Exodus: Empires at War: Book 14: Rebellion.

by Doug Dandridge

  JUNE 8TH, 1004. PLANET KALLFER, CA’CADASAN SPACE.

  The Caca squad moved down the street, grabbing every Maurid they came across and locking them in restraining bracelets. With forward limbs locked together, the Maurids could only move in a bipedal fashion, not their most efficient means of locomotion. The line grew behind the squad, until there were over a hundred of the Maurids, including many children and elders. On most worlds the slaves would have disappeared from the streets, afraid of getting caught up in the sweep. This wasn’t most worlds, and the Maurids were not most species. People were boiling out of nearby houses, shouting at the Cacas.

  A dozen of the Cacas were in full armor, helmets and gloves covering parts normally exposed. It was not powered armor, that usually reserved for elite assault troops and marines. The body armor was strapped on, boots, gloves and helms not sealed to the body. Normally that was enough against easily cowed slaves. The leader of the squad must have been an administrator, as he made due with a breastplate and a helm without a visor. Today would be a learning experience for the male, if he lived.

  Rocks pelted the Cacas, banging off of helmets. One stone hit the administrator in the face, smashing teeth and making blood flow to the cobbles of the street. The squad fired into the ringing crowd, blasting through dozens of beings as a red mist formed over the rioters The Cacas swept their beams, going after maximum kills, expecting the crowd to break under the assault.

  Instead the Maurids attacked, swarming in as a mass, too many for the dozen beams to handle. The smaller quadrupeds were strong for their size, and much faster than the clumsy Cacas. The administrator went down under the claws of one fast moving male, his throat ripped out by razor talons. Another male struggled with a pair that swarmed over his shoulders. He was able to get a hand on one, grabbing fur and pulling the attacker away. The other knocked off his helmet, following that move with a thrust of the claws that took out an eye. The Caca reached up with a scream to cover its destroyed orb. Bad move, since it left the other open to the next slash.

  The Cacas were all down in moments, the last with his back against a wall, trying to sweep his weapon in a path that would clear away his attackers. His face exploded into steam as the invisible beam of a laser hit. The great body slumped against the wall and slid down. In moments the prisoners were all freed by Maurids with tools, then hustled away.

  “Time to move,” said Mrrarraras, the Maurid known to the humans as Striped Wolf. He lowered the old laser rifle, a relic from an older era, and looked over at his compatriots. Those males carried even older firearms, really not a match for the armor of the enemy.

  The sound of shuttles came to their sensitive ears. A pair wheeled through the sky, looking for targets. But the streets were now empty, the quick and decisive Maurids not waiting to be spotted. That didn’t stop the Cacas from responding. Particle beams lanced from the shuttles to the ground. A house exploded outwards, followed by another. A pair of missiles streaked into the city, both striking one of the few tall buildings in the neighborhood.

  Mrrarraras growled, handling his laser, trying to decide whether to shoot at the attacking ship or continue running. With another growl he pulled the rifle down. All it would do was alert the Cacas to his presence, and then he would die. More importantly, they would lose one of their only effective weapons.

  The trio went down into the sewers, something the fastidious Maurids had built in the early days of the colony. They were wide enough for two Maurids to run down at the same time, and there were many branches that had nothing to do with moving waste, with hidden hatches leading up. After running several miles, to the edge of the city, they pulled down a hidden ladder and scrambled up into the house above.

  “We have word from the regional outlands,” said an excited female, hurrying up to Mrrarraras as he moved up from the hatch. “Something about a floating mirror that expanded in front of them. Signals are coming out in some unknown code.”

  “Yes,” hissed Striped Wolf.

  “Is it the humans?” asked one of his compatriots.

  “I think so. But I have to see it myself.” He looked over at the female. “Where is it?”

  “About thirty kilometers to the east,” said the female.

  “Quite a run,” said one of the other males.

  “Maybe for an overweight city dweller,” laughed Striped Wolf. “I’m thinking I can cover that in three or four hours. Who wants to come with me?”

  Unfortunately, there were no aircars they could use, at least not without the risk of being shot down. The Cacas had forbidden all transport on the surface that wasn’t operated by their troops. In fact, all travel was forbidden. That didn’t stop the Maurids from running through the forests. They couldn’t traverse extremely long distances, but anything under five hundred kilometers was doable.

  Five hours later Mrrarraras and his partners stumbled into a cave, its entrance hidden under the boughs of large trees. The first thing Striped Wolf noticed were the modern looking rifles in the hands of the dozen Maurids who guarded the entrance. Obviously something had come through the portal. He found out moments later, when he entered the cave, that something very interesting indeed had come through. There was a squad of humans in the cave, quick moving soldiers in their active camouflage, like people he had seen before in human space. One turned his way, a questioning look on his face as he handled a long tube with pop up sights on the top.

  “I am Mrrarraras,” he told the human in Terranglo. “Code name, Striped Wolf.”

  “Then you are the one we were supposed to make contact with,” said the human with a smile. “I’m Lt. Grollis. And I’ve been sent with some toys for you and your people to play with, sir.”

  “Is that what I think it is?”

  “If you think it’s a portable anti-air missile, then yes, sir. It is.”

  The image of the Caca shuttles firing down on the city passed before his eyes, along with his imagining one of them going down in flames.

  * * *

  “The weapons have arrived on Kallfer, your Majesty,” said Brigadier General Cornelius Walborski, looking out of the holo at his liege lord.

  “What are we sending?” asked Sean, recalling that he had ordered their disbursement to Maurid rebels, but not what exactly they were sending through the wormhole they had established on the surface. A couple of companies of Rangers had gone with them, in order to teach the Maurids how the human weapons worked.

  The image of a particle beam rifle appeared, the proportions wrong to the view of the human leader. They had been altered to fit the physiogamy of the aliens. The Maurids would be able to aim and fire these weapons as if they were their own, and the fifty thousand so far delivered were enough to give their resistance movements some teeth, if not sufficient to take on the Caca occupation force on the surface head to head.

  “Wish you were with your people, General?” asked the Emperor, switching the view back to that of his old friend. Cornelius was another one that the Emperor was not willing to risk on this operation. He had been a personal friend since their days back on Sestius. The young man had saved his life on occasion, and was a thrice decorated Imperial Medal of Heroism recipient, the first in the history of the Empire.

  “You know I do, your Majesty.”

  “We will be recalling the Rangers prior to our ships getting into position. That should prevent the enemy from triggering the, uh, trap, before your people are safe.”

  “I know what’s going on, Sean,” said Cornelius, looking down. “I may not have had the need to know according to your intelligence people, but I did according to my sense of duty.”

  “Then you know what could happen there,” said Sean, not mentioning the punishment he should have been dispensing to his friend. He had too much respect for the Ranger to punish him for finding out information he should have been privy to in the first place, though he did remind himself to change that backdoor code he had given the man. Or maybe not.

  Cornelius nodded, but said not
hing, and Sean was certain he knew what the man was thinking. Plans were all well and good, but when the shit hit it, oft times the plans went out the window.

  “I hope we can save them, your Majesty,” said Cornelius in a low voice.

  “The Maurids? I thought you didn’t like them.”

  “After Azure I really didn’t. But having worked with them against the Cacas? They’re good soldiers, good operators. I would have them on my side on a mission any day.”

  Strange how yesterday’s enemies become today’s friends, thought the Emperor, nodding to his friend and terminating the feed. He turned his attention back to another screen, something else that needed his input. Or not.

  “I’m glad he’s not in danger,” said Jennifer, smiling. “And I’m sure Devra and Rebecca are even more so.”

  “He’s done enough for the Empire,” said Sean, thinking of Cornelius’ wife, who he had given away at their wedding, just as the Ranger had served as best man at his. The wife and adopted daughter, and the toddler son of the Ranger’s first marriage, were safe on Jewel. Though Jewel had not always been safe, not in this war.

  Yes, he thought, the young man had put his life on the line enough for many wars. But if he were honest, he would sacrifice Cornelius in an instant if he thought it would save the Empire. And that bothered him, that an Emperor couldn’t afford to let friendship stand in the way of strategic decisions.

  * * *

  “What are we looking at, General?” asked Jresstratta, watching the vid of an assault shuttle falling out of the sky, trailing smoke from one of its engines.

  “This is one of our shuttles, on a gunship mission, going down over Kallfer,” said General Fresstas, the Chief of Staff of the Ca’cadasan Imperial Army. “Shot down by the Maurid resistance.”

  “I didn’t think the civilians had those kind of weapons. How are they getting them? Stealing them from the army?”

  “They are now getting them from the humans,” said the general. “Somehow they are getting rifles and heavier weapons to the surface of the world.”

  “They’ve gotten one of their wormholes to the surface,” growled the Emperor. “How in all the hells did they do that? Did we see any of their ships around?”

  “We know they are able to get their stealth ships in and out of almost anyplace,” said the Fleet Chief of Staff. “Well, this is a positive development,” he continued with a smile.

  “Positive development,” screamed the general, holding up all four fists. “They are killing my people. And you call that a positive development?”

  “It means the humans know what’s going on,” said the admiral in a patient voice. “They’re starting to intervene. And we have indications that their scout ships are starting to sweep in that direction.”

  “And you’re sure the humans will come to the aid of this people?” asked the general, hissing out a breath. “Remember, this Emperor of theirs is cold hearted enough to be a Cacada. He let two of his own systems die instead of committing an overmatched fleet to battle. What if he doesn’t send a fleet to Kallfer?”

  “If he doesn’t come, we still win,” said the admiral with a satisfied smile. “If he lets down the Maurids, the rest of them will not trust him. But I’m thinking he will come. The balance of power is no longer in our favor, so he would have no fear in committing a fleet.”

  “The rest of the Maurids won’t jump in on our side if the humans don’t come, will they?” asked the Emperor. “Could that be possible?”

  “No. I’m afraid that they are a lost cause,” said the admiral. “Better if we just exterminate most of them. Leave just enough around on a remote planet to preserve their genome.”

  “I could agree with that,” said Jresstratta. “And I assume that we are taking care of any that are in, uh, sensitive positions.”

  “We have removed any in security positions,” said the Chief of the Secret Police, frowning. “Unfortunately, most of them have simply faded away. It should not have been possible for them to disappear like that with so little notice.”

  “Which means that they had planned for this in advance,” growled the general.

  “You think?” said the Chief with a derisive laugh. “No wonder you have risen to command of the most useless part of our military.”

  The general snatched at his belt, to the hilt of his dagger. The Emperor’s guard nearest the male pulled his pistol from its holster and took aim at the general, just in case he was threatening the Emperor.

  “Take you hand off that knife hilt, General,” yelled the Emperor. “And put that damned pistol back in its holster, you idiot,” he screamed at the guard. “This is a meeting of my staff, not a brawl in a local brothel.”

  The admonished males looked down at the floor as they returned their weapons to their sheaths. The Emperor gave them one last glare, fighting the temptation to order some more executions. Unfortunately, loyal people of high rank were becoming scarce, and he couldn’t afford to lose any more of them.

  “Continue the search,” he ordered the Chief of the Secret Police. “They have damned themselves by their own actions. Having an escape plan in place proves their guilt, as far as I’m concerned. Pursue them to the edges of the Empire if need be. And, once we have won this war, pursue them beyond our borders.”

  The doubtful looks on the faces of all the males in the room told the Emperor they did not believe this war was winnable. Again the urge struck him to order one or more dragged from the room and put to death. Again holding the urge down.

  “So,” said Jresstratta, looking over at his Fleet Commander, “are we doing everything we can to lure them into our trap?”

  “There really isn’t much we need to do,” said the admiral. “As long as they know what we’re going to do to their precious allies, they will do the rest.”

  “Any way they might find a way to rescue the Maurids without falling into the trap?” asked the Emperor. The damned humans always seemed to find a way to turn the Ca’cadasan plans against the originators. It was maddening how often the damned creatures came out on top. Some said it was because the aliens were smarter than the Cacada. That couldn’t be so, since Cacada were the smartest creatures in the Universe. All of the ancient tomes said so, and they couldn’t be lying.

  “If they try to rescue them in any possible way, they will be destroyed,” said the admiral with a smug smile. “This time they will have no way of spotting our projectors until it is too late. Even a missile launch from the vicinity Kallfer would not reach them in time, and the enemy ships will not be able to boost to safety before the photon wave strikes.”

  “And if they send ships in to take out everything in orbit around the star?”

  “We will see them coming, of course.”

  Jresstratta felt that they were missing something, but not being fully trained in military strategy and tactics, it eluded him. Something was there though, sitting at the back of his mind. Whatever it was, there was a good chance the humans would see it. And then they would find a way out of the bind the Cacas were trying to place them in. The admiral said they couldn’t lose, but if the humans ended up saving the Maurids, that would have to be considered a win for them.

  * * *

  JUNE 15TH, 1004. PLANETS KALLFER AND JEWEL.

  “They are definitely moving everything of importance off the surface of the planet, Admiral,” said the alien on the holo. Its lips were not moving in sync with the words, and it was obvious that it was speaking some alien tongue, translated into English.

  Ekaterina would have preferred to speak with Striped Wolf, a Maurid she knew and trusted, and one who had a command of Terranglo better than most of the aliens born in the Empire. That Maurid was out leading the resistance cell in his locality on Kallfer, and would not leave that mission for something as unimportant as liaising with his allies.

  “What about the facilities in orbit?”

  “We think they are doing the same up there, taking the machinery out and leaving the empty structures i
n orbit. They might be adding something, but we have no way of knowing, since we have no one in orbit.”

  “Have the Maurid crews coming back down said anything,” asked Sergiov, her stomach fluttering as she saw an expression flash across the alien face. Even on another species it was hard to miss the look of rage.

  “They are not coming back down. The bastards have spaced all of our people. Why bother using shuttles that could be bringing more of their troops to the surface on people they are planning on killing anyway. This way they get rid of our people quickly and easily.”

  “I’m, sorry. We are doing everything we can do to get to you.”

  “I know,” said the alien, whose code name was Dark Shadow. “And we realize that the masters are setting a trap for you. We don’t expect you to thrust your heads into a trap. It will do the war effort no good for you to just die alongside us.”

  The tones and inflections of the alien were not coming through the translation program. With some more input, over time, those would start to be added in. But right now it was just asking for confusion to include it. Still, the chief spy of the Empire could read the face of the alien. It was something she was good at, a skill that had served her well when she had been a mere agent on the frontier. The alien was afraid, something that he would be ashamed of if he knew the outsider he was speaking to could read him so easily. Ekaterina was enough of a diplomat to make no reference to that feeling in her reply.

  “We will be there. I wish we could be there sooner, but believe that we will be coming. And we will find a way to defeat those slow thinking big bastards without sacrificing your people or your world.”

  “Striped Wolf believes in you, and since he is my brother, I also believe. They will not rush the killing of us. They have to be sure that there is bait in the trap to lure you in.”

  “And how goes the fight against the Cacas on your world?”