by Marcus Sloss
I flipped my Gpad to see what was new. Harvard had a report ready. I hit play on the short video.
“Planet Savannah One. Extra high oxygen content in the air. Temperatures routinely in the high nineties. Unknown adverse effects.”
I hit pause. A standardization of the alien planets made sense. Adverse effects must be things like the moon on the puroon planet pulling the gravity in sways. I pressed play again.
“Vegetation has limited value. Standard photosynthesis plant life. Some might contain roots. Trees were stripped bare by herd animals. Unknown if the fruit is capable of growing off them because the animals pick the branches clean so quickly.
“Animal life is highly abundant. To the point there is not enough to sustain such massive creatures in one area unless they are nomadic. This is not the case. We discovered these machined belts.”
The video shifted to the drones doing a rapid fly over and then pausing. Holy shit. S2 had hit a home run. There were pallets of food being shoved from holes in the ground to sporadic places across the fields. In this image, the smaller large-horned boars were running for the dropped pallet. This proved our theory: they were farm animals. But why place them so close to a gate?
Personally, I liked to pretend my first thought was normally right. The gates rotated, but even with that fact, I thought these might be an offering. Then again, Reinhardt had hit the nail on its head. We could push the herd into the Rockies with enough vehicles and a locked gate. Maybe they wanted the offering as bait. I decided to stop the what-if games and focused back on the video.
“We do not know where the food is coming from. Humans, before the fall, were able to grow large amounts of barley. The entire process was automated. Even the seeds were grown to keep the chain moving. I had to do some research, but sprouts could be grown without light in a sterile environment. We fully automated the system but above ground. I would wager the moment those bales hit the upslope, the interior is sealed again.” The video paused to change images from the pallets coming out to a trail. “This is worn ground. Not from animals. Actually, there seems to be an invisible fence for the animals on the other side of this trail. This leads to the ocean, and we hypothesize that is where the squibbles originate from.”
Damn. I knew we had water drones. I paused the video and kicked my feet up off the dashboard. I propped up the view screen and shifted the broadcast from my Gpad to the dash display. When my Gpad was clear, I started taking notes. The first one was to build drone teams, with the main focus being excursions. Mr. Wang was probably not going to let Douglas go on high-risk missions. Meaning more recruiting or training, which would take time. I sighed as I hit play again.
“The squibbles themselves appear to be oceanic bottom feeders. Their tentacles are used to propel them down to the substrate. Each leg can flare out fins to help stabilize them. We believe they rely on technology to an extreme. We also do not believe them to be true amphibians, instead merely using land through their gravity sled carriers. The prevailing theory is concentrated fire will break their shielding. A direct hit to the head should eliminate the enemy.
“Summary: Savannah One is not well defended by observable foes. A raid while the squibbles are away has a high probability of success. The squibbles should be avoided in a direct confrontation. Their turrets have enough power to punch through most vehicles. Recommendation: Use caution.”
I sighed. I thought this would be the end of the video, so I paused it before it could keep going.
I glanced out the front window. The RV bounced over the dirt road. The Xgate loomed large in the horizon and the fourth gate was flaring blue. I pulled up the drone feed and overrode the S2 briefing.
Mitchell and Ulanda were shifting on the outskirts of a tree line, keeping pace with the southern side of the Xgate. The M1 Abrams was the lead vehicle. Ballsy crew, I liked that. The shimmer shifted to reveal nothing but a deep dark-blue ocean. A squibble shot across the flat ocean for the Xgate. Their tentacles barely touched the portal blue.
The gravity sled launched out of the portal. The device jarred with a waving tilt as it landed on Earth. The barrel of the tank swiveled.
Crack!
The squibble and its sled were a direct hit. The 120mm round punched past the shield with ease. The results were catastrophic for the squibble. The area was coated in a horrendous mess.
“Cap, this is Mitchell. I can see around the portal. The main force is waiting in the water at a side angle. They have thousands of prisoners in nets being dragged behind them. They are arguing, it appears. Another squibble is coming. Ready fire!”
I cut Mitchell’s connection. This time a squibble braved the portal at a different angle. The turret belched fire. The soaring round missed; it landed right beside the grav sled. Small arms cracked against the shield, failing to break through. A .308 round splattered the head, causing the sled to still. A third and fourth squibble arrived on Earth. They were giving too much time for us or the tank to react.
The tank missed the third target but managed to disable the fourth. The combined fire on the third mirage shattered the bone salamander image. A well-aimed nitrogen round scorched through the alien head. The third squibble’s sled stilled.
At this point, there was a trail of death in the wake of the Xgate. Reinhardt arrived within sight of the Xgate with his charging vehicles. I could see the looming Xgate, knowing we were not far behind.
“Report, Mitchell.”
“Once Aspen arrived, they paused. Now they are retreating from the Xgate, sir.”
I picked up the Aspen radio. Before I could talk, Reinhardt keyed the mic.
“I would like to wait for the lockdown. Keep pressure on these squids. Use the time to recon the other planets.”
“That would have us trailing the Xgate for ten-plus hours. I agree, though. If we can lock the Xgate down, I believe we will have free reign to steal those animals and their feeding equipment. I will send a drone team into the eastern castle gate. Do you have water drones for the savannah gate?”
“I do. They are going in now that we are here. I also only have one drone team. At least trailing the gate allows us time to do a proper recon. You mind if we split loot?”
“I would appreciate something fair to result in less bickering. Fair is normally compromising. I know a brand new world means the old day of squabbling can be put behind us. Doesn’t hurt when two leaders of trading strongholds are both militarily run. I am interested to see what the squids taste like,” I said with a chuckle.
“Ulanda already started a fire… Too funny. I got your S2 briefing. Mine is a bit behind. We did not leave Carson with an actual S2. You have any problems with me sending our data people to work with yours?”
I smiled before keying up the mic. “That would be fantastic. My S2 is in RV1. The standard operating procedure going forward, at least in my mind, should be four recon drone teams waiting for blue activation. If no hostile forces are waiting to greet them, then into the breach for intelligence. Those teams should report to a joint S2 so we both get data as quickly as possible.”
“I concur. A team of geeks will be pulling alongside RV1 shortly. Open the door so they know which one. Initiating slow drive in tandem with Xgate 232.”
“Adjust as well, Dedric. Cap out.”
I heard a grunt from the table over my shoulder. Bonnie and Peterson had their goggles off.
I finally was able to see Bonnie. She was a plain, neighborly type. The type of young woman you would wave to in passing and forget a few minutes later. Nothing wrong with that, just not my preference. She had her long red hair bound into a loose ponytail. Her brown eyes had a timid sheen with lots of freckles on her cheeks.
“Who do you want to go on the mission?” Peterson asked.
“Peterson, when I said to build your team, I meant by more than one or two,” I said to her. She frowned, opened her mouth, and closed it. Peterson was never a soldier with moxie. “If you die, who can resume training?”
“Th
at’s the thing, Cap. Douglas can train others. We have been overworked. These new drones we bought are much easier to operate than the human versions. I need more than a single day, though. If we—”
“The ‘if’ game leads nowhere. Pull your other candidates into this RV. On-the-job training. Bonnie, you are now a field operator. Dedric, stop the vehicle.” The RV rolled to a stop over the rocky, short grass terrain. I called Mitchell. His Gpad answered with him talking to Elifer. “Mitchell, you are doing recon on the eastern gate. Pick up Bonnie outside RV3. She’s your drone operator.”
“Elifer is requesting permission to go on the mission.”
“She is being assigned to the G-Team. Hurray, you now are the first unit to be multi-species. Be safe. No more than a fifteen-minute recon. Keep an eye on home. If you see us fighting aliens, return back. For the community.”
“Understood. For the community. Mitchell out.”
“Good luck, Bonnie,” I said to the pouty woman. She was in shock. “Get out of the RV. Go fly some drones. Mitchell will bring you home. You will not be leaving the vehicle. Peterson, get her the drones she needs.”
Peterson ran for a cabinet in the back bedroom. A military-type case with clasps was handed to Bonnie. Peterson shooed her out of the RV while reassuring her. Dedric was a pro, the moment she was standing outside the RV ready to complain, we rolled away.
Mitchell picked her up in an electric alloyed truck. The very best kind we had. Must have swapped for his bike. I watched the truck peel ahead of us for the eastern gate. There was always a wonderment when you saw the portal at work. The truck went at a slight angle in alignment with the Xgate’s travel. The extra-large tires handled the drop-off with ease, the suspension absorbing the bounce smoothly. A flock of small drones was released out of the back window by Bonnie.
With them successfully on the mission, I shifted to watch our mobilized army as it trailed the Xgate. The combined Aspen and Mansion forces had more vehicles than I could swiftly count. We still stuck to our own teams while driving with the roaming gate.
My back peeled off the sticky leather seat with a tearing sound as the material released me from its contours. I walked the narrow corridor for the coffee pot. Willow handed me a cup with a tender kiss. Aw, she was the best.
“What next?”
“We play it slow and wait. The goal is to win bigly. Sometimes that requires patience—patience and coffee. Drone operators, go to the comfy bed. I want the big screen and the booth.”
Douglas and Peterson said nothing while shifting to the bedroom. Nancy came out of the turret spot to join us at the booth table. We shifted to small talk while monitoring the situation. Even though it was slow going, I was happy we only had one loss today. Hopefully, we could avoid more while gaining vital resources. Only time would tell.
CHAPTER 9
“Planet Castle One. Going to skip the full overview. Incredibly hostile to drones. The reconnaissance team was forced to retreat. Minimal footage showed long-range turrets sniping our drones from the sky. Class undetermined. Resident species undetermined. Recommendation: Avoid at all costs. Nothing to be gained.”
I shut off the video Harvard sent. Go figure. The most docile portal turns into the most hostile. We had yet to send a drone team into the southern archipelago portal for numerous reasons, but namely that drone operators had to be on the same planet as the drone. The few workarounds we tried failed. There was no way I was sending a drone operator into a hostile planet’s ocean without even a life vest. Boats were added to the salvage list. Being near Aspen, there were a lot of abandoned boats either in large garages or storage lots. My teams had stripped most of the electronics out of the easy-to-find ones. I ordered a few to be towed back to our lemon lot when things settled.
Aspen had a team that recently returned from the forest portal. That would be my next briefing while we waited. I kept shifting to glance at the southern portal with the naked eye. A slight tilt of my head would reveal a trailing squibble following the Xgate. I had to wonder how often raiding teams and armies found themselves cut off from home. The idea made me want to never raid longer than the fifty-minute lockdown timer. I sure as hell did not want to chain-portal raid. At least not until I had a better grasp on raiding.
“Ruby for your thoughts?” Nancy said with a wink.
I sipped my strong coffee. While I was feeling refreshed, the brew was delicious.
“I feel like we are woefully underprepared. These castle dwellers… They put us into a checkmate scenario without ever leaving the walls,” I said with a sigh that transitioned into me blowing the steam off the coffee.
“Oh, neat. I want to learn,” Willow said without glancing up from her Gpad. She displayed the limited footage we had from planet Castle One.
“Give me your assessment based on the information that Harvard provided,” I ordered, watching the scene play out a second time.
“Well, to start, they never greeted the gate. Traders tend to do that. Actually, statistically, most species tend to either stage a show of force or a greeter-slash-scout of some sort to, at the very least, have the information themselves,” Willow said. Nancy used a side screen to put up an eighty-three percent statistic. “My initial assumption was the castle was unoccupied. That was false, clearly.”
Of course, since our drones were shot down, that meant either an automated defense triggered, or people were home in the castle. I didn’t reply so she could give her full assessment.
“Know thy enemy is still prevalent. Just because we did not see their scouts, drones, or forces doesn’t mean they exist. By countering our ability to find them we are left expending additional resources to try to find out something—anything, really,” Willow said. I gave her a bob of the head to continue. “At first thought, you would send a second team. With drones heading the other direction. Again, knowing any variables is better than nothing. You avoided that course of action. When I ask myself why, I come to the conclusion you don’t want to anger the ‘who or whatever’ is on that planet. Do not kick the proverbial hornet’s nest. Take our losses, show we were humbled, and retreat to fight our other battles. Hence the checkmate statement.”
I smiled and pulled Willow in for a hug. I obviously ruffled her hair instead. She never saw it coming.
“We are not in a position to be taking unnecessary risks. Hell, after Paul’s death, I think I will adjust the aggressive nature of our recon teams. I also think the castle aliens are either experts at stealth or can go invisible. That is pure speculation, mainly because I doubt they would not have some form of information gathering. Unless they were very powerful to the point that nothing coming through the portal would matter. Think about if we get the defenses of Stronghold Mansion so impressive we don’t worry about what is outside because we know we can defeat it.”
“First, leave these lovely pink locks alone. I am going to miss the hair dye. My blonde roots are already coming in. Second, the crixxi lesson is that everything has a counter,” Willow said while escaping my grasp.
“Well, you can adjust with enough layers of defense to counter every type of attack. I guess bombardment from outer space does not count, since the mothership controls the space above our atmosphere,” Nancy said with a finger wag that pointed up.
I was about to reply when Dedric interrupted. “Mitchell is coming back with Bonnie and some food. Yeah, brunch!”
My tummy rumbled in agreement. The RV slowed before stopping. I exited the side door to see the afternoon sun casting a high shadow over the tall Xgate. The shuffling of vehicles continued around our stopped RV. The whine from the electric motors was minimal compared to the sound of the run-flat tires crunching over the loose, rocky terrain. We had entered a tree-free area of rolling monotonous hills. Large bushes and small trees were crumpled under tires as our vehicle armada kept pace with the floating Xgate. Mitchell arrived with Bonnie in the shiny steel-alloy truck.
They exited with meat on a stick, times ten. The majority of the meat smelled
like steak. It certainly looked like chunks of bovine. The tips of the stick were little chunks of white fluffy meat. Oh! Squid. I hastily accepted the stick.
“Yum! This squid is divine. Oh, the yexin is fantastic too,” I blurted while savoring the flavor. My taste buds may have been screwed by eating nasty-tasting gargoyle a lot recently.
“We have a whole leg uncooked heading back to base. Should make for a fantastic cookout on this warm spring day,” Mitchell said. He handed me additional meat sticks to pass into the cabin. The ladies handed out the extras. “I want to go bury Paul and recover his gear now that we’ve entered a pause in activity. Me and the team. I would like a truck with a trailer so I can bury him with the others.”
“Granted. If you want to mourn for a few days, let me know. We should have this battle in hand. I do not think the squibbles are hankering to fight to get home. I bet they wait until we hopefully disappear,” I said with a grimace. I hated losing soldiers; it was a terrible thing. There was little to do besides move on. “I am sorry for your loss, Mitchell. For the community.”
“For the community. Bonnie did great. She was nervous at first but picked it up just fine. Only screamed once when her drones started getting shot out of the sky,” Mitchell said while heading back for his driver’s seat. “See you later, Cap.”
“Thanks, I appreciate the hard work. And again, sorry for your loss, Mitchell.” I waved to him and Eilfer, who was in the passenger seat.
I continued to gnaw on the yummy food while heading into the RV. I bolted the door closed before sliding into the booth. An alert hit my Gpad.
“Stronghold Mansion has gone through some recent changes. We may start a daily update briefing to help alleviate concerns or issues in the community. The virum is on everyone’s minds. Included in this message is a file on everything we know concerning our new friends. Some ladies absolutely do not want to birth or raise more children. Some will help raise but do not want more children of their own. There are measures we can use to help prevent unwanted pregnancies.
