by James Rosone
A minute later, another Altairian with a small white case walked over to their table and opened it, pulling out a small autoinjector.
“I am going to inject a knowledge booster,” the pale white alien explained emotionlessly. “It will not hurt, and its effects will be felt immediately.” The Altairian placed the injector on the side of Miles’s neck and pushed the button.
Miles didn’t notice any effects from the knowledge booster immediately. They finished their meeting rather uneventfully. However, for the next two weeks, he was inundated with information about the Galactic Empire: the species that were a part of it, where they were all located, who they were battling, and everything there was to know about their adversary, the Dominion. It was a lifetime of information being fed to him in a short period of time. Had he not been given that knowledge booster shot, Miles knew he would have forgotten large chunks of it or been unable to absorb it as quickly.
After the incredible experience of the knowledge booster, Miles insisted that all the humans who had accompanied him on this journey be given it. Those five hundred and ten humans needed to absorb an enormous amount of information. Then they needed to be able to take that information back with them on the new human flagship currently under construction.
*******
Standing on the observation deck, Miles and Ethan Hunt were transfixed by the image of the ship before them.
“It’s enormous, isn’t it, Dad?” Ethan commented.
Miles’s son, Ethan, had agreed to come with him on this journey to the Altairian home world and capital of the Galactic Empire. It had given the two of them a significant amount of quality time together, and an opportunity to develop a new kind of adult-to-adult relationship while sharing in this incredible experience of traveling across the galaxy.
Miles had been learning more about the GE and the humans’ new role within it. Meanwhile, Ethan had spent his time at the Altairians’ equivalent to Space Command Academy or Command Staff War College. He had learned a lot about how the Altairians fought their starships, and how they maintained, repaired and built them.
Miles snapped out of the sea of thoughts that had been swirling through his head. “It sure is,” he replied. “I just hope we can figure out how to build them ourselves, and that it won’t take us years to train our people how to use them.”
The Altairians and a few other species had given the Earthers a lot of new advanced technology. The trick had been getting that technology integrated into their society and having enough people who understood how to use it.
“I asked that question the other day at the Academy,” said Ethan. “I was told the Altairians will be sending a training cadre to help us get our own schools up and running. What we really need is for everyone on Earth to get the knowledge booster, or maybe they can give us the ability to make it ourselves. I don’t think it’s possible to impart this level of sophisticated technology to our people without it. We just aren’t as developed as a species as they are otherwise.”
Miles nodded. “I agree, Ethan. I’ve spoken with Handolly about it as well. He agrees. They’re going to program the medical replicators they’re providing us with the ability to create the serum.”
Miles shook his head in amazement. “I cannot believe it’s been twelve years since we went to the Rhea system and discovered the Zodarks. Had we not done that, I don’t know that the Altairians ever would have contacted us.”
Ethan shrugged his shoulders. “I suppose; it does seem like a lifetime ago. Heck, I’ve only been an officer now for five years. I feel as if I’ve been in Space Command my entire life.”
“Imagine how your old man feels,” Miles said with a chuckle. “The technology changes I’ve seen in human space flight since I first joined to now would boggle your mind.” Miles reached over and placed a hand on his son’s shoulder. “I’m glad I get to experience this with you. For a little while, I wasn’t sure if you’d come with me.”
Ethan laughed at the comment. “You mean pass up a chance to travel millions of light-years to an alien capital to see dozens of new alien races? Yeah, like I would turn that opportunity down, Dad. I’m just glad you asked me.”
The two laughed again as they continued to stare at Earth’s newest warship: a gift from the Empire to the people of Earth.
Chapter Five
War of Consequences
Planet Intus
1st Orbital Assault Battalion
Private Paul “Pauli” Smith ripped open the meal ready to eat or MRE pouch and squirted its contents into his mouth.
Yum, spaghetti mush, Pauli thought sarcastically.
It took him five full mouthfuls to finish off the disposable pack. Pauli looked around and saw a patch of loose dirt near his foot. He grabbed the knife off his chest rig and tore at the dirt a bit, pulling some of it away with a gloved hand. He placed the empty food container in the hole and buried it. The pouch would degrade over time now that the inside of it had been exposed to oxygen.
“Hey, Pauli. You doing OK?” asked his battle buddy, Amy, her face covered in dirt and grime. Private Amy Boyles was one of the replacements to join his battalion after the battle to capture New Eden nearly two years ago. She was from Maine while he was from Texas. Their accents made quite the pair, but the two of them had been assigned as battle buddies ever since her arrival.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” said Pauli. “Any word from the sergeant on when we’re pulling out of this place?”
Following the initial assault to the surface, their battalion hadn’t seen any action. They’d been tasked with pulling perimeter security for an engineering battalion building an airstrip and a series of large hangars and storage facilities. As far as Pauli was concerned, that suited him just fine.
Amy shook her head. “Not yet. Maybe we’ll get lucky and get to pull garrison duty in that Zodark fort the Deltas captured or here at this airbase the engineers are building.”
Pauli shook his head. “I wish, but not likely. The 1st OAB is a combat unit, filled with the best warriors from across the Republic. The brass would never let us be relegated to garrison duty.”
“Best warriors from across the Republic,” Amy said sarcastically with a laugh. “You know you sound just like Major Monsoor, don’t you?”
Walking up to their position, their squad leader Sergeant Travis Atkins barked, “Hey, enough with the chatter. We’re pulling out in five mikes. Grab your gear and get ready to saddle up.”
Sergeant Atkins was a bit salty after getting demoted a grade. When the militaries of Earth had re-formed into the new Republic Army, a major streamlining of the NCO and officer rank structures had taken place. Some folks had been promoted while others had been demoted to fit within the new structure.
Staff Sergeant Atkins had found himself demoted to sergeant when his grade and the grade above his were eliminated. The new rank structure for the ground pounders consisted of private, corporal, sergeant, master sergeant, sergeant major. That meant four previous enlisted ranks had been removed. Not only was Atkins pissed about being demoted back to sergeant, a lot of lower enlisted were ticked about being demoted back to private. The officers hadn’t fared much better, having lost several of their own grades. However, the officers were still paid better, and now fewer grades meant it was going to be even harder to rise to the higher ranks.
“Help me up, Pauli,” Amy asked as she finished attaching her rucksack to her shoulders.
Pauli reached his hand down and pulled her up. The two of them walked over to where the rest of the platoon had formed up.
In the distance, they could still see the smoldering ruins of the massive ion cannon as it towered high above the fortress surrounding it. The fort had taken a beating during the initial attack; an engineering battalion of construction Synths was hard at work repairing the place.
As they approached the rest of the soldiers in their unit, Pauli spotted their captain. Captain Trubinsky had climbed up on a rock so he could be seen by everyone as he addressed them
.
“Listen up!” Captain Trubinsky bellowed. “The major has been given a mission, which means we’ve been given a mission. In thirty mikes, we will be picked up by some Ospreys. They’ll ferry us eighty klicks to a Primord city the brass wants us to help the Prims liberate.
“Fleet intelligence says there’s a Zodark base nearby. It was hit with a couple of orbital strikes during the initial invasion, so it’s unknown how many Zodarks may still be in the area. Fortunately for us, we’re only responsible for clearing the surrounding area of Zodarks while the Prims liberate the city. In addition to the Prim units we’ll be working with, a C100 battalion is on standby to assist us in clearing any heavy Zodark resistance.”
The captain surveyed the soldiers in front of him before adding, “Our platoon leaders and sergeants will brief you on the rest of the details. First OAB, this is our chance to get in the fight—let’s not let the major or the Prims down. Hooah!”
“Hooah!” came the single-word reply.
The captain hopped down from his perch and walked over to a large clearing not far from them. A squadron of Reapers and troop transports were arrayed in nice neat rows, their mechanics and ordnance technicians crawling over them.
“Come on. Let’s go, Pauli,” Amy said nonchalantly as she trotted to the makeshift flight line.
Forty minutes later, the Osprey lifted off the ground and flew over the ruined fortress. From above, Pauli could see how heavily fought over this place had been. He’d heard rumors a company of Deltas had been nearly wiped out by an enemy air attack during the assault. He hadn’t even known the Zodarks had close-in air support. If a company of augmented superhuman soldiers could be wiped out, he thought nervously, how was a company of regular human soldiers like them going to fare?
As Pauli flew over the forest, he appreciated the beauty of this planet—at least the part of it he’d seen. It reminded him of an old classic movie from a hundred years ago called Avatar. The trees on Intus reminded him of the ones he’d seen on New Eden, but they were even more spectacular. There were a host of unique birds and flying creatures that flew above the trees. In the distance was a mountain range, which was impressive to say the least. It spanned many miles to the north and tapered off as it ran south. Near the tops of the mountain was snow, which he had never seen on another planet before.
I wonder what’s on the other side of that mountain range, thought Pauli.
The Ospreys, packed full of soldiers, flew on for about thirty minutes. Just as the soldiers in Pauli’s squad were starting to relax, the pilots flying them to this Prim city suddenly dove the transport toward the ground and picked up speed. Pauli had flown in many assault transports before, so he wasn’t alarmed by the sudden movement. He figured they must be getting closer to the objective, so the pilot was just trying to wake them up and come in nice and low.
“Oh my God!” yelled someone as they pointed out the window to something a few hundred meters to the left.
By the time Pauli swung his head over to see what they were getting all excited about, the Osprey carrying part of the Fourth Platoon and their captain was blown apart. A string of red laser bolts shredded the craft before it could get out of the way. Then red lightning bolts slashed out toward their own Osprey, zipping through the air where they had just been moments before.
“Hold on!” one of the pilots shouted over their helmet radios.
The door gunner seated behind the pilot fired his weapon wildly at some unseen enemy, probably just trying to let whoever was shooting at them know they could fire back.
“Over there!” yelled another soldier.
A split second later, am F-97 Orion zipped right over their heads, laser cannons blazing away. In the distance, they saw an explosion and then a fireball descending to the ground below. The Orion starfighter banked to the north and fired another string of laser shots at another unseen enemy.
The soldiers in the Osprey held on for dear life as the pilots made wild dives and course corrections. Red laser bolts zipped past and around them as the pilots deftly maneuvered out of the way.
These pilots must be pretty damn good, thought Pauli. He had no idea how the guy had managed to evade so many laser bolts.
The ground below them was rapidly approaching as the pilots continued to drop altitude. A voice in their helmets yelled, “We’re going to set down fast and hard. Once we’re on the ground, everyone out!”
At that moment, Pauli didn’t care how far away they were from the objective. He just wanted to get off this flying contraption before they got blown up. At least on the ground, they had a fighting chance. Up here, their lives were in the hands of the pilots and blind luck.
The Osprey leveled out; dirt and chunks of trees flew into the air around them as several laser bolts plastered the ground around them. The pilot pulled up hard on the nose, bleeding off their speed in seconds.
Pauli watched a black object zip past them as it turned to the left and climbed. A second later, several streaks of light flew out after the enemy fighter, and it fell to the ground in a fiery wreck as their Osprey landed on the ground with a hard thud.
“Everyone out!” yelled the crew chief to the rattled soldiers.
Pauli twisted the harness clip, releasing the straps holding him in place, and bailed out of the Osprey. The rest of his squad was out moments later, and the pilots applied power to the engines and got the hell out of there.
Lying in some thick grass with his rifle pointed in front of him, Pauli glanced at his HUD with a sigh of relief. The display wasn’t showing any ground threats near them. The sky above them was still roaring with high-altitude dogfights, but the ground around them appeared to be safe.
“Everyone up! We’re going to rally on the lieutenant’s position and continue on with the mission,” barked their sergeant.
Pauli noticed Amy appeared a bit rattled. “Hey, it’s OK. We made it. We’re on the ground now.”
Amy gave him a sheepish smile. “That was close, Pauli. Fourth Platoon didn’t have a chance.”
Pauli shrugged as he walked, following their sergeant. “That’s how it is, Amy. When it’s your time, it’s your time, and nothing’s going to stop that.”
Amy trotted to catch up to him. She was a good five inches shorter than him. His long legs allowed him to take some big strides.
As the two squads of soldiers walked behind their sergeant, no one really said much. They were all a little numb from their near-death experience. Half the platoon was technically cherries, replacements from the losses the battalion had taken on New Eden. This was their first experience in combat, and it rattled the new soldiers to see how quickly their lives could be snuffed out. It reinforced how fragile life really was in the grand scheme. One minute you’re alive; the next, you’re dust before you even knew what happened.
Amy saddled up next to Pauli as the two squads folded out into a loose wedge formation. “Is this what it was like on New Eden?” she asked.
Pauli barely turned his head to face her. “Hey, watch your pacing, Amy. Don’t bunch up.”
“I’m just trying to ask a question,” she shot back as she slowed her pace to create some distance between the two of them.
They were regular Republic Army soldiers, so they didn’t have neurolinks like the Special Forces or senior military officers had. They had to communicate the old-fashioned way, by talking.
They walked for a little longer, until they came to a clearing and linked up with the rest of their platoon. The lieutenant told them to take five while he and their sergeant figured out where the rest of the company was and who was in charge since the captain had been killed.
Amy sat down next to Pauli. “Sorry about back there. I shouldn’t have bunched up on you like that.”
Pauli sighed. He wasn’t mad; he just didn’t want to get smoked by a Zodark because his battle buddy wasn’t following the standard operating procedures.
“It’s OK, Amy. There’s a reason we don’t bunch up like that on patrol
s. If we present ourselves as an easy target, then chances are a Zodark will take a shot at us. I’d rather not give them any more reason to shoot at me than I have to.”
With eyes full of fear, Amy asked, “What was it like on New Eden? You know, when you first landed.”
Pauli snorted at her persistence. She’d asked him that a few times, and each time, he’d found a way to change the subject. It wasn’t something he liked to think about.
“Let’s just say this has been a cakewalk so far. Hopefully, it’ll stay that way,” Pauli said as he fidgeted with his rifle.
“I don’t think the Deltas would describe it as a cakewalk,” she countered.
Pauli took his helmet off when he saw some of the others do the same. He ran his hand through his closely cropped hair as he scratched at his scalp. “When we landed on New Eden, it was pure chaos. We lost half our platoon in the first five minutes. By the end of the day, there were only sixty-two of us left from the entire company. Sixty-two out of two hundred and sixty—it was a bloodbath. These Zodarks fight like animals. They’re vicious, and they’re fast as hell. When you see one, don’t hesitate. Just pull the trigger and kill ’em, ’cause they won’t waste a second trying to kill you.”
Just then, their platoon sergeant, Master Sergeant Jason Dunham, walked over to a cluster of them. “Listen up, everyone. We’re twenty-two clicks from the Prim city of Oteren. Intel says there’s supposed to be a Zodark outpost somewhere in the vicinity. The fleeters hit the place with an orbital strike a few days ago, and the Orions paid them a visit earlier today. The latest intel we have is the contingent assigned to it bugged out of the base before all that happened, so they’re supposedly held up in the foothills just north of the Oteren.”
