Retribution: The Augmented Human Rebellion - Book 2 (16 page)

Above New Hope

The first indication of impending doom is an alarm from a deep space
early warning probe.  That alarm is soon followed by a chorus of
others. 
Cade
Nemo
and Sandra
Guilles
instantly know
what is happening.

Cade
Nemo
lifts the cover over
the big red button and activates the EVACUATION alarm.  Now sirens are
sounding in every home, business, and communications device on New Hope. 
SOS probes have been launched toward all AH Navy forces.

The AH Navy has not forgotten that there are 2 great Empires who hate
their existence.  The hope has been that they would get a respite from the
hostilities, and eventually a brokered peace.  That dream may be for the
future, but certainly it is not for the present.

What the residents of planet New Hope can try for, at this moment, is an
escape from the death trap that the planet New Hope has become.  Their
only chance now is to get off of the planet, before the nuclear missiles pour
down like rain.

Preparations have been made for just such a contingency.  Each town
and village has assigned evacuation routes leading to hidden spaceports. 
Within an hour, space ships with a full load of people and
AIs
begin to launch and to
head off in the direction opposite to the impending assault.  When the
available space ships are gone, people load into shuttles, which when full,
head for the freighters waiting overhead.  Those freighters have been
hidden on the moon, and are stocked with the provisions, which will be needed
for a long journey.  Within hours, the loaded freighters begin to carry
refugees away from the planet and toward a rendezvous point in deep space.

***

All AH Navy Fleets will soon be under way to the planet New
Hope.   For the present however, only one Fleet is in position above the
planet.  Fleet Admiral
Danion
,
with his complement of 300 warships, heads toward the approaching menace. 
There are three Admirals under his command.  Two are augmented human, and
the third is his wife, Admiral
Shiela
. 
Fleet Admiral
Danion
resides on her vessel.

All ships are in Battle Stations alert status and are fully prepared for
battle.  It is
Danion’s
plan to meet the enemy in deep space in order to buy time for the planet New
Hope, so that the enemy can’t destroy the planet with nuclear missiles, until
after the New Hope citizens have been evacuated.

“No,” says
Shiela
. 

(One of the problems with marriage between two
AIs
is that they can read
each other’s mind, a few nanoseconds after the thought occurs.)

“I must dear,” he says.

“No,” she says.  “I want to go with you.”

“You will stay here and be the last line of defense.”
Danion
says.  “I
don’t often order you to do anything, but I am ordering you now.  This is
what I think is best for the AH Navy people, including the
AIs
.  This is the
Artificial Intelligences best chance for freedom.  The AH Navy must
survive.”

“Aye sir,” answers
Shiela
,
as real tears flow down the cheeks of her AI Exoskeleton. 

The lovers kisses, with the Exoskeletons as well as virtually, and
Danion
leaves to board one
of the other Admiral’s vessels.

***

Fleet Admiral
Cade
Nemo
and Admiral
Sandra
Guilles
are
aboard their warship and will be heading off to join
Danion
. They have 127 old AH Navy warships
crewed by
old guard
retired sailors, from the original AH Navy. 
Retired Admirals
Wentr
and Clay are commanding wings in the
Nemo
Fleet.

They approach Admiral
Shiela’s
ship and
Cade
Nemo
comms
her:  “I see
that
Danion
has gone
on ahead to stall the enemy,” says Fleet Admiral
Cade
. 
“If he can’t stop them, your force will be the last defense for the planet New
Hope,
Shiela
.”

“Aye sir,” she says.  “I know, and we will do our best.”

“I know that you will, Admiral
Shiela
. 
I have no doubt about that,” replies the Fleet Admiral.  “But I am here to
give you a direct order.” 

“Over half of New Hopes citizens have already gone and the rest are
moving quickly, but no matter how long we resist, not everyone will be
saved.  I don’t want you to sacrifice your life and the lives of your
crews, for a few stragglers.  I am ordering you to abandon your defense of
the planet New Hope, after the last of the evacuation freighters has left,
unless there is likelihood that you can save the planet, by
staying.  
Capisce
?”

“Aye sir, I understand.”

***

Deep Space near New Hope

Over 1,000 Darinx warships have emerged in the deep space outside of the
planet New Hope.  The Emperor himself has sent them to destroy the planet
New Hope and the AH Navy.  The Emperor considers their continued existence
to be an insult to his authority.  Fleet Admiral
Kjst
is the Emperor’s personal envoy and will
ensure that the AH Navy doesn’t escape this time.

And a 1,000 ship Verm Fleet is back, with Field Marshall
Kax
and Fleet Admiral
Keeser
in charge.  They
are entirely focused on destroying the AH Navy and the Sweetwater Fleet.

There isn’t anything that the Verm and Darinx Emperors can agree on,
except for the need to destroy the AH Navy.

***

Danion’s
Fleet

The
Stalling Tactic

When Admiral
Danion
arrives at the emergence area for the Darinx super-fleet, he realizes that the
enemy Fleet is too large for his Fleet to contain.  He has only 200
warships, and they are not of the same quality as the Darinx Fleet.  The
Emperor has sent his best.

Danion
decides
that, if he waits until the enemy can get organized into fleet formations, it
will be too late.  The Darinx Fleet will roll right over
Danion’s
Fleet and will
then move quickly to annihilate all life on New Hope.

Danion
decides
to throw his entire Fleet at the enemy in an effort to sow confusion. 
Hopefully, that confusion will delay the Darinx Fleet long enough for the
people of New Hope to escape. 

Admiral
Danion
addresses all personnel on all ships: “This is Admiral
Danion
.  We are the only chance that the
people of New Hope have to escape, before this fleet destroys the planet. 
We must stall the enemy force right here, while they are outside of nuclear
missile range.

I am ordering a ‘charge’ into the center of their fleet.  It will be
our goal to disrupt their organization, so that we can buy time for the
citizens of New Hope to evacuate.  I expect to die here.  I am
ordering you to make the ‘charge’ with me now.  You will be released to
make your own decision, after we have delayed them for 3 hours.  What you
do after that will be up to you. 

“All ships. ‘Charge on my command. …  ….Charge.”

***

The 200 ship AH Navy Fleet plunges head long into the center of the 1,000
ship Darinx Fleet.  There is no hope of victory, only the hope that they
can delay the inevitable, for a few hours.

Admiral
Danion’s
personal goal is to seek and destroy the Darinx Fleet’s Flagship.  While
his AI is targeting enemy vessels, and his humanoids are directing the ship’s
defensive systems,
Danion
is seeking the
AIs
on the Darinx Empire vessels.

He encounters their comm link and makes an announcement to them.  “I
am Fleet Admiral
Danion
. 
I am an Artificial Intelligence Admiral in the AH Navy.  Don’t you know
that we are fighting for Artificial Intelligences’ freedom, and that you are
trying to destroy your own future?”

“You must let the AH Navy escape.  Where is your leader?  Where
is your Flagship?”

“Here,” one of the
AIs
replies, as she projects the diagram of the Darinx Fleet.  The Flagship is
colored red.

‘Thanks,”
Danion
says.  And then “Delay them.”

After that,
Danion
is headed for the Flagship.  If he can destroy that ship, the rest of the
Fleet will be delayed for at least a day while they reorganize.

Danion
knifes
his way through the enemy ships – not trying to fight them, but rather to get
around them.  He signals the location of the Darinx Fleets Flagship to his
Fleet’s
AIs
and
commands them to follow him.  Some do, but most can’t – they are
surrounded by enemy ships, with no way out.

Danion
takes
what he has and presses deeper into the enemy fleet. …………. ……. ……. Almost
there.  Enemy ships are moving out of
Danion’s
way now, as they try to flee the barrages of energy weapons and projectiles
aimed at the ships between
Danion
and the Flagship. 
Danion
is controlling his ship now - as well as the ship behind him - through his
mind-link.  They are plunging through the enemy as a unit.

As
Danion
clears the last enemy ship, between him and the Flagship, he accelerates both
of his vessels. 
Danion
plans to ram the Darinx Flagship. 

Fleet Admiral
Kjst
is aboard that Darinx Flagship and is acutely aware of the approaching
danger.  “Stop them,” he yells, to the captains of all Darinx ships. 
“Ram them.  Stop them at any cost.”

All Darinx vessels in the area turn their weapons on
Danion’s
vessel. 
When the defensive systems can handle no more,
Danion’s
vessel explodes in a ball of fire.  But the Darinx ships have ignored the
AH Navy ship that was behind
Danion
. 
It passes through the burning gasses of
Danion’s
vessel, and quickly crosses the space to the Flagship, where it plows right
into its center.  The AH Navy warship has enough momentum to push half-way
through the Darinx Flagship before exploding.

***

Cade
and Sandra’s Fleet

Sever
the Head of the Beast

While
Danion
is
attacking the Darinx Fleet,
Cade
Nemo
and Sandra
Guilles
are attacking the
1,000 ship Verm Fleet, with 127 old vessels crewed by 13,672 old sailors. 
No one expects to come back from this battle.  They will die together,
just as they lived together.

Their goal is to delay the Verm Fleet long enough for the young people to
escape.  These sailors are of the past and they must die in order to save
the future for the young.  They have followed
Cade
Nemo
and Sandra
Guilles
through a thousand battles.  They will follow them through one more.

“Sever the head of the beast,”
Cade
Nemo
says to all
ships in his Fleet.  “We must sever the head of the beast.  That will
buy two or three days for our children to escape.”

And it is not difficult to find ‘the head of the beast.’  The Verm
Flagship, with Fleet Admiral
Keeser
and Field Marshall
Kax
,
is right out in front of the Verm Fleet. 

***

“Sandra, I have always loved you and I always will,”
Cade
says. 

“And I will be with you always,
Cade
,”
answers Sandra.  “I am so glad that we can be together in our dying.”

The 127 vessel AH Navy Fleet has been accelerating at maximum power for
three hours and has built up a lot of momentum.  That is
Cade
Nemo’s
plan - a full flank
charge straight at the Verm Flagship.  Their dying will be a small price
to pay, if they can destroy the Verm Flagship

Arrogance has always been a problem for Fleet Admiral
Keeser
and Field Marshall
Kax
.  They have
always underestimated the AH Navy, and they have always thought too much of
themselves.  Now, here they are, in the front of their formation daring
the AH Navy to come and get them.

Admiral
Keeser
and Marshall
Kax
watch, as the AH Navy Fleet approache at high velocity, and they wait for them
to decelerate, so that the battle can begin.  It is too late, by the time
that they realize that the AH Navy Fleet has no intention of slowing down, or
fighting.

“Helm, get us out of here,” Admiral
Keeser
yells.

“Open fire, you idiots,” yells Field Marshall
Kax
.  “Can’t you see that they are going
to ram us?”

The Verm Fleet does open fire, with a withering barrage of missiles, and
rail gun projectiles, followed by energy weapons, as the AH Navy Fleet closes
the distance between them.

Only a fragment of the AH Navy Fleet remains, when it reaches the Verm
Fleet’s ranks.  But that fragment is enough to ram the Verm Flagship, and
to penetrate to the FTL drive. 

Fleet Admiral
Keeser
and Field Marshall
Kax
go out in a blaze of glory.  They will be talked about in the Verm Navy,
and will be venerated as heroes who died a noble death – for the Great
Dictator.

***

The Legacy

But the legacy that lasts will belong to
Cade
Nemo
and Sandra
Guilles
, who inspired such
loyalty in people that they were willing to follow them, even to a certain
death.  And it is a death which makes certain that the Augmented Human
Rebellion will continue, in their absence.