United Front

by Will Crudge

  Val had called upon the War Master Guild’s to counter the Crimson efforts, while recruiting an ever-growing pool of trained warriors to one day, man the Ghost Fleet. Only the Military Consul’s had been briefed on the true scope of Unum’s efforts, so the rest of the two trillion UAHC populous would have no clue that they indeed had a reserve force.

  The Juggernaut’s were built over the course of two centuries, and used tech that wasn’t even thought to exist. The strategic emplacement of the shipyard where they were built was situated so close to a binary black hole system that no one would ever know they were there… unless they knew what to look for.

  The Juggernaut Fleet would be under joint UAHC and Unum command, while the Ghost Fleet would fall directly under the command of the Military Consul. Gerhardt elected to delegate command authority to Darius, and thus his old friend and commander of the Ghost Fleet was Darius’ first choice for the command billet. The UDF also had a large force of smaller cutters to bring to the table. Although they were designed with the same hull as a UAHC Sloop, they were configured for more of a law enforcement and search and rescue role. However, Val had created an expeditionary force of cutters that were more closely outfitted to be as combat worthy as their UAHC counterparts. The newly formed UDF had been nationalized from a contract security firm, and were now an official national military force. Manning larger warships with the newly institutionalized UDF wasn’t realistic. They had operated cutters and gunships for generations, and thus it made more sense to simply modify the existing ships to be more combat effective. There just wasn’t time to train an entire force of former cops to operate complex ships of the line.

  Now the Ghost Fleet resided within the bellies of the Juggernauts. The mix of hull-types meant that some of the more arcane ships wouldn’t be able to keep up with the main fleet as they moved into hostile space, so hitching a ride in the ultra-fast and ultra-powerful Juggernauts were essential. Not to mention, cutters didn’t have the speed and range of their UAHC counterparts by design. All Unum could manage to upgrade were their shielding, weaponry, and hull-plating. But Unum also lacked a fighter force, so in most cases the cutters could fulfil that role to a degree.

  Zeff finally began to run out of details to regurgitate, and eventually the conversation devolved into small talk and off-colored jokes. Both men had no idea that a gigantic tiger was rounding the corner of the Blood-Reaper’s landing struts nearby.

  Shadow walked over to greet the tiger, and they shared the customary head-rubbing maneuver that all cats seemed to perform when greeting another friendly member of their species.

  “Who do we have here?” Darius asked.

  “Killjoy.” Zeff answered with a smile. “He and his War Master are why I’m still breathing.” Zeff walked over and pet Killjoy on the head, and the massive tiger seemed to accept the affection with enthusiasm.

  Darius turned to Shadow. “I take it you two know each other?” But Darius already knew the answer. He could feel Shadow’s deep bond from his old friend, but instead chose to follow through with social convention.

  “Indeed.” Shadow replied. “Killjoy and I were trained at the same temple together.”

  “Greetings, Fleet Marshal!” A man’s voice chimed in. Darius looked up to see a man wearing a War Master’s armor. He had short brown hair, and a slightly dark complexion. He was noticeably younger than Jep, but Darius sensed that the War Master was far from young. “I am Condor.”

  Condor reached out his hand, and Darius took it in kind. Then Condor repeated the gesture with Zeff. “It’s nice to meet you, Condor.” Darius said.

  “Likewise!” Condor said, then he began to look around as if to find something. “Did Jep not come along?”

  Darius shook his head. “He was meditating when we got the invitation. I left word with Growl, and we left.”

  “Jep was always a purist! We all meditate to keep our minds in-tune with the universe around us, but old Jep… He would meditate himself into a coma if you let him!” Condor said with a hardy laugh. Darius joined in, and it took several moments for each of them to get their composure back.

  “I take it, Val is already here?” Darius said as he pointed at the Blood-Reaper.

  “Yes, he is.” Condor replied. “He is eager to show off his newest toy!”

  “Well, we shouldn’t leave him waiting then.” Darius surmised.

  “Certainly not.” Condor gestured for the men to follow along. They all walked silently for several minutes until they reached an elevator at the fore bulkhead of the docking bay. The three men and two Zodiacs walked aboard, and the lift ascended dozens of decks before stopping.

  The elevator doors opened up to a train station, and they all made their way to a train car that appeared to be waiting for them. Two UDF troops in full battle armor stood on either side of the train’s door, and saluted the men as they boarded. Moments later the train sped away until it reached another station, and Condor directed the visitors to disembark.

  More UDF troops were present at this station then the last. At least have dozen that Darius noticed right off, but he suspected there were more of them close by. Condor took them through a series of security checkpoints, and eventually they arrived in a picturesque seating area.

  Darius was quickly taken back by it. His memories of Unum planetoid were the basis of what he had pictured in his mind, but the ship’s interior spaces were even more lavish than any UAHC Flagship. A massive one-piece window dominated the room, and was oriented towards the prow of the mighty juggernaut. It was immediately apparent that the room they were in was at least a few decks higher than the ship’s main hull. They could see the millions of tons of armor plating, defensive cannons, and countless arrays of sensors affixed to the ship’s hull.

  The room itself boasted at least fifty or so lush seating arrangements, and the latest style table tops. Darius took in the sights of ornate columns that were evenly spaced through the spacious room. The ceilings were cross-arched patterns that one might find in a large cathedral. They were painted a pleasant shade of beige, and had white beams to accent the modest background color. The space’s layout was warm and hospitable. Darius could help but feel totally at ease within its confines.

  “Darius!” Val’s voice cut in. Darius turned toward the direction of his voice, and saw the ancient monk seated along with Consul Gerhardt. Darius smiled before he walked over to take a seat with Val.

  All in attendance exchanged greetings and pleasantries. Darius explained that Jep was meditating, and Shadow explained why his wife, Sheba had elected to stay behind. Sheba had been trying to help ease the transition of Jimma and Grinder. It was a sensitive time for them all, and nobody questioned it.

  “What do you think of my latest toy?” Val asked proudly as he gestured his hand in a sweeping motion, as if to be showcasing the entire view around them.

  “Impressive.” Darius nodded.

  “Impressive?” Zeff huffed. “That doesn’t even begin to describe it!”

  “Toilets are huge too.” Killjoy said as he shared a gleeful glance with Shadow.

  “Condor insisted that the juggernauts be Zodiac Friendly, after all!” Val chuckled.

  “If only the UAHC did that, then the Hailstorm would be a pleasure cruise for me!” Shadow said with a hint of light sarcasm.

  “I had the toilet in the Doom-Raptor enlarged just for you, buddy!” Darius sneered. “You always have that!”

  “Yeah… About that.” Shadow said. “Having an asshole NAV system rooting you on, and then verbally assessing the length, breadth, and width of ever bowel movement doesn’t make it any more accommodating!”

  The room filled with laughter that seemed to almost echo around the arched ceilings, and fill the space. They all continue to share small talk, and Val gave an interesting account of the unique logistical challenges that stemmed from building warships next to the crushing gravity of a pair of black holes that orbited each other. Darius knew enough about physics to follow along well-enou
gh, but the ancient monk would also rattle off equations as if the nuances of quantum mechanics were common knowledge.

  “Are you ready for your tour, gentlemen?” Val finally asked. Everyone enthusiastically said yes, and the group all stood to follow Val towards the bulkhead door. Val turned and walked backwards to face everyone as they followed. “The room we’re leaving is our senior officer mess. It can also be configured as a formal ballroom.”

  Darius let out a quiet laugh under his breath. He found it funny that Val spent several minutes speaking in complex algorithms that nobody understood, but yet he spoke only two sentences about one of the most exquisite rooms he’d ever been in. They went on to ride the train deeper into the fore section of the ship, and eventually stopped at the CIC entrance. The CIC had its own dedicated train stop, and Val explained that the train wouldn’t stop, or even acknowledge the station existed, unless everyone onboard the train car had the proper access tokens. The section could be reached on foot, but only if the train was knocked out of commission, or there was a ship-wide power outage. The blast doors that concealed the corridors leading to the CIC had energized relays keeping the doors closed. If power were to be severed then the relays would lose their charge, and the doors would open via individual back up batteries… and only if the correct access tokens were present.

  Darius noticed that Zeff was on the cusp of salivating at every word Val said. He knew his former mentor was an engineering nerd, and seemed to light up whenever Val explained the multiple built in contingencies the ship was equipped with. Even Darius found himself impressed on many occasions. UAHC capital ships were once the pinnacle of military technology, but were now vastly overshadowed by the juggernauts. The fact that there were a thousand of them was the most astonishing part. No ship even half its size had ever been built with so many sister vessels in service. And even sister ships tended to vary in their layouts, configurations, or even major components. Large warships would often take ten to fifteen years to build and outfit, so when the younger generations of any one class were being built, some of their older sister ships had obsolete components, or outdated deck-layouts. But every juggernaut was completely identical. Every nut and bolt was completely interchangeable, and Val was extremely strict on component tolerances.

  Much of the purpose built components of the ship had to be manufactured by use of nano-tech. Not only would it have been difficult to maintain a secret workforce of millions of people in total secrecy, but humans were error prone. Nano-fabrication was the true secret of the juggernauts, and the only means by which keels of that magnitude could be laid, given the current level of technology.

  The group came to a wide hallway about thirty meters long, five across, and ended into a large open space. There was room for at least a hundred workstations of every type imaginable, but only about a dozen crew members were present. Attention was called as the VIP’s entered to the CIC, and Val politely gave them the order to carry on. The room was nearly identical in respect to the main CIC back at Unum’s main facility, but the QET was much larger, and had a round shape. It was about twenty centimeters off of the deck, was ten meters in diameter, and perfectly circular. Darius picked up something peculiar, but also familiar about it. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but he shrugged off the thought. He decided to wait and see if Val would jog his memory.

  Val direct everyone to look upward and to the rear of, where everyone stood in relation to where they had entered. Above the back wall, and centered above with entrance vestibule, was a window that peered directly into some kind of higher tiered command section. “That up there, is where the Admirals and Generals deplete the universe’s supply of coffee!” He chuckled.

  Darius had seen similar constructs in major operations facilities before. It was a working space for the senior leadership that allowed them to keep tabs on operations in real time, but also not allowing their own presence to be a disruptive factor for the rest of the command staff below. It was also a common-sense security aspect as well. The smaller area would be even more secure than the CIC already was.

  “If I may ask…” Zeff cut in. Darius figured he would ask whether he was allowed to or not. “I know that the FTL on these things is – unique – to put it plainly… But how does it work, and why are we just using conventional slip-space FTL right now?”

  Val smiled. “I knew this question would be the hot topic! But yes, it is unique.”

  “But what is it?” Zeff pressed.

  “It’s him.” Darius answered on Val’s behalf as he pointed at the ancient monk. Zeff’s jaw dropped.

  “Yes. It’s me.” Val said. “I’ve affixed components within the QET that help me focus my energy at a single point in the ship, without having to mentally focus on every nut and bolt. The field encompasses the entirety of the ship and all its occupants. It allows the ship to dematerialize from the third dimensional reality of space-time, and then rematerialize in another location of my choosing. The process simply bisects the conventional laws of physics while allowing the vessel to traverse a reality where time and space hold no bearing. But the energy that’s released in the process is immense, and can be very dangerous if I make a single miscalculation.”

  “I – I don’t understand.” Zeff said in a monotone voice. Then he shook his head, before speaking again. “Let’s pretend for a moment, that I actually believe this mumbo-jumbo… Why aren’t we using it now?”

  Val just smiled. “Because the last time I jumped the entire fleet, it nearly killed me. The juggernauts were only manned with skeleton crews at that point, and had empty docking bays. Not to mention, Unum space is practically next door to the Sol System on a cosmic scale… To jump the juggernauts now… fully manned… fully equipped… and with two entire fleets within their hulls, and all the way into Crimson controlled space would certainly be the last thig I ever do… Even if I could pull it off, which I doubt greatly.”

  “If this magical dimensional thingy has no bearing on space-time, then why would the distance be a factor?” Zeff pressed.

  “The distance isn’t the problem, as far as actually doing the jump through higher dimensional realities, but the limitation is what effect it has on this reality.” A new voice answered. Now the QET came to life, and a massive holographic depiction of the cosmos came into view. Numbers and equations overlaid every shred of the display, and they all intermingled with the stars.

  “Midas?” Darius asked inquisitively. “I didn’t think the QET would work in slip-space?”

  “That’s because I am here, Darius.” Midas replied with his echoing voice. “This QET also serves as one of my multi-nodal access points. My core is present on this ship.”

  “But I thought you’d never leave Unum.” Zeff chimed in.

  “This is the first time I’ve left in thousands of years. Until these ships became operational, leaving was never an option for me. But now it’s a necessity. These vessels are too vastly complex for conventional AI’s to manage. If I were to remain in Unum, then the true capabilities of this fleet could never be fully realized, and thus all humanity would be lost.” Midas replied.

  “I’m glad you’re here, Midas.” Darius said with every shred of sincerity he could muster. “I only wish I could have brought Samantha along. But the UAHC Fleet’s compliment of military grade AI’s is lacking at the moment, and I couldn’t afford to leave the inner stars without a high-functioning AI to watch over them.” He began to frown.

  “That’s my bad!” Gerhardt spoke up. “Remember in the conference room, when I first arrived at the Titan ship yard?”

  “Yes.” Darius replied.

  “Well then you’ll also remember I demonstrated to Val that I had an AI node embedded in my dinosaur armor?”

  “Yes.”

  “It kinda made me forget that I brought Sam with me.” Gerhardt scrunched his shoulders as much as his armor would allow for, and his face went flush with embarrassment. He then reached up, and pulled the node out. He handed it to Darius, and
he inserted it into his own armor.

  “Hi, buddy!” Sam’s voice came out like an excited school girl. “I’ve missed you!”

  “SAM!” Darius shouted. He was on the cusp of happy tears, but managed to keep them at bay. “Why didn’t you say something earlier?”

  “That’s because I couldn’t!” She replied. “Consul Gerhardt might have awed Val with his node port, but he failed to mention that there were no internal hook-ups for it. The fabrication shop hadn’t finished it by the time he snagged me from HQ.”

  Val ran up to Gerhardt and pointed right in his face. “Ah ha!” But all Gerhardt could do was flush his face red, and admit defeat.

  “Ok, well maybe my suit is missing a few nuts and bolts… But it still has forty percent more psi in the actuators than heavy infantry armor does!” Gerhardt jokingly tried to salvage his defeat.

  “Sure, sure… So, you can crush a crimson commando with a bear hug. Big deal! So can a commercial grade forklift!” Val retorted sarcastically. Gerhardt had no response. Anyone who knew Val, also knew that he would win any battle of wits that came his way.

  But before Val could revel in his triumphant mental victory over his long-time friend, his expression shifted to a more solemn one. Darius felt it too. A deep feeling of concern filled his mind. He quickly looked over at Shadow, and the mighty panther’s posture spoke volumes. The mighty cat’s head and neck were slumped forward as if he were staring blankly at the deck beneath them.

  Shade is in danger! It was a thought that Val, Shadow, and Darius all had at once. None of them knew which one of them had formulated it. Perhaps all of them. Even Condor and Killjoy appeared to be easing into the melding of emotion. They were five different beings, but were now sharing one single sense of awareness.