Stollar's Gambit

by Jason Borondy

  “Sure,” she responded with a smile.

  Haley began to walk to the back of the vehicle and help one of the soldiers with a sling over his right arm unbuckle himself. Haley then stepped down the ramp and helped lead the young man down the ramp. It was dark outside. The vehicles had their lights off so they wouldn’t attract attention. She noticed more individuals piling out of the remaining vehicles. Everyone was using red lights instead of normal white lights. Haley looked around to get her bearings. She was trying to find a place for her charge to rest.

  There was a tap on her left shoulder. Haley and the young man turned around. Standing in front of her was Major Anderson. He was in full exosuit, a red light emanating from his shoulder. Standing next to him was another soldier, a private from what she could make out of his rank insignia.

  “Sergeant Stollar, Private Smith here can get your wounded to the clinic. I need you to come with me,” Major Anderson said.

  Private Smith took over helping the wounded man and they walked off into the darkness. Confused, Haley asked, “What about PFC Kelly? I told her I was going to help her.”

  “Don’t worry about her. We have plenty of people that can help. I have some stuff I need you to look at now,” he replied, handing Haley a flashlight.

  “Where to, sir?” Haley asked, turning on the red light.

  “The Mech Hanger. I need to see if the ones left are still functional.”

  “What about the rest of the supplies and getting the base up and running?” she inquired with a puzzled look.

  He raised his right hand to stop her. “Enough questions, Sergeant. I will fill you in on the way. Let’s move,” he ordered as he spun and began to walk in the direction of the hanger.

  It took a second for Haley to react, but she had to take a few quick steps to catch up with the Major. Man, he walked fast with the exosuit. She brought herself parallel to him and matched his pace. They aimed their flashlights at the ground to help navigate around debris.

  “Okay, Sergeant, to answer your previous question. I have Sergeant Rook’s team trying to get a handle on supply inventory and I have Lieutenant Webber’s team going over the camp’s power grid. We need to see what systems we can get power to. I want you to get the Centurions up and running. Having them operational will help greatly with our defenses,” he said.

  She spotted an Armadillo that was laying on its right side. Its whole left side was just gone, and you could make out the scorch marks on the edges of the hole. Haley stopped and shined her light in the hole Expecting to see bodies, but what seats were left were empty. It was hard to make out any blood with the red light, but she smelled the aroma of burnt flesh emanated from the vehicle. The taste of bile rose to the back of her throat, and she suppressed the urge to throw up.

  She looked over to the major. He just shook his head in disbelief. “It’s one thing to die like this, but taking the bodies. It’s just inhumane.” They turned and continued to walk.

  “What do you make of them taking the bodies?” she asked as they dodged more debris.

  “Could be anything. Trophies maybe?” he replied.

  The thought of the aliens taking trophies upped her anxiety level ten fold. She didn’t want to end up on some alien’s wall. “So how do you want to be mounted?” she said trying to make a joke to ease her nerves.

  He stopped and turned to her with a surprised look. “What?”

  Then she realized how her question came across and she felt her cheeks begin to flush with embarrassment. “Sorry, that came out wrong. I was thinking about… Never mind.” She turned, dropped her head, and continued to walk.

  “I think head mounted like a deer or elk in one of those hunting lodges on Earth,” he replied.

  Haley looked over at him; he gave her a smile. It made her feel a little better. That didn’t last long, though. A large piece of metal suddenly appeared into the beam of her flashlight. She stopped and ran the red light over the structure. It was twisted and hollowed out, but she knew what it was. A Centurion.

  “Well looks like we have to go around,” the major said, shining his beam over the metal carcass.

  Haley aimed her flashlight to her right to an open space. “This way we can get to the side entrance through here.”

  “Lead the way,” the major replied.

  She stepped forward, and her path lead her around the remains of the Centurion. They passed the remaining debris and she led them to the small door on the right side of the hanger. The door closed and the electronic keypad was black. She tapped on the screen several times, nothing happened. She surveyed the door for a handle--there was the emergency bypass that could only be used during a power failure. She tried to pull it, but the thing wouldn’t budge.

  “Damn it!” she yelled as she pounded the door with her fist. Pain shot through her hand and she tried to shake the pain away.

  “Let me,” the major said, moving her out of the way. He lifted his hand to the handle and with his power-assisted hand pulled the handle. There was a clunk as the lock released and he pushed it open with ease.

  She stepped through the opening, scanning the hanger with her flashlight. It was pitch black. The only light came from Anderson and her flashlights. She spotted the parking structures for the Mechs. They had metal tubular scaffolding that was erected for people to be able to load and work on the giant machines. She let out a sigh as she walked past the empty spot where her Mech used to be stored. It was only a few more steps and the beam of her light found a large piece of metal. She started to feel excited. She could see he had wondered off and was looking in a different location.

  “Major over here!” she called out signaling with her light to join her.

  Haley saw that his flashlight stopped moving for a second, then it began to head for her. After a few seconds, she could make out Anderson trotting over to her. Once he got up to her he stopped and asked, “What is it, Sergeant?”

  She shined her light, tracing it over the Mech’s metal body. She stopped once she got to the head. “I found one,” Haley said with some excitement in her voice.

  “Excellent, but does it work?” he asked.

  “Let’s find out,” she replied. Haley searched with the beam of her light to find the stairs. She noticed them on the right side of the Mech’s parking bay. She ran over and began to climb the metal steps. They clanged under her feet with each step. Once she got to the top platform she looked around and approached the open hatch at the top of the machine’s head. She shined her light into the cockpit. It was empty. She looked over to the right of the platform. There was a terminal attached to the railing. Haley knew this was a diagnostic computer that the maintenance techs would use. She walked over to the terminal and began to touch the screen. Just like the door panel. It remained blank. “Damn it!” she yelled out.

  “What?” Anderson's voice shot up from below echoing in the hanger. Haley walked over and peered down at him.

  “The diagnostic machine is dead. Just like the door. I am going to have to get into the Centurion and see if I can get the computer to run inside. It is a long shot though,” Haley responded.

  “Do it,” the major ordered, shining his light in her face.

  She nodded her head and turned to walk over to the Mech’s hatch. Blinking her eyes to get the red dots from the major’s flashlight out of her vision. She got to the hatch and stepped down into the seat. She then plopped into the sitting position. She looked at the center console and found the switch to initiate the start-up sequence. She switched everything to on and turned the starter knob. She heard a faint beep, and the screen that was in the center console slowly started up. It displayed a set of lines. You could turn the light on with the switches, but the computer that ran everything required a security code. Haley knew all the Mechs were loaded with every pilot’s codes. This was for emergencies in case of rapid deployment or a pilot had a medical issue and someone had to pilot it back. She typed in her code and the machine roared to life. Pure excitement washe
d over her as the system ran up through their start up sequence. She looked over the status of the Mech. She focused in on the display and it turned her stomach. It indicated the Mech’s power supply was at five percent. She quickly shut everything down.

  “What happened?” the major inquired from below.

  Haley pulled herself out the Centurion, and walked over to the railing. She shined the light in the face of the major. He raised a hand to block from being blinded.

  “Well, sir. I have some good news and some bad news. Which would you like first?” she asked.

  22

  EDS Hornet

  Orbit of Grand Isle

  David walked into the pilot’s briefing room with his tablet tucked under left arm. The room was empty. He didn’t think he was that early. He looked around the room. It was full of padded chairs in rows stacked one behind the other like a stadium. In the front of the room was a large screen, and off to the right side of the screen was a podium. David found his assigned seat and sat down.

  A few minutes later, other pilots began to file into the room. Mouse’s seat was in the row behind him. David felt his hand pat him on the shoulder.

  “Are you trying to be the teacher’s pet? I don’t think you are going to score any extra points with Patel,” the big man’s voice boomed in his ear.

  David turned in his chair to look up at Mouse. The man was giving David a grin. David eyes narrowed. “I need to try to dig myself out of the hole I am currently in. Did you know what she had me do yesterday?”

  Mouse sat in his seat and chuckled. “Probably something you failed miserably at.”

  “10! 10 on one dogfighting training for 3 hours!” His voice carried to the point the other pilots already in the room shot looks at him.

  “How did you do?” Mouse asked.

  “Good enough to start 20 on one training today.” Patel’s voice came from behind David.

  David briefly shut his eyes in embarrassment. Then opened his eyes and turned around. Jasmine was approaching her seat next to David. She sat down next to him and leaned over to him. He could feel her close to his ear. “It’s not good to complain, because things could always get worse,” she whispered then leaned back to face front.

  David let out a sigh, “Yes, I understand.”

  “Room, attention!” A voice came from the doorway. David and everyone in the room sprang to attention.

  “As you were,” the CAG called out as he entered the room and took his place behind the podium.

  The lights in the room began to dim, and all eyes were on the CAG. He noticed the man press some buttons on the podium, and the large screen on the wall came to life. An image of a spacecraft that David didn’t recognize appeared on the screen. He noticed it was small. He guessed to be about fighter size. It had a squat delta profile with no discernible center fuselage. It reminded David of a flattened triangle.

  “Ladies and Gentlemen,” Hennessy started, “this image is of one of three unknown fighter class enemy ships that had attacked one of our Light Combat Vessel starships.”

  A wave of anxiety suddenly hit David. That was the same class of ship his sister commanded. Was it hers? if so, is she okay?

  “Yes, Rock Hound?” the CAG started. “You do know questions come after I have given the my brief.”

  David didn’t realize he had raised his hand, but there it was sky high. He brought it down. “Sorry, sir.” Chuckles came from pilots scattered throughout the room.

  The CAG waved his hand for everyone to quiet down before he spoke. “Go ahead with the question.”

  “Sir, I was just wondering which LCV it was,” he said.

  “Yes, it was the Little Rock, and yes, your sister is fine. We would not have these pictures if she wasn’t,” Hennessy responded.

  David could hear muffled voices throughout the room. He turned to look at Jasmine and noticed she was shaking her head at him. He knew she wasn’t going to forget this.

  “My I continue?” The CAG asked. David just nodded.

  “Okay, from what we can tell from the intel we have, these fighters pack some punch. It was observed that the missiles they use have a greater range than the Sabers and that they also carry energy weapons.” That drew some murmurs from the crowd. “Also, they have a pension to carry out Kamikaze-style attacks. They tried it against the Little Rock. Fortunately for them the Point Defense systems were able to take down the fighters before they could cause any serious damage.” He leaned forward on the podium. “With that being said, our commercial starships don’t carry that sort of protection.”

  “I don’t like where this is going,” Jasmine whispered to David.

  The CAG pressed some more buttons and the image on the screen changed. It displayed a graphic of the Grand Isle system. Two dots were blinking on screen to indicate the location of the system’s two jump points. “We got orders from command that require us to provide fighter coverage for ships entering and leaving the system. All scheduled flights will arrive from JP1.” The image on the screen zoomed in to just show the jump point. We will escort the ships out to JP1 from the planet and we will escort them in. The Hornet will be repositioned to JP1. This way we will not have to have fighters postured at the jump point.” He looked down to press another button. David’s tablet screen winked on. “I just sent to your tablets the flight schedule for the next few days. No one at this point is exempt.” The Hennessy leaned back from the podium. “Any questions?”

  Someone down the row from David shot his hand up and the CAG pointed at him to continue. “What are our engagement protocols and do we know if these ships have Displacement Drives or are they delivered by carrier?”

  “Good questions,” The CAG replied, “Engagement protocols are as follows. Try to open a line of communication, but if it doesn’t work you are authorized to shoot them down. As for your second question, we don’t know.” The CAG then pointed to someone in the back of the room.

  “Yes sir,” a female voice started. “Are these the Neptunian’s?”

  Hennessy shrugged his shoulders. “We don’t know. With our limited knowledge of the Invaders,” he used EDF’s legal name for them, “it could be a possibility. At this point, we do not know.” The CAG then looked around the room to see if there was any further questions. “Well if that is it, look over your schedules and get ready to fly. Dismissed.”

  Everyone stood. David looked at his tablet and noticed Jasmine and his shift started tomorrow. He also noticed they had the long route. They were going to have to escort a ship from Grand Isle to JP1. That could take up 8 hours round trip.

  “Looks like you get a reprieve, Rock hound,” Jasmine began as he looked up at her from his tablet. “Since we have a full day tomorrow, per regs I have to give you today off. Don’t think I am letting you off easy, though.”

  “Yes, ma’am. I understand,” David replied.

  “I expect you to be at the Hanger Bay by 0630 tomorrow and not a minute late,” Jasmine ordered.

  “0630. Yes, got it.”

  23

  Camp Chapman

  Planet M051

  All the leadership squeezed into the colonel’s office. To Haley’s surprise it seemed relatively untouched. Some of the colonel’s pictures and other items in the room were knocked over, but that was to be expected. A battery-powered lantern sat on the colonel’s desk illuminating the room in white light.

  Major Anderson stood behind the desk where the colonel would sit. Lieutenant Webber was to his left and Master Sergeant Lamb was to his right. Standing next to Haley was Sergeant Rook on her right and on her left was PFC Kelly. Everyone except for Haley was wearing battle armor—at least they left the exos outside. The major pulled out a pad of paper and a pen to write things down.

  “Alright, Sergeant Stollar, get the group up to speed on the status of the Centurions in the hanger?” Anderson asked.

  Haley took a deep breath before speaking. “As you all know, Major Anderson and I checked out the status of the remaining three Cent
urions.” She was scanning the room looking at everyone as she spoke. “Upon further review of all three, we discovered only one of the Mechs were operational, which is disappointing. What is even more disappointing is our only functional Centurion has five percent power remaining. We will need to get the base’s power supply up and running so we can recharge the power system to the Mech.”

  Rook turned to her and asked, “How much will five percent get us?”

  “That is enough power to get it out of the hanger and take one, maybe two shots with either the machine gun or missile system. You can forget about the rail gun, it draws too much power.”

  Major Anderson turned to Webber and asked, “What is our status of returning power to the camp?”

  Webber shrugged his shoulders and replied, “I don’t know if we can. We don’t have any engineering techs to really get a good diagnostic of what is wrong.”

  “I understand. I need you to do the best you can. Hot wire it if you must. I don’t care, we need power,” the major ordered. Then he turned to Sergeant Rook. “How are our supplies looking?”

  Rook pulled out a piece of paper and placed it on the desk. “Surprisingly good. The armory still has about thirty M-22 rifles and enough modular kits to fit them out. We are looking at about 30,000 rounds of 6 mm ammo, ten crates of grenades, 20 striker missile launchers. Plus, plenty of armor and exos, for those who are qualified to use them. Whoever these aliens are, they were not interested in our weapons.”

  “That is good news. After this meeting, I want everyone not already armed to be set up with a weapon. Also, were you able to find any more working Armadillos?” the Major asked.

  He shook his head. “No. Whatever killed the power seemed to affect the remaining vehicles. I was surprised when Sergeant Stollar said she was able to get one of the Centurions to work.”

  “Well, the hanger is protected from electromagnetic attack. That could have factored into it,” she responded.