Blood War 1: Last Stand of the Legion: Rift (43 page)

"I will continue to be your contact and controller
, so until we meet again."

White turned and strode out the door followed by the two armored troopers. Carroll could
only flop down into a chair and stare at the floor. His future was sealed as a traitor to his race and there was nothing he could do about it. He looked at the Chairman, who was still frozen in place behind his desk. His whole world had just collapsed; a much bigger world than Carroll's, and therefore the shock had to be magnified. Carroll fought to keep images of what Ms. White would do to his wife and children out of his head. It was the only way he was not going to go crazy.

Nine Months Later

SOL SYSTEM

PLANET EARTH

SOL STANDARD 6/6

POST COLLAPSE YEAR 1095

OFFICE OF ADMIRAL OF THE NAVY

USICHE RAURK

Dasan and Aijuba stood outside the massive polished wooden doors of the newly appointed Admiral of the Navy, Usiche Raurk's office. Admiral of the Navy was a special rank only used during times of war. In fact no one had held the rank in three hundred years. Now his old boss was in charge of the whole Navy.

He and Aijuba were entering very rarified air
indeed; Raurk so far up the chain of command now, Dasan couldn't see the bottom of her feet. It had been a long difficult recovery and he still was not back to normal. He had been in an induced coma as they replaced his vital organs with newly grown organs from his DNA. Then the doctors grew an arm and leg once he was strong enough. It had been six months of surgeries and rehab but he had made it. Aijuba had been beside him through the whole process even though she had her own surgeries and rehab. She had gone down in the last desperate counter-attack by the aliens after Dasan had gone down. While not as badly injured as Dasan, it had been a near thing for her too. Yet  here they stood about to enter the office of highest-ranking commander in the military. 

Dasan had never seen this much real wood in his life. The doors alone were
intimidating; each one had a huge gold and blue seal of the Confederation Navy mounted in the center of each door. Retinal scans at the center of the seals confirmed their identities. It had to be at least the fifth time they had been scanned since entering the building and that was the scans they had noticed. 

Dasan and Aijuba were in their dress uniforms with their new ribbons
, combat stripes, and the badge of the AI, a miniature helmet, above their ribbons. They had been discharged from the hospital for less than a week. It was proving to be a long and difficult recovery for both of them, but it was a small price to pay for being alive. The new muscles and limbs had grown in nicely but Dasan was not nearly as strong as normal yet. While Aijuba had not lost any limbs she still had a long way to go before she was back to normal.

"Well
, you ready for this?" Dasan said.

"For what? We still don't know why we have been summoned
," Aijuba said.

"That what I meant."

Aijuba smiled.

"Always."

Dasan went to push the door and staggered a bit. Aijuba grabbed him and helped him steady himself.

"Shit." Dasan said.

"For a dead guy I think you are doing pretty good Colonel." Aijuba said.

"What is that Wolf humor?"

"You were dead." Aijuba said.

"No, I was not. I was in status like they used put us in for transits."

"Could have fooled me." Aijuba said.

"Have I threatened to demote you today
Sergeant Major?"

"Yes, sir you have. This morning as a matter of fact when I had to help you get dressed.

They exchanged a private smile, and then straightened up and pushed the doors open. The waiting area was filled with officers of all ranks. They all turned when Dasan and Aijuba entered the room. The secretary looked up with the cold look of an important person’s gatekeeper. Then she recognized Dasan and Aijuba and she actually stood.

"Colonel Sand. Sergeant Major Aijuba
, it is a great pleasure to meet you. The Admiral is waiting. Please go right in."

The other officers in the waiting area turned as one to get an in person look at the hero's of Rift. Real respect showed on more than one of their faces despite ranks that were significantly higher than either Dasan or Aijuba.

The secretary rushed around her desk and placed her hand on the security panel and the door slid open. The Admiral Raurk was sitting behind a huge wooden desk. She looked up when they walked in and a very small smile cracked her famous cold beauty. Her dark intense eyes appeared to actually show some pleasure in seeing Dasan and Aijuba.

Her desk was as highly polished and glossy as any piece of glass, various display panels floated around the desk projected from
its surface. Several globe lights floated around the room, giving the office a relaxed atmosphere that was jarring given its purpose. The displays would change colors as messages scrawled across them from green to red.

A
n immense floor to ceiling window revealed the never-ending skyline of the City State of New York. It was the single most incredible view of human ingenuity and power Dasan had ever seen. Buildings taller than he had ever seen anywhere else in the Confederation soared impossibly high, clouds literally floated past their midpoints. Billboards tens of floors high flashed commercials constantly. Black luxury yachts cruised by next to yellow cabs and large vessels pulling containers weaving their way through the huge city in constant motion. The power and richness of the Confederation was on display, it was hard to imagine what they might look like with Xotoli troops dropping from the sky.

To the Admiral's right was a small beautiful woman with short gold hair combed straight back from her face
. It was not dyed gold but real gold. It was the newest fashion on Earth; real gold was infused into the woman's real hair. It was a symbol of real wealth. She was dressed in an all black leather dress with gold zippers with one ear decorated with a number of gold ear cuffs while the other had a small gold serpent earring winding around her ear. She looked like the fashionable women that were everywhere on Earth. She appeared completely out of place in a room full of military uniforms.

General Buchman and Admiral Tamara Lule were seated in two other chairs in front of the Admiral. Dasan nodded to each as he walked in, it was nice to see the two. He knew and trusted
both; it was quite a team the Admiral was pulling together. Dasan and Aijuba walked up to the desk and stood at attention.

"Colonel Dasan Daniel Sand and Command Sergeant Major Axec Aijuba reporting as ordered."

"Would you two please sit down before you fall down," Admiral Raurk said, her voice friendly without losing any of its authority.

Dasan and Aijuba sat down in the two chairs directly in front of the Admiral.

"First I want to know how your rehabilitation is going. I've had reports of course but I want to hear it from you?"

"Fine ma'am
," Dasan said.

"The Colonel is not as far along as I am but he works everyday
," Aijuba said.

"Is that right?" Admiral Raurk said with an amused smile.

"No, it is not ma'am. I lifted more weights in rehab this morning than she did," Dasan said.

Admiral Raurk laughed out loud.

"Ok, I can see where this is going. If you two are well enough to bicker then you are coming along fine."

Dasan and Aijuba looked at each other and smiled. The Admiral continued.

"I am sure you are wondering why I summoned you so soon in your rehabilitation but we don't have time to waste. Much has already happened and even more needs to be done as soon as possible. Let me introduce the other people in the room so you will understand why they are here."

She nodded to her right where
a small beautiful woman with gold hair sat silently. She stood and bowed her head in a formal greeting. She moved with the grace of an athlete but there that something else that reminded Dasan of some of his most athletic and deadly troops.

"This is Istas. She is a representative from the Anjin Clan of Rift."

Dasan and Aijuba could not hide their astonishment.

"I understand your surprise
, but the Anjin entered into an agreement with the Confederation during the invasion and have provided invaluable in their support. Istas saved my life in ECC the day of the attack."

Dasan and Aijuba had heard of the attack, everyone had
, but they never expected to meet the person. Dasan looked at Istas; she was the first Anjin he had seen. She lived up to their legend of beauty and danger just under the surface. 

"You are the one
," Aijuba said.

Istas
met Aijuba's eyes. Istas only nodded.

"Well done Anjin
," Aijuba said.

"Thank you Wolf."

"Not only did she save my life but as you know when the Xotoli left Rift they left behind a number of their troops. The Anjin Clan hunted them down and eliminated them. One by one."

"Were they left as guerrilla force or did they just miss their extractions?"

"They missed their extractions."

"How many were there?" Dasan asked.

"Two hundred and seventy three," Istas replied.

"You counted
," Aijuba said.

"Yes we did," Istas said.

"So would I, Anjin," Aijuba said.

Usiche paused before going on to let Dasan and Aijuba absorb the fact that the Anjins were allies.

"I am sure you both are well acquainted with General Buchman."

Dasan and Aijuba both turned
and smiled at Buchman it was very good to see him again. Dasan had not seen him since Rift.

"Now that we have made our introductions
, I need to bring you two up to speed on what has been happening since you entered the hospital. As you know the Xotoli have consolidated their hold on Ceti and are exploiting the crystals and the Von Fleet facilities. Anjin's on Ceti have been able to keep us well informed. They have provided the best on the ground Intel we have. Without them we would be completely in the dark."

Usiche touched a screen floating over her desk.

"Here is what we know about the Xotoli and it is not much more than we knew before. They are a space-faring race with no interest in contact with other races unless it is to conquer them. They consider these conquests to be Blood Wars. A Blood War to them means they will kill all human beings, no matter what the breed, race, age, or sex. The purpose is to kill us all and take our resources - nothing more or less. As we have found out from Ceti, they will enslave those they think can help them and work them to death. Reports we have received are that they are taking the children away. We think this is to use them to breed more hybrids."

Dasan
’s face turned white at the thought of thousands more children being taken away.

"
The hybrids we fought were bred just for fighting. Their DNA is indistinguishable from ours at this point. We have enough bodies to work with but the scientists still have not found a way to identify a hybrid from a human. Their claws morph from human bone then when contracted turn back into normal human fingers. We have nothing to go on yet. We do not even know what a Xotoli looks like. None were found in any of the wreckage of any of their ships. The hybrids are bred for nothing but fighting. From what we can tell they are raised in harsh enough conditions that many die before reaching puberty because of their training. So they are bred to be savage fighters. Not unlike Wolf's."

She nodded to Aijuba.

"But we don't let the weak die deliberately. We work to strengthen them."

"Sorry Aijuba
, I should have been more careful in my comparison. Intelligence feels it is only a matter of time before they begin to expand their area of control in an attempt to completely cut off the Confederation from the resources needed for it to remain a space faring power."

The Admiral pressed a key in the top of her desk and a 3D map of the Confederation and the planets it encompassed floated in the air in front of them.

"By occupying Ceti they not only have captured our largest supply of crystals but the Xotoli now sit on the only wormhole entrance from Sol to Ceti and therefore control our ability to reach Cygni, Ross, Aqarii, Altair and Groombridge."

She touched the floating image and the red dotted lines representing the know
n wormholes that connected to Ceti disappeared. Five Confederation member planets were completely isolated from the rest of the known worlds. Without wormholes for transit the vast distances in a reasonable amount of time they are cut off from the Confederation. "

The Admiral paused to let that sink in, not to be able to move forces to defend Cygni
and the rest of the isolated planets would be a disaster. Either they had to find new wormholes or fight their way through Ceti. Neither was a viable option Dasan thought. They needed more options and soon.

"While being cut off from the Confederation
, Groombridge and the rest of the systems remain in Confederation hands. The Xotoli have not tried to expand in that direction but it is only a matter of time and their plan. The Xotoli could use Ceti as a staging point to move closer to Sol if they desire. While there are no member systems between Ceiti and Sol there are a number of exoplanets and barren systems that couple be used as staging areas for an attack on Sol itself. We believe that is what is holding up the expansion, deciding which way to strike. While they are deciding, close to a quarter of the Confederation and more than a quarter of the resources the Confederation needs to remain space faring, are either at risk or in Xotoli hands."