Solbidyum Wars Saga 9: At What Price

by Dale Musser

  “How many gate hubs do we have on Tantella?” I asked.

  “Three, sir. Two civilian and one on our military base there. We’ve already closed the other civilian hub gates and locked down the facility as a precautionary measure.”

  “Get in touch with Captain Padaran and order him to deploy his specially trained squads by way of the military base hub. Were they any signs that the enemy brought germ warfare pathogens with them?” I asked, dreading the answer.

  “No, sir. There were no obvious signs.”

  “How many enemy combatants are they reporting?” I asked.

  “Well over five hundred. They poured through the gate very rapidly and their troopers took up stations quickly. It was a well-planned and executed attack. It’s not going to be easy to retake the hub. Now that they have control, there’s no doubt that they’ll continue replacing the gate nodes with their own. Who knows how many more troops they’ll bring through. We’re broadcasting an alert to all gate security locations Federation-wide and ordering the immediate shut down of all non-essential gates, but it may already be too late.”

  “Be sure to pass that information on to Padaran. Tell him to knock those gates out if he can. The sooner the better.”

  “What about an aerial assault on the gates?” asked Marranalis.

  “It’s too risky until we know how many civilians are in the area and whether the Brotherhood is holding any captives. Taking out the gates in an aerial assault would work, but we’d be killing a lot of our own people. We don’t need to get a reputation for killing as many of our own people as the Brotherhood does if there are alternatives. We’re still getting flack about Glomar Rosa, even though there was no other option.”

  “Admiral, do you think we should delay the attack at Plamos until this situation is resolved at Tantella?”

  “No. We need to make the strike at Plamos on schedule. I suspect that if we haven’t defeated the enemy at Tantella by then, Ming will order them to retreat back to Plamos to help defend him, while he makes his escape to whatever world he has set up as his next refuge.”

  “You make it sound like you expect Ming to escape,” said Marranalis in a shocked tone.

  “It’s almost a certainty, unless we get him on the first shot. As soon as he knows we’re attacking, he’ll us a Cantolla Gate to get away. Now that he has the technology he’ll always make sure he has an escape gate set up near him.”

  “What good is our attack then?”

  “We can destroy a large portion of his fleet, which will take several years to rebuild. Hopefully we can also destroy the source of the pathogens Ming is using in his germ warfare. These things alone will amount to huge advantages for the Federation. Besides, Ming has only a short time left to live from what we know. The destruction of most of his military at this point in time would ruin his plans. There’s no way he would live long enough to rebuild and do the permanent harm to the Federation that he wants to.”

  The hours ticked by as we followed the reports coming in from Tantella. From the data we were receiving, the number of enemy troops at the gate hub was estimated to have risen to nearly one thousand. This didn’t account for any Brotherhood troops that may have entered the hub and then redeployed to blitz attacks at other locations; but strangely, we were getting no reports of breaches at other facilities. So as far as we could tell, the combatants were confined to this gate hub. Their objectives were difficult to make out while the conflict was unfolding, as their tactics didn’t involve the usual body-bombs, pathogen canisters and blitz-attack strategies that we had come to expect from Ming and his armies. Whatever they wanted, it had to do with this planet, at least for now.

  The small Brotherhood stronghold was being engaged by Federation troopers under the leadership of Captain Padaran, who had managed to get his troops through the base Cantolla Gates and fly them to the combat zone, where he then took charge of the operation. Using cloaked, silent drones, he was able to infiltrate the main hub facility and examine what the Brotherhood troopers were doing.

  “Admiral, it’s not looking good,” he said when I contacted him for a progress report. “The enemy seems to be constructing a large gate within the area, one big enough to allow heavy mechanized military equipment to pass through. It doesn't make sense, unless they’re also planning an aerial assault to accompany their ground action, but so far we haven’t detected anything in space. There are no signs of stellar gates or cloaked ships anywhere in the area.”

  “Is the gate they’re constructing large enough to accommodate a fighter as well as tanks and ground assault equipment?” I asked.

  “Yes, sir, but it would be practically skimming the ground as it passes through the threshold. If an aircraft is going to fly through that gate, it would need to pull up immediately on this side, and even then there’s a high risk of crashing into something.”

  “Captain, if you have any missiles or rockets in your arsenal, I recommend you take out that gate before they get it finished,” I said. If you need, call in an aerial assault to take it out, but do what it takes to destroy it.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Padaran’s attack on the gate came none too soon, as a camera mounted in the nose of the first missile showed the gate being activated just as the missile arrived. The timing was so close that the missile actually flew through the open gate into what appeared to be a large hangar area filled with equipment and fighters. The explosion resulting from the missile’s impact with a fighter inside the hangar knocked out the gate on the other side. Padaran’s second missile impacted with the now closed gate on the Tantella side, destroying it completely. A cheer went up inside the War Room on the GLOMAR ROSA as we watched it all unfold. Padaran and his men didn’t hesitate and used the shock and surprise of the moment to quickly advance on the enemy. They used the cloaked drones with grenades attached to destroy their defensive posts before they could recover their positions. Meanwhile, Padaran’s forces used small missiles to target other gates within the area, destroying them and leaving the Brotherhood troops with no way to escape or bring in reinforcements. Miraculously, Padaran and his men recaptured the gate hub on Tantella in less than three hours and secured the surrender of the remaining enemy combatants.

  Marranalis and I watched Padaran and his crew on the 3D display, as they completed their sweep and gathered the prisoners. Marranalis seemed to be reading my mind.

  “Admiral, what do you think makes Tantella unique enough that the Brotherhood would want to capture it instead of wipe it out?”

  “That’s a good question, Admiral. We’ll need to study this attack closely and learn everything we can about the planet to answer that very question. Clearly they wanted to take this planet without destroying it like they have most others. If we can find out why, it may give us some clue as to where they will strike next.”

  I heard a voice say, “I see your luck is still holding, Admiral.” It was Leader Pheosa standing behind me in the War Room with Rebadat Tonclin.

  “Honored Leader Pheosa and Rebadat Tonclin, I didn’t hear the two of you come in and no one announced you.”

  “You seemed rather busy when we arrived and we didn’t wish to interrupt,” said Pheosa. “It looks like congratulations are in order for you and your team for regaining control of Tantella’s gate hubs. It looked like the Brotherhood was planning a full-scale invasion.”

  “Indeed,” I replied. So what brings you to the GLOMAR ROSA in the midst of a battle?” I asked, wondering about the reason for the highly unusual visit.

  “Actually, Rebadat Tonclin happened to be visiting with me in the Capitol and we were discussing recent events when the situation erupted at Tantella. So we decided to come here in person to see just what was happening. This is quite an amazing set up you have here,” said Pheosa, as he walked toward the 3D display of Tantella. “I’ve heard about the holographic technology, of course, but I’ve never actually seen it in use before.”

  “Yes, it’s quite a remarkable tool. As long as w
e have triangulated imagery input, we can create this type of real-time display of what’s going on,” I said.

  “Just how close can you zoom into the action?” asked Pheosa.

  “It depends on where the cameras are located. For example, Marranalis, switch to the nearest cameras we have to the gate hub.”

  A 3D scene formed in the display area showing the damaged gate area, including clear images of a number of bodies lying on the ground and several of Padaran’s troopers walking about.

  “That’s amazing,” said Pheosa. “I feel like I could walk right up to one of them and start a conversation.”

  “In some cases where we have microphones and speakers, you sort of could, but we don’t have that situation at the moment.”

  “Tell me, Admiral, why do you think the Brotherhood tried to capture this planet, rather than destroy it with the pathogen, like they have most everywhere else?” asked Pheosa.

  “Admiral Marranalis and I were just discussing that very issue as you arrived. I can only guess that there is something about Tantella that is important to the Brotherhood and their future plans. Either that or they’ve run out of their source of the pathogen.”

  “I see. Well, we’ll let you get back to overseeing this battle. You and your teams are doing a good job,” said Pheosa.

  “Thank you,” I said. “I’ll pass the word on to the rest of the military that you said so.”

  “Oh, and good luck with your invasion of Plamos tomorrow. I assume you still plan to go through with the attack…?”

  “Yes, sir, we do,” I replied.

  Pheosa left with a calmer countenance and Rebadat Tonclin placed his hand on my shoulder and smiled before turning to follow.

  I spent the next few hours going through reports as they came in from Padaran’s squad leaders and trying to make some sense out of the attack there. Clearly, the Brotherhood had something significant to gain by taking Tantella. But if there was, why weren’t there more troops and why no ships in orbit? I looked over the vids from the security cameras. I noticed that the enemy’s attack had originated on the planet. They had not come through the gates of the station, nor had they been flown in. They must have arrived on the planet sometime earlier and assembled nearby for an assault of the gate hub. So it was the gates they were trying to take, not the planet. I was starting to see some logic in what they were attempting to do, when suddenly Marranalis interrupted me.

  “Admiral we’re getting the word from one of our ships at Plamos that they’ve been detected and they’re coming under enemy fire,” reported Marranalis.

  “Damn! Now they know we’re coming! Did they get their gate set up?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Activate that gate and send our ships through to engage the enemy. Wait about fifteen minutes and then order all other gates to open and send the rest of the fleets. Hopefully the enemy will divert their ships to the first battle front, thinking it’s our only gate. If they do, we can surprise them with attacks from the rear and sides. And recall our patrol ships and gates from Yho-owee. That whole idea of a diversion attack is no longer relevant. Tell Captain Hanges to get us in position.”

  “We sure could use the assistance of the androids at a time like this,” muttered Marranalis.

  “I agree, but I don’t think we’ll be getting any assistance from them again. They helped us before as repayment for assistance I’d given them in the past, but that was more of a compensation than a kindness. The androids don’t have emotions like we do and everything they do is based on survival and benefit. They honor what they perceive to be their debts, but they feel their debt has been paid and they don’t see any value in helping us in a battle that doesn’t advance them and their society in some way.”

  Fortunately for us, the Brotherhood didn’t have a lot of ships in the immediate vicinity of our gate and before too many of them could focus a serious attack on the gate, our ships were already pouring through and attacking with full force. As I hoped, the enemy began diverting other warships and fighters to assist in in what they saw as a major attack coming through a single gate. By the time fifteen minutes had elapsed, half the enemy fleet was headed toward the escalating battle near the first gate, leaving the greater portion of the area’s defenses greatly weakened. We opened the other five gates and immediately pushed forward, bombarding the remaining line of protection between us and the moons of Plamos, both of which were primary targets. The three warships equipped with PLABE weapons were positioned approximately a third of the way back in the formation of attacking ships. Once they had cleared the gates and had targeted the larger of the Brotherhood ships in range, they made way toward the moons of Plamos. For a few moments, it looked as though we would be able to successfully come within firing range of both moons, until the Brotherhood ships abruptly began pulling back from the conflict to form a tight defensive halo around Xennek.

  “They’re protecting Xennek, but I can’t imagine that Ming is still there. I’m sure he went through a gate as soon as our first ship was detected,” I said.

  “Why would Ming bother to have his ships pull back to defend the moon if he’s not there?” asked Marranalis.

  “Because he has something there he wants or needs or maybe just to make us think he still is there. There’s no way to tell what Ming’s reasoning might be.”

  By reserving the PLABE weapons strictly for targeting asteroid-ships and other larger warships, we were quickly able to reduce the size of the enemy fleet. Our fighters were doing a good job against the enemy fighters and smaller ships and I was beginning to feel optimistic about the outcome of the battle.

  “Sir, the enemy seems to be disappearing through a stellar gate positioned between Plamos and Xennek.”

  “Damn! Just when we were making real progress against them. Very well. Order the necessary squads to target the gate nodes. If we can trap the enemy here we can seriously cripple their fleet.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “So Ming is most certainly gone, if he’s allowing his ships to leave the area.”

  “Sir, something strange is happening on the surface of that moon. People seem to be in a panic. Ships are fleeing, but then they stop once they get into the moon’s orbit.”

  “Some sort of defensive formation?” I asked.

  “No, sir. Many of the ships are unarmed.”

  “Can you see what is happening on the surface?”

  “Just mayhem. Perhaps rioting… or maybe they’re simply trying to escape something.”

  “By the stars,” I exclaimed. “Ming released his pathogen after he fled. He’s killing everyone left behind and making the moon unsafe for us to land.”

  “You may be right, sir. That would explain what we’re seeing.”

  “I’m almost positive that’s what’s happening. Alert all ships and their ground response teams. Troopers are not to be deployed to any planet or moon surface under any circumstances and prisoners are not to be collected from enemy ships until they have been quarantined on their own ships for several days.”

  By now, a large portion of the still operational fleet of enemy ships managed to escape through their stellar gate. Our ships had estimated where the gate was configured and were firing large arrays in an attempt to hit at least one of the cloaked and invisible nodes that powered it, but their efforts met with no success.

  “Admiral do you think they may have shielded the nodes on this gate?” asked Marranalis.

  “It’s possible, I guess. That would explain why we can’t seem to knock it out. Order a flagship to fire at the possible node locations. If they are shielded, they won’t be strong enough to hold up against a PLABE weapon,” I said.

  Moments later, a small fireworks display erupted within the cluster of enemy ships as the fire from the PLABE weapons hit an invisible target. Almost immediately the remaining enemy ships turned away from the stellar gate and began fighting fiercely.

  “Sir, I believe we closed their gate,” said Marranalis.

&nb
sp; For the next hour, the enemy fought viciously and many them tried to escape the sphere of Federation ships that surrounded them. One by one, the flagships equipped with the PLABE weapons destroyed the asteroid-ships and starships, until at last only a few remaining enemy craft were moving and still able to fire an occasional shot. I was still pondering how we would handle these potentially infected prisoners, when an urgent call came in from Megelleon.

  “Admiral, we’re getting an urgent call from the Capitol Station. They’re under attack by hundreds or possibly thousands of Brotherhood ships that are pouring in from gates that seem to have been erected in the vicinity within the past few hours. So far, the station’s RMFF shields are holding, but they’re showing signs of weakening under the constant barrage of fire. The enemy is also firing on the planet.”

  “By the stars, Ming set this up! He allowed this to happen! He’s sacrificing all these ships and men just to engage us here. Order all our ships to retreat to the muster point through their respective gates if possible and then proceed to the Capitol and Capitol Station using our normal gate system.

  “Make contact with Captain Padaran. Order him to take several squads and transfer immediately to the Capitol Station to aid in the defense in the event of a breach. Ming’s intent is to take over the government databases and either kill or capture any senators and Leaders that may still be there. Tell Padaran to oversee everyone’s evacuation, shut down the computers and gates and get out. Tell him to destroy the station if the Brotherhood doesn’t do it first. The fleet we have there will have to hold them off until we arrive.”