Blood War 1: Last Stand of the Legion: Rift (3 page)

PATROL AREA BRAVO

GAXOLA II PATROL

SOL STANDARD 11/09

1435 HOURS

Dasan was watching his displays. He glanced at his bearing and heading
readout; he tried not to look at the distance to target reading. Each time he did his stomach tightened with concern. So he glanced at his velocity indicator and it was right where he wanted to be for this mission. This was the longest patrol he had ever attempted. The distance was going to push Dasan and his ship to their limits. He settled into a comfortable pace and tried to relax. He was trained for this; it was a matter of pushing through one last time. Then Dasan would never have endure this again.

He had checked the space weather
forecast for Gaxola before the launch. No solar flares had been projected. Gaxola had a solar wind plasma scale of 5, so it was not as dangerous as some systems. It should be a quiet flight despite its distance. The last thing the patrol needed on this mission was a single event gate latchup or burnout of their electronics of one of the Raptors. That kind of damage to a ship's sensors or navigation systems had doomed more than one Legion patrol. His ship was shielded against solar flare ups as were the others, but even the shielding could not hold up to a large enough event. Gaxola was Type III sun and it was more than capable of such unexpected flare-ups. He glanced at the current space weather readout; the x-rays were in the normal range, the P2 was a little high but not in the red, the neutron pressure was within normal limits and the magnetic readings were also well within acceptable levels. That is exactly what he needed - a space weather forecast that was accurate for once.

Dasan glanced at the temperature reading
s for his ship's crystal. It was in the green and the power rate of flow was dead on. The tiny Ecomcon Drive anti-matter drive behind Dasan had more than enough power to push the fighter, but it was the Von Fleet crystal that magnified that power which was the real key to the Raptors speed and range.

The crystal magnified the power created by the drive by a number that Dasan could never quite wrap his head around
. The crystals used in his ship were very small compared to those on destroyers or battleships and they had a limited life under the temperatures and pressures created by the ECC drive. The engine had the most sophisticated magnetic confinement and cooling systems available but it could only keep them cool for so long if you pushed them to their design limits. If the temperatures rose too high for the cooling systems to handle the crystals could crack and fail. Their magnification of the power would be lost. The ship would be cast adrift in the space with no communications or ability to return to their launch ship. If that happened it would take years just to return to the Lyre instead of hours. So they would slowly drift with only their life support system on batteries until even that finally ran out. In the early days of the Raptor I's this was not an unusual event. That is when the Legion made the tear tattoo official for all personnel. Dasan was glad he had started his career with the Raptor III's they were more reliable with the new crystal technology.

He glanced at his liquid oxygen
display - it was in the green and his flow was right where it should be. His ship was performing flawlessly. She was quite a ship. This connection he felt when he flew was something he would always miss. Despite the physical toll and the mental stress there was nothing like flashing through space at speeds few could comprehend, at one with your ship. The ship, through the plug behind his ear, was part of him now. It would do what he wanted, when he wanted it to without a single command. Those tens of feet of nano wires that had crawled their way through his brain made it possible. No, no matter how much he hated the life, the flying was the only real pleasure he had and he still relished it when he got out of his own way and simply flew his ship.

He glanced at the time to target readout. He didn't like it,
the distance would break the current Legion record for a patrol distance. No, this was going to be a balancing act to carry out their mission. He needed to cut the time on target down to something he felt comfortable with or end up losing someone.

They flew in a loose formation of three packages, of four ships
each, flanker's out and scouts ahead.  They were all experienced troops, and normally constant direction by Dasan and Aijuba was not necessary. But they were feeling the effects of their abrupt wake up from status and the platoon needed constant prodding.  Dasan too, felt the stress of the flight in spite of the drugs.  They all were on the edge of their endurance. 

"Sergeant," Dasan said.

"Yes, Lieutenant," Aijuba replied.

"Launch drones. They could tell us something and maybe cut this patrol short."

"Lieutenant. If the aliens left anyone behind, it would tip our hand, we should wait."

Sergeant Aijuba had been on the frontiers more than twice as long as Dasan.  She had actually been at Ixco. She had a half a dozen red tears in her service cascade.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Dasan said.

It was going to be a long flight but he could cut their patrol time by a third if they went to near light.  It would put them on the scene fatigued but it would shorten the patrol. Get this last patrol over with.

"Let's get this thing done. We are going over the top. Platoon; on my mark; we go to near light. Three, two, one mark."

He knew the designers saved thousands of pounds of sensors and other equipment by running the ships controls through their bodies
, allowing them to carry more armament and increase their speed. In test after test the fighters had been shown to perform significantly better in trials when connected to the human pilot rather than have a pilot "fly" with normal controls but it came at a human price. Dasan felt the increase in speed, the same as a long distance runner felt a change in pace in a long race. The effects on the body were much the same.  He would feel this added speed at the end of the patrol.  So would the rest of the platoon, but the added speed would end the patrol sooner.

He watched as the time to target began to get shorter and shorter. He checked his crystal temperature
- it was rising along with the speed but he knew it would. The crystals were designed to stand up to demands exactly like this. That is why the Legion had spent the trillions of dollars to upgrade them. Dasan was going to see if the money had been well spent.

PATROL AREA BRAVO

PLANET GAXOLA II

SOL STANDARD 11/09

2000 HOURS

Dasan was exhausted by the time the platoon reached the Gaxola system. He was not the only one. Most of the platoon was in the same shape. He needed to check this out fast and head back for the Lyre.

He left a section in a high cover orbit, while he took the rest of the patrol down for a fly-by of the colony. Von Fleet had not named the planet
, instead they simply called it what it was - the second planet in the Gaxola system, Gaxola II.  Located at the edge of the habitable zone of Gaxola, it was a bleak place covered with ice and little to make it worth colonizing except for the possibility of containing the precious Von Fleet Crystal deep in its core. They broke through the haze of an atmosphere and got their first view of the surface. The surface was a maze of mountains and huge canyons covered with ice and snow. The canyons were so deep that they allowed the mining operation to start much deeper than on the surface. Cyrovolcanos dotted its surface. It was, in other words, one of the most difficult and depressing places a human could work. Yet money drove it all, billions had been spent to create the exploration-mining project. If Von Fleet crystals were found, the Corporation would file its claim and Von Fleet would add another world to its inventory.

Dasan began to see signs of habitation. Generators
were out in the field running robotic drilling sites. There were several of what appeared to be maintenance domes with various types of equipment stored outside. As they flew down a long canyon the main settlement emerged from the haze of the atmosphere.

Something was wrong, there were no lights visible. As Dasan
flew closer he could see that the dome had been cracked open like an egg.  What he saw next made Dasan forget his fatigue; the ground around the dome was covered with bodies, hundreds, if not thousands of them. Bodies was a nice word for the remains of those poor humans. Very few were intact, most had been torn apart by the force of the weapons used on them. Some were in exit suits as if they had tried to run away but they had been chased down and killed. Nothing was left. There were no signs of life anywhere.

"Scan for the still living
," Aijuba said.

Strunk pulled up to gain enough altitude so he could begin to scan not just this canyon but the planet as a whole. He launched
drones to search the entire planet. Everyone was quiet as they waited for the scan's results. 

             
"They are all dead," Strunk said.

             
"What!" Dasan said.

"The scan shows no living humans on the surface of the planet, just their remains.  Not a living thing," Strunk said.

"Redo the scans. There must be some mistake," Dasan said.

This wasn't happening. Not now. The
scans had to be wrong, the must have missed some survivors. There had be survivors there were close to ten thousand workers and their families down there. They must have evacuated.

"Lieutenant
, all I get is human remains.  Lots and lots of dead bodies.  But nothing living," Strunk said.

"Run a check of the remains against the data for personal ID's," Sergeant Aijuba said.

"What are you after Sergeant?" Lieutenant Sand said.

"Wait one. I hope I am wrong," she said.

"You’re right Sergeant. We’re missing some bodies. About two hundred."

"Compare the ages," Aijuba said. There was real sadness in the voice.

"It's the children.  There are no children down there.  They have taken them."

"Shit. I was afraid of that," Aijuba said. Her voice had sadness in it that Dasan had never heard before.

Dasan had been so very close to being out of the Legion and now this.  The colony was a smoking ruin.  Everything had been destroyed.  His sensors showed the same, bodies and body parts everywhere. It was now time for him to decide what to do, to command men and women in what could become a battle. He was not prepared for this - not now. He was almost a civilian again. For the first time Dasan felt the real weight of command. It was now his decision and his decision alone, what would happen next. He could simply report their findings and order the patrol return to the Lyre or he could pursue the attackers. Find who had done this and extract payment. He had no idea what he was going to do, and then the names of the children began to scroll past on his situation display.

"Elki Hideyoshi, male, age 6

Uschi Oul, female, age 13

Lokni Kyoto, female, age 9

Dyami Von Woktke, male, age 5

Ntuku User, male, age 10."

They had taken the children, the mysterious, violent 'they', the only other sentinel race, which had met all attempts at communication with violence. The "they" that would lash out with lightning attacks, like Ixco, and now here, then disappear.  There had not been a raid for ten years. Now this attack, with no warning or understandable reason. What am I going to do? Dasan thought.  Not now. Not this. I can't. Dasan turned the scrolling screen off.  The names were putting faces on the missing children, and it was too much to deal with.

"Scouts out, I want to know which way they went," Aijuba barked. "If that is OK, Lieutenant?"

Dasan hesitated.  "Of course  Sergeant."

The scouts left at near light speed, their sensors on full power, sniffing for a trail
, a disturbance in the dark matter, something, anything that might give them a direction to follow.

PATROL AREA BRAVO

GAXOLA II

PLANET REFINERY VF 48

SOL STANDARD 11/10

2100 HOURS

             
It had been just another of the settlements that the Von Fleet Corporation used for their massive mining operations.  First a planet with a promising geology was identified. Then an exploration crew made a habitat for the exploration miners. If the Von Fleet crystals were identified, then refineries and ports were constructed with a city to support the workers, the support staff and their families. When that was finished the serious mining operation would begin.

Monstrous mining machines were placed on the planet
’s surface. These Diggers would slowly and carefully crack the planet open to its core. The core of the planet held the precious crystals; the crystals that made space travel possible. The Von Fleet crystal was in the power plant of every space vessel, including his own. Without the crystal's ability to magnify the power produced by his drive, they would never reach the speeds necessary for space travel. The crystal was what the entire Confederation was based on. Von Fleet had already invested hundreds of billions on this planet and now all that remained after that time, effort and investment was a smoking ruin.  

Not only had the domes containing the city
destroyed, but the refinery's dome had been cracked open like a giant eggshell. The massive atmosphere-refining complex that stretched down the canyon for at least two kilometers was nothing but ruins. Some of the largest and most expensive machinery ever produced by man looked as if a giant had stepped on it.  The aliens were not interested in capturing and reusing the complex. They had only been interested in destroying it.

No mercy had been shown in the attack, everything had been systematically destroyed.  It was very th
orough and highly professional job.  These guys were pros and they were making a point - don't come this way again. It was almost like a dog marking his territory. It was easy to be a pro when nobody was shooting back at you, the attack must have been like a training exercise with real targets. 

There were bodies outside the domes, torn apart by heavy weapons. Weapons designed for fighting other ships, not people
. Little was left only death. Then he saw the prints, large impressions in the planet surface. The imprints cut deep into the ground. They had the appearance of giant human prints only longer and thinner. They were everywhere.

"Aijuba
, get over here and take a look at this."

Aijuba responded and hovered over the planets
’ surface with Dasan.

"Shit."

"What is it, Sergeant?"

"The same as at Ixco
. They had troops on the ground."

"To make sure they got the kids," Dasan said.

"God, you're right. We could never figure it out," Aijuba said, her voice trailing off as she thought of what that might mean.

They both remained silent for some moments. Both were dealing with images of aliens abducting children
, and then freezing them in status for the flight back to their home planet. Silently Aijuba returned to check on the progress of the platoon. Dasan could almost smell the dead as he looked at the image of a woman torn in half and arched grotesquely. One of the ground troopers must have done it, he thought. A shiver went through him.

"Lieutenant, I've got something." It was Sergeant Aijuba reporting from the far side of the planet.
             

"Report, Sergeant."

"I am picking up a disturbance in the dark matter. It is significant; it is .0752 above the normal background.  That would mean about twenty ships if the numbers from the last raids were still good. We got ourselves a backside trail. They didn't try and cover their tracks. They must have thought they are getting away with something again," she said.

"Check.  But if it is only a trace there is no telling how long ago they left
," Dasan said.

"Sensors suggest, by the bodies decomposition, that the attack was about six hours ago,
" Liu said.

"Lieutenant," Aijuba said. "There is nothing like this in the local background.  Six hours is not too big a head start.  We can overtake them before they reach their launch ship. I am telling you it is the trail."

"Well...." Dasan wasn't sure. 

Dasan did not know what to say. This was not what he had counted
on; he had expected to wake up a civilian. Now for the first time since he enlisted he was faced with the decisions of a real command, with life and death consequences for himself, the men and women of his command and the children.

"Lieutenant
, they took the kids during the raids ten years ago. We never got any of them back.  I tried..." Aijuba hesitated.  "We never had a trail before," Aijuba continued.  "We are on to something.  We can go after them.  They will not be expecting us.  They will be pulling a sled for the children's life support.  We found a couple of them during the last raids. They were empty. We never found out why they took those children...." Her voice just died off.

The platoon had rallied around Dasan's ship. They all waited, looking to Dasan, waiting for his decision
. It was his and his alone to make. 

Dasan felt as if an immense weight had been placed on his shoulders.  There was no one else.  He didn't want this.  He wasn't prepared.  He needed more time.  He was so tired.  Dasan had thought his career was over. He had been relieved
that he would never have to make these kind decisions during his service, the kind of decisions that determined the lives of others.  These were the kind of decisions that not only affected others’ lives but determined the direction of your own life. What he decided to do in the next minutes and hours would set the course of many lives.

He wanted to
run from all of this, he had no idea what command really meant until now. No one would question his actions if he turned back now.  No one could expect them to continue. They were all past the physical limits; to push on would endanger their ships as well as their own lives.

"Lieutenant, what are your orders?" It was Aijuba. "Shall we continue?"

The aliens had put troops on the ground. That meant the escaping fleet was not just fighters, but had to contain some sort of troop ship to transport the ground forces.  Dasan and his platoon could catch up with transport ships.

An image of the children suddenly flared through the fatigue and fear.  There was no one else.  The fate of the children depended on his abilities and those of his platoon.  It did not matter that his enlistment was almost finished.  It did not matter that he was tired. It was his job to lead. The fate of the children rested with him now. 

Suddenly, everything was clearer. He was no less tired, and in no less pain, but for the first time he understood, really understood, the purpose behind the years of training, and sacrifice.  The meaning of the oath he had taken when he had become a Legionnaire.

"Check, Sergeant.
Put Liu and two of the scouts in the lead.  Liu I want your sensors at max range.  Flankers out from the first section. I want everyone on full combat alert. We are going to near light and stay there until we overtake them. Aijuba send our drones back to the Lyre.  Download images of the complex and that we are tracking the aliens in an attempt over take them and rescue the children. Advise them I want the Lyre standing by our present position when we return."

"Aye,
aye Skipper," Aijuba said. She had never called him Skipper before. It was a sign of respect from a senior enlisted person.

Dasan knew having the Lyre at Gaxola by the time they returned was all but impossible given the distance and the laws of physics.  The Captain would have to push the destroyer past the design spec
ifications to get it there in time.  But everyone was taking chances on this one.

"Remember you are Legionnaires. Now on my mark, we go to near light
," Dasan said.

The ship that launched the raid had to leave a much larger electronic signature. They should be able to pick
it up. They needed an electronic signature.  But what signature?  In what spectrum? What kinds of emissions? The other raids had been years before.  The intelligence from those raids was all but useless now, but Aijuba had been on those raids.

"Aijuba," Dasan said on the command frequency.

"Sir."

"Aijuba
, what do we look for? What is going to give us a clue?  You sniffed out the trail.  Got any bright ideas?"

Aijuba hesitated.  "We never got close to one of their ships of the line.  But I would have a picket line of small vessels out protecting the approaches.  Maybe a long range patrol too.  Their fighters are much bigger.  Crewed. Not single seaters like us. So you put them out on station. They should show up like a beacon when we get close, so would the
ir equivalent of our Swift Boats.  I think we ought to scan the frequencies that ships that size would produce with the ECM's long range."

"Good.  Get it done Sergeant."

What was he going to do if he did not overtake them before they reached the ship that had launched the attack?  He had no idea at this point.  But he knew he must overtake them before they reached their mother ship. They could never attack a ship of the line once the children were taken on board.