Optio Brave Claw sprang into action and ordered a squad consisting of herself, four serpents and five humans, one of which was a sniper. As usual, there was no lack of volunteers. The humans set their helmets to night vision and the sniper set his scope to both night and infrared vision. They all moved into the lower airlock. Even though the airlock was not cycled in atmosphere, they decided to enter and close the inner door before opening the outer door. If anything came in while the outer door was open, it could be dealt with it. Guards were placed inside the inner door.
The squad exited the door and two serpents were put in the lead. When the roof of the tunnel collapsed due to the weight of the ship, the rubble formed a bed that kept the ship from wedging into the narrow base of the tunnel tube. It also guaranteed that the lower deck airlock was well clear of the side of the tube. The squad began to move down the tunnel and Alaya could see what they saw through the helmet cams of the humans. She could see the magnetic pads on the walls, roof and floor of the tunnel that were used to propel the maglev trains. The system was down and with the cave in, would remain down. She watched as the squad moved cautiously down the tunnel. Alaya could see that the walls began to look strange as they progressed down the tube. Alaya pressed the communicator behind her ear.
“Optio, what’s on those walls?”
The optio went over with one of the humans. She had the human examine and report to Alaya. “Captain, there is some kind of fiber on the walls which gets thicker. It is also covered with some type of slimy substance.” The legionary placed a strand between his thumb and forefinger and got some of the slime on his gloves. As he pulled his fingers apart, Alaya could see that the substance was sticky.
“That looks very sticky.”
“Yes, Captain. If not for the size, I would think this was some kind of insect web.”
“Optio, be careful out there. There’s a lot about the Saltic we don’t know.”
“Sss. Understood, Captain,” the optio said and signaled the squad forward. They continued deeper into the tunnel and Alaya could not help but think this seemed a lot like the methane moon in Andromeda. That was a trap and she hoped this was not the same. When the squad was 50 meters in front of the ship, Olivia reported that the generator was fixed and she turned it on. The emergency lighting went out as the ship came off the batteries. Alaya contacted the optio.
“Optio Brave Claw, we have the generator back. Do you want the mining light on?”
“Sss. Not at the moment, Captain. We are almost at the point of previous movement and I would like to keep the lights down until we are there.”
“Understood.”
The squad moved farther down the tunnel and finally came to where movement had been detected. To their surprise, there was a side tunnel. Alaya could see that the tunnel was not manmade and she assumed the Saltic had dug it. The night vision settings on the human helmets gave a green hue to everything and that made it difficult to discern alien objects, since there was no daylight reference. One thing that Alaya did notice was that the walls seemed to be covered with hanging fruit. It looked like grape clusters.
“Optio, what are those things that look like grapes? If there are no Saltic in the tunnel, perhaps we can switch to headlamps and have a better look?” Alaya asked.
“Sss. We do not see any Saltic here. This could be a food production area.”
“They must be planning to stay a while then if they need food,” Alaya said and then noted some movement deeper in the side tunnel. “Did anyone see that movement in the distance?”
“Sss. Switch to head lamps,” the optio ordered and the humans shut off their night vision and activated the bright lights on their helmets. Since there were five humans, their wide angle light streams overlapped and lit up the entire tunnel ahead of them. Suddenly, Alaya was able to see everything that had been hidden before. She could see the grapes hanging from the walls and ceilings, only they weren’t grapes. She could see movement inside them. What most attracted Alaya’s attention was a pile of white material that seemed to be moving.
“Optio, what is that pile in front of you?”
The squad shined their lights on the pile and they could all see what seemed like half-meter long, white worms that looked like maggots. They were ignoring the legionaries as they ate whatever constituted their food. As they watched the movement, the true horror of what they were seeing came to them. They were looking at the young of the Saltic and they were feeding on the bodies of the former inhabitants of the city. She knew the serpents would understand what they were looking at. “Get out of there, that’s a hatchery. Those aren’t fruit on the walls those are eggs.”
The optio signed to the troops to move back to the main tunnel, but on the way, one of them stepped on one of the maggot like worms that had wandered over to check them out. Before it died it made a small, twittering sound. To the humans and serpents it sounded like a few clicks, to the Saltic it was a shout. Suddenly the maggots stopped feeding and all turned their heads in the direction of the squad. Something told Alaya she knew what was coming, “Get out of there. RUN.” She shouted into the communicator, but not all in the squad were quick enough. The optio, one serpent and three humans were suddenly engulfed in maggots as they tried to move out of the side tunnel. The humans had their skin rapidly ripped off their bodies. The serpents suffered more, since they were stronger. The maggots took a while to work their way through the scales, but their mouths were lined with razor sharp teeth. The remaining legionaries pulled their swords and the serpents extended their claws and impaled the maggots as they pulled the serpents back into the main tunnel. The human legionaries were dead and already partially eaten so the bodies were left behind. Fortunately this kept some of the maggots busy. They pulled the optio and the other serpent along with them as the wounded maggots kept dropping off. The skin of the serpents was in tatters and in some areas the underlying muscle was exposed. They made it back to the ship and into the airlock. They closed the outer door but there were still some maggots hanging onto the optio, who did not look like she would make it. They finally killed the remaining maggots and opened the inner door so the wounded could be taken to sickbay. Alaya was down to meet them and saw the optio was in bad shape. The human decanus was the next senior commander and took over the Special Forces.
“Decanus, would you accompany me to the bridge please,” Alaya requested.
“Yes, Captain,” the decanus responded and ordered the troops to remain at the airlock, to make sure nothing found a way in.
When they got to the bridge, Alaya told Tavia to open a channel to central command. When contact was made, Alaya requested to speak with Consul Lorenzo. When the Consul came on, Alaya gave her report and had Tavia send the combat footage from the helmet cams to central command. After all there saw it, Lorenzo came back on to talk with Alaya.
“Captain Slone, this is very disturbing. We thought this was an invasion to acquire human brains, but this suggests the Saltic are here to stay and are breeding very fast. We sent scouts to the other cities on the planet and they are all deserted. Ground penetrating radar also suggests increasingly large tunnel systems beneath the cities. If that one hatchery is any indication, the Saltic reproduce like insects with no predators. It will not take them long to cover the entire planet. What is your status? Our position here is hopeless. I have already ordered the legions off the planet.”
“Let me check with Olivia. So far we are safe here, since we have no breaches,” Alaya reported. She then called down to Olivia for an ETA on the engines. Olivia informed her they were doing computer simulations now to test the repairs and if all was good, they could leave in ten minutes. She reported this to the Consul and then asked the next question, “Consul, request permission to destroy the hatchery before we leave.”
“If you are able to do it without putting your ship or crew at risk, you have permission. See you back in orbit. I will leave the serpent ships as escorts. In truth, since you have Tavia aboard I doubt they would
let me pull them back.”
“Understood. See you in orbit.” Alaya closed the channel and then turned to her weapons tech, “Deadeye, are our missile tubes on the part of the ship that is in the tunnel?”
“Sss. Yes Captain, they are clear of the pavement and just at the top of the tunnel.”
“Good, load them with incendiary missiles and set the fuse to detonate at seventy-five meters.”
“Sss. Yes Captain. I will have to open and close the missile doors rapidly to prevent flame from entering. I am not sure it will be fast enough.”
“Other than that, the ship should not be in danger from the flames, so we will hope for the best. Fire when you are ready,” Alaya ordered. She then called down to engineering, “Liv, how are the engines coming?”
“They are as ready as they are going to be, Captain. We can leave on your command. I will stay here to monitor them,” Olivia said and then said more personally, “Keep your fingers crossed, Mom.”
“Understood.”
As this interchange was happening, Deadeye indicated the missiles were ready to fire and was about to push the button, when Alaya ordered her to hold a minute. She wanted to see what was in front of the ship. “Tavia, put on the mining lights.”
“Yes, Captain,” Tavia responded and put on the flood lights that were located all around the ship for use in obtaining mining samples in the dark. Suddenly the tunnel was flooded in light all the way to the side tunnel with the hatchery and beyond. They could now see that the tunnel was blocked about a hundred meters beyond the hatchery. In front of the ship the entire tunnel walls were lined with filaments and Alaya could see that egg clusters were hanging even outside of what she thought was a hatchery. This meant that all of the tunnels were also used as hatcheries. A quick calculation of the radar maps of the tunnels the Saltic dug under the city and Alaya realized there could be millions of eggs hatching on this planet. They were not dealing with an invasion; they were dealing with an infestation.
“Deadeye, fire your missiles.”
“Sss. Yes, Captain.” Deadeye pressed a button and they could see the missiles fly from the front of the ship as Deadeye quickly closed the missile tube doors. When the missiles reached the designated distance they detonated into a fire ball that went in both directions for the main tunnel and also entered several hundred meters into the side tunnel. Eggs, maggots and any adult Saltic in the area were incinerated. Since the corvette was designed to stand up to space combat, the fireball did nothing to its armor, but the flames carried for several hundred meters past the ship and into the tunnel behind.
“Tavia, get us off this planet,” Alaya ordered and Tavia fired the repulsors and the ship rose out of the collapsed maglev tube. As soon as they were clear of the pavement, Tavia gave full power to the engines and nosed the ship straight up and out of the atmosphere. She wanted to make sure that none had the chance to fire on her. Before doing this maneuver, she informed the serpent ships of what they were planning and they moved clear of the area, and then formed an escort back to the fleet. Tavia thanked the serpent ships for escorting them and the serpents were pleased with her praise. The serpent ships then joined those still in the atmosphere to protect the returning legionary shuttles. Within the span of two hours, the legions and the camp sections were back on the ships. The surviving Brandenburger forces were also off the planet. It was now time to discuss how to proceed.
Chapter 12 – Hard Choices
Consul Juan Lorenzo called a meeting of the ship captains and the primary centurions along with the Legati and the Brandenburger leaders. The Consul entered with his Lictors and sat at the head of the table. The Fasces had axes affixed to them. When all were seated and the usual refreshments were served, Lorenzo looked around and could see many missing commanders who were replaced by their second and in some cases third in command. Some of those commanders were dead and others wounded. In any case the ones who took over did well and will be moved up to fill the higher rank vacancies. But that was still in the future. For now they had to deal with the present.
“Ladies and Gentlemen,” Lorenzo began in his usual casual style, “here is where we stand. Fleet medical command is not at this meeting due to the high number of wounded that are still critical. However, I have been briefed on the status of our casualties and it is not good. Across the board, between the space battle and the ground battle we suffered a total of 37 percent casualties. Had we driven the Saltic out that would have been acceptable. Instead, we are back in orbit and no nearer to driving the Saltic out of human space than before we got here. It is clear that we engaged the Saltic here without knowing the extent of their incursion. There is no one to blame for this, since there is no way we can infiltrate them or properly spy on them for any amount of time. All we can do is scout and deal with what we know about them. In this case, no one could have predicted that they took the planet with the intention to use it as a breeding site. Our problem now is what do we do about it?”
Lorenzo let that sink in for a minute. Before there could be any response, he continued, “Before we discuss contingencies, let me inform all of you that I have sent serpent ships to all areas of the planet to scan for human life. They have had no success in finding any. We also know from Captain Alaya Slone’s scouting mission that they are feeding their young on the bodies of the planetary population. I think it is safe to assume there are no humans left on the planet and we have no idea of the full extent of the infestation. We thought the Saltic were just here to collect brains. Now it appears they are here to stay and that is unacceptable. The question is how do we deal with the situation as it exists?” Lorenzo looked straight at the Brandenburger CEO as he asked this question.
CEO Juergen Schardt looked despondent. “My troops and I thought we had saved many of our citizens when we set part of the capital on fire to drive back the Saltic and evacuate as many neighborhoods as possible. The Romani have shown me and my generals the scans of the areas we sent the evacuees to and those areas are now overrun with Saltic and there are no longer human life signs present. We saved all of those people only to feed them to the Saltic later. I have to admit to myself that we have lost the planet and there is nothing we can do to regain it. The Saltic have totally defeated us. It is all my fault. I thought they could help us defeat Highline Corporation and I allied us with them. Instead they turned on us and now I have lost my home world and my corporation.”
“The Romani have done their best and, despite taking 37% casualties, we stood ready to try again. We would have done that if Captain Slone and her scouts had not found the true purpose of the Saltic invasion. It is clear to us that they intend to breed an army of worms in human space. It is safe to say that there are far more Saltic troops on the planet then we believed and they are growing ever stronger. You are not the first CEO who thought they could ally with the Saltic.” Lorenzo was referring to the Hayden incident. “However, the damage is done and the cost to the Brandenburger Corporation has been catastrophic. You will have to find a way to consolidate your forces to protect what is left, but I think you have seen enough to know that both space and ground combat against the Saltic is difficult at best and impossible once they establish themselves on a planet. To protect all of humanity we will have to deal with the problem in a drastic manner. I have my own idea about how to handle this, but I am open to suggestions.”
There was some discussion but in the end, Legatus Edmonton stated what was on all of their minds, “Consul, I think you know what we are all thinking. There appears to be no alternative but Plan Zeta.”
As Lorenzo looked around the room, all of the Romani nodded. The Brandenburger leadership was not aware of the plan and looked confused. Slone’s son, Captain Morel looked at his father who directed his gaze back to the Consul. The CEO of the Brandenburger Corporation asked the question that was on all of his general’s minds. “What is Plan Zeta?”
“Plan Zeta is the complete sterilization of a planet,” Lorenzo pointed out.
“
How exactly is that accomplished?”
“A nuclear firestorm.”
Juergen Schardt stood up and hit the table with his fist, “I will not allow that. That is our home world and you can’t simply destroy it. There could still be some of our people in hiding.”
“My people have scanned the entire planet to a depth of one kilometer underground and can detect only Saltic life signs on the planet. We showed you the scans and you know this. There are no humans left.”
“I cannot allow you to destroy our home world.”
Lorenzo looked at the Brandenburger CEO, “If there were another way, I would do it. But I have my people and the rest of the human race to consider. You allied your corporation with these despicable worms and now you are paying the price. You lost half of your forces trying to rescue a few people in the city. In our attempt to save your planet, you lost half of the troops you had left and they lost any family they had on the planet. I lost over a third of my forces trying to help you. It is time to cut our losses and look to the future, which is becoming increasingly bleak.” Lorenzo then turned to the Romani sitting at the table and addressed them, “I want all dreadnought and battleship captains to return to their vessels and be ready to carry out Plan Zeta on my command.”
All stood up and saluted. It was a somber salute for they had never carried out Plan Zeta before. It was always meant as a contingency for desperate times, which no one ever thought would occur. As they were leaving the room, the Consul turned once again to the Brandenburger CEO, “Juergen, I will have one of my ships drop you and your remaining troops off in the Munich system. They appear to be equipped to put up a fight if the Saltic come their way.”
“Is there really no other way? I had heard there was a plaque you could release on the Saltic.”
“They are susceptible to something the serpents carry, but it seems to only pass from a serpent to any Saltic in contact with her. It does not pass from Saltic to Saltic and that means we must find a way to weaponize it, and that will still take time. More time than we have here to deal with this. If we could be sure the Saltic were staying on the planet, we could wait. But one of their ships escaped the battle and I have to assume that, at some point, they will return. I think the only thing that has kept them from returning quickly, is the fact that they breed and grow rapidly and were certain they could hold the planet. They will return when the time comes to use the troops they are breeding on the planet. The unknown factor is how long it takes for them to mature and begin training. I assume they have all they need on the planet already to accomplish their mission. We would need an army of millions of troops to have any hope to regain the planet intact. Neither the Romani nor the corporations have that many troops trained and ready to go. We need time to fully mobilize and that means we are powerless to do anything but sterilize your world. It saddens us but I see no other recourse.”
Invasion Page 26
