Then, as he leaned in close, he whispered, "I am just following orders Mr. Grange. What you gave me is quite alarming, but I am not sure who is in charge of the council anymore. Take care, Mr. Grange. If what you are saying is true, we may not meet again." Feta released my arm and then motioned for me to board the Swift.
My immediate thought was to pull my blaster and to take back the data from Feta. But he wasn’t the one calling the shots. Those in charge of his government would be making those decisions. He was just following orders.
I boarded the Swift with a dejected look. Frig asked why, "Sir, by your expression I would say they rejected the intel offer, or they are going to push it aside and accept whatever the Torrians throw at them." I sat in my chair and gestured for Frig to take us back out into space.
"I’m afraid they are going to bargain with the Torrians, whether they get attacked or not is yet to be seen. The Torrians are not going to sit idly by while the Dakar build up their forces. If I were to guess, the Torrians will order a massive attack after which a weakened Dakar will accept whatever terms they send their way."
"But that is not my biggest fear. If the Dakar sign a truce and then a trade pact, we will be so vastly outnumbered that I cannot fathom a victory scenario. We don’t have the ships or the manpower to fight 17,000 Milgari ships, much less a third that number."
"We have the wealth to buy more ships, but we don’t have the people to man them, the Torrians have both. I really thought we had found a way to defeat them with the supply-line strategy. They have managed to find a way around that. We can and will continue to do our raids, but we still won’t have the boots on the ground that are needed. The Dakar could have been those boots."
"Do you ever get the feeling that the odds are stacked against you?" Frig rolled his eyes, "The odds have been against me my whole adult life. All that can be expected of you Sir is that you do your best, no one expects more. We will find our way around this issue, just as we have done so many times before."
I reached over and placed my hand on Frig’s shoulder, "Thanks for keeping me grounded. Sometimes I let my mind run down a rabbit hole and it’s difficult to back out of it." Frig responded, "A rabbit hole Sir?" I then explained what a rabbit was and where it lived as described in the Grid archives. "I’m sure there are other burrowing animals that you have encountered. You go down a rabbit hole and you end up popping out somewhere else."
Once we were away from the Paswari we set a course back to the Raiders and the Helix. With the latest intel in our hands we headed back to the Suppressor to plan our next move with the Colonel. After landing we met him in his office.
"Grange! Hope you brought back some good news for us. How’d it go with the Dakar?" I plopped down in a chair and shook my head, "It did not go well Colonel. They are either cooking up a deal with the Torrians or they are about to get their asses handed to them, and then have whatever deal the Torrians see fit to dole out shoved down their throat."
The Colonel then placed his hand on a comm device on his desk, "Gy, grab Rita and get up here. We need a strategy session." The Colonel then placed his big hands on the desk with his fists balled up. "I think we need to strike while the Milgari are occupied. Their garrison at Barithia has about 500 ships and other assorted defenses in orbit and our estimates place 500,000 troops on the ground."
"I think we hit them and hit them hard. Destroy everything we can and then hi-tail it out of there. Jeb was in here the other day and made mention of a war strategy he read about in the archives. It was called Blitzkrieg. The People running the war were idealists like the Torrians, very brutal to many of their own and in the end they collapsed because of opening up too many war fronts."
"This Blitzkrieg strategy was used at the beginning of the war and was highly successful. Of course, once politics got involved it was over. What I was thinking was we are perfectly set up to use this strategy. Attack with a force that is light and capable and go in with overwhelming numbers. Strike fast and achieve a quick victory."
"If we can follow that one strategy, I think we can be in and out of Barithia in a week. Getting in and out quick would put us well away from any backup fleet they might send. I called Gy and Rita up because they have made some progress on the technology the Durians sold us."
Gy walked into the room and the Colonel showed him to a chair. "Gy, tell Don and Frig what you were able to do." Gy nodded, "Well, the image projection software they gave us, well it works. But there was something about it that bothered me. I couldn't put my finger on it until Rita showed me some signature graphs."
"It was very subtle, but I believe the patterns had a detectable signature to them. My guess is that the Durians left a little back door in there so they would be able to detect a ship when it was approaching. Anyway, between our former image projection efforts and the efforts here, I think we have a solution that you are going to love."
With the Durian image projection technology, so long as you traveled in a straight line at a constant speed or remain perfectly still, it would look like there was no one there. Of course when you sped up, slowed down or turned that image distorts and you lose most of your cover. That itself is still an issue, but we figured out a way to project not one, but two ship images out to either side."
"To the enemy, we could be any one of three ships that their sensors pick up. We just made ourselves three times harder to target. And the best part is, it is an easy upgrade and we are about half way through the fleet as of now. We will have the full fleet updated within a week."
The Colonel turned back towards me with a grin, "Blitzkrieg! We can take out half of their cannons before they know we are there. The tech then acts as a defense multiplier making us three times harder to kill. And the final piece Gy forgot to mention... the coating adds strength to the outer Aquamarine skin, making it 26% more durable!"
"I say we start planning today for a strike at Barithia in the next few weeks. That might just be the thing that takes a little pressure off the Dakar, could draw things out a bit which works in our favor. So, what do you say Don? Are you ready to kick some Milgari ass!"
The Colonel had an evil grin on his face. It was a grin he got when he knew a good fight was coming. I called a meeting of the full council and informed the others of the plan. They were to tell no one, not their staffs, not their families. There had been no evidence to date of spies amongst us, but I reasoned it was only a matter of time. When growing an empire you needed new participants. Some were bound to try to sell you out if they could.
Our preparations were complete. The newest ships coming out of the automated docks had been staffed and were formed up in our 302 ship armada. We were going to hit Barithia with all we had. The only warships remaining would be 20 troop transports that we did not have the manpower to fill. Another 20 transports, loaded with ground assault troops, were going with us.
The small armada departed for a rendezvous point near Barithia. Plans were solidified and passed out to the commanders. Frig and I proceeded forward to Barithia to gather intel on ship and troop positions and strengths. Upon our return I had final meetings with our senior commanders to adjust and finalize our attack plans. I then gave a speech to all who had come.
Frig patched me through to all ship’s comms, "Today, we leave for a battle with our enemies. The battle we are about to fight is designed to give us more time, more time to grow and train and build our fleet. We will be going up against an enemy whose ships and troops outnumber us. We must take on and achieve the goals that are to be laid out before each of us. The better each of us perform our tasks the higher the chance of us all coming home."
"Each of your commanders will be detailing out exactly what you are to accomplish. Do it to the best of your abilities while keeping an eye on your fellow soldiers. This will not be our final battle, but it could have a substantial impact on the overall war, a war that we must win."
"I’m proud of each and every one of you. Each of us may not be perfect in character, but volunteering for this duty shows what true patriots you all are. We are fighting for the Grid, for our homes and for our people. Our stories may never be told, only we will know what we have accomplished. So today, fight the good fight, give it your all, push the limits of what you can do and take from our enemies what they have been taking from us for a thousand years. Let’s show ‘em what we’re made of!"
The orders were handed down and the details of each man’s duties outlined. We would be going in fast and hard and playing for keeps. I boarded the Swift in the Slaughter’s hold, Frig was at the ready. "Sir, I have completed a check and recheck of all systems, the Swift is ready."
We exited the Slaughter’s cargo dock and took our position in the formation. In an instant the image projection technology was enabled and the 302 ships in our fleet disappeared from view. As throttles were increased and the ships moved forward a visual display showed the effect of the projection on a ship whose speed or direction was changing. Ghost ships appeared and faded from view.
We would move to a location just beyond the Milgari’s sensor range and then set our speeds and trajectories for our final assault. The space covered when masked would take 22 hours. I turned to Frig with a comment, "Well, here we go again, having to wait for the action that we know is coming. This is the part that drives me nuts. We will need sleep before the attack begins, but who can sleep with what we have coming?"
Frig responded, "You just need something to occupy your time Sir. I spend mine reviewing system performance logs. I know that is not for you, but I always find them fascinating." Frig pointed towards my locker, "Perhaps you can spend the time on your father’s data store. Put the ship’s computer to work at cracking the encryption. There is always that one-in-a-million chance that it will stumble upon the right sequence."
I replied, "Well great, that will keep the ship’s computer occupied but not me." Frig sighed, "Well, best of luck to you Sir, if you should need me, I will be reviewing performance logs." I kicked back in my chair, but I could not get comfortable. I stood and paced the deck in an attempt to come up with something to do; my mind was a blank, only occupied by the coming battle.
I walked back to my locker and retrieved the data store my father had given me when I was ten. I plopped down in my chair while fumbling with the cube in my right hand. I plugged the data store into the universal data connector and brought up a reader / decryption program. After entering several parameters I selected the Run button and then sat back to watch as the counter ticked away attempts at cracking the cypher. After an hour of staring I walked back to the bunkroom for a nap.
I had not slept well the few nights before and the two hour nap turned into a nine hour blissful sleep. I awoke to the touch of Frig’s hand pushing on my shoulder. "Sir, the Colonel is asking for you." I rolled over slowly and sat on the edge of my bunk. As I walked to my console I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. I answered the hail, "What’s up Colonel?" The Colonel frowned as he looked at his screen. "Grange! Looks like you’ve been on an all-night bender. Go splash some cold water on your face and come back when you’re awake."
After the Colonel disconnected I did as he suggested. The cold water felt good on my skin when followed by a warm towel. I then moved to our kitchenette and proceeded to pour a cup of day-old coffee. The first swig went down hard but good. I could feel the life coming back into my body.
I reconnected to the Colonel, "What do you need Colonel? As you can see I’m a busy guy over here." The Colonel replied, "Grange. I’m just trying to plan ahead a little here. You and your friend there are targeted at a battleship and three cruisers. After that you were set up as freelance."
"I know what kind of trouble you can get in from that so I am teaming you up with Jarrod and the Helix to board a cruiser. I want to capture three of their cruisers this go-round to be taken back for remodeling at the base. I want to place 16 of our cannons on one of those barges and see how effective she can be. The Raiders are a nice ship, but we are going to need more firepower if we want to go up against a larger fleet."
Two other raiders will be assisting on the capture. I know you are familiar with Jarrod’s team so I would like to see you working with them." It was a well thought out plan by the Colonel. He knew I would find a way into hard combat, so he figured out a way to make it happen in a more controlled environment. Jarrod’s team was well versed at a cruiser assault having participated in the two that had been previously done. It was a plan that I was comfortable with.
The Colonel would be commanding the ground forces down on the planet. The Slaughter was to land just outside the capital city where the largest Milgari garrison was located. The estimate was one of 150,000 Milgari troopers to our 26,000 Marines. We would have our ships to back us up. The Milgari would be fighting on their home turf.
I spoke to the Colonel, "So what do you have planned for yourself Colonel? I know you won’t be sitting in that chair during all of this." The Colonel leaned forward with a grin. I will be sitting right here until such time as our plans are well underway. I’ll be hitting that garrison with the men of the Slayer and the Slaughter. After the plans are in motion the guy at the top doesn’t have much to do, so I will be helping where I can."
I nodded in reply, "I thought as much Colonel, I think we were cut out of the same mold. We have loads of energy and determination and not enough brains to stay out of the way. Send your plans for me over and I’ll review them. And Colonel… don’t get yourself killed either, we need men like you to keep men like me from doing stupid things." The Colonel nodded and disconnected the comm link.
As we approached the enemy vessels began to show on our sensors. Last minute adjustments were made with new targets assigned. Frig and I were given the opportunity to even the score with a Durian destroyer being present. If all went well we would decelerate just as we fired our ion cannon, crippling the Durian’s engines with a massive negative pulse and her other systems with a negative ion bomb.
On the return run we would take out as many of the ship’s weapons as was possible. If the ship’s big guns could be taken down before their power systems came back online the Helix would move in with a boarding party. If we could come away from the fight with a Durian destroyer in hand, it would be a major coup.
"OK, deceleration in three, two, one…" Frig fired the cannon and released the negative ion bomb at the same instant. The Durian ship was caught off-guard as its systems went dormant. I pulled back hard on the stick and targeted the port cannons. The destroyer had six battle cannons on each side. Frig’s precise shots quickly eliminated their port weapons.
After passing by the destroyer and once again performing a hard turn we came back with shots at the starboard guns. They were obliterated with six quick rumbles from our ion cannon. I then rolled the Swift 90 degrees to bring us around to the front of the vessel. As we charged in the Durian ship suddenly came back to life.
I pressed a button on our image projectors and two new Swifts appeared on the Durian gunner’s screens. A solid miss with his shot sealed his fate. A strong negative ion pulse entered the gunner cabin, incinerating everything within 20 meters. The Durian ship was now without weapons.
I circled back and Frig hit the Durian's engines with another hard pulse. The Helix then pulled alongside her and the breaching tubes were extended. I made one last roll and Frig eliminated the battle cannons of a Milgari battleship before we turned back towards the Helix. I landed hard in the bay, picked up my AK-47 and headed for the door. "Frig… take care of my baby for me. I have some Durians who need my attention!" Frig replied as I ran, "That is our baby Sir, and yes I will be right here!"
I stepped out of the cargo door and sprinted towards the breaching hallway. Daniels was waiting for me with his squad. I yelled as I passed them by, "Let’s kick some Durian ass boys!" The Marines quickly followed behind.
The Durian ship was as I had remembered before, black walls with light colored floors and ceilings. With the blackness that came with no power the infrared emitters on our helmets gave an eerie appearance. The first Durian to enter the hallway did so with a hand-light. He was quickly blown in half by three shotgun blasts. The soldiers who had fired rotated to the back to reload.
As we approached the room the first victim had come from, a barrage of green laser blasts impacted the opposite hallway wall. We had to shield ourselves from the shrapnel that was produced by the thin steel walls as they exploded.
Daniels offered guidance, "It looks like they have a powered weapon. Keep that in mind as we move forward. If they have weapons power they may have other surprises waiting for us. Keep your eyes open and your focus tight!"
After the first bulkhead I turned my AK towards the wall and fired.
Ak-ak-ak-ak-ak-ak!
The thuds of two bodies could be heard as they fell to the floor. The room was quickly swept and we moved on, Sergeant Daniels leading the way. "Mica, Roebuck, down this hall, two doors on the left sweep and then follow up. Pinnet, hang here as backup!"
We continued to move down the long hallway that ran diagonal to the ship's length. Four other teams from the Helix were to either side of our location. Heads-up displays within our helmets told of their positions. Two other Raider craft had landed and were assaulting other decks. With luck the Durian destroyer would be cleared in a little more than an hour.
Daniels moved up and poked a small video probe around the corner. It was instantly sheared off by a green laser bolt. Daniels shouted as he pulled a pin and flung a grenade around the corner. "Nade!"
Booom!
The ensuing explosion rocked the far hallway, but the green laser blasts continued to come. "Parker! Go two doors back and blow a hole in the back wall. See if you can come out behind 'em. And take Sellers and Grange here with you!"
I turned and followed Parker back to the first room. A string charge was stuck on the wall and we left the room.
Booom!
"OK, move it! Sellers, get through that hole and shoot anything that moves!" I followed quickly after. My heart was beating like a boxer working out on a speed-bag. It was a feeling that I had enjoyed as a boy, not so much now that I was in battle.
The room was clear, but the hallway beyond was full of Durians. It was immediately evident that they were general ship staff and not trained soldiers. There was no organization; every move was a reaction to stimuli.
Ak-ak-ak-ak-ak! Ak-ak-ak-ak! Boom! Ch-ch Boom! Ch-ch Boom! Ch-ch!
The immediate hallway was soon clear.
The laser blasts continued to hold Daniels and the others in place. Parker pulled another grenade and rolled it around the corner towards the laser origination point. "Nade!"
Booom!
The laser weapon went silent. Daniels split the squad, sending Jackson to join us. We were ordered to proceed down the hallway in front of us, clearing out each room we came to.
We paused at the dead Durian who had been firing the laser. Sellers picked it up from the floor and looked it over. "No power source. It looks like it is pure chemical Sir, a reaction based lasing. Has a replaceable chem pack in the grip." Sellers tucked the weapon into a zippered pouch on his pant leg.
Parker spoke up, "We have six doors in the section in front of us we need to clear those before we reach the next cross-hall. Jackson. You take point." Jackson replied, "Yes Sir!" As his big hulking frame began to move down the hall multiple laser blasts exploded through the walls around him. Jackson hit the floor and cut loose with his AK sending a stream of lead into the wall beside him.
Ak-ak-ak-ak-ak-ak-ak-ak!
He quickly rolled over and sent another barrage through the opposite wall.
I charged forward and slid up in front of the door.
Ak-ak-ak-ak-ak!
I heard a body hit the floor on the other side and I kicked the door open with my boot.
Ak-ak-ak-ak-ak!
As soon as I poked my head in the door a Durian dove at me with a knife. He brought the blade down hard and I countered with the butt of my gun. The steel shank stuck into the hardwood stock as we fell backwards into the hall.
Jackson was on top of the situation and the butt of his AK crushed the back of the Durians skull with a quick, powerful pop. As I rolled the blue scaly creature off of me I took note of the insignia on his uniform. It was the second in command on the destroyer. Parker moved up to the next door and rolled in a grenade. The ensuing blast killed two Durians who were lying in wait.