by Andrew Beery
His location was less than ideal and he knew it… but it was necessitated by the local conditions. Much of the city of T’Nagra was built on sandy soil that did not lend itself to subterranean architecture. Instead massive pylons were pushed deep within the soil in order to stabilize the various buildings that constituted the city.
Bar’Jona’s encampment was in one of only three sections of the city that had underground structures. His was by far the smallest of the group. It was a multi-level underground parking facility for ground transportation vehicles.
The General had taken over the lowest five levels, leaving the top three empty and untouched. Any casual observer would see nothing to cause them to suspect this area was anything other than another in a large sea of empty structures.
At the moment, however, his attention was focused on the outskirts of the city – specifically the western border. General Bar’Jona watched a display screen which showed a live video feed from one of the hidden security cameras that dotted the western border of the city.
One of the many replicants of his son was showing him a rather unusual sight. A bushy twig from some native species of tree seemed to be floating in the air above the no-go holes his troops had dug. The twig would stop periodically, seemingly of its own accord, and brush at something on the ground. In less than three minutes the show was over. The twig had fallen to the ground as if discarded. Nothing more of interest showed up on the video feed.
If his son had not been watching the feed at the exact moment that he did, they would never have known anything unusual was going on. The fact that they did notice was only by virtue of the purest of self-made luck. Fearing that the Praefectus would send patrols throughout the city, Bar’Jona had his men rig a series of mechanical alarms.
These took the form of small trip wires or titter boards that would pull on non-metallic cords buried underground in such a way that they could trigger low-voltage landlines. The entire system was designed to make detection, especially by equipment capable of detecting electromagnetic fields, very difficult.
One such mechanical sensor had been triggered near the western edge of the city less than a half kilometer from his current hidden encampment. This was especially concerning. These mechanical trips on the western edge of the city had been among the last set up. He had done it as an after-thought… one that he was glad that he had done. He had every reason to expect potential visitors to approach from the direction of Praefectus Niegar’s facility… not from the west.
“Any thoughts as to what we just watched?” Bar’Jona asked one of his son’s many clones.
“I think we are looking at some type of cloaking technology. Similar to what we have available on our larger battle cruisers but adapted for personal use,” Roc answered.
Bar’Jona rubbed his muzzle in thought. “Why would anyone bother?”
“I would imagine, honored sire that if we did not have access to replication technology we might be very interested in being able to sneak into and out of a battle zone.”
“So the obvious conclusion would be these are the Galactic Coalition forces your clone brother reported meeting.”
“That would be my conclusion too, Sir.”
Bar’Jona walked to the other side of his son and adjusted several of the other camera angles. He could see nothing of interest in any of them. “Do we trust them?”
The question was rhetorical but Roc answered anyway. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
General Bar’Jona gurgled. “Yes, I suppose that is true. Well then, shall we go and meet our new friends?”
***
Praefectus Niegar stood in the main assembly hall in the subterranean vault of his T’Nagra City base. Before him stood slightly over twenty thousand Ashtoreth soldiers. He had never been allow to command so large a force. That said, it was not as large a force as he had hoped. Equipment failures were a reality in war-time. The best leaders adapted and overcame adversity. Niegar was intent on being remembered as one of the best.
He signaled for his executive officer to step forward. The man did so, crossing both arms and bowing slightly.
“Lord Praefectus, your army stands ready to make your will the law of the land.”
“As it should be,” Niegar said in a stern and commanding voice. “In the command queue on your data pad you will find a series of orders that I have drawn up. They detail your objectives in the coming battle. You are to secure this city the Basharites are calling New Hope. Resistance is to be crushed brutally and quickly but the civilian population is to be spared as much as is possible. They are your protection from our enemies in orbit.”
“It shall be as you command, Lord Praefectus.”
“You do not have long to take the city. King Astarte himself has ordered an armada five hundred ships strong to rush to our defense. I want that city and the nearby spaceport under our control by the time that armada gets here.”
Chapter 23: The Battle for Hope Begins…
Lord Admiral Nsati of the House Durass walked impatiently around the bridge of her flagship. The AE ReShan was the most powerful ship in the fleet. Having one’s father own the shipyards had certain advantages. She had been able to tour the vessel as it was being built. She had requested and received a number of classified enhancements.
One of these enhancements, an FTL transmitter, had told her that the AE Rotan, under the command of Lord Captain Asdartu, would be the last to arrive at the staging area. This upset her more than she cared to admit.
Asdartu had never given her the time of day… and yet she had gone out of her way to be pleasant to the man. The fact that he was the easiest of the royal family on the eyes was no small matter either. It was obvious from their previous interactions that he had no use for females in the armed services… no matter how well they scored on proficiency tests. The fact that she had outscored him on every non-physical test had done nothing to raise her in his esteem.
“Signal the fleet,” she barked at her Communications Officer. “Tell them to begin simulation 441.”
“Immediately Lord Admiral,” the young man replied. “The Lord Admiral is aware that the Rotan is not yet on station?”
“The Lord Admiral is VERY aware that the Rotan is not yet on station. Inform the fleet captains that they are to proceed as if the Rotan suffered a catastrophic systems failure and is unable to participate in the coming battle.”
***
Commander Anthony Stone approached the solitary Gator slowly. The Ashtoreth sat on the Gator equivalent of a chair in the middle of a road the Marines had been making their way along. The fact that he was there at all raised some serious questions in AG’s mind.
He and his soldiers were wearing cloaked Mark Ten Stark suits. To his knowledge the Ashtoreth were unable to penetrate the Stark’s camo. Why then, was this Gator sitting here, apparently waiting for them to arrive?
AG signaled Corporal Yreeb and Sergeant McDill to circle left and right. He wanted to make sure there were no surprises. The last thing he wanted was for this lone Gator to be some sort of decoy, sacrificing himself in order to distract the advancing marines.
“JJ, What do you make of our friend over here?”
“Why Sir, that appears to be a Gator sitting in the middle of the road, Sir.”
“Insightful as always Gunny… any thoughts as to WHY he is sitting there?”
“If I had to guess, I’d say he was tired of standing…,” said JJ. Before AG could comment JJ continued, “I suspect he is waiting for somebody to arrive... and Sir… I’d bet your last dollar that he knows a Gator named Roc.”
“I’m inclined to agree with you.”
“Why thank you Sir! I know that’s painful for you,” JJ quipped cheerfully.
AG ignored his friend. Instead he turned on his command channel. “OK folks, here’s the deal. I’m going to de-cloak in about a minute. I am the only one who is going to de-cloak. If this gentleman is part of the underground, then we’ve accomplished half of our mis
sion already. If he’s not… well then we are about to be part of a firefight where we will likely be outnumbered twenty to one. I don’t need to tell you that decanting your sorry butts back at Marine City will take time… time where your buddies will be without the benefit of your expert assistance… so no unnecessary trips to the canning factory. Be smart and be safe. Stone out.”
AG walked carefully up to within ten feet of the Ashtoreth sitting in the chair. The Gator was perfectly still. If AG didn’t see the lung bellows on the side of his neck expand and contract every few seconds, he could have been convinced the man was a statue. He could see no obvious signs of weapons or for that matter any technology. The uniform was nondescript and although it seemed to have some type of rank insignia, AG had no idea what it might signify.
He continued to watch the man for several more minutes. Nothing happened. As far as AG could tell, the Gator was completely unaware of his presence. The creature seemed old. It was hard to tell with a species humans rarely interacted with but there was a sense of age about this one that defied explanation. AG wondered for a moment if the Ashtoreth was even a replicant. The Bio-generators in use at Marine City reproduced their replicants in their prime. It seemed odd that the Ashtoreth technology would not do the same.
Finally AG reached over to the control pad on his right arm and pressed the de-cloak button. The hyperfield emitters that bent light around the surface of his Stark suit shut down. The soldier in him was aware of two immediate effects this action would have. First, he became visible to the world around him. Second, because light could now interact with his physical form, he was now slightly more vulnerable to attack by directed energy weapons like lasers.
The effect on the Ashtoreth in front of him was nothing short of amazing. The creature began a soft gurgling that slowly erupted into a full throated gurgling that the Gator was obviously having a hard time controlling.
“Please sir, forgive my laughing,” the seated Ashtoreth said finally. “It was terribly rude of me.” He tapped his nose. “I knew you were there for several minutes. We ‘Gators’ as you call us have exceptional olfactory senses.”
“And you found my smell funny?” AG asked in a confused voice.
“No, not at first. I smelled concern and caution. All quite understandable given our present circumstances. No, it was the shock your two men there and there registered when you dropped your camouflage.” The Ashtoreth point directly at Manu and McDill. Both men were still invisible.
“Impressive,” AG said as much to himself as to anyone else.
“Again my apologies. You would have expected me to be the one shocked when you suddenly appeared standing right there in front of me. I hope I didn’t disappoint you too much.”
AG found himself liking this Gator. “My name is Lieutenant Commander Anthony Stone from the Infinity Brigade… and you are?”
“May I be permitted to stand?”
“Absolutely”
“My name is General Bar’Jona, formerly of the Ashtoreth Imperial Guard. Do you have a Sergeant First Class Jeremy James Hammond in your company? I believe he knows my son.”
***
Lord Captain Asdartu was fuming. He had arrived at the designated rallying point near Signus III by the prescribed hour to the minute. What did he find? That female, sorry excuse for an officer, Lord Admiral Nsati was conducting war games… games in which his ship was presumed dead or disabled!
To make matters worse, she was hosting a banquet to which he was expected to attend. The primary discussion would be how they might each improve their individual performance during the simulation. As second in command by virtue of his lineage he would be required to sit next to the Admiral. The fact that she was a genetically enhanced fetching beauty would only serve to further his frustrations. In his mind her feminine wiles constituted an unfair advantage. Her pheromones would befuddle him at a time he needed most to be sharp.
***
Cat wished with all her heart she could be on the planet’s surface. Sadly her role as the Fleet Admiral meant that she needed to delegate some of the activities she was used to leading herself. She was no longer the Captain of a starship.
Her Executive Officer, Commander Ben First, had just brought her the news that their exploratory force in T’Nagra City had already made contact with the Ashtoreth Insurgency. That was the good news. The bad news was that the bulk of the Ashtoreth replicant army was already at, or traveling to New Hope where they were intending to lay siege the city.
What had baffled Cat was how they were moving their troops so quickly. Their forces controlled the air. Orbital scans showed no signs of troop movements overland. The only answer was an elaborate system of subterranean tunnels. A subsequent conversation with Elder Tannaka had confirmed that the Basharites had, at one point, constructed a large number of linked Hyperloops. These high-speed transportations systems limited the production of smog and because they were buried, they did not spoil the natural beauty of the planet.
Apparently the Ashtoreth were making use of these tunnels. Now that Cat knew about them she could have the Yorktown and other ships actively scan for them but unfortunately because of the nature of the types of scans that needed to be used… it was not possible to tell which of the Hyperloops were currently in use. The best they could do was to guess based on point of origin and destination.
With this information in hand Commander Stone had deployed several recon teams to check out the handful of options that the enemy could use. Those teams had just landed on site and were beginning their dangerous work.
She was still contemplating her desire to join the Marines on the planet below when WhimPy made the reason for staying near the Operations Center become very clear.
“Admiral, we’ve just intercepted a message buoy transmission to the planet. We have guests coming.”
***
Commander Stone stood with General Bar’Jona in their mobile Tactical Operations Center on the outskirts of New Hope. The TOC was especially important in situations like the one they currently faced. It provided a means of collecting and reviewing disparate information streams in a way that allowed them to become useful.
General Bar’Jona grunted. “I understand why the Praefectus has moved his troops into the city proper. It removes your ability to use air superiority to crush his forces without being willing to accept heavy civilian losses. What I don’t understand in the timing. He had no reason to suspect we were going to stand a coup. He has given no indication that he is even aware of insurgents within his ranks. Why this move? Why now?”
AG shook his head. “It’s hard to say. Admiral Kimbridge, who I’m hoping you will get a chance to meet soon, intercepted a transmission from the Imperial Court. It was coded but our AI is of the opinion that the message indicates an armada of indeterminate size is on its way to this system. We suspect the Praefectus wants to be seen retaking control when that armada arrives.”
“You said you don’t know the size and configuration of the incoming force? Are you not concerned you may be unable to retain control of orbital space? Your computers are unable to break the code?”
“With WhimPy in orbit I’m not concerned about retaining control of local space no matter what your people send. As far as translating the message, it seems to be what we call a ‘book cipher.’ Without access to whatever the encoding document is, there is simply no way to decode it completely. The only reason WhimPy was able to learn what he did was that he has access to previous Ashtoreth coded transmissions and the observable results of those messages. It seems that the ‘book’ used to generate the cipher is a standard tome used for this purpose.”
Bar’Jona gurgled. “In that case Commander I suggest your WhimPy AI should look for a copy of Astarte’s Proverbs. It is required reading for all officers in the Ashtoreth armed services. It would be just like that maniacal despot to use his own filth for such a task.”
AG took a moment and had his personal AI transmit a copy of the conversation to Ad
miral Kimbridge. The book in question should be recoverable from any of the abandoned Ashtoreth facilities that had been overrun by the Infinity Brigade since arriving in system. The chances were good that the book in question had already been digitized and uploaded into the Ashtoreth Intelligence archive.
That matter taken care of AG turned his attention back to the situation in the city of New Hope.
Praefectus Niegar had entered the city four days ago with about ten thousand loyal soldiers as well as a much smaller number of, as yet unrevealed, insurgents posing as loyal soldiers.
So far causalities had been limited to a several hundred Basharite Marines that were part of the Home Defense Force and a handful of city officials. The HDF had been filling the role of police and emergency response personnel within the burgeoning capital city. Since they were armed, they were the first targets the reconstituted Ashtoreth army had eliminated.
Fortunately these causalities were even now being decanted in bio-generation chambers in Marine City. When they re-entered the fray they would have the advantage of experience plus engineered replicant enhancements. They would be much harder to eliminate the second time around. The city officials that had been killed were not so fortunate.
The Home Defense Force had managed to resist the invasion for little more than an hour. Commander Stone was not concerned that the HDF had been taken out of the picture as fast as they were. The odds had been stacked against them the moment the Ashtoreth Army decided to occupy New Hope. While it was true the HDF personnel were fully trained thanks to appropriated Ashtoreth engram technology… and while it was also true that they were fully armed thanks to the Infinity Brigade’s nanite fabrication facilities… they were, at the end of the day, only one hundred Marines.
The local HDF were more than a match of any unit even close to their size. Sadly, fifteen to one odds were too much for even them. On top of that, the Ashtoreth had generations of experience subduing target populations. In the end, experience and the sheer weight of numbers won the day for Praefectus Niegar. So far, Marine City had been powerless to help. Every attempt to do so resulted in hostages being killed. Meanwhile the Ashtoreth forces were digging in.