by G J Moses
Striding into the room, Zeke took control immediately. “Ladies, gentlemen, if you will take a seat. We need to make this short. Khaleesi, the floor is yours.”
Going to the front of the room, Khaleesi adjusted a control on a pad that was attached to her wrist. “Isolde, you and Will on?”
“Hi Khaleesi, yes, we are on.”, replied Isolde.
Just as she was about to continue, Hawke walked in dressed in his leathers. Grabbing a chair next to Zeke, he signaled Khaleesi to go on.
One more tweak on the wrist pad, and an image of a large plain surrounded by a forest floated into being above her viewable to all.
The plain was carpeted by a very dark greenish tinged with black grass about three to four feet high. Running on the plain, were animals that resembled a zebra color, but they were twice the size of their cousins with large curved horns on their head. At the far end was a huge forest filled with gigantic trees covered in dark green bark and topped with purplish colored leaves. The trees towered into the sky many hundreds of feet. It was exotically beautiful.
Flying above the treetops and on the edges of the plain were large birds Zeke would swear were American eagles, but these must have topped several dozen feet in length and several hundred pounds in weight. They were obviously carnivore as they watched as one dove on a zebra and picked it up in its claws. They all watched at the Zebra kicked wildly in a panic to no avail. The bird flew off with its prey.
Moving on, the display centered on a large construction. In the display, was a huge utilitarian encampment that had an odd layout. The camp was a prefab metal barrier laid out in a star shape with all the edges facing out in a zigzag pattern. The whole camp had a shimmer covering it, indicating some type of force field. At each of the points of the star, heavy gun emplacements could be seen. Scattered along the whole wall were sentries every dozen yard’s or so.
Many in the room gasped as they could not see any way to get past these defenses even with the help of the cruiser. Like the first camp, a second camp was pulled up on a second display.
Walking around the front of the room, Khaleesi enlarged the display of one of the camps while looking at her audience to see their reactions. “There are two camps, both laid out the same. Our best guess is seven to eight thousand troops per camp.” Swinging the display around the camp, it showed large sections that seemed unoccupied. “The Chohish camp’s look like they were made for double that.”
Tapping the controls on her wrist pad again, another display popped up. The display moved from the camp across the plain through the woods to a long deep valley. In the middle of the valley, could be seen the corpses of thousands of Chohish mixed in with large stones.
“From what I understand, Jeanne, you and your men did a real nice sucker job on them. You mined the walls of this valley leading to this emergency quarters with old fashioned gunpowder in wooden barrels. I am sure they checked the floor and walls for modern explosives, metal and electronics, but failed to pick up the gunpowder. How you got that done before they arrived and where you got all the gunpowder, I sure would like to know at some later date, but we need to take care of this situation quickly so until later…”.
“Ok, here is my plan. The overlapping force fields would normally make this almost impossible except for the one major problem we identified when we successfully tested overlapped force fields. When you have all the force field generators supporting each other, but not overlapping, like we do with ours, when one or more sections get overwhelmed, the other generators are still able to provide coverage for the rest of the other areas without losing strength.”
Sitting on a corner of the conference table, Khaleesi continued. “When you have overlapping shields like you have here, you have a much better force field overall, but what affects one generator, affects all. Knock out one and you knock all coverage. Has to do with the way the generators have to interact with each other. The way they support each other is when one field gets hit, the field next in line supports that field, and so on. You hit one area hard enough, all fields are in play. Much harder to take it out, but if you do…”
With her hands fanned out, Khaleesi fluttered them down to the table. “Instead of losing coverage for just a section, you lose coverage for the whole camp.”
Several sounds of surprise as the realization of what she said struck home. One officer quickly asked, “The whole camp? Is this temporary?”
Standing up straighter, Khaleesi focused her attention on that officer. “Yes, the whole camp. And like ours, I expect it would be only temporary minus the generator taken out. Which means once they are down, we need to take advantage while we can.”
“The fighters will be en route to each camp along with all the Marines in their mechanized armor ready to attack once the shields are knocked out of action. We will saturate the entire area so no enemy is left on the ground when the Lucky Strikes has to leave.”
“How are you going to take out the shields?” queried Jeanne.
“With Will’s help. Using Jan’s well-placed camera’s, we plan to go after what we believe is their main shield generator. To do this, we will use missile mines, multiple MK-XIIs, and half of the available primaries, that is if we have any online, where we will hit one section at the exact same time at both camps. Surprise is the key, hence why both camps at the same time. The secondaries would not be able to get through the atmosphere to do any good.”
“How many missile mines do we have?” Zeke asked while gazing at the camp display.
“We have close to two hundred, but Will wanted to save some in case needed later, why?”
Upon hearing this, Jeanne looked at Jan and gave a nod. Without waiting or an answer from Will, Jan excused himself and left the area. Zeke looked at Jeanne with a raised eyebrow whereupon Jeanne just smiled and shrugged her shoulders.
“Use them all. Stagger the MK-XIIs rate of decent so you get a minimum of twelve for each camp, if not eighteen. Wish we had the other two MK-XII missile bays operational, but we must work with what we got. Anything else you can add, do it. We are not aware of what is needed to take out their shields, and we only have one shot here. My recommendations, not an order. This is your operation Khaleesi.” Zeke said while keeping his head down to show all that he was only making a recommendation.
Considering it for a moment before responding, Khaleesi stared at Zeke while she made her final decision. She knew that Zeke would not override her if she voted his “suggestion” down. It was a good minute of quiet before shaking her head in agreement. “I agree, you are right. We based our calculations on our own shield strength since we do not know theirs. We just need to make sure that the Marines are aware. Anyone else have anything?”
From the speakers came Isolde’s clear voice. “Khaleesi, the primaries would be a bit more effective if we lowered our orbit until just on the fringe of the atmosphere. I already reviewed that with Will, and he agrees. And Jax said he hopes to have most of the primary’s back online by the time you are ready. With that, we can add the secondaries as the new position should get them in effective range. We wanted to let you know so the Marines know to dig deep, I mean really deep.”
Chuckling, Khaleesi replied with “I will, most assuredly will. I will make sure the fighters are aware and do not get too close. If that is all folks, we need to move. Let’s set your clocks. Target time will be in sixty-eight minutes, at exactly fourteen thirty. I updated the time to allow for the changes. OK? Good luck everyone and all the best to you all.”
Khaleesi looked around as everyone casually started getting up. “Let’s go people, MOVE YOUR ASS!” the last yelled at the top of her lungs.
With that, everyone started running out of the conference room. Zeke, Hawke, Jan and Jeanne, though, being the only exceptions. All four were laughing at Khaleesi who was looking at them with a glance at the ceiling while putting her hands together like she was praying. With a short giggle, Khaleesi joined them.
“OK Zeke, what were you planning for m
e?” asked Hawke.
“Hawke, I wouldn’t ask this, but we need intelligence on these Chohish. We need to capture an officer alive.”
“And how would I do that as I am guessing that is what you have planned for me?” Hawke asked with curiosity in his voice along with a tinge of excitement showing in his eyes.
Glancing at Hawke’s hand’s, Zeke could not miss the clenching and hand movement towards his hips where holsters held four bone handle obsidian knives.
Turning towards Khaleesi, he gave her a signal while pointing to the opposite wall.
Playing with her wrist again, the camp displayed earlier now came up, but from an overhead view. It was obvious that this was a live view as they could see Chohish manning the walls and moving around the camp.
Moving swiftly and using a laser pointer, Zeke pointed to a cleared section just outside the wall. The view moved in until they could see several sentries moving around the perimeter. One had a darker color and was larger than the rest.
“That one I believe is an officer. How important, I have no idea. But I would like to immobilize him just before the attack.”
Gasping, Hawke looked at Zeke in amazement. “And how the hell do you think I can take down that monster. He must be over three hundred pounds of muscle let alone how I am to get close enough without being spotted. I am sure they have sensors that would detect me prior to getting within ten miles of him.”
Pulling a pad similar to Khaleesi’s off the table in front of him, Zeke turned the image, so they were looking away from the camp. The image then concentrated on something most of the observers had not noticed before. A winged creature about seven to eight feet in height.
Each of these creatures had large leathery wings, beaks lined with large teeth, feet with claws close to a foot in length and topped with a bony forehead that ran all the way down through its back. There was at least half a dozen in the immediate area. Watching them, it was quickly obvious they had an odd way of flying. They would go straight up using their wings, dive down close to the ground and then swoop along only to repeat it after going several hundred yards. None of the Chohish even looked at them.
Growling, Hawke glanced back at Zeke with a feral grin on his face. “You want me to mimic one of those birds. But won’t they know I am not a bird?”
“That is why I said to grab your leathers. They do not have any metal on them and give you kind of a leather look to match the bird you are trying to pass for. I think if you are careful, you can get by as they will not be expecting it. I have asked Doc to prepare a drug in a wooden dispenser that should immobilize the officer. All you must do is pretend to be one of the birds, named the Pteroductdy to the locals, swoop in, stab the officer with the knockout drug and get the hell out of there as fast as you can. Hopefully after the battle, we can pick him or her up if not blown away’.
“Is that all?” Hawke walked over to Zeke’s right side and leaned in to look at the image of the Chohish being targeted. “I never thought I would ever get a chance to personally have an opportunity to meet the race that killed so many millions of my ancestors. Zeke, thank you! I cannot tell you how much you have put me in your debt.”
Watching Hawke closely, Khaleesi reached over to a paper on a desk behind her. Handing the paper to Hawke, she told him, “Several Nocuous Army personnel are waiting outside for you to take you to an exit close to where that officer is roaming. Here is a map just in case. Hawke, you only have time for one try at this, do not take any unnecessary chances. If it does not look right, just get out of there. We cannot change the kickoff time; it is set in stone. Hell will be coming at exactly fourteen thirty. Understand me on this, if you cannot complete the task with time to spare, get the hell out of there my friend!”
With that, Khaleesi moved to stand in front of Hawke where she grabbed him by his upper arms tightly. “You be careful, very careful. We have grown to love you my fine feathered friend.”
Hugging Khaleesi back, he cupped her face while he looked into her eyes. “I will but I also have a duty to my race. You, of all people here, must understand that responsibility.” With one final hug, Hawke turned towards Zeke and Jeanne with a look of excitement on his face.
Raising his head up to look at the ceiling, Hawke lifted his arms high and with his wings spreading full out screamed “Flqwoeyo, elwp mfdw qvaw fufrl. R mfdw lvt svyuveewl; R zrhh fdwluw pvn!”.
Furling his wings slowly, he walked out of the room mumbling the same thing repeatedly.
Having watched all this without saying a word, Jeanne now quietly asked Zeke “Do you know what he said?”
“Ancestors, they have come again. I have not forgotten; I will avenge you!” Zeke looked at Jeanne, Jan and Khaleesi with sorrow in his eyes. “The Sorath are a proud people and have a long memory. Hawke will not let any personal danger impact accomplishing this task, it would dishonor the memory of his ancestors. I just hope I have not sent my best friend to his death.”
Sighing, Zeke led the way out the conference room. There was much they needed to do in such a short time.
Hawke is in the Air
Being led by several Army personnel, Hawke jumped on board an underground train. Sitting while he leaned forward, he softly caressed the soft leather he was wearing. It brought back fond memories of flying through the updrafts on his home world. How he loved flying through the deep valleys or the high mountains, feeling the breeze in his face and ruffling his feathers.
That reminded Hawke, he needed to know more about how to copy the actions of a bird belonging to this world. After posing a question on the flying habits of the Pteroductdy to the Army personnel, one was able to bring up a video of the flying creatures on one of the train’s monitors. As Hawke watched the Pteroductdy fly in their crazy flying pattern, he realized that possibly the most dangerous part was that he could be attacked by the flying creature he was trying to mimic. He watched as one swooped down to attack another coming from the other direction. They met in a clash of leathery wings and jabbing jaws. Both spiraled crashing to the ground battling each other.
To take his mind off what he just witnessed and attempt to relax a bit, Hawke leaned back in his seat, closed his eyes and let the bumpy ride bring him close to sleep. He daydreamed of his many brothers and sisters, his parents, his grandparents, and all the stories they still told of the war with the Chohish. He knew Zeke did not understand just how much he appreciated the chance to meet the Chohish face to face. If it was his time to die, so be it, he could not imagine a better way.
The noise of the brakes and the pull forward from the train slowing down, roused Hawke from his dreamlike state. One of the Army personnel looked about ready to wake him when he stood up straight and stretched. “Lead on gentlemen, I have a destiny to meet.”
His blood lust raged in him as he gripped the bone handle on two of his family’s ancient obsidian knives, feeling his primal instinct came to the fore. There were four knives in his harness, all ancient having been passed down through the generations. The ones he wore were over a thousand years old, yet they were still sharper than the finest steel blade. One on each of his forearms and upper legs.
Jumping out of the train, he was met by a technician who regarded him for a few seconds before leading him to a service entrance. It was obvious the technician had never met a Sorath before.
“Once we get to the shaft, we will hook up to a pulley. The pulley will take us to the top of a mountain that overlooks the plain. At the top, we will have to exit into a cave that masks the entrance from casual sight. There is a small guard station up there. Once you are safely on your way, I will return, lock the door from the inside and set the safeguards. The guards will await your return, if you come back this way, you will need to notify them with the proper pass codes to unlock the door.”
As they entered the shaft, they were met by two other technicians. Pausing for a moment, Hawke glanced upwards where the darkness was broken only by little flickering lights. A nearby one showed them to be oil
fed wooden torches. The shaft was a good fifty feet wide. Moving to the far end, he rested his hand on the wall which was smooth polished rock. Looking around, he confirmed what he had been told, there was no metal present. Looking up, the light from the torches slowly disappeared into darkness. The distance, just from what he could see, looked staggering, even for a man used to flying miles above the earth.
One of the new technicians, opened a large wooden compartment located next to the entrance, where he grabbed two leather harnesses. Coming back to the center of the shaft, he handed one off to the other technician and attached the one he was carrying to one of the four thick fiber cables that dangled loosely in the center.
Signaling for Hawke to join him, he proceeded to instruct Hawke on what he needed him to do so he could strap him in safely. The harness was odd in that it had a head webbing that also connected to the cable.
While being strapped in by the technician, Hawke while keeping an ear open to the instructions, grabbed the cable above his head with one hand. His hand would only go halfway around with the cable disappearing in the darkness above. The tech finally finished hooking Hawke up where he proceeded to run through an extensive check on Hawke’s harness carefully finishing with a tug on the webbing that held Hawkes head secure against the cable.
While Hawke was being secured, the technician who had met him from the train, was going through a similar process with the fourth technician. Once completed, the technician stood to the side where he ran through the final warning.
“Take a deep breath, keep your arms and hands under the harness, legs tightly crossed and hang on tightly. You will be in a standing position the entire trip. This is not for the faint of heart. Ok, on three… one… two… three…” warned the technician just before he placed his hand on a thin cord hanging off to the side and yanked.
Without warning, Hawke and the technician were pulled upwards at great velocity and getting faster each second. As Hawke rose, he could hear a loud noise on the other side of the stone shaft that they were traveling in. At first it sounded distant like a freight train was coming towards them. But it kept getting louder and louder only to finally reach them and pass by going downward.