by Tobias Roote
The gunship’s crew had only a split second to decide whether to move from under, but they either didn’t believe what their cameras and instruments were telling them, or had no idea what to do next. Seconds later the decision was made for them as the transporter touched and pressed squarely on the gunship’s upper shell causing it to shudder while its engines fought to retain control. The increasing weight pressed the whole ship down until the bottom made contact with the ground.
Under the force of the weight of the transporter, the gunship began to settle, its hull desperately trying to retain its shape, and failing. The rotating rail guns were crushed in the process, leaving the ship defenceless and the men on the ground without their support.
“Now !” Range ordered, speaking directly to his men through their comms. Behind him the entrance opened up and his reinforcements swept through the door in two’s. By the time the nearest Core officer looked back at Range, he faced two squads with heavy weapons and Range could see his opposite's appetite for battle suddenly wither as he realised that they had been outmanoeuvred.
Range spoke through the public network again.
“You have sixty seconds to remove your men from this entrance, after that we will consider your continued presence an act of aggression and you will be shot. No further warning will be issued.
58....57....56...”
The officer in charge turned to his men who were watching keenly for their next order - shoot or retreat. He dropped his hand down and signalled his men to stand down and withdraw.
He sighed and nodded at Range confirming he had won this time. His voice came across the battle comms which wasn’t public, Range knew it was for his ears only.
“This isn’t the end of the matter, you know. The Core have a long memory and we always give payback.” He backed off a few steps before turning and walking behind his men towards the landing pads. They would have come from a covert-ops ship sat out there. Range would have appreciated a chance to listen into their comms traffic over the next half an hour. That would be revealing.
His own comms buzzed.
“Ha ha ! I think that flattened their ego a little, don’t you think ?” came the voice he’d heard earlier.
“Indeed, MacCullum. You saved a lot of lives today, possibly even stopped a war,” he responded gratefully. The pilot was a close contact of Grady's. Range had been advised that in the event of any possible firefight out the front, to call him and tell him what was going on, then leave the rest to him. They’d hatched the plan while on the run to the entrance. Range was impressed.
“You tell Grady, we’re all square now. The next time, he’ll owe me one.”
“I’ll tell him, but you might yet have problems with the damage you just inflicted on the wasp beneath you.”
“Tell Grady I’ll send him the bill, if I get one. Adiós !” and the comms clicked off.
There was a heavy graunch as the cargo transporter lifted off, leaving the squashed and partially buried gunship behind. With the pressure relieved, the frozen hatch squealed open and the two crew warily crawled out.
Range walked towards them and beckoned them close so they could hear him. He pointed at the crippled gunship.
“If this piece of shit isn’t out of my sight within the next hour I’m going plant RBX4 in it and blow it to scrap. Clear ?”
They nodded and ran off in the direction of the terminal. Not such heroes when they didn’t have a big gun pointing at everyone.
Range looked up to see press and TV cameras hovering and spiralling around the scene. They would make a good week's news out of that incident. He hoped it would pull the Core’s teeth a little. If not, they would be back and the next time it would probably be a missile down the throat of the AWC.
“Stand down, men. Good job,” he called.
“Full debrief ; my office, one hour,” he signalled to his seniors. They would meet in the canteen, that being Range’s office.
Range went back through the entrance and twisted the valve closed behind him.
Kildark, who had been watching the proceedings on internal cameras, approached, a genuine smile on his face.
“You visited a ‘crushing’ defeat on the enemy, I see,” he slapped him on the back.
“Actually, you can thank Grady for that. Had it not been for his contacts we would have had a rail-gun up the throat, no two ways about it. I believe the Core were working on the principle of once in possession of the AW and you eliminated, they would have nobody to answer to. I suspect we’re going to have fucking great big targets on our backs for the foreseeable future,” Range railed, but he was only letting off post-confrontation steam. Kildark knew, and let him. It took icy nerves to stand up to a threat like that. He was himself grateful for Grady’s recommendation. It had proved timely.
“Range, I’m grateful to you for your courage and loyalty. I know Grady is on over-watch and his presence is felt, but he wanted to make sure you were recognised before he left. I’m promoting you to Security Director with immediate effect. We have never had the position before so I’m making up a new spec for you, but suffice to say, you’re now in charge of the complex AND the AW’s security forces. They are yours to command.”
“Thank you, sir. Does this mean I get my own office ?” Range asked.
“You won’t need one, but if you do, I think your present arrangements will work perfectly, don’t you ? At least your men appreciate it.” He grinned and walked off. “It will be posted by the time you get to your briefing. Congratulate the men on a job well done,” he called out as a parting shot.
A perfect example of being handed a poisoned chalice, Range thought to himself, wondering just how the hell he was going to manage to grow into his new job in time to be effective against the whole of the Core navy. “Thanks Grady !” he muttered grimly.
Chapter Twelve
Raising the Stakes
MacCullum studied the ground cameras as he reversed the thrust on his transporter, lifting it carefully off the top of the squashed gunship. He duly noted in the maintenance log that two of the sensor nodes fixed at the base and tail-end were giving nothing back, probably scrunched and now in need of replacing, but that was all the damage his vessel had incurred in the exercise. Structurally, his ship was designed to land on any planet and take off under its own power, but he hadn’t extended the stabilisers risking belly flopping the ship into the ground. The gunship hadn’t stood a chance when the reinforced base plates settled on its flimsy shell. Lucky he was a master pilot, or they might not have lived to escape the wreckage.
He looked out through his cockpit at his exit point two miles past the passenger terminal. It had been temporarily shut-down when the gunship arrived on the scene, probably on command from the Core mother ship somewhere up above. The owners recognised there was likely going to be a firefight and as always, were aware of the monetary compensation payouts required if passengers were injured on their station. Their fingers would have been hovering over the steel shutters ; if it looked like a battle was about to kick off, they would slam down to protect the terminal from shrapnel damage.
He detected shadowy movement from behind the building growing quickly in size, something was trying to approach out of his line of sight. He switched to extended camera view in time to see an armed Core gunship appear from its cover where it had sneaked up on him undetected. Now, it hovered just out of his path giving the impression it was ready to move to impede his departure. He also noted the sudden proximity above him of a Core transponder signal, just out of camera range, but showing clearly on his sensors, a warship, probably pulled from their border patrol. He immediately had his suspicion confirmed when his comms squawked.
“Unidentified vessel, this the CN Flag. We require you to land and prepare for boarding,” the voice came over his speaker.
MacCullum was furious and not about to acquiesce to their demand. “I’m not ‘unidentified’, you jerk, my transponder is broadcasting the ship’s ID, whic
h is, as you well know the UL432 out of Gamma-2, and for your information I’m not obliged to adhere to the Core navy demands while in neutral territory. Unless you want to start a war with the Empire you’d best back off, son,” McCullum replied.
He had no intention of letting the Core take over his ship in retaliation for his action against their gunship, which was itself breaking inter-space law. Luckily, he’d just had time to call his local bar before he engaged with the first gunship and ‘Fragger’ the barman had put out the call for support. It should be arriving - just about now.
His comms burst into life again.
“UL432, this is Captain Penner of the CN Warship Flag, you have ten seconds to stand down before we open fire. Your vessel is to be impounded pending an investigation into an act of sabotage against a Core navy ship. Land in the bay indicated by the strobe-flasher and...” the voice broke off as MacCullum observed multiple heavy loaders appear above and around the terminal, heading directly for him and the gunship currently barring his exit route.
“You were saying, captain ?” MacCullum replied, having seen what the captain was seeing and knowing his friends were coming to assist him.
“I was saying, land in the bay indicated and be prepared to be boarded. Should your friends be stupid enough to attempt to protect you, we have advised them we will simply destroy your ship immediately,” the captain responded, the nasally twang sounding irritatingly superior through the poor quality speaker unit in front of him.
MacCullum was amazed. They were prepared to start a war over his small contribution to the defence of a neutral organisation in neutral territory ? Something was going down here that he knew nothing about. He was about to call up Range for an explanation when a new voice cut into the comms and MacCullum realised things were about to go completely pear-shaped.
“CN Warship Flag - this is the AW Freedom, our fleet is returning to base from patrol. Please be advised that you are in neutral territory and should you open fire on any unarmed civilian vessel within the zone it will be considered an unprovoked act of war. In such an event please also be advised that your ship will be destroyed, as will any other vessel deemed party to the attack.”
The unit squelched as the Flag responded, the fury in the CN captain’s voice evident. “Freedom, this is not your concern. These are matters beyond your remit and we advise you to keep out of Core affairs. We have a duty to retrieve our officer and apprehend any individual or ship that deliberately sabotages our security forces and interferes in the legitimate retrieval of our personnel.” The superior twang was no longer evident, Captain Penner was not feeling so cocky now.
MacCullum, who was listening carefully, noted the other loaders were still moving to cover him from an attack from space, while the gunship clearly represented a threat to him it was nonetheless reversing its position as he continued to fly towards his intended emergency exit point. He realised that the allies were gaining the upper hand, but the whole thing was precarious. The aggressive belligerence of the Core ship was going to be no match for the defensive approach of the Freedom fleet, but would the Core back down ?
“Flag, this is Freedom - your position is untenable. The officer you wish to retrieve was caught in the act of an armed incursion into AW Command where two of the directors had been assassinated. She was apprehended by their security team while in the act of kidnapping the operations director of that facility which is in itself an act of extreme provocation and places the Core navy under suspicion of direct involvement in the military takeover of a neutral territory. Please be aware that the matter has already been reported to the Council and an official investigation is under way. Be advised also that we have been specifically recalled from patrol to enforce the Alliance of World’s neutrality and are fully authorised to take any action deemed necessary. Withdraw immediately or we will be forced to fire on you. No further warnings will be forthcoming. Freedom out.”
MacCullum knew that the Alliance of World’s fleet was kept in top-notch condition. It was constantly on call to keep the peace in Corporation and Febrillo joint space and so had state of the art equipment and weapons. It might not beat a Core fleet, but a single warship it would certainly have no problems with.
There was a few minutes delay where everyone involved seemed to hold their breath. Would the CN Flag back down and withdraw, or were they so desperate to start a war that they would deny the legal right of the Freedom fleet to protect the neutrality.
“Freedom, this is Flag, I have no orders allowing me to withdraw, but nonetheless will do so while we await further instruction. There are two conditions. We will not permit the removal of our officer from current location and we require access to the officer in question to allay concerns as to her well-being. Flag out.”
MacCullum watched as the gunship that had been pegging his every move cautiously withdrew, its manoeuvring thrusters angled downward to give them additional lift while it negotiated its way between the over-flying haulers that continued to cover his ship from the Flag’s attack.
He sighed with relief, only now realising he had been very close to being the cause of a new war between the Empire and Corporations, although he also noted that Freedom had not acknowledged the Flag’s demands. MacCullum knew the captain of the Freedom. He would be happy to blow the Flag out of the skies. This was an ideal excuse and the captain of the Flag knew it. There would be no accommodating his demands, MacCullum was certain.
He’d never liked those bastard ‘Corey’s’ as he called them, so the Freedom fleet putting one over them was a pleasure that had been a long time coming. In fact, ever since they had picked him up on a smuggling run and he’d had to blag his way through their trigger-happy security cordon to deliver essential supplies to a mutant colony on Alpha-5. Had it not been for the then Lieutenant Grady directing the navigator to close in on his vessel under the excuse of close-scanning MacCullum’s cargo hold, those fuckers would have used him as target practice - fucking trigger-happy bastards, all of them.
“Thanks everyone...”, he put out as an open-comm call, “...beers are on me just as soon as I can land this beast somewhere safe from those Core bastards.”
Vargo Estate, Exodus
They watched quietly as the newsreel piped in the breaking news from the Gamma quadrant. The showdown between AWA’s pitiful defences against the Core navy’s attempts at bullying were being witnessed by billions of people across the galaxy. Most of them were old enough to remember the Core’s behaviour in the mutant wars and who still had a bad taste in their mouth over the poorly constructed peace treaty that left Core still holding all the big guns.
As events unfolded on the screen they could only watch impotently as the timely intervention of the AWA’s fleet averted a full-scale attack on the AWC structure, which as the commentator said excitedly, probably forestalled the outbreak of a new Clone war. Certainly, the Flag was in a bellicose mood and the footage would be embarrassing for the corporations who openly financed the fleet. The potential fallout from this incident didn’t bode well for any of them, especially after what appeared to be an overt attempt to assassinate the heads of the AWA thereby leaving the only neutral force rudderless.
The two men smiled wanly at the interview currently showing with the cargo captain responsible for thwarting the immediate attack on the AWC entrance. The bulletin showed high approval ratings from pubic feedback indicating that the Core were losing the public relations battle, if they were even trying. This MacCullum would be a galaxy-wide hero by the end of the day and a figurehead for all kinds of mischief against Core forces.
However, Elder Vargo was nonplussed at the timing and the level of the aggression. What were the Core so keen to keep hidden, that they’d openly court a new galaxy-wide war to protect it ? How deeply were they involved in the unfortunate incidents within the AWC this morning ?
He turned to Frey who was watching pensively as the events continued to replay. He had family in the Gamma sector. If hostilities broke out
they would be swept aside in the commotion. Frey, like everyone else, had believed that the neutral zone would prove to be a safe place to bring up family and invest in the future. Now, the Core were there showing how little regard they had for that false sense of security.
When he noticed the elder looking at him he became attentive once more, although his eyes still mirrored the sense of foreboding in his heart.
“Have you had confirmation from General Kildark yet ?” Vargo asked him quietly, aware of the man’s personal concerns playing out on the screen.
“Not yet, but they’ve had much to contend with. It appears as though the Core have managed to infiltrate the AWA’s systems and our sources tell us that there is still ongoing disruption,” Frey replied.
Frey had himself been on the comms all day since the attack began and so far rallied fourteen of the council members, who were also Dispersal sympathisers, to sign a petition ordering the Core to withdraw from neutral territory. Admittedly it wasn’t going to have much effect on the Core while they were up in arms over their imprisoned officer. Frey hadn’t informed Elder Vargo that it was Second Lieutenant Fuego and that she had been incarcerated by Grady. It wouldn’t go down well after the previous incident between those two. The fact that the Core officer had been caught red-handed trying to tear apart the neutrality and ride roughshod over the AWA was an embarrassment they couldn’t walk away from while she was still held by the AWC.
Frey had commiserated with Kildark over the loss of his fellow directors and tried to encourage the release of the Core officer. However, Kildark had relinquished command of security to Grady and his security detail and any intervention by him would be deemed suspicious under the current circumstances, hence Frey’s concerns. Grady whilst a good agent had history with the Core officer and it would be most unfortunate indeed if that proved to be the tipping point into war.