“It's a Star Warrior,” Folla said.
“Alright, get the crew back on board, we're following this thing wherever it goes,” Dosa said.
It took an hour to gather his crew and make their leaving look routine.
They took off on a route away from the Kalu Star Warrior and the sensor buoys that Avapor had floating around. They had a few people in the control centres for those buoys, but Dosa was wary to use them else they might be compromised.
When they cleared the buoys, they altered their heading towards but not right on top of the Star Warrior.
The Star Warrior seemed to get bored of Avapor, turning and jumping away.
“Plot jump to the system they were headed to,” Dosa said. Helm found the systems within jumping range of the Star Warrior, and it's positioning. Not many people knew that someone could face any direction when using a wormhole to get to another system, as long as it was in range then a wormhole could get you there, you didn't need to be facing it.
It took some time for Dosa's ship to get to the jump limit, charge their wormhole generators and go charging after the Star Warrior. The entire time Dosa and his crew felt the excitement and anxiety that came with hunting down a worthy enemy.
They entered the new system, now within the area called 'the line'. The sensor shadow of the Star Warrior showed it crossing the system. Dosa didn't need to say anything as Helm followed them and started looking at systems in the direction the Star Warrior was going.
Light was a fickle thing, there was the laser sensors that travelled at the speed of light, hitting whatever was around and getting an image back from the reflected lasers. Arrays were tightly packed lasers that were able to get a high resolution and refined image, these were what sensor operators used mostly.
Now lasers weren't the only type of light that could show a ship to another ship, starlight and sunlight could too. So while Dosa was seeing a shadow of the Star Warrior it was that light striking the ship and reflecting into Dosa's ship sensors. Dosa had turned off his sensors so that the Star Warrior would have a harder time finding his ship, it would also take them twice the time as they were using sensors and not the sun as Dosa was.
The one issue with sun and star shadows was that they disappeared sometimes, if Dosa's ship wasn't lined up with the Star Warrior's reflection then he could lose them.
It was a few hours before the Kalu reached where they needed to jump, thankfully the shadows had been on Dosa's side and he'd been able to see its direction.
Dosa's ship followed, getting past the jump limit and wormholing away.
Nothing came up on shadows in the next system.
“Full sensor sweep,” Dosa said, he and the fleet needed to know where the Star Warrior had gone.
“It seems that they jumped immediately, I sense disturbances in background radiation. One of the sensor operators said.
Dosa pulled down a star map on his screens. He had done astro-navigation while in Parnmal.
He input the Star Warriors believed wormhole limit and traced it from the jump limit of the system he was in. Three systems were reachable, all of them within 'the line'.
“We're headed back to the nearest relay, we need to get this higher. Helm you are cleared for successive wormholes, use the capacitors as we can. Start plotting a least-time route,” Dosa didn't relax after giving his orders, he knew what would happen as soon as Salchar had those possible co-ordinates, he would test the Kalu and see if they were like the demons that the PDF had fought.
***
Foshunti had finally made an agreement between his people and the Free Fleet. The people had not been happy with the fact that the fleet now worked with convicted criminals, the very criminals that had attacked Worshun and led to the fall of the Union and PDF within its ranks. Though Foshunti had pressed that if they had not done so then Foshunti himself would be serving in Parnmal, mining an asteroid, and the fact that many had no other option.
One person that was not happy about the Free Fleet was Foshunti's old teacher, Worshun's planetary governor, Elisati. Who now sat, looking at Foshunti, studying him.
“What is it?” He asked after some time, bored with the looks that people gave him, the weighing the testing, it was the same looks he had been given throughout his childhood as he was trained to infiltrate the Syndicate.
“You have changed, you are no longer focused and calm. You have become relaxed, lazy and slow..,” There was no emotion on her face as she leapt for him. Foshunti had seen the way her pulse elevated before she struck. He grabbed her arm and threw her to the ground, twisting her arm back and behind her as he used a knee to force her into the ground and elicit a surprised grunt.
“All the better to hide my anger,” he said, those words coming out in harsh tones. Something dark lingered in his soul, aching to get free. He tightened his grip for a second before letting go and walking clear of her body.
She stood, only wiping her face as a trickle of blood came from her snout.
Elisati had been the one to train Foshunti and all of the candidates for the infiltration, she had gained the position of planetary governor to make the creatures of Worshun and the Union, abandon the planet above and make their living below. It had saved many lives, but people longed for freedom, even if imagined.
“You do not have that fiery spark in you anymore,” she sat down, looking almost, concerned.
“I have seen things and done things that not many would agree with. The Fleet has also shown me that action is the last resort, keeping a level head is the best way to understand whether that force is needed or not.” Unlike the force and killing I had to do so I could become Lady Fairgate's pet and retain my position as Captain Lord. Foshunti pushed his anger down keeping his thoughts to himself.
“Like with Daestramus. They decimated the secret police force there, but left the people alive, even helped them,” she looked to Foshunti to fill in any blanks, or reveal a lie.
“That is correct,” Foshunti said, not liking this meeting at all, he would much prefer to be fighting her, or back on his ship making sure it was running smoothly. “I have been asked every detail I know, and can say without breaking my promises and oath to the Free Fleet, all of it recorded by the debriefing team. I ask you refer to them and we get to the matter at hand.”
Elisati looked as if she had many more questions, but they faded away as she recovered her seat and sat down.
“To the business of our agreement with the Free Fleet. What can they offer us?” She asked.
The question was simple and rudimentary, but Foshunti's anger flared again. He didn't try to hide it, everyone was looking for what they could get, not what they could do by working together. It was one thing that had made him look harshly upon other planets and systems.
“They can offer you a connection to the growing planets that now litter what had been Union controlled space. Their merchant fleet can bring trade and the ability to get to the stations and rebuild them. They need a lot of work but our people can get to the stars again and become the traders we once were,” Foshunti saw the possibilities for his people, but still Elisati was unhappy.
“Yes and they ask for a tithe of our merchant transactions and skilled workers and to provide security, they are nothing more than enforcers. We are giving them the power to ruin us,” she said.
“They're giving us the power to get on our own two feet, they have a war to worry about, and our people will get free transport into the heart of civilized space, trained, paid and fed,” Foshunti's anger bled into his tone, making it clipped. “We both know that our people are biting at the bit to leave Worshun and find a life somewhere else. There is too much pain here for many of them. The possibility that they can use their skills in space, or as they were intended will drive them to the stars. The Free Fleet will have a recruitment office here no matter what you say, whether it be through the merchant fleet, or through the relays. People will be free to join the fleet,” he would be lying if he didn't admit he felt
some satisfaction in those words.
How much have I changed that I am fighting for the Free Fleet, instead of trying to steal everything from them? He looked to Elisati who was waging her own internal debate. Worshun sent me off to kill, steal and do whatever I needed to do in order to gain Lady Fairgate's trust. The Free Fleet gave me an option, serve them faithfully and they will always have my back. No one on Worshun could have my back, I only had Planner in the beginning. They never gave me a chance to be a kid, neither did the Syndicate give Salchar, Bregend, Cheerleader or any of the other people of the Free Fleet. We're more alike than many of my own people.
“So you would tell me to throw my lot in with these Free Fleet that have done nothing for me, except bring my pupil back,” Elisati said.
“This is not the time for arguing and making plans.” He advanced on her, his anger controlling him as his finger stabbed towards the ground to drive the point’s home. “It is time to act. Do you know why that fleet is on full alert? It's because we are going in search of the Kalu, they've returned,” Elisati stepped backwards almost unconsciously. She might have been the one to train him, but he had lived with a much harsher mistress than her. Now her eyes went wide as the revelation about the Kalu hit harder than his own blow a few minutes ago.
He could see her mind working, he pulled out his data pad, queuing a video and putting it in front of her. It was the recording he'd gotten from Lady Fairgate herself, stored with instructions to search out Rosho station.
She stared at it for a few minutes, replaying it, pausing it and checking it.
He could see his old teacher's mind working as she took in this new information.
She produced a data pad of her own.
“These are my amendments,” she said, handing it to Foshunti, there was a reduced taxing on goods, but increased output in raw materials once the miners and stations were back online.
Foshunti copied it to his pad and sent it to Planner who would send it to Resilient and then the planetary relations team and Salchar for confirmation.
Elisati's eyes were distant, she had been in the Union-Kalu wars. She knew how terrible they could be.
“Was there infighting between the Kalu?” She asked, her eyes sharp.
“No, all of them seemed to be working together to attack Lifendi and his ships,” Foshunti said, his own voice low with the tone of one that didn't want to say what he had to.
“Then I pray that your Commander Salchar is everything that you and his people say he is. The might of the Union couldn't defeat them totally while they were divided, if they are now united,” she looked into Foshunti's eyes with the look of a leader, not the trainer, or one trying to barter the best deal. “Then I fear for every sentient,” Elisati's eyes bored into Foshunti's. His data pad beeped with an incoming message. He looked to it, that tone only came from one person.
Salchar himself had agreed to the terms set forth by Worshun's senate and planetary governor.
“He is something to be seen,” Foshunti said, thinking of the recordings from the battles Salchar and the Free Fleet had been involved in. “I am needed back with my ship and with my people, the Free Fleet will be undoubtedly moving on to the line in hopes of finding the Kalu,” he said.
She stood raising her palm, he rose the back of his.
“You did well Foshunti, better than any of us thought, I will trust you to see us through this war. When it is over I hope that you come back to be our military leader,” she said, solemnly, the position of military leader was one of the most honourable. It was usually that person that overlooked the military matters of the PDF in the times of the Union.
“I thank you, but I have already found my place. The Free Fleet is my home now, I think the time of the Union and the PDF is over. I do not know what is next, but the Free Fleet will probably have a large part in it. First we must defeat the Kalu,” he said. The possibilities, the hopes he had predicated on the winning of a war against a still largely unknown enemy.
***
Bregend got out of his drone pit, another taking his place. He rubbed his neck, his eyes screaming as he blinked. Crap looks like I forgot to blink again, he thought rubbing his eyes and holding them closed in hopes of reversing their dried state.
Kurft jumped and ran through the halls, Bregend still blinking as his Commando Commander ran at him. That is a mouthful.
“We have a message for Salchar from Min Hae's people, it looks like they've cut down the possible systems of the Kalu to just three.”
“Right,” Bregend heard himself say as he activated a channel to Kyle.
“Get the fastest moving ship we have and send it with the information we have to Salchar. I want a check on the relays, all Free Fleet ships and personnel should be on high alert. Salchar looks to be going to war, we need to be ready for whatever the outcome is,” Bregend said, remembering the plans that Salchar had given him and every Captain and Commander in the Free Fleet.
They needed to know if the Kalu tactics or ships had changed. There was only one way to know for certain and Salchar wasn't going to make any other Commander shoulder that responsibility.
“Yes Commander,” Kyle's voice was hard as he cut the channel, probably working a dozen different channels.
Kurft gave Bregend a wake up capsule. Bregend nodded his thanks, putting it in the holder on his arm, he activated it as the holder sealed. New energy flooded his body. He was in charge of the defence of this system and the building of the ships within it. He would make damned sure that anyone coming into his system would pay dearly for it.
“Mills I need a report on all incoming traffic and our allotted freighters. I also want the engineers to look at recovering a few of those troop transports and the converted super-freighter,” said Bregend, cutting the channel. Mills would have it sorted shortly, Bregend had trust in his people.
The Freighter and troop transports were massive, easily five times the size of the Cruiser converts the merchant fleet was using.
If it came down to ground combat, the transport would be key. The super freighter was an effort by the Union to bolster their numbers when they didn't have the actually war-hulls. It had decent weaponry and shields on it, but Bregend wanted it for its ability to move huge shipments of necessary parts from the corridor factories to his system. Plus with those weapon systems it could look after itself, taking less Free Fleet protection from Parnmal to him.
He sent messages to Monk in Parnmal. He was the second line of defence between the Free Fleet protected planets and the Kalu, except for Worshun. Salchar's plans for if he went into combat with the Kalu would now be activated.
Bregend took a breath, now the Free Fleet would fight a war on multiple fronts. He steeled himself, seeing the people around him moving with purpose. With that he walked to his bridge.
***
News spread through Free Fleet protected and traded space in a matter of days. The Kalu had been sighted and Salchar was going to give them battle.
Training moved from facilities on Mars, Hachiro, AIH, and Parnmal to ships. Trainees flooded Free Fleet centres across known space, freighters were dispatched by systems for the sole purpose of getting a FTL relay setup, they wanted to know what was happening the minute it did.
Cheerleader was the highest in command after Rick and Bok Soo, both of which were in Salchar's fleet. After Cheerleader, Monk and Whorst would take the mantel as Commander of the Free Fleet.
Freighters moved personnel and resources. Warships moved military spec technology, weapons, capacitors, new shields all of it was shifted to fill the needs of the fleet. There was no fixing civilian ships anymore. That traffic went to the Kuruvian docks, which with the upgrades and information that the Free Fleet was being paid a retainer for, meant that they needed a fifth of their engineers. All of that was now under Cheerleader's command as she and the people in the room had to deal with getting as many ships online and crewed to deal with whatever happened with Salchar's fleet.
It's not like
we haven't been doing that from day one, she thought keeping her emotions off of her face. The Fleet was growing with every day, but there was still too many hulls and not enough people, even with the AI's making systems to enhance personnel's abilities.
Felix came online, rounding out the conference room. Silly, Monk, Whorst, Cheerleader, Tik, Tak and Ursht were already present. Hopefully some of them could help to advance their already accelerated progress even more.
“Alright Felix what have you and your lot been up to?” Cheerleader asked.
“We've got the split missiles sorted out and changed them to dual function, they can explode, or channel that explosive power into a fusion-pumped laser. Plus well, I've been watching some movies and I came up with a modification for the powered armor. I've come to call this the Heavily Armed Powered Armor, or HAPA.”
An image came on the screen. It was a pure exoskeleton, no armor and no extra features, except for two massive rail-cannons. Someone in powered armor would be able to climb into this contraption, feed it power and use its damned incredible weaponry.
“It is slower, but it adds its strength to the powered armor and in massive firepower. If someone can reload it then it can act as a bulwark. It could also be function in an anti-fighter capacity,” Felix said as everyone looked at the pictures.
“Did you build one?” Cheerleader asked.
“But of course,” Felix grinned as he was replaced by a video. Someone was standing on what looked like a deck. They climbed into the exoskeleton backwards, it lifted them up about a foot as they pulled the harness down over their chest and grabbed the two free-floating grips with simple switches. They secured their feet into the holds. A panel attached itself to the powered armor's upper back, where the user's neck would be.
“It's syncing to the user's nerve ports,” Felix said, Cheerleader unconsciously touched the ports on the back of her neck.
The person adjusted to the massive body around them rather quickly.
The user moved the HAPA to the end of the deck, pointing at an asteroid brought into range for the demonstration.
Free Fleet Box Set 2 Page 40
