To find Aardwolf, I intend to get help from home. This is a bit awkward for me because the help comes in the form of one Bellamy Mesa, my old sweetheart. Not to long ago I entertained thoughts of descending upon Worthington Station in my highly modified starship, wearing my big-shot Fleet Commander pins, surrounded by combat drones and my personnel, and declaring to Bell that I was there to save her. Eh... I guess things are going the other way on this.
Although she was knocked up by my brother and outcast by most of the planet, Bellamy is my no means helpless or in need of help. She runs the only EMT service on the planet. She also runs the only taxi service on the main continent. And Bell has the only protosphere anywhere on Worthington. That makes her a highly respected and powerful outcast.
Since the Fleet communications is still hostile towards Aardwolf, I intend to use Bellamy as an intermediary. She uses a private and corporate network for protospace communications. I should be able to find Aardwolf through Bell.
I'm just about four hours away from Stahnke. From what my crew and I have gathered, I believe that the government had sub-contracted the care of the refugees to a company that is deliberately neglecting the company's duties to maximize profits. The corporation is providing slightly less than the basic needs with the refugees using ingenuity and hard work to make up the difference. The government itself is making matters worse by allowing the best, brightest, and most beautiful of the refugees into the cities where they are further exploited.
Intel sent me an infopack that was triggered by my search for information about Stahnke. The Viatece may have targeted the planet for a raid in the near future.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
32: Finding Aardwolf; Stahnke
Sunday, January 13, 2008
31: Aardwolf's Adventures
Admiral Maynard had a security brief about Aardwolf. She shared it with me.
About the time that I was piloting the Grinder into formation with the 4th Fleet, Aardwolf was contacting the orbital facilities, requesting help to get the Salvation-class boat to a maintenance hanger so he could start working on it. Recordings and internal memos showed that Base Commander Truinton ordered zero cooperation with Aardwolf. In fact, my Chief of Engineering was ordered to the orbital base to help repair damages incurred during the brief attack by the Viatece.
Not only did Aardwolf refuse the order (which may or may not be legal, considering his status in 6th Fleet), he began to work on the starship himself. Within an hour, deliveries of maintenance and domestic robots and drones began to arrive. Security believes he bought every robot available on the planet.
As I deployed on the Viatece planet to engage in ground combat, Aardwolf had the starship at about 20% capacity. This is known because he managed to get it into the sync network, so the hub base could receive diagnostics from the old starship. At about the time I sent the three drones to sweep the main Viatece building for traps and last-ditch resistance, Aardwolf was piloting his project out of the atmosphere. Traffic control initially authorized Aardwolf to make several micro-jumps to the edge of the system. However, the BC Truinton ordered him back to the base.
Swearing colorfully, Aardwolf jumped to hyperwarp with no declared destination.
Because of the great amount of animosity towards Aardwolf by certain people in the Ten Fleets, all communications from Aardwolf to me have been blocked on all systems, from infopacks to Internet mail to protospace transmissions. Right now, Fleet Security is guessing that Aardwolf is not AWOL. He is either stranded somewhere in the old Salvation-class torpedo boat or is at a private hanger to work on it. Either way, he is probably safe.
I’m about to leave HB 2112 to inspect a small hub base that is only a few hours away. Aardwolf should be fine in that amount of time, and I can use some contacts of mine to help find him.
Moving on to Stahnke
Hub Base 2112 was on a planet named Brevitius. It has started as a human colony but began accepting alien immigrants in order to help with building up an infrastructure. It was a rare enough strategy because human colonists tend to be a bit xenophobic, not trusting members of their own species.
Brevitius was home to humans, Fodishig, and Abbersham. There were members of other species in small numbers, including a Tillian outpost. This proved to be a great combination for the Brevitius humans because the colony flourished with the help of alien hands and alien resources. Not to mention the protection of alien governments. As generally accepted, diversity helps groups perform better.
Conversely, there are those colonies that take an isolationist stance and wither on the vine. My home planet, Worthington Station, is an example of this. Although not particularly xenophobic the population tended to strongly discourage outsiders, human or not. A more extreme example of colonial failure was Stahnke Colony. This planet was colonized 155 years ago through an Earth States charter. Almost 67,000 people helped to start the colony. Even today most colonies start with fewer than 10,000 in the first wave. Through my research into Stahnke Colony I learned that since its inception, the average population growth has averaged 1.32% and is getting lower. A colony of Stahnke Colony’s size should have a population growth of about 3%. In a time when human beings are being killed by the millions, Stahnke is sitting on its ass and wasting away. It's not even letting people immigrate in these troubled times.
The reason I’m going there is because of complaints the Fleets received from refugees temporarily housed on the planet. Stahnke Colony volunteered to house 5,000 refugees who have been crammed into space transports or orbital docks. Reports are coming in that the refugees are being exploited and neglected. My orders are to investigate and call in an emergency evacuation if conditions are bad. Otherwise, I am to negotiate (Marie, that’s your job!) an acceptable situation until the refugees can be evacuated to permanent homes.
On the way, I have to figure out what the hell is wrong with George, the drone. Without Aardwolf it’ll take me, Marie, and Shiny a long time to fix George up.
30-A: Author's Note
When I started this blog a few years ago my goal was to test out some ideas I had about science fiction. These ideas included the structure of the 10 Fleets, xenophobia, economic problems with internal and external concerns, population growth, freedom, and others. I was also getting sick of reading other people's works and finding one of "my" ideas. Not only an experiment, then; this blog is also a record of my ideas so I can claim dibs on the cool stuff.
As a student in college, my time became tighter and tighter so I figured the experiment was over. I was pounding out over 4,000 words a week in essays so there wasn't much left afterwards. I stopped posting what I've already written. I stopped writing. Then something strange happened...
People started reading Scifi Blog: Fleet Commander. People are actually reading my stuff!
So I'm going to post what I've already written. I also need to go back and read the blog because I had forgotten so much. Did I ever describe Marie's hair? Did I introduce Bellamy yet? And just where the heck did Toasty leave off?
I hope people continue to read, leave comments, and email me. A little encouragement goes a long way. I also want to know about other blogfic (blog fiction) out there. Tell me about yours or someone else's.
Next Chapter >> 31: Aardwolf's Adventures
Thursday, January 18, 2007
29: Getting Ready for Admiral Inspection
6th Fleet was being hosed. When I finally ascended immersed space, I asked for a full-service berth. Instead, we were ordered into a cargo bay that had no facilities. I wanted to get ready for an admiralty inspection by getting the Grinder cleaned up, inside and out, to project the best possible picture to Adm. Maynard. A full-service bay would have us cleaned up and ready for inspection in just a few hours. It would take days to do the same level of detail by hand.
We didn’t have formal uniforms. The outside of the Grinder displayed battle damage and was dusty. The inside smelled like sweat and industrial solvents and rusted steel.
Slickpea came to the rescue. Marie and I were scrambling like crazy, trying our best to do damage control. I was detailing the cockpit, and she was outside the ship hosing off the hull. Slickpea asked if he could be excused to return to his regular duty, and I emphatically replied “No!” Right then and there, I decided he was transferred to 6th Fleet to take up duties as a pilot.
Now, Shiny Slickpea had a good thing going on Hub Base 442. From the metal decks of the orbital Hub Base, he sent his greedy little tentacles all across the galaxies in black-market endeavors. Slickpea was ever the opportunist, and knew how lucrative it could be getting in on the beginnings of a seed fleet. Besides, he also realized that I held enough information about his dealings to have him locked up in the stockade for the better part of a century.
Using his TAK, that personal computer-slash-communicator, he started making calls. He informed me that he was cashing in on all the favors owed him. Slickpea was in peak form: arranging, haggling, threatening, cajoling, whining, and bribing. Within forty minutes, the cargo bay was filled with Fleet personnel- fifty at least- all working on getting 6th Fleet up to inspection status.
Inside and out, the Grinder was getting a thorough cleaning. So, too, were the Sergeant and myself. Somehow, Slickpea had a tailor in his clutches. This tailor was more than happy to repay whatever debt he owed Slickpea, and was fitting Marie and I with the latest approved Fleet formal wear. Slickpea was also getting fitted. Somehow, his uniform had lieutenant junior-grade insignia instead of the more appropriate ensign trappings. He asked me if that was okay. I answered that we’d have to wait and see, but for now he could keep is Lt. JG rank.
An hour had passed, more or less, when a Marine master sergeant showed up in the cargo bay. He was ordered by the base commander to get all non-6th Fleet personnel out of the bay. The four Marines with him looked more that ready to start physically tossing people out of the bay. I was irate, and threatened them in several languages. Marie pulled me away while Slickpea intervened. My Sergeant, while I was still cursing, was dragging me into my ship while Slickpea talked to the Marines.
Then time was up. Admiral Maynard’s aid contacted me, saying that he and the Admiral were on their way from the Hub Base’s command deck. I felt sick to my stomach.
While I was sweating buckets, Fleet Commander Moody Shepherd was dealing with a very unusual situation back on that nameless Viatece planet. His primary problem was what to do with the freed Viatece slaves. The slaves stated they wanted to be sent back to the Viatece. That was out of the question, of course. Giving the enemy more resources was counterproductive, after all. For whatever reasons, the ex-slaves did not want freedom. They somehow needed the refuge of mindless servitude.
Then there were the Fondishig mercenaries. By all rights, they should all be considered prisoners of war, but Moody didn’t have the time or resources to imprison them. The Fleet made it very clear to him that there was no help to be had in that situation. Right now, they were, quote- prisoners- unquote, but they had the run of the planet as long as they behaved.
Aardwolf. Godamnit, I needed to find him. There was a certain hostility rearing its head from the rest of the 10 Fleets towards 6th Fleet. I am really afraid that if he were found by anyone but 6th Fleet, he would be killed. Not imprisoned for going AWOL, mind you. I truly believed that he’d be shot while “‘resisting” arrest or “fleeing” to the enemy.
The reason: Aardwolf designed the automated killing machines that were responsible for the deaths of thousands of 10 Fleets and Earth Defense Fleet Marines. His creations took a heavy toll on those Marines in major battles around 5 years ago in the Narrow Sector. There were also thousands of civilian deaths that were blamed on his robots and drones. Never mind the fact that he didn’t work directly for the Coalition, and that he never deployed those robots. And it’s easy to overlook that fact that Earth bought products he designed. There was a personal grudge against Aardwolf, one that could get him killed.
Oddly enough, if I do find him, I’m going to cut him loose so he can find some nice safe place to hide until people either forget about him or forgive him. As Fleet Commander, I have authority to release personnel that I have recruited without prejudice. I’m going to use that authority.
Creation of Fleet Infantry
The inspection went very well. Maynard knew that we had been docked for only a few hours, and she was very impressed with the ship. She noticed the little touches, like the freshly painted SWYM codes on the port and starboard hull and the pineapple/coconut air freshener used in the Grinder. She told me that reports of my actions with Fleet Commander Moody had reached her, and she knew that it was a miracle that the ship was in excellent condition.
After the official inspection, we set up a small conference area in the forward storage area of the Grinder. Slickpea had managed to get a portable media table and some comfortable chairs for our use. He even served us drinks and snacks during the four-hour interview. I was extremely impressed with his formality and grace.
I was surprised that the Intel folks weren’t there. I was under the impression that some folks to really give me the 3rd degree would accompany Maynard, but only Maynard’s aid, Rickston, was with us: much to my relief.
Our topics started with some explanation of reports I’ve filed. Standard stuff, really. From there, things got a little uncomfortable for me. When I promoted Marie to Marine Sergeant, I started a large controversy. The Fleet Marines were an honored group, and it was a tough, hard road to get to be a Marine. I short-circuited that long-standing tradition. Fortunately, Marie had proven herself enough to calm down the grumblings. But because of this, there was a strict rule - law, actually - that no one could be promoted to Marine status without completing the training.
To this, I asked how in the world I was supposed to fill out 6th Fleet with the proper personnel if I couldn’t promote people to Marine ranks. Maynard already had the answer. On board large vessels, such as battleships and carriers, security provided most of the protection. The High Admiral Okayed the creation of a special sub-class for the seed fleets. Called Fleet Infantry, this class would take on many aspects of both security forces and the Fleet Marine Corps.
Fleet security uses the general hierarchy of command. That is, the ranks of ensign through High Admiral. Fleet Marines used corporal through general. The Fleet infantry (FI) would be composed of only four ranks: private, private first class, corporal, and staff sergeant. Unlike Marines, FI would not have overriding command capabilities. That is, a Marine master sergeant (MSgt) could actually assume command of fleet operations that occur on a planet or where personnel come face to face with threats. Essentially, FI would receive basic weapons and tactics training, with somewhat stringent physical and mental prerequisites. Training is supposed to mesh with Marine training, so that an FI corporal should be able to enter training to become a Marine sergeant.
Only seed fleets would have Fleet Infantry.
All in all, I felt it was a good idea. Ultimately, I wanted a full squad of people who could shoot and kill and blow things up. Using the FI model, I could do that. Of course, I had a long way to go. 6th Fleet had only one fire team, and it was mostly made of robots. With myself included, we were one over a fire team, but I would need three more people to complete a second. I couldn’t even think about trying to build the third fire team that would complete my squad.
Next Chapter >> 30-A: Author's Note
Sunday, January 07, 2007
28: Hegel Would Be Proud
Every time you solved a problem, the solutions would give rise to further conflicts. In reconciling these conflicts, further problems would arise. This was the Fleet Dialectic. You learn to expect it, and you learn to deal with it. Hegel would be proud.
A letter from home. Bellamy Mesa. Aardwolf AWOL. Potential recall to First Fleet. Catalians and Irarians. Shepherd Moody in deep trouble.
This is the condensed list of my troubles. I don’t even know how to tackle them all. For example, I can’t get home to Worthington Station while touring hub bases and meeting the Admiral of Second Fleet. It’s a matter of time. I don’t have enough.
My mom sent a letter via Fleet networks. It takes forever to get mail because the Fleets are always moving, as I am. The letter is shot into the network and copies are spread far and wide across the galaxies until I open it. The return receipt follows the copies and deletes them. That’s why it takes so long. What really makes me wonder is the fact that Mom doesn’t just use protospace messaging. It’s ten times faster and she could easily afford it. I guess pinching pennies is second nature to her.
The letter was more than a dozen pages long. It started with a rundown on local weather, production of the farm, some politics, and a lot of rumor and gossip. Final paragraph is what caught my attention. My younger brother, Jacob, broke off his engagement with Bellamy Mesa, sold 80 acres of my parent’s land, and left with a low-class floozy to another district. Worst of all, Bell was 4 months pregnant.
There’s a lot of background behind this; I’ll keep it as short as possible. First, my younger brother got the good looks, brains, and athletic ability. He was a man for all seasons, except he was an arrogant manipulator. Bellamy Mesa was a daughter of a housekeeper hired by my parents before I was born. Bell is a year younger than I, and a year older than Jake. We all grew up together, close enough to be good friends, but not so close as to consider Bell a sister.
Bell was blessed with brains, beauty, wit, and physical strength. She had all of Jake’s positive attributes, with none of his shortcomings. She was also social, likable, and very clever. That is, she also had all of my best attributes. For whatever reason, Bell chose Jake over me. I never begrudged her that, because I respected her too much. Oddly enough, I slept with Bell before Jake did- while they were dating. That’s a story for another time.
Now, she was pregnant and unmarried. This put her in a dire situation. Although Jake would take the social punishment for his actions, Bell would be seen as used goods. See, on Worthington Station, a man who marries a pregnant woman becomes the legal father of the child. In this case, if Bell became married before childbirth the child would not legally be Jake’s but the new husband’s. However, if Bell gave birth before getting married again, then the child would legally be Jake’s, but socially be fatherless- a bastard. That stigma would hurt Bell and the child.
I have to put this little family drama in the background. When I finally returned to the orbital Hub Base 442, the Fleet informed me that Aardwolf was missing and presumed to be AWOL. Because Aardwolf had once worked for the Coalition, it was also presumed he was a traitor. I didn’t believe it. There had to be another explanation. You could tell a lot about a man after getting drunk with him a few times. There’s just got to be something else going on.
All this, and the Admiral of Second Fleet was due to arrive in-system in just a few hours. Her aid requested a full inspection of 6th Fleet and an appointment so the Admiral (Maynard, I think her name was) could debrief me. Oh, and Fleet Intelligence wanted to be there during the Admiral’s interview with me. Fun.
I’ll just explain the problems the Irarians and Catalians are having with the Ten Fleets later. Suffice to say that I’m being blamed. And Moody is in over his head.
Next Chapter >> 29: Getting Ready for Admiral Inspection
Sunday, August 20, 2006
27: Earth Defense Fleet
The Earth Defense Fleet (EDF) is charged with providing protection for the Sol system and all systems directly under Earth control, such as Earth colonies and resource operations. When the First Fleet of Earth was originally formed, it was under the direct control of the Earth Defense Fleet. However, as the First Fleet slowly evolved into the Ten Fleets of Earth, EDF operations were placed under Ten Fleets command.
Today, the EDF provides protection for Earth State systems only. The reason is simple: the galaxies are much too big for Earth to spread resources to other interests. The smaller, more efficient Ten Fleets is charged with providing protection to all human interests. In this way, Earth is still involved on a galactic scale while maintaining protection for it.
The EDF stresses protection above all else. It strives to be in the right time and place to prevent attacks and to repel attacks. In order to do this, it must have large, permanent bases within protected systems. These bases drain resources like crazy, but also tend to supply much needed capital to newly formed colonies. Thousands of local humans are employed by these bases, giving a struggling economy a much needed- if somewhat socialist- boost.
When enemy forces are putting extreme pressure on EDF forces, they are strengthened with Ten Fleets resources. Since the High Admiral of the Ten Fleets is also the High Admiral of the EDF, there is very little infighting when this happens.
Twice in human history, there has been a total recall of EDF and Ten Fleets forces to the Sol system. This essentially left all of humanity scattered throughout the galaxies unprotected. But the first and foremost priority of both fleets is to protect Earth.
There are many reasons for this, but the most important reason is this: those species that do not control their home world are considered weak by other species; they are seen as inferior and often abused and placed into slavery by other species. Also, a home world contains the biological necessities to allow a species to survive. The genetic material of a home world can be referenced or exploited even if the species is spread across the universe. Those species that have lost their home world are at great risk for extinction because of a dozen biological factors, including nutrition deficiency, psychological decay, and reproduction problems due to bio-rhythmic or chemical factors.
Because the Ten Fleets and the EDF are run by the same High Admiral, there is constant sharing of resources and personnel. In order to reach the rank of Captain, Ten Fleets officers must serve for 6 months with the EDF (although such a requirement is not in the EDF). Unlike the Ten Fleets, the EDF has its own independent Marine Corps.
Next Chapter >> 28: Hegal Would Be Proud
Sunday, August 13, 2006
26: Deploying with Marines
The gunships were not very nimble in an atmosphere, and the Remington-class Bastard was downright awkward. It was necessary for the Grinder and Foray to lead the way. There were dozens of enemy positions, firing small to large weapons, surrounding the larger base that Moody wanted taken. The smaller ships zigzagged around enemy positions, and the gunships came behind to clean them up.
The targeted base was heavily shielded, which was the reason that we had to get in real close to hurt it. But the brute force came from the gunships, while I used my ship to confuse and harass any enemy movements in and around the base.
After a massive missile salvo, the base’s force fields came down. I moved right in, taking out any hardened defenses I could find. Although plasma cannons are relatively weak weapons in space combat, they actually use the atmosphere to gain power and momentum by burning the air. The farther I fired the plasma cannons, the more horrible the damage they wreaked.
Most of the outer buildings and defenses were wiped out when Moody gave the order for his Marines to deploy. I was rather surprised by the order, but didn’t question it. Fleet Commander Shepherd Moody had an excellent track record, and had proved himself a great leader time after time.
When hearing the order, Marie and I moved out of the cockpit. I ordered Shiny into the pilot’s position, telling him to keep the Grinder low and moving. He panicked. Shiny hadn’t actually piloted a real craft in years, and had never piloted a Liberty-class MSS. I told him to get a grip or he’d end up killing us all. I intended to join the 4th Fleet Marines, adding my own little squad to Moody’s.
Marie and I quickly helped each other into our armor. Of course, being Catalian, Marie’s armor was much more complex, being a hybrid of Catalian high-tech pieces with adequate Marine pieces. We double-checked the weapons Aardwolf had made for us and made our way to the fore loading ramp.
The three SAMD’s came to life with an order from me. We named them James, Arthur, and Charles after English monarchs. I then relayed to Moody that we were ready for deployment.
Ensign Shiny Slickpea brought us to a jilting, thumping landing. The fore loading ramp fell. I followed Sergeant Marie Du-tse into the battle zone with Jim, Art, and Chuck on my tail.
Assault on Viatece Compound
The Viatece complex was about a kilometer wide with a variety of structures surrounding a central, large building. It was that center building Moody wanted us to take.
There was surprisingly little resistance at first. A few automated guns and a couple low-grade drones were the only defense until we were less than a hundred meters from the central building. Then the fighting got vicious. A Fondishig mercenary group put up a terrible fight, stopping our progress.
We could see that innocent Viatece slaves, who were chained to the building itself, almost completely surrounded the structure. That chain of living armor hindered our fighting because we had to pick our targets very carefully. Several of those slaves were already slumping on the ground, bleeding from wounds.
In order to take the building, we had to get around the Fondishig mercenaries. Moody had some of his Marines cut across the enemy line. This allowed concentrated fire on targets without fear of hitting the slaves. It wasn’t long before the Fondishig mercs waved the red flag, asking for surrender.
The fighting stopped. I was extremely glad for that, because a particle weapon had grazed my left hand, melting away the glove and giving me pain that made me want to retch. Marie, who had taken several shots to her person- stomach, leg, shoulder- wrapped my hand. I was amazed that she was in such good shape, even with her armor. With three layers of armor, a direct hit from a slug or particle shot still hurt like hell, breaking bones and leaving painful bruises.
I volunteered to talk to the leader of the mercenaries. Walking casually across the ruins of buildings and equipment, I met the leader. He was still holding the red truce flag. The Fondishig used their blood to stain a flag as a flag of surrender. The leader, Clan Leader Havisnon, was badly wounded; it appeared that half his face was shot off.
I asked Havisnon some brief questions: what was his clan, what was his family and overclans, who was his employer, how many Fondishig mercenaries were surrendering, and how many would fight on. He told me his overclan was Shirasect, a mostly military clan group, and his family clan was a small, unknown group. He told me the Viatece commander of this base had hired his clan, Shirasect-Nor, to protect the base for an undisclosed amount of time. All of his personnel were surrendering, some 120 soldiers and support personnel.
I relayed the information to Fleet Commander Moody. Moody was knowledgeable of Fondishig customs, and knew that the Fondishig surrender was absolute. The mercenaries would no longer be a threat. He had me order Havisnon’s forces to an empty warehouse near the edge of the complex. But Havisnon himself would stay with me.
4th Fleet Marines were already freeing the slaves. Some of the freed slaves took up tools to help. There were over a thousand of them. They belonged to a Viatece slave race, known as the Bellingsar. They were stout, unclothed bipeds with tough brown skin, small black eyes, and no body hair. They all moved with slow deliberation, and talked with grinding, low voices.
There were many children among them, including infants. We shepherded them away from the main structure as they were released, making sure they were well away when we moved into the building.
Although he would not divulge any information that would be considered classified by his former employer, Havisnon did tell us that the Viatece personnel were not on the planet any more. I couldn’t imagine how they had escaped while the complex was being assaulted, but Havisnon assured us that there were no Viatece, or any other Viatece hired forces, on the planet. He absolutely refused to tell us how they got away. He did say that automated robots and weapons defended the main building. But the Fondishig mercenary leader didn’t think there were some sort of auto-destruct mechanism, or trap that would blow up the building.
(Half-truths and outright lies… I was ordered to doctor the report… secrets are so very heavy.)
I sent the three SAMDs into the building while we retreated a good distance away. Almost immediately, automated guns fired on the three drones, dropping from the ceiling of the narrow hallway just inside the entrance. The drones quickly went into action, taking out the automated guns within seconds. They didn’t receive much damage.
The drones moved deeper into the building, breaking down doors and avoiding traps. They found maintenance closets, offices, and an exercise arena. They also found a torture room that had a dead Bellingsar still on a table, horribly dissected alive. There were monitor rooms and a small armory that still contained weapons. There were five total levels, with a large sublevel that still contained small vehicles and supplies.
Fleet Commander Moody called for the Marines to move into the building, but dismissed 6th Fleet. I called Ensign Slickpea and had him bring the Grinder in. As the novice pilot landed my ship without grace or skill (I winced when the Grinder slammed into the ground), Moody came to thank Marie and I for our help.
”Done with us so soon, Fleet Commander?” I asked him, shaking his hand.
He grinned. “I can’t keep the whole of 6th Fleet away from its duty. You have 4th Fleet’s greatest appreciation, but it’s time for you to be a Fleet Commander again.” He shook Marie’s hand. “Thanks, Sergeant Du-tse, for your help. If anyone ever questions your ability as a Marine, I’ll set him straight. Master Sergeant Filings asked if he could swap three of his soldiers for you, but I assured him that Fleet Commander John would have a fit.”
”Got that right,” I responded. “I wouldn’t take his whole squad, Moody.” I looked around the complex, at the Fondishig mercenaries lounging around an empty hanger, at the Bellingsar tending their wounded, and the 4th Fleet personnel scrambling through the ruins of the complex, searching, guarding, working. “What’re going to do with this mess?” I asked Moody.
He looked towards the main building, his Marines carefully entering. “It’s a goddamn mess, that’s for sure. I imagine I’ll just cut the mercs loose, but I’m not sure what to do with a thousand freed slaves. And the planet seems to be unclaimed, so I might have to stay a while until First Fleet tells me what to do with it.”
Good luck with that, I thought. Seed fleets didn’t get a lot of direction from the lower fleets, especially First Fleet.
FC Moody checked his palmpad. “The Lancer’s going back in the DDC,” he said, then gestured to the Grinder. “Since you lost your hyper-drive, you can hitch a ride.”
Terms
Fondishig: The Fondishig are a species that quickly integrated with human societies 300 years ago. Fondishig have green, scaley skin, dark eyes, are bi-pedal, and tend to wear very little clothing. Fondishig shoulders and legs have an additional joint, a "second elbow/ knee," which gives an astonishing reach. Fondishig organize by family clans and trade clans. The current MSS starship concept was taken from the Fondishig.
Next Chapter >> 27: Earth Defense Fleet
Sunday, August 06, 2006
25: Planetary Assault
I can honestly say that I have nothing but the greatest respect for Fleet Commander (FC) Moody’s skill with strategy and command. His fleet, 4th Fleet, was comprised of three gunships that where deployed from a Diamond delivery carrier (DDC) and an Asp-class MSS. His little fleet was fast and dangerous.
The DDC was specifically designed to deploy gunships in a combat arena. It was nothing more that a hollow shell that could carry up to four gunships through immersed space because gunships did not have immersion drives. In normal times, a group of DDCs would stage near a battle fleet. When the battle fleet engaged an enemy group, the DDCs would come in from an advantageous angle, such as tangent to the enemy and friendly groups, to create a nasty cross-fire with the gunships deployed.
In Moody’s case, the DDC acted as a launch platform. When we ascended immersed space, the three gunships deployed with amazing speed. None lost momentum as the DDC accelerated in normal space.
Moody ordered the Asp-class ship, Foray, and the Grinder to burn fuel in doing a sweep of the closest planet to our position. The gunships would come straight on, with the DDC hanging way back to keep out of trouble.
I was rather satisfied, as was Marie, that the Grinder was much faster than the Foray. That was because the Asp-class ship was loaded down with weaponry and modules, where the Grinder was lean.
We were around ten thousand kilometers from the planet’s outer atmosphere when we met the enemy. Surface-to-orbit missiles and energy weapons came from widely scattered positions on the planet’s surface. A small group of fighters and some mobile defense platforms closed on us.
FC Moody ordered me to take down the defense platforms farthest from the gunship formation. I did a micro-jump through hyperspace near one of the platforms, giving it all three of Grinder’s guns. I didn’t stick around to see if it was disabled, jumping away again. When Marie scanned the platform and told me it was still operable, I jumped through hyperspace again. This time, I fired of a few more shots and was rewarded with the platform exploding quite grandly. The Grinder was hit with an energy weapon before the platform blew up, and I was seeing gauges and monitor screens go from green to yellow and red.
I ordered Ensign Slickpea to deal with the damage and micro-jumped to the opposite side of the planet.
The gunships were destroying enemy targets with impunity. The Cobra gunship had an ability to fire over 12 missiles per second, and the fighters engaging FC Moody’s gunships could be destroyed with a single hit.
While I engaged another isolated platform, the Foray was ordered to destroy launch sites on the planet. The Asp-class ship was as nimble in an atmosphere as it was in space. It was up against extremely tough targets, though, and was doing little more than distracting the surface fire away from the gunships.
The orbital platform I was attacking was firing proximity gravity-wave missiles. The missiles had only to get near the Grinder, then they would detonate, creating a crushing gravity event. One came close enough to damage the Grinder’s hyperdrive engines, ending my jump-in/ fire/ jump-out tactic. I slugged it out with the platform, dodging missiles and energy cannon shots. It seemed like an eternity before the damn thing blew up when I hit it with all three guns at the same time.
I thought, What I wouldn’t give for one simple, little missile launcher?
The planet’s orbital defenses crumbled under the pounding given by Moody’s gunships. One of the gunships, Lancer, was badly damaged. It was limping away from the planet to meet with the DDC. But Strike, Moody’s flagship, and Bastard, the Remington-class gunship, were in fine condition, and ready for an assault on planetary positions.
Ensign Slickpea, in one of the auxiliary stations behind the cockpit, identified the enemy weaponry and ships as being Viatece. There were some Pichamk elements, like the surface-to-orbit energy cannons, but most were Viatece.
Moody’s primary objective was a heavily defended base. Situated in a dense, hilly jungle, it was difficult for long-range assaults. FC Moody ordered the Foray and my Grinder to try a crisscross assault on the position to try to distract fire from the less agile gunships.
That meant flying just a few meters above the tree tops, using the hills and valleys to keep the Viatece from annihilating me. I love a challenge.
Next Chapter >> 26: Deploying with Marines
