most skilled pilot too. Everyone was in awe, with his amazing natural ability that had been honed over the years he had been flying so far. He would be the capable one to lead the fleet in the battle ahead. Taerg reported to him that all the pilots had improved greatly in their abilities, because of all the training. However, Victor expressed that he wanted them to have more intensive training.
While most were now building devices, Victor was working on a new program that would be used on the ships as a training program. He designed it to prepare the pilots and the co-pilots for what they might see during the upcoming battle. He put a lot of work into the different tactics the enemy might employ. He wanted them to clearly see the results of certain actions taken by the pilots and co-pilots. The battle would be fierce. He showed them what damage the enemy’s weapons would cause on a vessel, on the moon and on the planet. It was a very intense program designed to push them to their limits. Their objective was a tremendously noble one, they were not to be killed and they were not to kill. The situation during the battle would be very extreme. They had to be able to fly as a team evasively, always keeping formation even without the aid of the computer guidance system. This would ensure, that they would at all times be protected by their group shields. Victor had promised the council that he would make them as safe as they could be. He did however also tell them that he would not be responsible for the enemy fleets’ actions. They could do something foolish, causing the loss of life among their own. Victor would not be able to prevent that.
The first time they tried this new simulation program, was a disturbing experience to all. Victor was watching, as they finished the b
attle tactics training program. As they left their ships, they had very serious expressions on their faces. They had been shown something they did not realize before.
They seemed determined though. The first time through no one survived. Not even Taerg. When Taerg left the ship after being destroyed by the enemy, he looked at Victor and laughed. “That was fun,” he said.
“Really? Let’s see how you feel the next time your ship explodes.” There was a next time, then another time and also another before Taerg come out sweating and triumphant. This time he walked over to Victor and said, “Victor that is a very good program. I feel so much more prepared. With more practice, I know I will be ready.”
“I have no doubt about that my friend, but what about the others?”
“Some will survive eventually, but some will never be able to. It is beyond what they are capable of.”
“That is what I wanted, because those like yourself that repeatedly survive this test, will be the leaders of the three squadrons. Those who do not, will know their limitations and be more apt to more strongly trust the leaders that do.”
Eventually, only nine people were able to survive on a regular basis including Taerg. So, it was agreed that each squadron would have three of these individuals assigned to it. The three top ones would each be the leader of a different squadron. Taerg would be the leader of the squadron with twelve ships because he had the highest score. His performance was remarkable, all enemy ships were disabled and none of his damaged. Always in the fastest time and consistently so.
Victor realized though, that a real battle was something you could not predict. There were too many variables. Too many unknowns. He did not know what new technology they might possess or exactly what tactics they would employ when they arrived. He repeatedly told all of the pilots this. They seemed to accept the possibility of facing something new.
As for a chaperone for Victor and Ylil, Ylil’s choice was appropriate given the circumstances. She had to choose a married person as a chaperone. The problem with that was, the only female one available on the moon was Taerg’s wife. Victor happily agreed. Taerg’s wife was a very kind, loving wife and mother. A very village wise woman. They could both learn from her and they did. On one occasion, while they were walking the perimeter, she told Victor in the presence of Ylil that he became frustrated very quickly and too easily. She said this could lead to problems in their relationship. Another time she told Ylil in front of Victor that she should not be so confrontational. She told her not to make an issue of something that was not important. However, she would always smile and say that they were a good match. Being chaperoned, was definitely a learning experience. They both endeavored to work on these faults.
They were permitted to hold hands in her presence. While they were saying goodnight at Ylil’s module, she would stand by watching them. This was a little nerve wracking to Victor, but he remembered how good village life was and he gladly endured this. Victor could give Ylil an appropriate embrace and a quick kiss on the lips, but they were not allowed to linger in these things. They would hear a clearing of the throat, if they were going too far. They would both look at her and she would smile back at them and say, “That, is for after you're married.”
Victor was grateful that the courtships were not too long. With normal village life they lasted about six months. Here though, since they were so busy with more important things, Victor and Ylil planned for nine months. Taerg’s wife explained that they should get to know the other person first, without passion getting in the way and clouding everything up. It would be better to be deeply in love with a person when you more thoroughly knew their personality. Then, after they were married passion was okay. At that point, they would know each other so well and be totally committed to each other. Then, passion would not even cloud things up, rather it would make things clearer and they could contribute more positively to village life. This took time and by the end of nine months Taerg’s wife said that she believed that they were ready.
These nine months went surprisingly quickly. They really learned a lot about each other. They now knew so much more, about the person they were in love with. At times though Victor just wanted to get married now, get it over with. Taerg would say, “Patience, Victor patience.”
Victor would laugh and say with mock anger something like, “Patience, I’ll show you patience. As soon as you turn around a piece of soft fruit will hit the back of your head and I’ll do this every time you turn around.”
They both would laugh and that in itself, would release some tension.
The courtship went well and it was not long before they were making plans for a wedding. The trouble with that was, where would they have the marriage? On the moon or the planet? If they were to have it on the moon, there were certain difficulties. Legally they needed a council member to perform a marriage. There were no council members on their moon base. Also, what about family and friends? Most of these were on the planet as well. How could the marriage ceremony, other important customs and traditions be performed on the moon? These aspects were designed in the setting of village life and would not seem right on the moon, with their living modules scattered all around. All of these issues caused them to realize, that they needed to get married on the planet, in Ylil’s home village. Victor summed it all up by saying, “I would rather be married in paradise anyway.”
However, there were still problems that they needed to solve, concerning the marriage ritual. Victor did not have a house in Ylil’s village. Also, they had not built one to walk to, to show everyone that they were married. Nevertheless, a trip to Ylil’s home village solved all of that. Victor met her family, other relatives and friends. Her family did not know that Victor and Ylil lived on the moon, building technology to protect the planet from an invading force from another planet. They only thought that Ylil was asked to help the grand counsel, because of the special gift of intelligence that she possessed. This was essentially true and they were all very proud of her. Things were much simpler and less stressful to them. They came up with solutions to their problems right away. Ylil was the oldest of three brothers and a sister. None of them were yet married and so they were eager to help out. They volunteered to build a small house that Victor could use, when visiting the village up until the marriage. They also said that they, along with many others in the village would help in building the larger house. The house that they would live in once married. They could go back to whatever they were doing for the grand counsel and everything would be looked after by Ylil’s family and friends. They only requested that they both arrive two days before the marriage date, for preparations that they needed to be involved with. Ylil was not surprised by any of this, but Victor was astounded at how he was immediately accepted by the family and how willing they were to help.
Many of the colonists wanted to attend, but Victor said that only Taerg and his family would be invited. The work that they were doing, should not be halted even for a marriage. They reluctantly agreed. He did say though, that there would be a special feast on one of the evenings after they returned as a married couple.
The time flew by. Before they knew it, they were standing on a stage with a village counsel elder in the meeting hall. All her family and friends were proudly smiling at them. Victor who never felt nervous about anything, had to admit he felt nervous about this one. Ylil did not seem nervous at all, only happily excited. She was laughing with her friends earlier, seemingly without a care in the world. Taerg, his wife and their children had kept him company for the last two days while preparations were being made. At least he did not feel totally alone. So, here they were at the beginning of a new mutual adventure.
The ceremony went well. Victor managed to get through all the procedures without looking clumsy. That was a bonus, considering that these were still new customs to him. The feast was very delightful, with lots of tasty food prepared by loving hands. Victor had many villagers hugging and gently slapping him on the back, in their customary congratu
latory way.
As they were holding hands and walking to their new home, Victor wondered how much time they would actually spend there over the next few years. Probably not very much. For now, though, they could enjoy what little time to themselves they had. They walked up to the front door and turned to wave at the crowd. The crowd applauded cheerfully. They turned to each other, smiled and Ylil said softly, “I love you and I’m glad we are here.”
“Me too,” said Victor as they stepped through the doorway. “Now, let’s get rid of these people,” he said as he closed the door, “I love you too much, to let them keep getting in the way.”
Unfortunately, their honeymoon was only one week. That’s all they could afford to take. The situation, was just too critical for them to take more time. It seemed like only a moment and they were back on the moon, happily living in their new combined module. The moon base personnel had prepared it all for them, during the ten days that they were away. They called it a wedding gift.
Chapter Twelve: Kastat Invasion
Preparations for the incoming invasion were nearing their completion. Victor could not believe that the time had passed so quickly. He and Ylil had already been married for about two and a half wonderful years. Their marriage made the situation even more apparent to Victor. He now had a very important connection to these people. His people. Her name is Ylil and this so called connection, was even more important to him than his own life.
All of them had been on the moon for six and a half years. In all that time, there had only been five marriages. With Taerg’s wife being chosen as chaperone, for four of them. Ylil was chosen for the fifth.
Everyone was so busy with their work. Victor knew the time was running short. Two days a week, if conditions were right, they spent part of the evening looking through the telescope. They both viewed it as a date. One day, Victor decided he would spend the time teaching Ylil some of what he knew about astronomy. He started with their solar system first by saying, “Ylil, what do you think the future grand council will decide when both the planet and this moon are fully inhabited by your people?”
Tomorrow's Paradise World: Colonize Page 11