SODIUM:6 Defiance

by Arseneault, Stephen

  A week passed before the Ogle ship arrived back at its home world. Patrols roamed the ship, constantly on the lookout for the stowaway. I continuously changed my tactics in an effort to remain hidden while inflicting as much damage as I could. I had somehow managed to stay one step ahead of my enemy.

  When the ship docked I transferred to the space station in an attempt to find new targets. The station was teaming with Ogle, working repairs and resupply. With the ongoing activity I was sure they had another mission of destruction planned. A mission to a pale blue planet called Earth.

  My first order of business was to slip aboard a small freighter in the space dock. The crew was away, leaving me to plan my sabotage. I used the language translator in my helmet computer to study the ships controls. For several hours I read through the ships online manuals until I came to the sections I was looking for.

  The freighter could be given a flight plan and the safety protocols could be overridden. The engines would power on in test mode to simulate a maintenance action. The safety would then be bypassed and the engine throttle set to full. At the same time the docking clamps would be released allowing the freighter to lunge forward crashing into the first bulkhead it found.

  With luck, the docking bay and the rooms of the station beyond the bulkhead would be teaming with activity and the ship would drive through several levels of the station before coming to a stop. With the thrusters on full any Ogle unlucky enough to be in the docking bay would be cooked... cooked like they had done to so many others.

  I moved through the station at a perpendicular angle to the freighter's intended direction. When I came upon a storage warehouse full of blaster weapons I grinned at the thought of how many Ogle I could kill. I then stopped to contemplate the affect that being at war had on one's morals. Many of those on the station could be innocents, innocents caught in a war that was not of their making.

  But the Ogle had shown none of the traits of compassion, kindness or empathy. They were brutal killers and were deserving of my wrath. My thoughts were quickly turned into action as the station vibrated and shook from the freighter gone wild. It had traveled through one third of the station before coming to a stop, its engines, still on full, torched everything behind it. Explosion after explosion began to rock the walls of the warehouse.

  I dropped the case of blaster weapons I was attempting to open and hurriedly made my way back towards the Ogle ship that I had come aboard on. When I arrived at the docking bay the ship was backing out into space. My ride was gone and the surrounding bay was scorched black from the freighters thrusters.

  The explosions continued as I moved from dock to dock. I managed to slip aboard another small supply ship just as it lifted off from the deck. Once in space I could see the devastation the freighter had caused. The station was in flames and beginning to break apart. In a few short hours large sections of debris would de-orbit and drop through the atmosphere onto the Ogle home world. A grin once again covered my face as I had achieved maximum damage.

  The supply ship I was now on had a crew of a dozen Ogle. As the cats looked on at the devastation I silently came up behind them one by one. Seven had fallen prey to my fist before the eighth let out a howl. The 20 seconds of mayhem I unleashed on the remaining five was brutal and merciless. I gazed upon my new ship as I withdrew my fist from the ship's captain, his lifeless body sliding to the floor.

  The next station was 1,500 kilometers away. I turned the small ship towards it and pushed the throttle to full. Again a quick tour through the overrides and I was assured of the ships destination. It would soon be crashing into the next station.

  Shortly after the acceleration had begun I set the active skin of my BGS to full and drifted out into space. I was hurdling towards the next station, but at a speed that I was confident I could stop. It would be hours before my arrival so I turned towards the disintegrating station to watch the show. The explosions from within continued as debris filled the space surrounding it.

  As the small ship closed on the next station a bright blue particle beam shot out from a nearby cruiser. The supply vessel turned into a shimmer of light as the beam caused every molecule within it to rupture as it was turned into pure energy.

  For three hours I was adrift before moving into the station. I cycled the active skin from minimal to moderate with each new room I encountered. I was one quarter of the way into the station before my momentum ceased. When I came to a stop the Ogle who surrounded me moved about as if it was just another day.

  Again I made my way to the docking bay. I would attempt to commandeer another Ogle freighter and to send it on a course of destruction, just as the first. But the Ogle had grown wise in the short time I had been adrift. The docking bay had several of the fleshy creatures pushed into a blob in the center of the deck. As I floated into the bay their snouts all turned towards me at once. Blaster fire quickly erupted.

  I turned and took two giant steps before setting the active skin to full. One blast, then another and another, struck me in the back as I fled. The suits shields rose to near 70% with each hit. Simultaneous strikes would be my end.

  I passed through the docking bay bulkhead and into a vast storage room. Again the fleshy creatures sat alert in the room’s center and again my position was compromised. The blaster fire was relentless in my direction as I continued to flee.

  I changed direction and dropped two levels before returning to the space underneath the docking bay. Another of the large Ogle ships lay at rest and I thought it best to return to the spaces I knew. I could hide away in the cubbyholes I had found on the Ogle warships, on the station my survival would be at risk.

  After two failed attempts at boarding I was forced to make a decision. The Ogle ship was beginning to leave the dock as I looked out through a porthole window from a room on the deck below. I stepped back, ran and dove through the wall out into the space beyond.

  The ship’s bow swung around in a turn sweeping me inside just as it began to accelerate. I blinked in and began to slowly make my way to the rear of the ship, to the rooms that I knew. I would rest there until my confidence returned. I had a war to wage and I was in need of a clear head.

  After a long rest I once again ventured out into the Ogle ship, keeping a wary eye out for the fleshy creatures that could give me away. I moved slowly as I discovered the creatures had been positioned at key points around the ship. The Ogle seemed content with the locations they had chosen. It was not long before I had clear pathways mapped out where I could once again move freely about.

  I eventually made my way to the bridge with the hope of getting an idea of where we were headed. When I arrived, the space station on the screens of several Ogle crewmen told me what I wanted to know. We were headed for Bolin Station. I believed the Remmik, the Freq and the other minor species of the station were no match for a pod of Ogle battleships. I wanted desperately to warn them, but I had no means.

  Nine days had passed when the ships vibration told me that we had arrived. The five Ogle battleships wasted no time in beginning their attack. Three mining freighters were quickly dissected by the Ogle particle beams, their unfortunate crews dead before knowing what had hit them.

  The warships of Bolin Station were surprisingly fast into action. I grimaced as the first out of the space dock pulled in front of the first of the Ogle ships. The blue feeds lit up as the Ogle fired a particle beam at the defender. But the Remmik ship absorbed the energy and then reflected an equally powerful beam back at the Ogle battleship.

  The attackers were caught by surprise as the beam ripped through their shields and deep into an aft section of the ship. A second beam was fired and again the powerful Ogle ship took major damage. Hundreds of smaller warships soon joined the fray, but their shields were no match for the Ogle's beam. The white Remmik ships had no weapon other than the reflector and the Ogle were soon just passing them by.

  The smaller ships of the defenders began to use the Remmik ships as shields as they attempted to adapt to
the situation. The Ogle countered by attacking Bolin Station. A grin began to appear on my face as the first of the Ogle beams was reflected back towards them. A second Ogle ship took heavy damage as the beam sliced through the feeds on the bow. Bolin Station was holding its own.

  The attacks and counter attacks by the smaller ships lasted for hours before the Ogle made their next bold move. A single ship moved close to the blue giant sun and released several CME cylinders. As the thrusters on the cylinders came to life a Remmik ship sacrificed itself by accelerating and crashing into them. The damaged Remmik ship then quickly retreated from battle.

  Twice more the Ogle ship deployed the CME cylinders and twice more a Remmik ship was sacrificed for the cause. The minor species of Bolin Station had been the first to deny the Ogle a victory by CME. The battle continued for most of the day before the Ogle suddenly withdrew.

  Our travels lasted for half a day before the ship once again shuddered and came to a halt. The Ogle were stopping to make repairs. I took the opportunity to start a new round of mischief. There were Ogle to be killed and I was in the mood to kill as many as I could.

  This time, three blaster weapons were set to overload and were then laid out in an Ogle den were thousands of cats were sleeping. When the weapons detonated I could hear the screeches of horror as a super-heated steam pipe snapped during a blast. Hundreds of Ogle had their hides peel off from direct contact with the high pressure super-heated steam.

  In my further adventures I managed to locate the weapons bays where the massive CME cylinders were kept. An hour later I had 14 blaster rifles timed and ready to deploy. But a last minute move by the Ogle brought my efforts to a stop. One of the fleshy creatures had been brought into the weapons bay. I would not be able to move about without giving myself away.

  I struggled with the thought of killing the little blob of a creature. I was at war with the Ogle and the innocent creature intended no harm, but this was war and I convinced myself that sometimes in war the innocent are victims of those who would use them. With a single shot from a blaster weapon the Ogle guard standing next to the creature fell backwards as his head was cut in half and the open wound cauterized.

  I walked up to the fleshy creature with the blaster in hand. At first it trembled and reached out to me with its long snout. I don't know why but I blinked in fully so the creature could see who I was. After several seconds of looking into my eyes it lowered and turned its snout away. The creature then became calm and a bold look appeared on its face. It was willing to die for the cause... my cause.

  I raised the weapon and nodded. Before pulling the trigger and sending a bolt of energy through its brain, I decided to risk allowing it to live. It would no longer point in my direction should I enter a room; I again nodded as I lowered my weapon and slipped away. I then began my work at setting the timers on the 14 blasters in my care.

  As I left the room two new guards were arriving. Two quick punches saw to their end as I silently walked past their position. Ninety seconds later I was rewarded by the sound of explosions. The Ogle ship on which I did battle would no longer have the ability to destroy a planet by CME. I retired to my cubbyhole for some needed rest.

  Once repairs of the other ships were complete the Ogle armada returned to Bolin Station to continue their fight. They began by attacking the mining colonies that kept the station supplied. The mines were critical to the ongoing survival of the station. In a matter of months their stockpiles of materials would begin to run low. The Ogle were brutal in their nature and that brutality came with an abundance of patience.

  The Meche ships soon arrived around the mining colonies. They could wait out the species of Bolin Station by harassing their shipping while assuring that no new raw materials were gathered. But the Ogle adopted a new strategy that required no waiting. Any number of their smaller ships were emptied of crew, sent above light speed and then directed to come to a stop at the exact location of Bolin station.

  The Ogle ships would drop from light speed and come to a halt inside the walls of the great station. It was a tactic that the Remmik, Freg and others had no defense against. Bolin station was being ripped to shreds from the inside out. With the inner structure of the station in shambles, the outer defenses soon began to fail. The large Ogle ships were quick to pounce on the opportunity and Bolin Station was soon cut to pieces.

  The same tactic was then used on the Remmik ships with smaller transports and even diplomatic vessels dropping from light speed into the same space. With the Remmik defenders gone the remains of the station were now vulnerable to the Ogle's CME weapon. As the giant waves of super-heated plasma rolled outward towards the station the Ogle ships turned and headed back to their home world. The Meche would finish the cleanup making the Ogle mission complete.

  I continued my relentless assaults, only now being more selective with my targets. Even though thousands of Ogle had died by my hand the remaining hordes seemed unaffected when it came to morale. They just did not seem to care beyond the moment of an attack.

  When we arrived back at the Ogle world I again made my way aboard a station. For three days I harassed the local cats before deployment of the fleshy creatures cut off all of my avenues. I soon found myself pinned in an area that became ever smaller as the fleshy creatures were moved around it in number. As a last route of escape I drifted outside of the Ogle station and back aboard another battleship. I took refuge in one of the cubbyhole storage rooms and began to await my fate. My BGS suit was once again down to ten days of power. My time was running out.

  Chapter 14

  The Ogle battleship that I had sought refuge on shuddered as it shot to light speed on a journey unknown. I was tired, tired of the endless fight, tired of the isolation and of not knowing the fate of the Earth or that of my people. I had ten days of power remaining before I would be at the full mercy of those who I battled with. My mood began to change from one of fight to one of despair. I had a new war on my hands, a war against my own mind.

  For two days I sat and brooded over my predicament before setting the sleep aids on my suit to full. Twenty-four hours passed before I was again awakened by stimulants. During my time at rest I had dreamt about my early days on the farm. My cousin and I were catching crawdads in the creek and I could hear my Grandfather on his tractor in the far field. It was summertime and we were all smiles and giggles as we splashed about in the water.

  I was at peace; there was no fear and no burden of life or war. As I moved a large rock a black salamander with a cat's face quickly slithered away. I looked up and the dream ended when the sky turned bright orange with flame as a CME destroyed the Earth. My cousin screamed in pain as the super-heated plasma burned everything around her. When the stimulants kicked in I was taken from a mood of despair to one of anger. The Ogle had invaded my dreams.

  I stood and immediately made my way towards the bridge. Upon arrival my anger only grew as the holo-displays of the Ogle crew were filled with images of Earth. I knew in my gut that this would be the final battle... the battle for Earths survival.

  My years of experience and my every instinct told my conscience that I needed to wage war. A war like the Ogle had never seen. After a day of thought I emerged with a new strategy in mind, a strategy that would be nearly impossible to carry out, a strategy that bordered on insanity.

  I would attempt to take control of the Ogle ship that carried me. I would then turn its weapons against the other ships in their fleet. It was a daunting task that would take precise planning and perfect execution. There were more than 100,000 Ogle aboard that I would have to keep in check each intent on stopping me.

  For the following three days I moved about the ship while dodging the fleshy creatures that had been deployed to inhibit my movements. I then began to put my plan in motion. One-hundred-twelve blaster weapons were set to overload. Sixteen others were placed in a room adjacent to the bridge.

  I would have eight minutes to set and place the overloads, three minutes to get into positi
on followed by four minutes to take control of the bridge. I had studied the Ogle Weapons Techs and their station and was comfortable with my ability to aim and fire the particle beam at any nearby ships. The overloaded weapons would give me three minutes at the weapons helm to take care of the business at hand. I would then fall back for another round of setting overloads followed by again clearing the bridge.

  With luck, I would get off a second shot at a neighboring ship followed by flying the Ogle ship into the Sun. After setting a course for the ships destruction I would drift into space with the hope of getting rescued by a human ship. If no ship came I would at least die in my own space, defending my world.

  A day later the Ogle ship shuddered and came to an abrupt stop. Earth was in full view on the bridge displays. Four other ships quickly joined with the one I trolled and began their assault on the Earth. The shield surrounding the planet was still under repair.

  I began my eight minutes of setting the overloads followed by returning to the bridge. Three blasters were set for 20 seconds before being tossed onto the lower decks of the bridge. As planned, the startled cats were at first unsure of where the weapons had come from. The confusion provided the timing I was counting on.

  The weapons on the bridge exploded in unison with 22 others that had been placed at various locations around the ship. I then began my assault of the unarmed Ogle on the bridge. I blasted cats one by one as the others fled to the arming locations. Three strategically placed overloaded blasters had sealed off the bridge arming stations from being supplied. It was a slaughter as I worked my way through the screeching and howling herd.

  Four minutes later the bridge was clear. I moved quickly to the weapons station and began programming the beam to arm and then to fire at the adjoining ships. Two minutes into my attempt brought a twist I was not expecting. Four human battleships blinked in, centered perfectly between the five Ogle ships. More than a million BGS Marines drifted in for an attempted assault. I had the weapon ready to fire but held back with the advent of the Marines. I would not fire on my own.