by Ben Winston
“Holy shit!” McCallister said looking over Ariel's shoulder.
Turning around, Ariel saw two armored soldiers doing the rapid assault 'shuffle' of the Imperial Marines. They covered the ground between the gates of the compound and the Mission outpost in less than a minute.
When they came to a stop, Bri'tell stowed his primary weapon, and saluted Ariel. Condell did the same behind him.
“At ease, Master Chief. I have a mission for you,” Ariel said. “But first, I want to introduce you to a couple of people. This is General McCallister, United States Marine Corps.”
Bri'tell returned to attention and saluted the General. The General returned the salute, gravely. Ariel continued. “The other gentleman is Colonel Grady, again of the United States Marine Corps.”
Again Bri'tell saluted the officer, and it was returned. Finally Ariel continued. “I have a difficult mission for you, Master Chief. I need you to be a target for two of General McCallister's Marines. I want you to go out one kilometer, and wait. On my signal, I want you to make your way back here as fast as possible and collect a kiss from me.
“It will be the duty of the United States Marines to make sure you do not collect that kiss. They will do everything in their power, including using live ammunition, to try and stop you. You are not to return fire, or harm either man. Don't worry about stray or wild fire. Everything will be shielded. Lieutenant Condell is present in case of emergency. Do you understand your mission, Master Chief?”
“Aye, Milady. Do you wish for me to leave my weapons here?” Bri'tell asked.
“No, I want these men to see exactly what you can do, fully encumbered and equipped,” Ariel said.
“Understood, Milady.” Bri'tell said.
“You let yourself get hurt, Chief and I'll kick your ass,” Ariel said.
“Aye, and I love you too, Milady.” With that, he closed the faceplate of the helmet and disappeared into the darkness of the desert.
Out of the darkness on the other side of the pavilion, two US Marines appeared. “Corporal Milas and Private Foster reporting as ordered, Sirs!”
The two men couldn't look more at odds. Milas was a smallish man carrying what was clearly a sniper rifle, while the other man was a mountain and carried a man-portable mini-gun.
“Gentlemen, a demonstration has been set up for us. Roughly a klick out there in the desert,” Grady pointed in the direction Bri'tell had gone. “Is an armored Imperial Marine. That man is going to come back here and try to kiss this young woman.” He paused as the two men looked Ariel over and grinned. He got their attention back very quickly however. “I order you to kill him before he does.”
The two marines looked at each other. “Sir?” Milas asked.
“You heard me, Corporal. I want you to kill him before he can get back to this pavilion. He will not fire back at you, nor will he attempt to harm you in anyway. However, I don't think he'll stop if you're in his way,” Grady said.
“Sir, are you ordering us to attack and kill someone that will do nothing to defend themselves?” Foster asked. “We have live ammo, Sir.”
“That's exactly what I'm ordering you to do, Marine. Yes, by the letter of the law, this is an illegal order and it is your duty to question it. However, I remind you that this man is armored. I've been assured that not only will you not hurt him, it's doubtful you will inflict telling damage on him at all. Medical is standing by, so if you see him go down, stop firing, and call it in,” Grady said.
McCallister stepped up behind him. “It's okay, men. You can do as you're told here.”
Both troopers saluted, and began to move out, but it was clear neither of them were happy with their orders. Condell stepped up to them before they left. “Guys, don't worry about this. The Chief's wearing the same armor I am. I doubt he'll even know your firing at him, trust me. I've worn this stuff into battle before. I know how it works.”
“That's all well and good, Doc. But just be ready anyway, please?” Milas said and motioned Foster into the darkness.
“I've notified our Command post out here to expect live weapons fire inside the shield,” Grady said. “So they won't try to return fire.”
Ariel nodded. “I've done much the same with our people. The Guardian ships out here will also raise their shields and monitor the exercise. Everything's ready. Milas and Foster, are you ready?” She said out-loud to let the men know that they had hacked into the two soldiers’ private frequency.
“Yeah, we have the target. For now, he's just standing there, one-point-two klicks downrange,” Milas replied.
“Master Chief, are you ready?” Ariel asked.
“I get to kiss a Princess, of course I'm ready,” Bri'tell replied.
“That's not gonna happen,” Foster replied.
“Okay, then, if everyone's ready. Master Chief, I'm puckering up,” Ariel said, and it was immediately followed by a single shot from the heavy sniper rifle.
Chapter Eighteen
Moran-Parker Estate,
Marine Liason Guardpost
Henderson, Nevada, Earth.
Sol Sector.
“Target down,” Milas reported. “Advancing to verify.”
Ariel could hear Bri'tell chuckle, so she relaxed.
“Negative! Target advancing -fast!” Foster replied. The whine of the mini-gun spinning up could be heard in the background.
The sustained burp of the mini-gun firing with occasional loud reports from the sniper rifle could be heard. But just as suddenly as it started, it stopped.
“Where'd he go? Milas, do you have eyes on the target?” Pause. “Milas?”
“Cease-Fire! Medical requested on field,” Bri'tell said over the net. “Corporal Milas is down. Med Waypoint set on Hud.”
Condell was moving before Bri'tell finished saying the word medical. “I'm in route, Master Chief. What's the nature of his injuries?”
“I tackled him to avoid a friendly fire incident. I think I broke his arm and possibly his shoulder. This was a no fault incident; there was no way Foster could have known he was shooting at Milas. My battlecomp recorded the entire event, Pvt. Foster did nothing wrong. In fact, both men reacted very well. I'd hate to see what Milas could do with one of our sniper rifles.”
“Understood, Master Chief. Thank you for your evaluation. Pvt. Foster, please return to the Command Post.” Colonel Grady said.
“Yes, Sir,” came the depressed sounding reply.
“Relax Foster, the Master Chief has cleared you of wrong doing,” Grady replied.
“I appreciate that, Sir. But I still should have been paying better attention. Milas did say he was advancing, I should have been keeping an eye on him.” Foster replied.
“Foster, this is Bri'tell. How could you have done that? The terrain out here prevented it, which is what really caused this problem. You are a good soldier, there is no way this could have been avoided without special equipment. Let this go, you could not have prevented it.”
“I'll try, Sir. Thank you,” Foster replied.
“Semper Fidelis, Marine,” Bri'tell replied.
“Hoo-Rah!” Foster replied.
“So, does the Master Chief still get his kiss?” McCallister asked.
“Yup, although for entirely different reasons,” Ariel said, smiling.
“Milady, I request permission to treat Corporal Milas in the medical unit on the shuttle. His left shoulder and arm are broken, and he has a mild concussion. If I can treat him, he should be fit for light duty by morning, and full duty by the following morning,” Condell explained. “Otherwise, he'll be out for months while all of this heals naturally.”
“Permission granted, Lieutenant. Please get him fixed up.” Ariel turned to the General. “I hope, by doing this, we aren't setting him up to be dissected by the paranoid pack at Groom Lake?”
“As far as I'm concerned, nothing happened here tonight, Ariel. Why would those assholes even be interested in him?” McCallister said, winking at her.
“Thank yo
u, General,” Ariel replied. “Now, I hate to cut this short, but I do need to get back to work. Gentlemen, it was a pleasure to meet you, even though I do remember you, Colonel.”
“Back to work? It's almost midnight, what do you have left to do today?” Luke asked, clearly in father mode.
“I have to get the Guardians taken care of, then I have to figure out some way to defend Earth if the idiots make it this far. Then I need to meet with the Admiral for a final planning session before the idiots drop out of hyperspace and into our laps. I figure I'll get to sleep sometime tomorrow afternoon. That is, if nothing else warps in to make life hell for me. Don't worry Daddy, I'm still young, I can do this from time to time,” Ariel replied, affectionately.
“Don't worry, Sir, mKail and I'll look after her. We won't let her burn herself out,” Bri'tell added as he entered the pavilion's light.
Foster also came to a halt, but he was out of breath. “Jesus, Master Chief! How do you move so damn fast? You're not even out of breath!”
Bri'tell put one armored arm around Foster's shoulders, and led him out of the pavilion to walk it off. It was also clear that he was telling the Marine about how the battle armor augmented his physical capabilities.
After giving her father a hug, and shaking hands with the two Marine officers, Ariel checked on Milas before returning to her office.
Moran-Parker Estate,
Ariel's Den/Office.
Henderson, Nevada, Earth.
Sol Sector.
She returned to find General Maas talking with Alex, Karen and mKail in the dining room. From the sound of it, Maas was learning more about the planet, as well as his Princess.
“So, General Maas, what do you think of our home?” Ariel asked as she entered the room.
Maas hastily stood and bowed. “Highness! I, uh, well, I've been to a couple of royal residences, and I do have to admit, this one feels much more like a home than the others. It's far more relaxing than all the stonework and wrought metal of other Palaces.”
“It was meant to be a home, and not a Palace. My mother, E'telle designed it for Alex before she died. This place is as much hers as it is mine. I like to think of it as more of a residence than a Palace,” Ariel replied. “I think I'd have a hard time living in a Palace.”
“I can certainly understand that, Milady. I understand that this has been a long day for you, would you like to postpone our meeting until you have rested?” Maas asked.
“I'd love to, General. Unfortunately, time will not permit it. I'll need some of the Guardians to be on their way as soon as they get their assignments and can prep for launch. We need to do this tonight,” Ariel said.
“As you wish, Highness.” he bowed again. “E'telle was a strong woman, and a good friend. I share your loss.”
Ariel smiled at the man, but looked at her mothers. “Daddy might still be a little while. You two might as well try to get some sleep. I'll need Bri'tell and mKail with me. Bri'tell will join us as soon as he can park his armor. Do you have a second you'd like with you, General?”
“Yes, thank you, Highness. I'll send for her,” Maas replied.
Ariel nodded toward her office. “Come on, I'll get some coffee on, I have a feeling we're going to need it.”
Guardian Captain Teryre joined them just ahead of Bri'tell, who looked freshly showered, and alert. mKail teased him about taking a stim shot before the meeting because he was such an old man.
“Nope, Condel told me she needed to save them for you!” Bri'tell replied causing everyone to laugh.
Ariel couldn't help but wonder at their reaction. Terrans would have been embarrassed at the comment, but these people saw the humor and appreciated it.
“Okay,” Ariel said taking a sip of her coffee. “Let's get this show on the road. General, I have six more of the stealth assault class ships ready for deployment. They're building them in groups of four, and since I gave one to Wendy and the other to Taylor, I have six left until the next batch is finished.
“Wendy and Taylor have both already chosen their crews, and because of that, I have them slotted for scouting missions into this sector.” She pointed to a spot on a suddenly visible holographic map. “I'll want to send at least two others with them.”
“The Vorghien system?” Maas asked. “Why there? It's been dead since the Demiscos Incident.”
Ariel smiled at him. “If you needed to hide a very large shipyard, and all of its support facilities, can you think of a better place to do it?”
“Everything would have to be shielded because of the radiation...” Maas said thoughtfully, “But it could be done. Damn me, but it could be done!”
“I need a quick, but thorough survey of that entire sector so we can either verify the enemies support yards, or rule it out once and for all. I'd like the two other Guardians in the stealth ships as well. I don't want the slavers to know we've been there,” Ariel said.
Maas nodded. “We've got a couple of Guardians that would be perfect for this assignment.”
“Please send them out to the ship yard immediately. Have their AI get the exact location from Cole,” Ariel ordered, and Teryre relayed the orders.
“Now, I have a mission for five of your most diplomatic Guardians. I need them to stay here and help me deal with the idiot leaders of this planet.
“I'll need ten Guardians to lead an expedition to the fleet reserve yards to help get those ships moving here. Admiral Hs'ean and Admiral Gr'eis will be providing most of the personnel for that mission, but I would like some of the Guardians to go too. We really need those ships, and the resources stored there. When you've figured out who to send, have them report to Admiral Gr'eis aboard the Divine Light.
“The rest, we'll need to spread out. I'll need them to do what they can to disrupt the enemy, and help our people. I'll also need them to send back intel as often as they can, so we know where we're needed the most, and when,” Ariel said. “They'll also need to tell folks where they can go to get away.”
“Where can they go?” Teryre asked.
“Tell them to come here. Grandfather is taking care of the housing situation for our refugees. Currently, there are temporary shelters being built on the fourth planet to help relieve the stress of being trapped on the ships. More permanent facilities are going to be built both on Mars as well as in another system that is close by.
“I would also like to stress that we need more people; we have thousands of things that need to be done, and facilities that need to be manned, not to mention several new warships that will be coming on-line within the next few months.
“On their way out, I want all Guardians remaining in scout class ships to stop by the Divine Light and pick up however many remotes they need to bring them up to four. I can understand wanting to reduce excess mass on the ship, but this is war, I would rather they had them and not need them,” Ariel said.
Both Maas and Teryre nodded agreement with the decision.
“Finally, the Ophuccian Cluster has decided that they would like to join the Empire as a full member-state. Which means, we no longer need their permission to enter their space if the need arises.
“Don't be surprised if you're challenged in their space, because that policy does not extend to Slaver forces. Also, do not be surprised if you see an Ophuccian warship or three. They're friendly as long as they know you're not a slaver. Which also means that we are giving them the IFF signature as well as your AI contact information as a means to verify identity so they don't blow you away,” Ariel explained.
The five of them discussed various missions for the Guardians for the next hour. Ariel called a halt and asked Maas to get the folks on the road as soon as he could.
It was clear that Ariel was getting tired, but she insisted that she move on to the next item needing her attention. So at two-thirty in the morning, Ariel, her friends and guards all climbed back into the Tides of Mars, and headed back to the Divine Light.
I.S.A. Tides of Mars
Interplanetary
Space (in transit to Divine Light)
Her Imperial Highness, Princess-Guardian Ariel Moran-Parker, Commanding.
As soon as the loving trio were aboard Cole, Bri'tell took Ariel by the elbow and steered her into their quarters.
“Ariel, you are my princess, and my leader, but you are also the women that I love. You're pushing too hard. You need rest, even if it isn't very long, you need a nap or you're not going to be any good to anyone,” he said.
“Is that an order, Master Chief?” Ariel asked playfully.
“Sweetheart, if you were one of my troopers, I would have ordered you into your bunk hours ago. You need this, trust me,” Bri'tell replied.
“But we don't have time for me to take a nap. We'll be at the Divine Light in less than an hour,” Ariel countered.
“Cole? Ariel needs a little rest, do you think we could take a short detour so Bri'tell and I can check out the mining operations on Ceres and a couple of the other spots? We don't need to take long, just a couple of hours,” mKail said looking up at the ceiling.
“That sounds completely feasible. If I may, could we add a few orbits of Earth so we can see the progress of the orbital fortresses? Ariel, I agree with your friends, you are exhausted,” Cole added.
“Okay, okay, I'll take a nap, but can I at least call Sean first? She needs to know what we discussed with the guardians,” Ariel replied.
“I can do that for you, love. Hell, even Cole could do that for you,” Bri'tell replied. “Please, sweetness, let us help you.”
“Okay, you guys take care of what's needed for now, I'm gonna grab a shower, then get some rest,” Ariel said, giving in.
“I’ll stay with you just to make sure you sleep, but I do need to check on those fortresses,” mKail said, smiling shyly.
“Okay, but don’t watch me sleep, it’d be unnerving,” Ariel said caressing the woman's arm.
Grinning, Bri'tell said, “Cole, my brother, you heard the ladies. Do you want to call the Admiral, or do you want me to handle that part?” He left the compartment and headed for the common area.
“Actually, DL tells me that both Admiral Hs'ean and Admiral Gr'eis are sleeping. If you would like, I can prepare a brief and ask DL to make sure they get it as soon as they awaken?” Cole asked.