Para then gave the guy a quick inspection. He was terrified as she listened to his breathing, felt the ribs around his sternum. No punctured lungs. Then she hauled him to his feet and sent him stumbling toward his friends, who were trying to hide behind some heavy pipes as they watched. The whole incident took less than a minute, though in the back of my mind I had to wonder if it was worth the time, concern for my parents niggled away in the back of my mind.
We managed a few short-ports, then ran the rest of the way up the hill, picking up speed as it became clear a portion of the building had collapsed. My concern eased a moment later when I saw my folks in front of the building, looking fine, sifting through the rubble with a bunch of other people. Then I notice that everyone had a frantic look. We hurried over and gave some quick hugs. Dad explained that a mom and her young daughter were trapped inside the building. Some had heard the sound of tapping, like a rock hitting a metal pipe.
But the tapping sound had ended a couple of minutes ago. To make matters worse, the rubble was shifting a little. What if there was an aftershock? Para asked around, trying to pinpoint a location for the tapping sound. The group came to a good consensus, which sent Para scurrying around to find a way in through the rubble. There! A tight squeeze into the depths of the collapsed building. Para wiggled in and did some... adjusting. I followed her.
Para stopped and said, “Stay out Viz, it’s too dangerous.”
I disagreed, continuing to follow. She stopped moving, stubborn girl. Two can play at that game. I backed out of the hole and ran to a nearby medic van to grab a collapsible backboard. No one was around, so I helped myself and ran back to the hole to follow Para’s tunnel. She had made good progress, prompting me to hurry along toward the light coming from her pid, and a slight opening in the debris.
Para had found the mom and her little girl, and was carefully examining the unconscious woman. I scooted the backboard toward Para, who gave me one of her looks, like I wasn’t supposed to be there or something. But she grabbed the backboard and very carefully moved the woman onto the board and secured her head. The little girl was about two, sitting quietly next to her mom squeezing a stuffed animal.
Para asked her to lie down on her mommy’s lap and try not to move. We would all go outside and get some fresh air. The little girl nodded and smiled. I was able to get turned around and started to move out when the aftershock came. Para grabbed my ankle to pull me close, but I was already on the move, rolling into a tight little ball in front of her. She made a sort of bridge by pushing up on her hands and feet, to cover the mother and daughter. And me.
As the concrete shifted, Para grimaced and... held. Thankfully, it was over in a few seconds, but our nice tunnel was filled with shifted rubble. Para squeezed past me to grind her way through the mess, as I followed along, dragging the little family on the backboard. It was a miserable slog, adding to the relief when we finally broke to the surface.
The little girl obeyed our request to stay still as we hauled her and her mom around the corner to some EMT guys, who quickly assessed the situation and took charge.
What a day. The city was in full rescue mode, with med-porters on scene, though it was clear by then that most of the infrastructure had held and casualties were light. Rock was kind enough to port us all to mom and dads house, but begged out of dinner, saying he already had plans. Para gave the EMT her number in case there were any questions and requested they call with word of the family. They were fine, ending up in an overnight hospital stay only as a precaution. It turned out to be a satisfying couple of days despite the lack of any rest and relaxation.
***
San Francisco already seems a distance memory as we move through these final hours leading up to the invasion. It’s June 9th. Tomorrow, the gate-ship will drop out of warp somewhere near the Cygnus Prime system. Then Viper Strike Fleet will cross, first from Oort-to-Jasmin, then from Jasmin-to-Cygnus Prime. Our amazing warships will achieve space dominance of the entire Prime system. And that will prepare the way for the ground operation, Goodnight.
The planetary teleportation shield around Prime has been activated as expected. They’re expecting us but they can’t stop us. Troop transports will cross over from Oort along with the haulers carrying the SUGAR and SPICE.
The crews that will fly the SPace Inserted Cruise Enabled craft (SPICE) will ride on the haulers in assembly areas sufficient for the relatively short trip from the gate to the planet. Those SPICE ships have robust shielding to facilitate the cross into atmosphere, where they’ll defend the troop transports and the Shielded and Upgraded Ground Assault Rigs (SUGAR) haulers while they drop to the surface. Once on the ground, the shielded rigs and their crews can mostly take care of themselves, as the aircraft move on to achieve air dominance.
So, it’s as easy as 1, 2, 3.
The Viper Strike Fleet with achieve space dominance and escort the Goodnight troops and equipment to Prime.
The SPICE ships will defend the SUGAR and troop transports as they drop to their various strike zones, bring shielding online, and move out to dominate their sector.
The air campaign will quickly achieve air dominance and support the ground troops until Operation Goodnight controls the planet.
Fingers-crossed, for a fourth opening, when a Growler sent through Jabberwocky Gate crashes the dome on Prime allowing SpecOps teams to cross over that way. If Viper manages a quick victory in space, and we can hold the gate on Prime, it would also allow direct teleportation of troops to support the grounder operation. That would spare a lot of troops the grind of porting to a transport ship at Oort for the long and dangerous ride to Prime.
If the Jabberwocky incursion doesn’t work, we’ll have to cruise in on a SpecOps haulers.
To add to the Shockwave drama, Tee won’t be joining us for Operation Goodnight. Despite his objections, Solcom wants him elsewhere. And I’ve been given command of the squad, which certainly brings mixed feelings. To help balance the proposition, Communal will be a part of the team, along with the Allenmore Four. At least Tee managed that in his negotiations, bless his heart. We’ll be a full squad of 10 for once. I’ve got a good feeling about the team configuration. True-oath, I don’t have a choice in the matter.
WORTH A SHOT
Kreahaam is crowded with SpecOps teams. We’ve gathered in sizeable groups based on our assigned raiding zone, ready to soften the enemy and bring general chaos. The targeting is mostly zeroed on vital infrastructure and military assets. But we’re cleared for targets of opportunity as well. It’s June 10th.
The Viper Strike Fleet made the transit, moving from Oort all the way to the gate-ship sector, approximately half a light day from Cygnus Prime. For all I know, they’ve already made contact with the enemy. Blast them to quarks, Viper!
Specific to SpecOps teams, a bridge between Jabberwocky at Kreahaam to Prime is about to be established. Then a Growler will be launched across the bridge, the augmented warp field set to go online as soon as the missile exits.
Solcom is determined to have a direct teleportation route to Prime. They want it so badly, a fast-track project was commissioned to rig a second missile with a warhead composed of the shard from Ahaam, just in case the Growler is ineffective.
Rock apparently has nothing to do right now, so he’s decided to help with my explanation of the shard missile, that technically isn’t a missile.
As you will recall, we bored through the shard on Ahaam in order to gain access to the ship. That left a nice two-foot diameter shard piece, which was mostly intact. It was shaped and attached to a smart thruster rocket propelled impactor shell that has a slightly large diameter than the shard piece. After the bridge crossing, thrusters will push the heavy projectile forward slowly until it impacts the dome wall. Assuming the shard properties work on Primer domes, the shard ram tip will pass through the dome wall, but not the impactor housing.
As thrust diminishes on command from the internal guidance system, the projectile will slide down the dome to the ground, but t
he shard will create a breach. And the Growler, at the very least, should have taken out internal defensive guns, leaving a clear path for the shard.
Here’s the countdown for round 1, Growler missile versus Primer magic dome. Okay, it’s a sphere. Whatever.
The SpecOps teams are tethered to their port-tech, ready for the signal to jump to our preassigned destinations of destruction as soon as the Growler crashes the dome.
Something is happening. “Fierce, can you get access to the comms, Jabberwocky Station with Solcom?”
Fierce isn’t sure, exactly. “Viz, I’m not sure if... hold on. Okay, they’re on an open channel. I’ll wind it back and synch playback to real-time at a 30% refresh rate.”
JABBERWOCKY CONTROL STATION: Solcom, the Growler has crossed the bridge and is active. ISR drone is through. It didn’t last long. Accessing data. It’s a mess in there. The dome is... still intact.
SOLCOM: Copy, Jabberwocky. Send the next strike package.
JABBERWOCKY CONTROL STATION: Solcom, we’ve got oscillating gravitational waves feeding back across the bridge. The amplification curve is... steep. We’re going to have to evacuate the station.
SOLCOM: Jabberwocky, close the gate.
JABBERWOCKY CONTROL STATION: Negative on gate closure, Solcom. We’re breaking apart. Systems compromised. Request...
Just like that, the infiltration plan has crashed and burned. And from there it just gets worse.
By the time Solcom was able to initiate a second-level gate demolition, the control station had broken apart. Only two made it out, and they’re in critical condition. Our science is still catching up to the rush for action. These terrible tragedies sadden me, but at the same time, I don’t know that we have a choice.
The SpecOps teams are on hold for the moment until Viper clears the way for the troop transports. We’ll be sharing an AT-3 with GG and Dirty Feet. The port room is small, but at least we won’t have to port to a regular transport ship and shuttle over. The AT-3 is a new breed of ship, capable of operating in space and atmosphere, armed with two railguns and an internal tube launcher for hypes.
It looks as though we’ll be stuck here on the Kreahaam worlds in our make-shift housing, despite the appeals of our division commanders to allow us to move on to Earth. The oxygen levels are too high here for a long stay. But the bases on Earth are jam-packed with Grounders waiting to port onto their transport ships. We’ll just make do, mostly staying inside with the oxygen scrubbers.
It did brighten my gloomy day to hear we’ll leave the heavy Longarms behind in exchange for the new Shades carbine, firing Spooky-jets. The short .50 caliber jet rounds can manage a 25-degree lean, to help with those around-the-corner shots, and are certified to punch through Primer powered dynamic shielding using quantum-sneak technology.
Chapter Five
PRIME TIME
We’ve been jammed in our camp here on Kreahaam for almost 24 hours, not allowed to stray outside the perimeter, with no updates on the Viper situation. It’s June 12th. There are 300 of us calling this camp home until they find more room elsewhere, or we ship out. Worst of all, we were ordered to off our pids, completely. That has led to the sort of behavior I’m observing, not ten feet away.
Two guys are debating which is worse, the Kreahaam dust that seems to get... everywhere, or the gloom. Did someone forget to pay the stupid light bill? Hey! I better go break it up before they come to blows, and the whole place erupts. Ughhh.
It’s time to get creative. Are you ready? Okay, Fierce is all set. He’s going to spoof the sensors so we don’t get in trouble when we send a pid message out to get some information. We’re only going to message Tee, so it shouldn’t be a big deal. My clever cousin has phase aligned my pid to the Journal, and used its quputer function to access QuIM via the very old conferencing modules built into our tables. They must have recycled these old conference tables for general military use and just left the old modules intact.
We’ll message him through the system at Trollkin Enterprises using his personal contact number. That should get his attention and add a layer of buffer. Our thin QuIM line won’t be anything more than a drop in the ocean, so it won’t affect military ops.
VIZ: Hi, Grandad, hope you’re doing well. We’re stuck in a dark hole on Kreahaam waiting to deploy, hoping you might give us an Operation Viper update.
TEE: Viz? You should be in comms lockdown. Your pid signal will be traced and you’ll be reprimanded.
VIZ: No worries. It’s been handled. You sound stressed. Viper not going as planned?
TEE: Sorry, I’m not getting Viper updates yet either. They have me on another project right now. Be patient, they’ll give us an update soon.
VIZ: Another project?
TEE: As you know, we’ve been monitoring the Gall-Karrin on Crimson. They’ve put together a formidable strike fleet. The initial assessment is, they can match our warships. They have GRASER technology, and they’ve managed to increase the output.
The data we obtained from the computer banks on Crimson tells quite a story. The Gall have been sending out robo-drones for millennia, with a lie about ‘the treasures of the Gall.’ Or, as they call themselves, the Anatoid.
When the trader from Crimson came to visit so long ago, they were ready for him, and set him up to deliver their spawn. There’s concern at this point as to how many forms the Anatoid have taken in their blending. I’m afraid we haven’t heard the last from the Anatoid-Karrin. That they have upgraded GRASER technology is... disturbing. And who knows what Anatoid blended spawn they may have as allies.
VIZ: Crud. Well, first things first. We’ll handle them after Prime.
TEE: Let’s hope is doesn’t come to that. Not for a while, anyway. You’d better sign off now. Tell Fierce to disconnect from the Journal rather than closing out from Trollkin Enterprises, or his spoof is going to fail. Be safe, Viz! Give my love to all.
Well, that was odd and disturbing news. Trouble is popping up all over the place.
At least the Kreahaam worlds are doing well. It’s only been two weeks since Scotty came on the scene, but so much has been accomplished. Solcom was certain there would be a need for an interim monarchy on Kreahaam, with Scotty as king. It wasn’t necessary to go down that dangerous road. Even Solcom admitted it could have resulted in a civil war. Anyway, the bugs had no desire for another monarchy, not after the reign of queens. Polling made it clear they were enamored with the governing process of Earth.
And, just like that, there’s already a full-blown campaign for Prime Minister of Kreahaam. Scotty is on the Interim Council, and he would certainly win the election if he ran for Prime Minister. That, of course, is why he refuses to run. There are several very good candidates. Each colony-town will also choose a representative for some sort of ruling cabinet under the Prime Minister. From that start, the election process will expand over the next few months, or years.
Awesome, here comes a break in the monotony. The chatter near the entrance probably means our guest has arrived. A Grounder colonel is coming to ‘have a chat.’ He’s probably come to explain why we’re stuck here rather than heading back to Earth, even though the message streamers made it clear that camps everywhere are loaded with troops waiting to deploy.
No, it looks like we’re going to get an update. I’ll take some notes.
The initial ground phase will involve 20 infantry divisions, more than 300,000 soldiers. Solcom managed to recruit 3,000 port-techs, with a required minimum lift capacity of 20 troopers with gear. The genetic typing for teleporters is fairly rare, so that seems to me an outstanding initial push for port-techs. The army has been sorted by group: squads of 10; platoons of 20; companies of 100; battalions of 500; divisions of 15,000.
There are armored divisions, mostly housed within the Ground Corps, with only one specialty division listed as Space Action Corps. Mechanized equipment is largely AI controlled, though protocol calls for a two-person team in the unit.
Operation Viper has the thre
e space fleets, with a fourth fleet maintaining a vigilant watch in or near our own Solar System.
This is interesting! Solcom hasn’t shared numbers on how many troop transports are making their way out of the shipyards. There are 100 troop transports capable of moving 1,000 soldiers. But, hold on. That doesn’t add up. There are 300,000 soldiers in the initial drop. 100 ships can only carry 100,000 soldiers.
That leaves me with a question. “Pssst, Fierce. Fierce! Help me wave down the Query Drone. Please. I want to ask how only 100 ships are going to drop all those troops. They can’t stuff 3,000 soldiers into 1,000 cocoon pods.”
The initial drop will disburse the 20 Phase One Ground Corps and Space Action Corps divisions in 20 grid sectors. SpecOps will play a key role in the initial push on Prime. We’ll be avoiding the domes in Phase One of Operation Goodnight. After we establish a presence on Prime, we will have to crash the domes, one way or another.
500,000 additional troops will follow on for Phase Two of Operation Goodnight. If you’re keeping track, that’s 800,000 troops all told. The call-up has... strained base housing. Solcom regrets the... delay in deployment. But, if not for the remarkable autonomous machines, how many more troops would have been needed? It will be the machines, with their QuAI operational capabilities, that do most of the work. Starships, drone sensors, drone weapons, heavy mechanized ground equipment. The machines will handle most aspects of the war.
He’s waved the query drone back to its pad. No time for questions?
The colonel must have pulled some questions from the drone. “In response to the question about the delay in dealing with the domes. We are aware, and are concerned about an unbroken supply chain with 50 worlds. We will be watching closely. When a dome goes offline to release ships or material to Cygnus Primer proper, there will be an immediate... kinetic response.
“One more question, then I must move on to another camp. Here’s a good one. How will we manage to drop 300,000 troops to the ground with only 100 transport ships?
Invasion: Journal Three (Shockwave Book 3) Page 29
