OMEGA Conscript

by Stephen Arseneault

  The following day we let out for Doomlight with seventeen Odenta nuclear missiles at the ready. After three weeks of travel, we approached the Doomlight system. Images of our fleet came up on the sensor display. They had not moved in to attack.

  Arrangements to meet with the Council were made, and I soon found myself once again standing before them.

  The Council lead stood. "Mr. Beutcher, the data we have seen thus far is compelling. Our world, our original home, is out there and unoccupied. If we felt we could defend it well into the future, we would leave immediately to begin resettlement. But the Grotus are still out there and are still a major threat. For that reason, we will remain here to make our peace with the Salton fleet. We believe it should be arriving at any time."

  I nodded, "Any decision regarding the Grunta people is of course the decision of this Council alone. I just thought it best to get this information before you. I believe the planet Jorus can be resettled with only minor toxic cleanup required. As an extra note, the air was fresh and had a sweet smell to it. When we do return, I believe our people will again prosper."

  The Council lead replied, "Mr. Beutcher, your continued contributions to the wellbeing our people are highly appreciated. We ask you hold this information close, so that the Council may release it to the populace at the appropriate time, and in the appropriate manner."

  I bowed as I backed toward the door. "It is my honor to serve this Council."

  It was clear that their minds had been made up about the assault on Doomlight. On my walk back toward the shuttle bay I decided to have a look at the newly constructed ion inhibitors. The circuits that enabled the inhibitor field sat in a steel container four meters cubed. The container also housed the mini-nuclear reactor that would power the inhibitor field.

  The box sat atop a twenty meter spike that would stab into the ground when dropped from orbit. The structure would then telescope upward to lift the field generator above the surface for maximum inhibitor effect. If the inhibitor tower worked as designed, a field covering an area a hundred kilometers in each direction would govern the use of ion power for both blasters and ships alike, creating a dome of protection for our ground troops.

  I hopped a shuttle to the transport that housed my wife and children. After a short walk, I found myself standing in a front room filled with row after row of bunks. I followed a blinking indicator on my holo-display to my family's station.

  Getta stood. "Knog, how was the trip to Jorus? Was anything found?"

  I badly wanted to reveal our findings to my wife. "All information from our excursion has been turned over to the Council. They have asked that I refrain from talking about it. Any news is now theirs to disperse."

  Getta nodded. "Well, I'm glad you made it back safely. Are you up on our coming fight?"

  I replied, "I believe so. The destroyers will engage any ships as the transports head toward the surface. The inhibitor spikes will be deployed as we enter the atmosphere and enabled once the transports are on the ground. Do you know what area of the planet you will be deploying to?"

  Getta smiled. "I do, but the Council has asked that we not talk about what that might be. The Council feels the Human crews may have spies and they do not want the Saltons to know of our full strategies. You do understand that I am not allowed to tell even you of this?"

  I leaned my forehead in to touch hers. "It is not our place to question the wisdom of the Council."

  Getta slammed me hard on the shoulders with her two fists. "I will let you know as soon as a release notice has been given."

  Getta struck me hard on the shoulders a second time.

  I grinned. "Mrs. Beutcher, you must be careful with your playfulness. It was that which got us those eighteen Grunta over there in the first place."

  Getta looked over at our brood and smiled. "It is through the wisdom of this Council ten years ago that we have our own little army. I remember wondering when the order went out to increase our population to its fullest extent, was it a wise decision? After all, if the AMP was in decline, raising more children would become more of a burden."

  I smiled as I rubbed her clenched fists. "I had the same thoughts. Who knew we would one day need those offspring fighting by our side? It is for that reason I do not question the Council's decision for the Doomlight assault. I'm not privy to all the information they have, nor have I been involved in the countless hours of debate that has no doubt raged about this subject. Until proven otherwise, it is best we follow whatever the Council decides."

  The next four days were spent in the company of my wife and children. They continued to grow, with the smallest of the brood now nearly equaling my height. Their muscles were powerful and their reactions sharp.

  Our years of physical training ordered by the Council had seen to it that our population was in good fighting shape. If the call to drop to the surface were to come in, passive hand weapons would be all that was useful. Our people had practiced with every standard type of sword, shield, sledge and maul.

  Our only propelled kinetic weapon was a magnetic crossbow. A ratcheting crank tightened a coil, and when a bolt containing an iron head was placed on the bow, the high magnetic field produced when the coil was released propelled the bolt toward its target. With standard armor built to defend against ion bolts or laser pulses, the iron bolt would easily penetrate even the Grotus armor I wore. All eighteen of my children were proficient with the magbow.

  After the fourth day of spending time with my children, I returned to the Garmon.

  Chapter 19

  * * *

  Garrett was the first to welcome me back. "We were beginning to think you decided to stay over there for the fight."

  I smiled, "That thought did cross my mind. I believe they are well prepared to engage the enemy should the time come."

  Garrett stopped. "What? You didn't hear?"

  I replied, "Hear what?"

  Garrett raised his eyebrows. "The Salton fleet just showed up on our sensors about twenty minutes ago. I'd have thought the shuttle pilots would have mentioned that to you."

  I shook my head. "They did seem excited, but I was too deep in thought to question why. Am I to guess we have already made contact?"

  Garrett gestured toward the seat on the bridge next to Jack Carson. "Contact went out immediately. As far as the Saltons know, we never found the fleet, and the Gruntas have been sitting here at the ready, waiting for the new fleet's arrival. They brought through four hundred eight of those new battleships. And five minutes ago, sixty of those Grotus battlecruisers showed up. I don't think the fleet knows they are here yet. They barely show on the sensors of the Jess. We were just preparing to pass that information up the chain of command."

  I plopped down in the chair. "That's it, then. We will be going into battle shortly. Did we ever get a good reading of how many troops the Grumar have down on the surface?"

  Garrett nodded. "We count sixty to seventy million. Way more than we thought. They have amassed a large force down there since we were last here."

  I stood. "What? How is that possible! Does the Council have this information?"

  Jack nodded. "We passed it on two hours ago. Garrett took the Jess out for a sensor run and came back with that little factoid. You never told us what the Council said about Jorus. Did it change their decision in any way?"

  I replied, "I was asked not to divulge any of their decisions."

  Jack frowned. "Well how are we supposed to determine what we'll be doing? You gotta give us some kind of hint as to what they said."

  I replied, "All I can say is plans have not changed from what they had before. And they asked we keep the knowledge of Jorus close so they could release it when they thought best."

  Jack snarked, "I would think you release that information now to rally the troops before sending them in."

  I nodded. "That would be my thought as well, but they have their reasons, and I trust their judgment. They don't make these types of decisions based on politics or fanc
y. Everything is deliberated up until a unanimous or near-unanimous decision is reached. As I said, I trust their judgment."

  As I began to sit back down, I stopped. "Wait? The new Salton fleet is here. Have there been any requests for the Garmon or the Jess to come forward? We are wanted by them."

  Jack held up his hand. "No worries there. We re-badged this ship and the Jess with new transponders. If they look up the information in their registries, I'm now Jack Carlson. Our identity is secure so long as no one goes nosing around too hard. And I think they'll be occupied in the coming days, so I doubt we'll be bothered. Your people set us up under their command as a transport maintenance ship, so if we want to go down to the surface with them, we can."

  I replied, "If the order comes, I want to follow transport X148 down to the surface. I would like to fight alongside my family if possible."

  Garrett grinned. "That was our plan. You also have ninety-eight Talisan Marines to take with you, as well as Go and me. That gives you a command of a hundred. Do you think you can handle that?"

  "How well will the Talisan armor hold up in hand-to-hand combat?"

  Go replied, "It's better than what the Humans have, but not as good as what you are wearing. Your people, though, they are wearing the Human supplied body armor. I know they have made a few improvements to better work for Gruntas, but those suits were mostly intended for dispersing ion bolts and blocking laser pulses, neither of which will be in use."

  I nodded. "Would you have any suggestions you could offer? Anything that could take the impact of a passive hand weapon would be helpful."

  Go turned back toward the bay that held the alien ship. "I'll see what I can come up with."

  The next six hours saw ships in our fleet mixing in with those that came through the portal. It wasn't until I looked up the manifests of the newest transports to come through that I realized just over ten million Talisans were the new conscripts. I immediately caught a shuttle over to the Grunta command transport and requested another audience with the Council. My request was denied.

  When I arrived back on the Garmon, Garrett was waiting. "Those are your subjects out there. Do we risk letting some Salton stooge run their ground campaign?"

  Jack Carson said, "Hey, I was once a Salton stooge!"

  Garrett looked up. "No offense intended, Jack. We were all Salton stooges at one point. But technically speaking, these are Knog's people. He is their emperor, and judging by the look on his face ... he cares."

  I replied, "I do. I need to talk to my wife."

  I placed a comm request over my arm pad.

  Getta answered. "We are preparing to move out. Will you be joining us?"

  I replied, "I have a new problem. The new conscripts are the Talisan."

  Getta sighed. "Please make your point. We are pressed for time."

  I shook my head. "I knew I should have told you this before, but … I am their emperor. The Talisans, they all take direct orders from me. I tried to notify the Council of this, but they refused to hear what I had to say. I don't trust the Human commanders in control of them. I would rather they fall under your command."

  Getta thought and then replied. "How many conscripts are we talking about?"

  I winced. "Somewhere around ten million."

  Getta pulled back. "Ten million? I can't command an army of ten million! You should have told me of this sooner. The Council will be of no help, and I have already received my orders. Things are set in stone for me now. You will have to handle this on your own."

  I lowered my head. "I am sorry I did not confide in you. I believed you would have had to report it to the Council, and I saw no need for that."

  Getta shook her head. "No, you did the right thing. You could not have foreseen this, and as you say, I would have had to reveal it to the Council. I would suggest that you contact your people in command of those transports and try to secretly bring them under your command. Pick no more than three of your high ranking officers and keep them in direct contact. I believe we will be going in within the hour, so you will want to do this quickly."

  I closed the comm and summoned the Talisan major that commanded our troops on the Garmon. "Major Thallex, I need you to contact the transports that came in with the new fleet. The conscripts aboard are Talisan. We need to bring them under our control before we reach the planet's surface, which will be coming at any time now. I need to speak with the top commanders, but you cannot reveal to them that it is me until we have them in isolation."

  The major replied, "Yes, sir, I will have the leadership available as soon as possible. Is there anything I can use to get their attention, such as a suggested strategy or a coordinated move?"

  I replied, "Do whatever it takes short of telling them I am here."

  The major nodded and turned away, immediately working on his new assignment.

  Garrett gave me a worried look. "Things are coming to a head really fast."

  I sat down in the chair by Jack. "I agree. I would like more information and more time to plan things out. As it is, I feel as though we are being pushed into this before we are ready to go. The Council has been given full authority to run the ground war. I just wish I was privy to their plans."

  Go came over the comm. "After a quick discussion with the Talisan engineers, we came up with three enhancements that should be made to the Grunta battle-suits. We could fashion a steel plated shoulder pad that can be riveted to the current pad, providing double the impact capacity. An arm bracer would add to the ability of their forearms to take a blow. And finally, they believe welding three jagged metal fins to the top and sides of the helmet will allow it to be used as a tearing weapon during close combat.

  "If you want, we could have a set of prototypes ready in about fifteen minutes. It's just plate steel and we have the machinery to roll and cut it down in the shop."

  I nodded. "Make up a set of twenty-four of them. You can skip the helmet piece. They already have a similar mod. If Getta approves, we can add them to my family's suits. But you better make it fast, as time is running out. We could be heading out at any time."

  Go replied, "Twenty-four? Your wife and children make nineteen. Who are the others for?"

  I gestured over my shoulder toward Garrett. "He will be needing them as well. And Getta's parents, and mine."

  Garrett held up his hand. "Whoa, no thanks. I like my suit the way it is. I can move fast in it right now. You bulk it up and it will slow me down."

  I shook my head. "You need the extra armor. If you were to take a single blow from a Grotus it would be your last. That extra plating might give you that extra moment you'll need to run."

  Garrett scowled. "Run? Who says I'm going to run? I plan on fighting with everyone else."

  I reached out, placing my hand on his shoulder. "If you are fighting Grumar, yes, but if a Grotus comes at you, you'll need to run. It's not a question of your manhood that's up for discussion here, it's simple survival."

  Garrett huffed. "I've never run from a fight before. I don't plan on starting now."

  I sprang from my seat, grabbing Garrett up under the arm and lifting him toward the ceiling. With a hard pull downward, I slammed Garrett into the floor of the bridge. Jack laughed.

  I released my grip on Garrett's arm and stood. He quickly sat up. "That's not fair! I wasn't ready for that!"

  I replied, "Every Grotus is equally as fast and as strong. They won't be giving you time to prepare. They will rush you from the side and end it all while already targeting their next victim. This fight will be happening at a speed you cannot fathom once you engage with a Grotus. Hand-to-hand combat is where we are at our best. Accept the minor additions to your suit and you might just have a chance at survival."

  Fifteen minutes later, Go again came over the comm. "We have the plates and bracers ready. The autobot made the head-fins for Garrett. I'm taking a crew with me on a shuttle hop over to see Getta. I took the liberty of speaking with her over the comm. She is welcoming of the additions and wante
d to thank you for putting forth the effort and thought to make this happen."

  After a short run on the shuttle, Go was on his way back. Word came in from Grunta Command. We would be moving out in five minutes.

  When the assignments came up on the nav display, Jack said, "Looks like we will be going in leading the Talisans. Command has assigned a team to coordinate with the Talisan generals. I have a comm link to them if you want to give them a call."

  I nodded. "Patch me through."

  General Andus Xom came up on the comm. "My emperor! How may I serve you?"

  I replied, "You have been assigned a team of Grunta war planners. Follow their every command. I will be monitoring the fight and joining in where I can."

  The general lowered his brows. "It is not my position to question your judgment, sir, but is it wise for you to be involved in the fighting?"

  I smiled. "What kind of emperor would I be if I wasn't willing to fight alongside my people?"

  The general bowed his head as he knelt, and then saluted. "It has been an honor to serve one so just. You are truly an emperor of the people. May I take the liberty to pass your words on to the troops? I believe it will be a morale booster as we go into an unknown fight."

  I nodded. "You tell them I will be fighting beside them, in front of them, all around them. We will enter this fight together and leave together in victory!"

  I closed the comm.

  Jack raised an eyebrow. "Kind of puffing them up, aren't you? Just be careful that you don't over-inflate."

  I half smiled. "I only said what I would want to hear from my own commanders. They are here as conscripts to fight in a war that's not of their making. They aren't fighting for their homes or their way of life. They need something to drive them to be victorious, to take them beyond that basic instinct to survive. Now they will be fighting for their emperor."