We then used a similar strategy on the final three guns with one of the Hawks taking the heat up front. Myron Jones was down to his last few layers of Tantric when the last of the guns on our side of the station went silent. Myron broke away from the fighting for an attempt at repairs in one of the nearby cruiser’s docking bays. I landed the Swift in the bay of the Hawthorne as it pulled alongside the station and extended its breaching tubes. Seconds later, 40 Marines scrambled down the tubes to storm the station, I joined them.
Captain Dave Metz was leading the squad I was now a member of, "Anderson! Peoples! Take point and shoot anything that moves." Two Milgari then entered the hallway we had breached, blaster fire shattered the steel walls just in front of us, sending shrapnel our way.
I got on the comm, "Where’s our ion bomb! Let’s get this power off!" Garland replied, "We have one left Sir, deploying it now." Fifteen seconds later the blaster fire ended. Metz moved the squad forward, "Remember, clear those walls before you come to a door. They like to shove poles through there at you and unless you want to be a Milgari Kabob you pop a few rounds through in front of you."
The fighting on the station was intense. The Milgari fighters threw everything they had at the intruders, literally. On the third hallway Peoples took a chair to the left shoulder, fracturing his collarbone. Thompson was hit by what appeared to be toaster, cracking his face shield. It took an hour of our slowly moving forward before the core of the station was found. Charges were set and the teams evacuated back to the breaching tubes. As the Hawthorne pulled away explosions could be seen exiting from the Torrian station. Our target had effectively been destroyed.
The 408 floating platforms in orbit around Torrus were no less difficult to handle. After taking out the guns at one end of a platform we again used the breaching tubes to make our way aboard. There were no more ion bombs available to knock out power. We would be fighting our way through the platform with blasters.
Anderson again took point as we crept down a hallway. Two Milgari then stepped out of a door and began to fire. Anderson’s right arm exploded in an ion flash. Captain Metz stepped up firing bolts of his own. The two Miltgari fighter's chests exploded. I reached down and grabbed Anderson by his remaining arm and dragged him backwards.
The squad medic was immediately on the fallen Marine, "Hang in there Andy! You focus on breathing and I’ll focus on getting you patched up!" After a quick set of bandages and a pain shot Anderson stood on his own. The medic helped him back towards the breaching tube.
In our next encounter a Milgari bolt struck a wall panel just opposite from my position. I felt an intense burning in my left forearm. A two inch piece of hallway steel was sticking out of my now bleeding appendage. I stepped back and the medic removed the metal shard and cauterized the wound. "You’ll live Chief. Head back to the medical bay and they will get you a pain killer and get you back in the fight. I used my last one, I’m waiting for a runner with supplies."
Garland then came around the corner with a medical box. As he set it down a Milgari bolt came screaming past, narrowly missing my right ear. Garland was not so lucky. The bolt entered the top of his helmet. His head exploded down through his neck, pressing his shoulders wide apart and exposing his red shirt through his torn combat suit. The medic looked at him and shook his head, "Here’s your pain shot Sir, I’ll take care of the mess."
We came to a point where the Milgari held a strong position. Bulkhead beams blocked any effective blaster fire we had. We had no good approach to their position. Metz had ordered a charge string laid out on a wall in an attempt to work our way behind them. The charge failed to penetrate the reinforced bulkhead wall. As we stood crouched, huddled behind a short wall, I reached into the combat pack of the Marine next to me, "Hey, just borrowing a couple of these grenades."
I pulled the pins and held the triggers, "How about you guys give me some cover fire!" Sheila Mason nodded and stood. I rose as I heard the low rumbles from her blaster as repeated bolts went down the long hall. The two grenades were quickly away and I dropped back behind the wall as blaster bolts zipped over our heads.
Booom! Booom!
I jumped up and sprinted down the long hall towards the bulkhead with my blaster raised. A Milgari Marine then came into partial view, he was bleeding but raising his blaster rifle towards me. I dove and slid towards him, firing off bolt after bolt. The Milgari’s right leg first exploded and as his upper torso began to fall. A second bolt entered his chest, ripping it wide open.
As I lay fully exposed in the hallway, I pulled the two grenades out of my own combat pack and rolled them just past the bulkhead wall.
Booom! Booom!
I stood and sprinted. Again I dove at the base of the bulkhead sliding just up to the corner. I rolled over into the hallway and opened fire on the six Milgari that were attempting to regroup from the blast of the grenades. Blaster bolts quickly ripped into each of them as Metz and two other Marines were standing behind me. The stronghold had been cleared.
We continued our push deeper into the platform until all of its guns were silenced. It had been a costly exercise with 12 of Metz’ marines killed of severely injured. I had lost Garland. But the platform had been taken.
The news coming back from the other platforms was similar. One by one they fell victim to the massive onslaught of the three species. The Prassi had lost two thirds of their fleet, the Dakar almost half. Our numbers were also hard to swallow as nearly 40% of our ships now lay in ruin or were scattered amongst the planets of the system. Debris from the great battle was drifting everywhere.
When the last of the platforms had been taken the fleets assembled in orbit around Torrus. I opened a comm channel to the Torrian leadership to ask for their surrender, "I am speaking for the alliance of species parked in orbit over your cities. You will unconditionally surrender or be destroyed. This is your only chance at ending this fight with your lives. You have 30 seconds to comply."
It was a long 30 seconds that yielded nothing but silence. When the timer hit zero every weapon on the ground was fired into the air in defiance. The Dakar were the first to move. In seconds, the capital city of Torrus was being pummeled by 46 Dakar battleships. A similar scene was repeated in every major city on the planet. The Torrians would not go peacefully, violence was their way.
The Prassi quickly joined in the mayhem. They wanted their pound of flesh in revenge. I ordered our fleet back to a distance. We still had 20,000 Milgari ships coming our way. But the Torrians would no longer be a menace to our existence. Within the day they would all be dead. Crushed, burned and obliterated in a defiant suicidal defeat.
When the fighting on the planet had ended I got on the comm to all of our ships, "This day… possibly one of the greatest days in our lives… is coming to an end. We have lost many in this fight, brothers, fathers, wives and mothers. But the time of the Torrians is at an end. I will call for an immediate celebration for the day. But there is still a force of 20,000 Milgari warships out there, coming our way. It is a force still powerful enough to defeat us and to then attack and overrun the Grid. And until those ships are destroyed our job is not yet done. So, celebrate this great victory today, for tomorrow the fight resumes!"
It was a somber speech, not meant to detract from the tremendous victory at hand, but our war was not yet over. A vast and powerful enemy remained. I took the Swift and made my way to the Slaughter. After landing in the bay I walked to the bridge. The Colonel was waiting with an evil grin on his face, "You did it Don! You just won this war! Our only task now will be to keep those Milgari ships away from the Grid. I don’t yet know how we will do that, but I do know that we will!"
The Colonel looked at my blood soaked and tattered uniform. He reached out and took my hand in his giant steel palm and shook it, "Congrats Mr. President!" As he grinned and chewed away on his Omega root he looked downward and spit a wad of juice on my pant leg. He smiled, slapped me on the shoulder and then turned back to his men. The Colonel would enjoy the short celebration, for he knew that tomorrow would once again bring war.
The following day the celebrations had ended and the three species had once again aligned their fleets for war. It had taken all of my diplomatic skills to convince the Dakar and Prassi to stay and fight. I had argued that they should at least see what the Milgari force would be bringing. If it was overwhelming they could always turn and run.
The following day came and went with no Milgari, as did the day after and the day after that. I began to wonder if they had turned back towards the Grid. It was a chilling thought and I brought it to the attention of the Colonel and Admiral as we sat in the Slaughter’s mess hall, "I don’t think we can wait here any longer. If they turned back at the Grid it has either been captured, destroyed or it jumped away. I know we had our standard military fleet there, but it would be a suicide mission to try to defend against that massive Milgari fleet."
Both the Colonel and the Admiral concurred. The Milgari were not coming and we needed to know the fate of the Grid. I was preparing to signal the Dakar and the Prassi to tell them we were leaving when an aide came into the mess hall waving a paper with news, "Sirs! We just received a broadcast from the Injector. I have the message!" I stood and beckoned the aide to read it aloud.
Don, the cure for the Torrian drug worked. We were lucky enough to have infected the flagship of the fleet before they began their move. After they turned back towards Torrus to follow after our ships the cure finally took hold of the captain. After a short time of confusion he ordered the fleet to stop. He was unsure of exactly what it was that he was doing.
While the fleet sat idle I continued to inject the other ships with the cure. The more that turned the more the confusion grew. Once the ships had all been injected I hailed the captain. After a long discussion he was in a state of disbelief of how they had come to where they were. As the cure finished its work and the fog cleared they began to remember what had been transpiring. I told them we would offer what assistance we could. I wasn’t sure what that might be, but I told them just the same.
They seem to harbor no animosity towards Humans or anyone else. They are still gathered where they were stopped, trying to determine what they will do next. From everything I have been able to determine, they are a docile species. I started a discussion with them of possibly making a journey back to their original home. It would be a tremendously long journey, but I offered to provide the star charts needed for their return.
I don’t know if you will receive this message or if you are even still alive. But it looks like the war with the Milgari is over Sir. They are no longer a threat to the Grid or to our existence. We have won the war Sir, we have won!
The aide then looked up, "That’s all Sir. Does this mean what I think it means?" I looked around the table at the Admiral and the Colonel, they were both smiling. As I walked around the table to beside them we all locked hands and raised them over our heads. The great battle had ended the war!
I told the aide to get on the comm to the Dakar and the Prassi, to let them know that the Milgari were not coming. The Dakar could now peacefully reclaim their planet and the Prassi fleet could return home. As the Colonel and Admiral slapped each other on the back and hugged we made our way to the bridge.
I again got on the comm to our fleet, "Everyone. I need complete attention for this message… The Milgari fleet is no longer a threat. The Milgari wars are over!" The bridge erupted in cheer. The celebrations from only a few days before were pale in comparison to those which came. As I looked around at all the happy faces I was wishing that my friend Frig was there to enjoy the moment. It was a moment that we would probably never see again in our lifetimes.
A thousand years of war had come to an abrupt end. Our enemy was no more. As a species we could now find a home, a place where we could put down our roots, build our history and spread the Human name across the galaxy in peace. I had a vision of Jarhead becoming a hub for the Human race. It would be that shining beacon in the galaxy for all to see.
A Marine then pushed his way through the doorway onto the bridge, "They have alcohol in the mess hall! The cooks have been brewing it since Tuesday! Anyone who wants a drink should head that way!"
The cheering and excitement all moved quickly from the bridge. I stood looking out the viewport down at Torrus below. It would soon reclaim its original name of Dakamus. The Dakar had their home-world, the Prassi had theirs and Humans would possibly soon have ours. It was truly a time to celebrate.
The aide who had originally delivered the message stuck his head through the doorway of the bridge, "Are you coming Sir? They are hitting the booze pretty hard in there. I don’t know how much they have, but if you want any you might want to get in there!" I nodded as I replied, "Thanks Ensign, I’ll be in there in a moment."
As I walked towards the mess hall I could hear music playing over the intercom. It was a song that I had not heard since I was a kid. When I entered the room a cheer rose up from those near the door. Only seconds passed before that cheer spread to the rest of the room. Everyone was looking my way and applauding. The emotions were strong and I wondered if I was going to tear up.
A young blonde corporal from the Admirals team then stepped up with a cup of booze, "Drink it down Sir. We have a thousand years of celebrating to do!" After turning up her own cup she looked down and spit a black wad of Omega juice on my pant leg. I could do nothing but smile.
After taking my first swig of the swill the cooks had concocted I raised my cup in the air. All went silent as the attention was turned my way. I spoke, "I’ll keep this short. This is a day that we will all remember. The day the Milgari wars ended. It is a day that you will be able to tell your children and your grandchildren about. They will in turn pass that story down the line as part of each of your family histories."
"I would like to take a moment here, a moment of silence. It will be a silence for all those who have fought for our existence down through the ages, all those who have stood in our defense. Raise your cups to those who have gone before us. In their names we claim this victory!"
I held my cup high over my head as did the rest of the mess hall. When I lowered the cup again to my lips and took a swig the others followed in kind. For another moment there was again a brief lull before many of the 426 attendees of the celebration turned and spat a wad of Omega root juice on the pant leg of whoever was closest to them. It was a disgusting display of respect.
The celebrations lasted well into the next day. There would be many headaches from overindulgence, but they would be headaches that all were happy to have. I woke up in my bunk on the Swift and rolled out of bed. I staggered over to the sink and turned on the faucet, splashing cold water on my face. My head was pounding, but it was a pounding that I didn’t mind.
I was waking up to a new day, a day without the threat of war, a day that would mark the beginning of a new era for Man. I wiped my face with a towel, slapped on some deodorant and reached for my combat suit. As I pulled it from my small closet I hesitated, looking it up and down. I then hung it back where it had been.
Instead I moved over to a box I had stashed in the corner of the room. It held civilian clothes. I kept them handy for when I was visiting on a planet where I did not want to be known as military. It consisted of sandals, knee length shorts and a colorful shirt. It had a festive appearance for a festive day. I smiled as I looked in the mirror before exiting the Swift.
Out on the deck the usually bustling space was quiet. Only those few who had stopped their partying early were up and about. I made my way towards the mess hall, smiling and nodding to everyone I encountered on the way. It was a good day.
There was only on cook in the kitchen that morning and the orders were beginning to back up, but no one was complaining. It was a ship of happy faces, living in a galaxy of peace. I ordered my usual, cereal, dry toast and coffee and sat down at a table. The conversation by those who were awake was light.
When complete I made my way to the bridge to a Colonel that was sitting in his command chair, gently rubbing his temples, "Grange. Think I had a little too much of the goose last night. I don’t know what the cooks brewed up back there, but it was toxic."
The Colonel then looked at my attire, "Hmm. Looks like casual day. I could go for a little bit of that myself." The Admiral soon joined us. He was his usual self, "Gentlemen, it is a good and glorious day is it not?" The Admiral stretched out his arms and pulled a big breath into his chest. He then exhaled in a satisfying sigh.
I looked at the two men before me, they were warriors for Man. I spoke, "I’m guessing it might be time for a couple retirement parties here soon. What are you two going to do with your time?" The Admiral leaned in, placing his forearm on an adjacent console, "I’ll probably spend my days trying to revamp the Grid’s fleet. I’ve had space dust coursing through my veins for too long to just give this stuff up."
The Colonel replied, "Aggh. I just might go out and see if I can find another war. There are always minor skirmishes that will be looking to hire an old war horse. I’m sure I wouldn’t have any problem taking a few thousand of my fellow retirees with me. We would make one nasty mercenary force!" The Colonel got his usual evil grin.
I thought for a moment and responded, "I think I will spend some time hitting on a special lady on the Grid, if she would have me. I am an incredibly wealthy man you know, I own my own planet and fleet of ships." The Admiral smiled and replied, "She would be so lucky."
As the day moved on and the ship slowly came back to life I opened a comm channel to the Prassi. They too had celebrated well into our new day. On many ships the festivities continued. I arranged for a meeting with their representatives to further discuss the terms of peace. I was hoping there would be no struggles between them and the Dakar over the surrounding star systems. I wanted our peace to start off on the right foot.
When I had completed arrangements with the Prassi I moved on to the Dakar. Their senior delegates were planet-side. They were busy walking through the collapsed former palaces of the Torrian royal families. Plans were already in the works of how to make use of the vast stores of wealth. The freed Teldaki slaves were beginning to ask for transportation home. I wondered home much freedom they would have under the Dakar.
A site down on the planet was selected for the meeting. I arrived on time and walked into the ornate chamber that had been selected. Workers were busy outside washing away the blood of several hundred Torrians who had been rounded up and executed. It was an unpleasant site, but such was war.
The two species had each brought with them four administrators and three advisors. We would be drawing up a draft document of the agreements we had earlier come to verbal terms on. I had hopes of a quick and easy meeting that fell mostly along the lines of the prior agreements.
There was a vast amount of space between the two empires. Most of the outward end of the Pollus sector would remain unclaimed. As the meeting progressed each side began to push their boundaries further as the other attempted the same.
It finally came to a head when I asked to speak, "Look, this has been a great victory for all of us. Both of you will walk away with territories larger than you have ever had before. I believe the free space between your empires should stay exactly that, free space."
"Give each other time to bring your empires back from the years of destruction of war. As times progress there will be ample opportunity for discussions on further expansion. We should all go away from here feeling good about what has happened. Our enemies are gone, never to return. Imagine the trade that is possible between our peoples. Both of your empires will benefit from a peaceful co-existence."
The Dakar delegate spoke first, "We will not stand by while the Prassi take possession of free worlds that may one day choose to join the Expansion! If they are entitled to expand then we are entitled to expand. The Dakar cannot agree with this draft proposal if the Prassi go beyond what was initially agreed upon."
The Prassi representative then stood, "My people have no argument with the Dakar. Let us work to divide these free worlds equally. Perhaps we should set up a system of weights with each grid receiving a rating from all parties as to its value. We could then take turns selecting those grids, which are adjacent to our grids, which would fall under each domain."
Again I stood and raised my hand in the air, "Hold on, I don’t think you understand what it is that I am saying. For now, here today, the Prassi will leave with the worlds they had agreed upon. The Dakar will leave, or stay in this case, with the worlds that were agreed upon. We sign this draft proposal and we all then go home."
"There will come a time when the worlds in question will see an advantage to joining one empire or the other. Whichever way it happens, it does not mean you are enemies. The war is over; we are all winners at this table. There will be many years in the future for each of us to grow and expand. Let us part from here today as friends, as allies, as winners!"
The Dakar rose and with their delegate taking a copy of the draft resolution in his hand, "I will pass this information on to the Council of the Wise. When they return an answer we can again negotiate or part ways with what is before us. Until that time I bid each of you a fair day. I have much work to do to prepare this properly. Good day." The delegate nodded, turned and left the conference hall.
Immediately following the Dakar an angry Prassi representative stood, "We too will evaluate the proposals in this document. When the Dakar have returned with an answer, we will provide ours." The Prassi representative then turned and left the room with a scowl on his face.
I hopped a shuttle back up to the Slaughter and gave the Colonel and Admiral the news, "Gentlemen, it looks like we are going to be here for a bit longer. But I wouldn’t worry too much about it. I think we can agree on some minor concession to each side and they will sign."