Gray Panthers: Earths Revenge

by David Guenther

  Both Dart flights lined up on their targets in trail formation on the patrol ships. Matt lead the first flight over the patrol ship from head to tail firing everything he had. The enemy ship filled his entire view as he fired all weapons as his ship shuddered from the recoil and was lit up from the weapons flames. Matt turned hard to the right and up just before the patrol craft exploded. The next four ships checked their fire as the vessel exploded with the flight having to pull away to avoid damage.

  Suzy closed with the second enemy vessel, her flight following in close formation. Lining up on the target, Suzy copied the tactic Matt had used and began firing when the patrol craft returned fire hitting Dart Ten at the end of the formation with a short burst of laser fire before the ship turned into a huge ball of fire that quickly burned out leaving a blackened hulk drifting in space.

  Dart One, Dart Ten, I took some fire on that pass. My boards are lit up like a Christmas tree. I've lost control of my ship and smell smoke. I'm going to have—"

  The bright flash of Dart Ten exploding drew the attention of the entire flight. Matt caught himself from crying out as he regained his composer. Every Dart driver was filled with emotion for the loss of one of their own. “Darts on me we’re heading for home. Be ready for FTL travel as soon as we land. Commander Johnson wants to leave. I don’t see anything to keep us here either. Good job out there. Goodbye, Zach, you did good.”

  The shuttle landed in the Beaters bay without any problems. Young was making his way to the back of the shuttle over the cargo when he saw the Captain waiting for him outside the shuttle. The thought of the ass chewing he was about to get got his adrenalin flowing again and he was once again ready for battle. Jumping to the deck in front of the Captain he was surprised when he was quickly hugged.

  “Damn good show, Young. We got our material and destroyed two enemy ships. Plus we established the beginning of diplomatic relations with the Republic. As a reward, I’m going to let you and your team head directly for the showers then your berths. As soon as the Darts land we are engaging the FTL drive for home. You get to avoid being sick.”

  Adrenalin left Young’s body with the good news. He felt almost ready to collapse to the deck. “Thank you sir, I want to thank Matt and his pirates for saving our collective bacon, then head for my berth.”

  “Captain Young you will head for the showers now with your team. I highly encourage the gratuitous use of soap,” Commander Johnson said firmly no longer standing close to Young.

  Young took a whiff of himself and understood as he realized he and his entire team stunk of onions.

  “Short Blade, Jones, head for the showers now. Jones, afterward you are released from duty. Head for your berth, we will be using the FTL pretty soon. Short Blade you are released from my command and once again part of the ship's crew. You did an outstanding job today. Thanks for not eating any of the Zians.”

  Young turned and left before Short Blade could reply. He was beyond even reviewing how the mission had gone as he felt he would collapse any second.

  Dart flight returned to the Arizona Space Ship Beater in trail formation. Each member deep in thought over the loss of Zach. The flight had just parked their fighters. The Darts had not even shut down their engines when they felt the transition to the FTL drive.

  “Everyone complete your post flight inspections then head for your racks. Suzy you can wait until we drop out to normal space to rearm your ship, same for you Mary, good shooting. We will have a mission debrief when we drop to normal space then we will have services for Zach. Dismissed." Matt turned away from the flight and quickly headed for his berth as he felt the effects of the FTL drive as he fought back the tears. The rest of the flight watched him go each feeling sorry for him as the rest of the flight hugged each other and wept openly for their loss.

  Suzy was not sure of herself as she knocked on Matt's hatch. The door opened and Matt stood in the entryway in only a pair of shorts. His eyes were red and puffy as Suzy instinctively moved to him and hugged him deeply to her. She once again began to cry as she looked up to his face and saw he too was crying as he pulled her into his cabin and closed the hatch.

  "You're not alone we all need to share the loss. Zach was a friend to all of us," Suzy stammered between sobs.

  "Yeah, but I'm the one that got him killed. He could still be safe back on Earth. All because I wanted to be a shuttle pilot and have some excitement," Matt said angrily.

  "Zach loved every minute of his new life. The nanites were able to cure him of his problems and he loved having friends and being part of a team for the first time in his life. Do you really think he wanted to be shoveling shit on farmer's fields for the rest of his life? He went out on his own terms. He went out happy. That’s the most anyone can ask for," Suzy sobbed.

  Matt looked down at Suzy and hugged her firmly as he opened the hatchway to his cabin. "Thank you Suzy. I appreciate you stopping by," Matt said as he escorted her to the hall and closed the hatchway.

  Commander Johnson watched from the end of the passageway as Suzy left Matt's cabin. Kyle took a deep breath and decided to get it over with walking to the hatchway then knocking on it. When Matt did not reply he ordered the hatchway open. Looking into the cabin Matt was sitting on his bunk with his head buried in his hands. He looked up to see who was interrupting his time of sorrow and immediately began to jump to attention. "At ease, Matt, sit. I wanted to let you know there will be no investigation of the loss of Dart ten, it's been determined loss due to combat. I know this is hard on you as this is your first casualty. It will not be your last either. It will not get easier and you will never get used to it. You will always feel the pain and the loss. If you didn't you would not deserve the job. If you want to talk you know where to find me," Kyle said as he exited the cabin.

  Arizona Space Ship Beater League of Planets Space

  17 September 2128

  Short Blade was looking over the Darts in the hangar bay. He had heard that only three fighters had fired on the patrol ships. Going into the maintenance locker, he took out the tool kit to clean the weapons on the three ships. The beamers required no servicing as he expected. The old earth technology called 40 mm cannons had left deposits from the ammunition being fired. Guns had told him that the weapon was never meant for space but that the propellant had trapped air from when the shell was assembled enabling it to be fired in vacuum. Short Blade opened a small container and dumped the contents into the weapons barrel then plugged the barrel as specially designed nanites began to consume the unburnt powder and other materials in the barrel and around the firing mechanism. Five minutes later he felt the nanites returning to the container as it got heavier. Short blade proceeded on to the next dart and repeated the procedure till all three were complete. Reporting back to the bridge Short Blade was amazed to see the seven foot giant Lt. Thomas “Tiny” Shaw on his hand and knees puking into a bucket. Remembering the many times when he had been a smart ass towards Short Blade made him less sympathetic. As he remembered comical advice Guns had once given to Jimmy.

  “Lieutenant Shaw, keep on puking it all out. Once you feel something hairy, be sure to stop, that will be your asshole.” Short Blade smiled as the lieutenant tried to look menacing back at him.

  “Sir, if you are trying to be intimidating may I suggest getting off your hands and knees. Body posture is very important.”

  Shaw stood and hovered over Short Blade for a moment then could not stop from laughing. “Little guy, you are one of the bravest folks I know, but don’t push it.”

  Fort McCoy, Wisconsin

  18 September 2128

  The Gray Panther team had spent two days going over the optical deflection combat suits with the Army trainers. After going over operation and maintenance, the trainers looked like they were over saturated. The Gray Panthers decided it was time to take a walk in the beautiful Wisconsin forest to show the limitations of the suits. A request for transportation was answered with an old yellow school bus. After explaining wher
e they wanted to go the bus driver simply started driving down a gravel road.

  The Gray Panther lead instructor MSgt Peter West told the driver to halt after passing an old convertible mustang on the side of the road. The back seat had loose arrows covering it.

  "OK, gentlemen, the objective of this exercise will be to find the bow hunter that belong to that car. You will then stay within thirty feet of him undiscovered for ten minutes. At that time you have passed the exercise and may return to the classroom. Only one group at a time may be near the hunters, if you interfere with their hunt you have failed the exercise. If they discover you, you have failed the exercise. If they shoot you with an arrow you have failed the exercise. Good luck, now activate your suits before you leave the bus. Bus driver, we no longer need you. You are about to witness something top secret if word is leaked, well you don’t want to leak anything,” West briefed. To the driver the bus interior looked slightly out of focus as each member noisily exited the bus. Each group headed in a different direction as West’s group noisily broke trail leaving the road.

  “HALT! I do not want to hear one damn more thing. Move with the wind, be the wind. Tree branches and bushes do not move on their own. Now get it together. I’m going to take off my spectrum glasses and see if I can find you.” Taking off the glasses he was suddenly alone. He decided five minutes would be a fair head start.

  “Trainer one, two,” the army trainer radioed.

  “Two, one, shoot,” Peter answered hiding his annoyance.

  “One, we’re one hundred yards north of the mustang and proceeding with the exercise of monitoring the hunters close up. Both subjects are female late thirties, medium height, athletic build, and blonde. Fifteen feet up a tree. Change that, one is coming down.”

  “Ignore the tree girl; stay close to the walker. Get your ten minutes in with her then head back to the classroom and evaluate the students in the class.”

  Peter turned to where he felt the class was. “Class leader, listen up. One hundred yards north of the mustang is a female hunter. In ten minutes the other class will depart and then you will shadow her for ten minutes.” The soft crunching of leaves infuriated MSgt West as he saw what he was looking for. Picking up a branch as thick as his wrist he stated softly unemotionally, “I am going to ram this stick up the ass of the next stupid son of a bitch that makes a sound. He will not hear me coming and I’m not even wearing my spectrum glasses!” He then softly commed to Grub, “Grub, please keep me one yard to the right of the center of my class in parallel formation please.”

  The class was immediately impressed with the old soldier who was now training them. Peter further scared them when he would stop and smell the air and softly say, “Fe Fi Fo Fum I smell a dirty bum!” Almost eliciting a laugh from the nervous students. Ten minutes later they had the hunter surrounded as they tried not to be heard as they tried to keep up as she moved soundlessly through the woods at a quick pace bow at the ready. After completing their stalking and moving away there was a general relief from the students. Peter ordered them to power down and was embarrassingly close to them. “OK, I will give the class a pass if you can make it back to the classroom in ten minutes. You will stay powered down to avoid being hit by vehicles or shot by hunters. Now move it!”

  The class followed its class leader as he ran all out in the wrong direction as the blonde hunter walked up to Peter. “They weren’t too bad, Dad, I only heard one once.”

  “I heard it too, these guys are going to train the Army in how to wear and use this gear so they have to appreciate what they are doing. You going to leave your sister in the tree stand when you give me a ride back?”

  “I already broke down my stand, Dad. Are you ready to go?" the voice from behind him asked.

  “Everyone just get in the damn car. I don’t know what I did wrong to get a pair of smart ass twins in my life!” The angry tone was betrayed by the smile on his face. As the mustang drove up on the students running alongside the road, Peter initiated his gear so it appeared the girls were by themselves. As the girls slowed while passing the entire class started to whistle and holler. When the car stopped four soldiers tried to talk the girls into a ride as Peter powered down. “You assholes are disrespecting my daughters and trying to cheat on returning to the classroom! You just lost three minutes. I’ll be waiting!”

  Six minutes later the class received their diplomas and permission to retain the suits on the condition that they were secured when not in use.

  “I hear one story about a woman thinking she has an invisible intruder and I’ll be here ASAP. Good luck, it was not bad working with you,” Peter said to the class.

  Gray Panther Head Quarters

  18 September 2128

  MSgt West was on the phone from Fort McCoy Wisconsin, with General Black. “Sir, the Army trainers will be adequate to train the Army soldiers in the basics for suit functionality. I believe we will need to give the advanced training in order that the Gray Panthers and our other forces are equally trained.”

  “Thank you, MSgt. West. I will take that under advisement. Did either of your daughters get a deer this year?”

  “No, sir, I think the students scared all the deer off the fort.”

  “Better luck next year. Bring it on home then.”

  “Thank you, General Black.”

  Black commed Dan after the call, “Dan, sounds like Army will be able to give basic equipment training as planned. MSgt West just evaluated them in Wisconsin.”

  “Thanks, Black Jack, that’s some good news.”

  “You still worried about the supply run to the Republic?

  “Only until they are safely home.”

  “We sent the best and the brightest; I’m sure they’ll be back before you know it.”

  “Thanks, BJ. I’ll keep you updated.”

  Arizona Space Ship Beater Deep Space

  24 September 2128

  Commander Johnson was at the helm when Lt. Horton advised it was only a few minutes until they drop back into normal space.

  “Commander Johnson to crew, we are about to drop into normal space everyone take your positions.” With the ship at full alert, the drop back into normal space was a relief. The entry was less than an hour from the moon. Johnson like the rest of the crew was quickly recovering from using the FTL drive as they made their way to the moon using the thrusters.

  “Beater, try to contact the probes we dropped off and see if they have any information for us on Shangri-La.”

  “I don’t understand sir. What is Shangri-La?” Beater asked confused.

  “Shangri-La is what I have named the moon as the first explorer to get to it as my right as Captain.”

  “Sir we are not receiving any information and it appears probes have been destroyed.”

  Commander Johnson immediately hit the General alarm button on his console. Shields were activated and crew that were already in their positions became alert.

  “Full stop. Beater, let me know as soon as you know the cause of destruction for the probes. Prepare to launch another probe.”

  “Sir I am picking energy signatures from the moon. It appears to have numerous cities and population centers.”

  “Send out a hail on all channels who we are and that we are friendly explorers. Include that we will not continue towards their world unless invited. So much for Shangri-La.”

  “Arizona Space Ship Beater, this is Dixie Defense Command. You are in restricted space. We are going to launch a shuttle to scan you. Afterwards you will be allowed to proceed.”

  “Dixie Defense Command, we accept your gracious invitation. We will hold in place.”

  The launch from the moon was not detected so it was assumed the shuttle was in orbit out of view from the Beater.

  “Beater scan the shuttle and let me know what you find,” Johnson said with a slight worry in his voice.

  “Captain, the shuttle is similar to our shuttles in that it has the exact same engines, definitely Flem manufacture. Compositi
on of the hull is very similar to those made on earth. The shuttle is not manned. I am detecting what appears to be an extremely large engine in their cargo area. Correction it is an energy weapon. It—”

  The shuttle emitted an electromagnetic pulse that plunged the Beater into darkness. Johnson looked around the bridge as everything looked red from the emergency lighting. “Beater, report,” Johnson ordered anxiously.

  The Major Rogers AI replied, “Captain Johnson Beater will not be back online for at least ten minutes. Ships launching from the surface will be here in five. The Major Rogers and the Darts were adequately shielded by the Beater that they can launch to defend the ship.”

  “Very good, Rogers, give the command to all pilots to man their ships. Order all crew chiefs to the launch bay to assist as needed in full space gear. We will be losing our atmosphere in the bay without a force field as soon as we open the hatches. Why not use our other shuttle also?” the Commander asked.

  “Sir that shuttle is coordinating repairs to the ship including providing energy to life support and the grav plates,” the Major Rogers AI replied.

  Matt and his flight were climbing into their ships as they were already on standby alert.

  “OK boys and girls, we don’t know what to expect out there so we will launch in pairs. Follow my lead and we will see what we are up against. Major Rogers, I want you to follow up in the rear and act as our liaison since you have the best sensors. I also want you near the Beater in case any hostiles get by us to act as last line of defense.”

  The crews waited in the Darts as Guns and Short Blade finished donning their suits in order to manually open the main hatch. As the hatch opened, all loose debris could be seen evacuating out the hatchway into space as the hatch was finally open far enough to launch.