Free Fleet Box Set 2

by Michael Chatfield

  “I know it has been many cycles my children, but there is no need for that,” Planner continued, in translatable tongues.

  The two rose, one with black eyes, the other with red. They looked like damn terrifying demons, yet they looked at the Planner with such reverence Foshunti wondered what else the Planner had been doing with his time.

  “I have heard of how you saved my children, Salchar,” Planner said, bowing his head.

  “So it was you that sent Resilient the information about the planet,”

  “Yes, and I asked her to keep it from you that I had. I didn't want to show my hand then,” Planner said, his voice deeper.

  “Well you'll be happy to know we dropped a few ice asteroids on her, they made really good meteorites,” Salchar said.

  “I know. I still have my shield there,” Planner smirked.

  “Yes, which my engineer is going to pester the living heck out of you about,” Salchar said, shaking his head. “This last week has had more surprises and genies coming out of the wood work than ever before.”

  “Just in time,” Planner said, his tone serious.

  He caught Foshunti's questioning glance.

  “The Kalu have returned,” he said and Foshunti felt a chill run down his spine as everyone recoiled from Planner.

  ***

  Malica prowled his command deck. He was the First Prime to Lord Doqua, the second tier third rank fleet leader of Clan Leader Edvasho, the Dominator. Edvasho had survived the great teacher, the war with the pacifist Union. The Kalu had been badly bloodied and many left without star transport. Edvasho had been a Captain at the time. He went planet to planet, claiming the right to lead through battle. He had done what no other had. He had united the clans.

  He gave them purpose and instructions. They had built star warriors that would take them to the Union to take their rich lands and claim them as their own hunting grounds. His real power was in his war-brother Ashota. Ashota had not been given honorable death o the battlefield, instead he had become a cripple. But what had taken away his body had focused his mind. He was a Kalu of whispers, of information. He knew everything about anyone important and was the reason Edvasho had never been blindsided by a fight for the right to lead.

  Edvasho had finally said that the first star warriors were ready to be deployed. Lord Doqua had fought viciously for the right. He had gained it and now he rested as his First Prime led his ships in his stead.

  “We are picking up a fleet of the Union,” the Seer said.

  “Wake Lord Doqua and bring the warriors to readiness,” Malica ordered.

  Lord Doqua appeared on the main screen moments later. He flashed anger and joy, ruffling is mane. Malica did the same. He would follow his lord to battle. If death was the outcome there was no better death to be had.

  “Charge them,” Doqua growled as the star warriors accelerated.

  Malica flopped his paws over the saddle on his command deck, a cupped section covered the rest of him, and his command crew were similarly secured. Then the Star warriors started really accelerating. Fusion bombs dropped behind the craft, exploding, their force hitting reinforced plates and pushing them forward as they closed with the enemy. Malica felt the pressures of extreme gravity all over his body. He reveled in it as he lurched. He felt like he had as a cub, chasing after prey with his galloping gait before he pounced.

  We shall give their warriors a valiant death and contest each of their worlds till we are victorious, he thought, battle hormones coursing through his veins.

  ***

  Captain Lord Lifendi watched as the ships came online. They must have been in the system coasting towards their next jump when they saw him. They had quickly lit their drives and within a matter of hours started accelerating at incredible speeds. Their ships were simple cigar looking things, each of them two hundred meters long and with their weaponry located on their bow or facing forward, there were no port or starboard facing cannons. They looked to have missiles and laser turrets.

  He sent a message off to Lady Fairgate as he looked to his crew. They were the best that he could pull from the ranks of the Syndicate, it was clear that they were scared. Even with their massive fleet, they were outnumbered, there was four hundred of the ships coming at them.

  “Send an empty Corvette flying right out at them and begin charging wormhole generators,”

  He needed to know the capabilities of this new enemy. He waited as the thrumming built of the wormhole generators, the Corvette sped towards the incoming enemy, going at speeds that would've harmed the crew. It was five hours later that he saw the result.

  Missiles leapt from ships, crashing into the Corvette as its automated PDS systems failed to keep up with the fire. Lasers shredded the Corvette even as it came apart. There was little left as it came out the other side of the Kalu ships. Murmurs went through the crew as Lifendi looked over the sensors report. The lasers were higher powered, faster versions of his own PDS, and the missiles were straight fusion bomb pumped X-ray's and lasers.

  A Dreadnought's shields would only last three or five hits before failing. Dread filled him as for the first time, he wished that he hadn't betrayed the Union to get the position he deserved. He took his ships through the wormhole, the Star warriors still advancing. He couldn't hear the baying for blood that was happening in every warrior, but the sound chilled his blood anyway. The second war of teaching had begun, and this time the Kalu were going to teach their enemy why they should wipe them all out.

  Chapter - Preparations

  I stared at the desk in front of me, my eyes hard as I grated my teeth, turning over Rick's idea in my mind. We were now at Parnmal, and the majority of the fleet had moved on towards Earth. Only Resilient and a small squadron, Cheerleader, Bregend, and Boot’s fleet remained. Foshunti had been turned over to the courts. If they sentenced him to anything less than death I would make him captain once again. He was a risk but I could use his skills and knowledge. His fighter commander Ravasham was already showing how Foshunti had cultivated a crew of only the best.

  Now I had to decide if it was worth to allow the people that had been fighting me, not even a few months ago, to join the Free Fleet.

  "Change their prison terms to reduced terms within the Free Fleet as long as they don't create any issues,” I said.

  Rick nodded, no pause in his reaction. While I didn't like having to use previous Syndicate members to fill my ranks there had been more than one time when I'd been wrong, I reminded myself as I sighed.

  "As you’re our personnel guy, Rick. I’ll leave this under your purview. in charge of it. Which means I’ll have to leave you here if I’m to keep on schedule with Nelly and Nancy,” I said. I was much more guarded than I’d ever been before. Trusting others was harder for me after Daestramus. I will hunt that dog down and... I closed my eyes, trying to focus my anger into something useful.

  "Understood, commander. Telling Marleen that is going to be... unpleasant,” Rick said. I passed over his humour, looking to Felix.

  "Are you ready for your new project?" I asked, my voice cold and professional.

  "Yes. Everything is ready from factory ships to haulers. Min Ha's people have vetted everyone and we're ready to proceed to the unnamed system past Earth,” he said.

  "Call it Shadow, then,” I said.

  "Certainly, commander,” he replied.

  "Your docks here are ready to be turned over to the merchants?"

  "Yes. It is outfitted and cleared of anything useful. We will be the fastest port in known space to move freight on an off of freighters,” Felix said.

  "Another thing I hope that we can add to Hachiro,” said Whorst, the system commander of Earth. The FTL relays were only growing.

  "With time,” I said, giving him a look of assurance. The man was a combat veteran. While he did a great job running Earth, I needed to get him a job aboard one of my ships. Though everything I had thus far, looked like a downgrade.

  "What about this FTL relay initiative?"
I asked Parnmal's Intelligence Officer.

  "He wants to do two things. Bring more traffic to Parnmal and the corridor." Corridor was the new name for the Earth to Parnmal wormhole connection. So far we had not found another entrance into it, other than the one Boot had used.

  “As well as expand the FTL network across known and inhabited space. To do that he wants to offer merchants a fee to take and install FTL relays along pre-set co-ordinates. If a merchant is going to a destination and there is a drop-off on the way, they can make some platinum,”

  "Approved,” I said. I saw nothing but benefit. Merchants more often than not were bringing people that wanted to be part of the Free Fleet, or had supplies that were useful to us.

  "Are we still going ahead with the Nelly, Nancy, Nate split?" Silly asked.

  "Yes. Having one big shipyard is nice, but this is war. We need to spread our resources out,” I said. “How long will it be before Nelly and Nate are ready to move?"

  "Within the month,” he answered.

  "Very well. That just leaves you three," I turned to Boot, Bregend, and Cheerleader. "You three are going to do some scouting in force. Cheerleader, I want you to find out the situation with the Kuruvian home system and planet. Boot, you will look to the Sarenmenti's home. Bregend, I want you to go and search for Fairgate's supposed home system. It’s thought to be where one of the last major battles between the PDF and the Kalu happened,”

  They made noises and movements of agreement.

  "That’s all, for now. We must look to searching out people to fill our ranks, and ships to fight in before we can think of engaging the Kalu. Felix has been given free rein to make whatever ships he thinks can aid us. The rest of us will look to fixing and upgrading our ships. We’ll need every advantage we can get. The Kalu use very much our own tactics. They close with the enemy, board them and use their superior fighting techniques to win. They will contest every planet, dropping only the amount of forces they believe necessary to win the battle.

  “The others will watch, only replacing them when they believe they can defeat the clan on the planet, and the people of the planet. They are divided through their clan structure, but it makes it so only their warriors are able to go to war. The Syndicate was a bunch of criminals with warships. The Kalu are a people that live for war. They will not stop as long as they are alive. Surrendering is an unknown concept to them. Do not underestimate them.”

  I looked to them all, seeing them understanding my words.

  "What about the kids of the free fleet?" Rick asked.

  "There has been talk of starting to use tests to join the fleet instead of an age requirement. I think that we should go along that route,” I said.

  "What about the people that have spoken against it?" Whorst asked.

  "Let them say what they will. With these tests, we give everyone a way to enter the free fleet no matter their age or abilities,” Rick said.

  I gave him an understanding look.

  "Now this is all sorted, I must leave for Earth. Otherwise Eddie is going to lead an Engineering revolt. Good luck to you all,”

  ***

  Rick walked into the holding cell, and both Jorsht, and Kelu looked at him in confusion.

  "Why have we been brought here?" Kelu asked.

  "I have an offer to you and every person that used to be in the Syndicate with minor crimes. I offer you a place within the Free Fleet. You will get reduced terms based on how you act. You will also possibly get an offer of continued service after your term,” Rick said, waiting for that to sink in.

  "Why?" Jorsht asked. He might be a massive brute of a creature, but there was an intelligence behind those eyes.

  "The Kalu have returned. We have more ships and jobs than we have people. Plus I didn't think that you and yours would want to just mine asteroids when you could be fighting in a real military,”

  "So you want help in fighting the Kalu? Just getting a position in the fleet is not enough. We will need renumeration,” Jorsht said.

  “Of course your first question is how much you get paid.” Rick said, not finding it easy to be annoyed at Parnmal’s old commander who shrugged the comment off.

  "Where do I sign?" Kelu said, becoming cold, showing his nervousness.

  "Brother, we need not sign immediately,” Jorsht said.

  "You do not understand. The Kalu, they are not like the free fleet, they will not offer mercy. We die fighting, or we die as prisoners. They do not care what we say,” Kelu said, turning on Jorsht.

  "I will not die working on shipyards. I will die charging them and hammering them with all the cannons I can muster,” Kelu said, his voice frigid. "I took this name not to intimidate, but as a promise to my planet which was savaged by them, and to not forget. Rick—if I may call you that—what do I have to do to put my name up?"

  "Press your right manipulator here, and then tell your people about their choices,” Rick said, pushing a data pad over and pointing to a scanning area.

  Kelu did it without pause.

  "Jorsht?" Rick asked, looking to the creature.

  "It's a shorter sentence,” he said, putting his massive paw on the data pad.

  With that, the previous commander of Parnmal, and the Captain that had tried to take it, now signed up to defend it and stand with their old adversaries.

  What a damned crazy Universe we live in.

  ***

  Thank you for taking the time to read No Rest for the Wicked!

  Please leave a review to let me know what you think about No Rest For the Wicked and the Free Fleet Series ☺

  Interested in From the Black Free Fleet 4? Click on the link below!

  http://amzn.to/1XVbOlE

  I’ll just leave this excerpt ‘From the Black’ here...

  Epilogue

  Chapter Preparations

  I rubbed my eyes as I looked over the newest reports from Commander Whorst and Silly in Sol system. A month ago Syndicate personnel had started being trained up to work with the Free Fleet instead of against it.

  Jorsht and Kelu had started the process and there were now three transports moving the ex-syndicate forces to the training facilities around Sol, Chaleel and AIH. The training schools on Parnmal were packed.

  Before all of this I had been a simple gamer leading my team towards the Mecha Assault Two championships. Now I was the commander of eight hundred thousand trained personnel. I commanded a fleet of warships, a number of ship yards and stations, hell I was sitting in the biggest damned station in existence.

  Even with all that, the paperwork and reports won't stop. I shook my head letting out a noisy exhale as I focused on my data pad again.

  Nancy, which was the biggest shipyard under my command, had undergone some massive changes. She'd been split into three, donating a dock to Chaleel and AIH. She was still larger than when she had entered Sol system, three docks bigger than the Parnmal’s. Even with all the ships coming in to be overhauled and refit, all of the shipyards never stopped growing.

  Nothing had been heard from Bregend, Cheerleader, or Boot in over a month. I had given them orders to only contact me in dire consequences, or when they had reached their destinations.

  Hopefully the FTL relays that were being set up across known space would help.

  I put down the data pad that held the report as Resilient and Planner appeared in my conference room. The two AI's inhabited my own ship, and that of Talhalla, a carrier that had been commanded by Captain Lord Foshunti, the left hand of Lady Fairgate who was the leader of the Syndicate. Well that's at least how things looked, he was actually a Dovark operative that created a fleet within his main force that were loyal to him, and he despised Fairgate.

  Thoughts of updated cannons, PDS and power plants faded into the background as my face took on a hard edge. I was different from when I had landed on Daestramus, less trusting, slower to act and my paranoia had started to come back. Though a combination of all my friends giving me a collective kick in the ass, had stopped me from
going down the rabbit hole too much.

  “So I guess it's time,” I said, standing.

  “No need to sound so glum,” LaRe said, coming into existence. The young AI was quicker to humour now. He had kept the name Last Resort, but it seemed being in a yard and around creatures had done wonders for his state of mind. “You're only meeting with one of the most hidden groups in all the Universe, there has only been one meeting of all the AI's with creatures before.”

  “Someone's been looking up their history,” I said, crooking an eyebrow at his hologram, he was part Kuruvian with less manipulators and longer legs, his face was a mix of Avarian and Dovark. This gave him the ability to express emotions on his face.

  “First time I meet the people of my own race and the AI league. You bet I've been studying!” LaRe said happily.

  Resilient shone with pride.

  “Good work young one,” Planner said, sounding old, even with his holographic body of a fighting age Avarian.

  The lights in the room dimmed as holographic projectors turned the conference room into a virtual room. Holograms started to flash into existence, far away and close by. Each represented an AI.

  My stony facade faded away as I looked around in wonder. There must have been hundreds of AI. Each of them had a holographic representation identical to different creatures. Some were a mix of different races, and some were nothing alike. Some were just colors, or disembodied shapes, reams of code I didn't understand, or mechanical creations.

  One floated at me with alarming speed, it wore a cloak that hid its features. It stood in front of me. Legs sprouting from the bottom which were coated in a thick armored plating, shining eyes glowed orange from the cloak's hood. Its looks and stature spoke of power. This was a creature that was built for strength and destruction, their movements and depiction were not made to enhance that power, but were rather products of the creature's personality.

  “Can I help you?” I asked after a few moments, the cloak's eyes flicking to mine.