The Revolution- Can Man Beat Machine

by David Nash

  Avionics, what is out there are we under attack?” I ask, quite stringently to the young Ensign running the sensors.

  “Commodore Jones, sensors show no energy emissions or Kernel signatures. It appears we transited into space debris.”

  “All Stop! Tell the Destroyers to stop!” I yell,” Get me a Damage report!”

  “Sir, we have lost life support in the front compartments on Decks 2-5. We are venting atmosphere!”

  “Set General Quarters, secure all airtight doors! Get me accountability!”

  The shrill pipes sound throughout the ship as my calls were relayed.

  Crewmen in combat suits raced to begin damage control. While nanites did not turn out to be the end all solution of early science fiction stories, they sure helped when it came to damage control. Suited Legionaries could carry fire extinguisher like apparatus that could spray nanites on hull breeches to help seal the tears in the ships skin. Unsuited men could not carry the tanks of ‘living’ metal, but unsuited humans could not get to the hull breeches to seal them.

  Fire was not a problem in the compartments venting to space, as there was not enough oxygen to burn. However, once the hull was semi-airtight, the embedded debris and the compromised ships wiring did cause fire.

  As any Navy-man can tell you fire on ship is a nightmare. If a fire cannot be quickly contained the entire ship may be lost. In space, that meant death as you can’t swim for shore in the middle of the cosmos.

  To make matters worse, we had trapped crewman in some of the forward compartments, and the way the debris from the former ships had wedged into our ship on impact caused the spaces to be too small for our suited Legionnaires to enter.

  We had crewman trapped under crushed bulkheads that were being burnt alive. Our damage control teams were frantic; no one had the strength to lift the fallen beams and wall sections off the crew. Our men were burning alive and were screaming for help when Solon and his Barkun arrived. The immensely powerful reptiles were able to life sections of damaged ship inches at a time to allow our crew to throw chocking material between the floor and the debris. By cribbing the fabled material, it did not take long to build up enough supporting material that the injured me could squirm far enough so that they could be pulled out.

  The heat was intense, especially in the collapsed sections nearest the flames. As the last two crewmen were pulled to safety, one of them accidentally kicked the jury rigged cribbing causing it to fall on one of the Barkun rescuers. The weight pinned his arm to the floor, and the weight on the rule edge pressed with enough force it was cutting into his flesh. The intense heat was cooking him. The rooms smelled of roasted fish filled the air.

  Barkun and human alike grabbed sections of wall and heaved together to free the last trapped crewman. Once the Barkun soldier was pulled free, fire crews attempted to put out the fire.

  Working together, it did not take long for the emergency actions to be completed. We stopped for a week to allow our engineers to complete EVA repairs on the outer hull.

  The Sergeant Major took this opportunity to do some training in space walks, he rightly surmised that I was going to ask foe data on what happened, as it appears were jumped into the middle of another ancient battle.

  Like the first one discovered, this battle also appeared one sided. There is evidence of the same massive energy impacts and no sign of a second species.

  While the repairs and exploration were occurring, I noticed a welcome benefit to the near disaster. The Human/Barkun job partnerships were becoming more amicable; they were spending time after hours and sharing in each species cultural recreations. The Barkun were playing games of chance, they particularly liked craps, which as their commander, I know nothing about. My Sergeant Major ensures that such hobbies are above board and not taken too far.

  The Barkun have also taken up a love of the music the legionaries like to work out too. Our guys are really impressed with how much a Barkun can lift, and there is a lot of time spent in our gyms and workout centers. The Barkun have shared with humans a fermented beverage popular on Cecrops. Like the gambling I don’t want to know where or how it is made, but I am concerned with its potency. A shot of the Cecrops go juice is enough to make a young legionnaire stupid drunk. Once again, the Sergeant Major has a firm lid on that subject.

  By risking their own safety, particularly after one was injured saving a human member of the crew, the Barkun have begun to get more acceptances. The men pulled from the burning cabin have spent a lot of time tending to the injured former enforcer. While we aren’t there yet, Solon and I can see progress made toward healing and forging a new alliance against the Kernel.

  I hope that we can do the same with whoever has been leaving these debris fields.

  42

  En route to Former Barkun Planet Laphanes

  The Barkun world of Laphanes is one of the four worlds that held semi-peaceful Barkun. From what I have been told by the Sangren, it was a planet of scientists it was full of universities and research centers, and from what I am told a pretty decent weapons research laboratory. Cecrops was the capital, and was primarily the center of Government. Paopeus held the banks and was the center for business.

  Once we are able to free Laphanes we will head to Diagoras, which is the last planet we hope to find non-implanted Barkun. Diagoras was the center for art and culture, for what is was in the Barkun world. Because of the military hierarchy, Diagoras was nearly impoverished and held little sway in the Barkun hierarchy. However it did hold the most free thinkers and subversives. I would have freed it first if its location was not on the farthest reach of the known Confederacy.

  Once we save that planet, if it is still possible, we start on the sterilization mission for the last two Barkun planets, and the last 4 Sangren planets. By that time, I hope that the cruisers will be built for Battle Star group 3 and well on the way for BSG’s 4, 5, and 6.

  I have high hopes for this mission, but in the back of my mind Alan’s warnings have mated with the stories of the Kernel taking most of their ships out of the Paopeus system before we got there. I know they are setting a trap, I just don’t know where. However, my money is on Laphanes or Diagoras.

  Dad always said, “Don’t be scared; be prepared.” My officers and NCO’s at all levels have prepared the best we can. We all understand the stakes and know that at some point we are going to trigger a trap of some kind. I can’t say I am sleeping well, but I have done everything I know to do; I just pray it is enough.

  The transit was unopposed; for once scans don’t show any Kernel ships. The sounds of crickets come to mind as I stare at the empty screens. I don’t like it, but I am not going to show my concern to the crew.

  To the screen showing the bridge, I address Admiral Whitemoore. Admiral, let’s move to the Planet and prepare to assault the planet. We have time, so move with caution. Just because the screen shows clear does not mean it is.”

  “Yes General.” The Admiral muted his Comms and went about giving commands his subordinates within the battle star group.

  “Sergeant Major?”

  “Yes, General Davis?”

  “Have you got me a ride down to the surface?”

  ’Sir, we have a nice shuttle locked on, it is in the order of battle and lined up after the assault ships.”

  “Good work Sergeant Major, but I think we can get down a little sooner, don’t you?”

  “Begging the General’s pardon, sir, what I can do, and what I should do is a little different. We wouldn’t want to intrude on the assault phase. You know interfering with how the men trained and all. If we wait until the battlefield is secure, there will be less confusion.”

  “Sergeant Major Provo, what you will do is ensure that the two of us have a ticket to a ride one of those drop ships. What I will do is ensure that there is no confusion on the fact the everybody in this Legion is willing and able to fight.” A quick flash of the memory of Marvin’s death hit me like a ton of bricks

  “Sergeant Maj
or, We are going in support of the FEF, and I trust Admiral Bradley and Admiral Sohn. We can take a ship that gets us on target after they do. This is about getting a feel for the battle ground and sniffing out what the Kernel is planning.”

  “Yes Sir, I am sure the General has a plan sir.” The Smage looked unconvinced, but it doesn’t matter, I need to get my feet on the ground and see for myself what is going on.

  At the speed our grave plates allow us to travel, getting from the Lagrange point to orbit only takes 20 minutes.

  A last precaution was to initiate a global scan of the planet and release our new Kernel Signal blocking satellites.

  We determined the location of three Hive minds and sent down orbital strikes as our procedures call for.

  As soon as the kinetics impacted, we send down the assault ships.

  There is a lot of debris in the air, which makes for hazardous flying. The upside is that, similar to old Marine Corps amphibious doctrine of having the amphibious assault vehicles spree smoke to make it harder to determine numbers and target individual craft, the debris screen did the same, but on a much grander level.

  We had 6 assault ships from the 1st Cruiser force assigned to each location of a former Hive mind, as well as 2 assault ships in orbit to provide a quick reaction force. The first location was to be commanded by Admiral Sohn and consisted of two waves of troops from his 2nd Fleet Expeditionary Force

  The Second was another 6 ships commanded by Admiral Bradley. I took the third location and took command of 4 Assault ships from the 1st FEF, all from Dozer Brigade, I also had two assault ships from the 2nd FEF as Sohn sent some of his Thunder Troop Brigade to assist me. 2nd FEF Crimson Brigade filled two assault ships to act as the Quick Reaction Force (QRF) sitting in orbit.

  The first wave of 9 assault ships landed without any major issues. They had no Kernel contact. Dropping at speed through airborne debris was not without danger, but we were able to get on the ground in minutes that way.

  Once the first battalions signaled they had established a beachhead, the last wave dropped. With inertial dampening, if you don’t look at the screens you would never know how fast the ships were dropping to the planet surface. I never look unless I have to, watching the drop makes me nauseous, and I can’t let my troops think it is okay to throw up in your suit…..

  43

  Surface of Laphanes

  I step out of the drop ship to an alien world, it’s not that the Barkun cities are not much different from human cities, but after an orbital bombardment, things are askew. The majority of the drop ships are in and around a crater the size of 5 football fields. Outside the crater, rubble is strew outward from the blast force, then the vacuum caused by the initial shockwave pulled the debris back inward causing a jumble of girders, trees, buildings, and vehicles. The surrounding city looks like a giant toddler smashed everything in a tantrum.

  Alan, my security platoon, and the Sergeant Major are deployed in a lose 360 degree circle to provide some security.

  My Legionnaires have secured the location and are scouring the immediate surroundings for confirmation that the Hive-mind in this location is eradicated.

  I briefly surveil my surroundings to get a good mental picture of the battle space; I turn and move toward my drop ship turned command post when a burst of radio traffic hits my suit Comms

  Interference and static makes it hard to make out the communique as I only get bits and pieces “Battle Star … General … Attack … They have a cloak … “Heads turn upwards, I follow with my eyes and see one of the orbital assault ships in flames.

  As I open the channel to my ground commanders to warn them as all hell breaks loose. My drop ship explodes as geysers of dirt explode around us. I don’t know what the Kernel have, but it sure looks like mortar fire!

  “Get off the X! We are targeted by unknown weapons fire!” My Security Platoon Leader yells.

  We all start for the edge of the crater; I am looking around, trying to locate some overhead cover, when the top of the crater becomes filled with thousands of ridden lizard men approaching my brigade as lemmings running to slaughter. The image of thousands of rodents leaping to their death springs into my mind. I push the image away with the unsatisfying question, who is the lemming, and who is the cliff.

  As we are moving away from the now burning drip ships I try to communicate with my commanders and the fleet. No luck.

  “Alan, can you get in contact with the rest of the Legion?” I yell toward my partner germ.

  “No general, there is major interference on our frequencies. I believe we are being jammed.” He replied

  “Well work on it; tell me the second you get contact!”

  Through a combination of hand signals, highly boosted local Comms, and good old fashioned yelling, I get the brigade’s attention.

  We form a rough infantry square of a type not in common use since the mid 1800’s we backed up around a hollow center, each side of the square protecting the backs of their opposite side. Now, we can all fire outward, with our shields forming a barrier against incoming fire.

  The problem was, with the mortar shelling we could not tighten up as tightly as needed. Unlike the 10th Calvary fighting horse mounted Cheyenne warriors in 1867, our infantry square had something extra. We had flying horses….

  “Areion, get your studs in the air and cut down that indirect fire!”

  Our own counter artillery was out of commission as it was in orbit, but, the Germs in the Brigade have the ability to act as forward observers and have calculated the probable location of the fire, thus giving the Centaurs the needed information to act as close air support.

  It was a beautiful sight to see 6 platoons of flying horsemen leap into the air and rain hellfire down on our enemies. 3 platoons headed off toward the artillery, 2 strafed the area just past the crater walls to soften up the mass of ridden, and the last circled our legion’s brigade size square and acted as both a reserve unit and added firepower.

  Or men huddled behind their hover shields, using them as they were designed to be used and as they had been so deeply drilled. The first line knelt and interlocked their shields, the next line stood over them and set up a send row of shields, the third row held their shields up and angled so that they could deflect fire coming from above them on the crater walls. The legionnaires fired their forearm cannons from the gaps in the shield wall. The rows behind used the hover shields to pop up and fire from slightly above the wall. With the mass of fighters popping up, firing and then dropping down, the mindless ridden Barkun were unable to effectively fire on my troops.

  What they were able to do is use zombie human wave tactics to push the against our shield wall. With the suits and the air support, we could handle that. A young enterprising buck Sergeant discovered that he could lock his suit’s joints after interlocking his arms with the troops to his left and right and then goose the grave plate on the shield in order to throw gravity against the incoming Barkun. It was not long before entire sides of our infantry square were doing this as a human wave; it had the effect of pushing the Barkun drones off their feet and away from the line. If he survives, hell if I survive I am going to give him a promotion.

  One reason I know we are going to win is the downright genius humanity has for killing. Once someone weaponized the shields, others started experimenting. Soon, the crazy enlisted line realized that if you could throw using a shield, you could punch. The top row of shields started angling their shields down toward the masses of mindless ridden. When two legionaries from the top row caught an attacker between two grave shields they smashed them like a bug on a windshield. Was going to promote the two that thought of that modification, but they went too far and forgot that as they angled away from the line, they opened up the line. Fire from the lip of the crater targeted them and killed them without warning.

  “Do not fucking outsmart yourself! Keep the shields pointing at the damn enemy!” Sergeant Major Provo yelled over the boosted local channel. With his NCO
leather lungs I am sure the troops would have heard him without the amplification of the suit.

  As well as we were doing against the human wave attacks, the indirect fire was killing us. It was blasting holes in our line almost as fast as I sent reserves in to reform the lines.

  To make matters worse, Alan still had not been able to break through the jamming.

  After 10 good minutes of full contact battle, the men holding the shield line were beginning to show fatigue, yet the Barkun showed no sign of slowing their attack.

  Areion and what looked to be a third of his original force came screaming back toward our lines. He landed in a rush and galloped toward me.

  “General! We found the source of the jamming and the weapons firing on this position!” He yelled over the din of the battle.

  “So why are the weapons still firing on use?” I bellowed back

  Because the weapons are coming from a ship, a big ship buried the mountains to the East. It is heavily defended by large metal spiders with a turret on top of their body ”Areion offered.

  “How far, and what is between them and us?”

  “Less than a mile sir, and there isn’t anything between them and us but rubble and the ridden.”

  I don’t have many options, and it seems that more likely than not, this structure is the source of the interference and the hive mind.

  “Alan, have you had any luck with the interference?”

  “Sir, it is close enough to our own hyperspace carrier signal to be deliberate interference, but I don’t have any capability of blocking it.”

  “Can you track it?”

  “Not with accuracy, but I can say with some certainty that it is coming from the East.”

  That cuts it, we are out of here! I motion to my officers; they all run over until I have the command teams for my 6 battalions.

  “Alright, our Centaurus Air Support located what appears to be a Kernel ship buried in a mountain to our East. It is heavily defended by some robotic spiders and is apparently the source of bother the radio interference and the indirect fire. Smart money says it is also the source of a hive mind.