Talosian Chronicles 6: Armageddon

by Ben Winston

  One official in Chicago asked the local Marine garrison commander if the less violent offenders could be placed in a non-weaponized suit of armor and used as a heavy work crew until their cases could be heard by a judge. The suit would act like a form of portable prison; it was track-able, and would protect the suspect. Old warehouses near the waterfront could be used to house them, and any maintenance could be quickly handled by the drones at the various defense installations around the city.

  The idea was quickly approved and adopted by cities and law enforcement around the world. Again, the criminals were not happy about the situation, but for the time being there was simply no way, or reason, to object. Inside a suit, they would be better protected than many of their fellow citizens. The work aspect of the idea was also not uncommon.

  What they weren't happy about about was that, since they were in a suit, they were not allowed into the shelters. They would be remaining 'outside' when the attack came.

  Some of the least publicized preparations that had been made had happened so seamlessly and quietly that very few people had even known they had taken place.

  Around the world, nuclear power plants had been taken off-line and replaced by smaller, cleaner and safer fusion reactors. The new reactors did not directly produce heat and were far less dangerous than current, conventional reactors. The could also be shut down quickly with no danger to the public or the environment.

  Many of the older, 'coal-fired' generators had also been replaced. The Terrans had offered the replacement free of charge to the owning corporations. The catch would be that the corporations had to reduce their rates to a level that would cover the cost of their employee's wages. The offer was happily and greedily accepted. The energy companies were thinking they could have the equipment installed then refuse to lower the wages to the level promised. One company claimed that they needed to replace the distribution control system to accommodate the new reactor. Which was totally false as any alterations needed had been installed when the reactor was.

  When the technicians and drones arrived at the plant to remove the new equipment, the company denied them entrance and called the police. When the police arrived, the lawyer that was with the technicians showed them the clause about reducing their rates, which the company had refused to do, thus breaching the contract, they agreed with the reason the technicians were there, but told them they would need a court to rule on it before the equipment could be removed.

  The lead technician smiled and nodded his understanding. He took out his ever present smart sheet and entered a few commands. As he put the sheet away, the power plant began shutting down around them. The company official that had been so smug when the police supported him, was suddenly panicking.

  "What did you just do? You can't do this! It's illegal! Thousands of our customers rely on this plant for power!" the man screamed.

  The Terran technicians simply smiled back as they got back in their vehicles and left.

  The power was restored later that day. The next day, the company apologized for the power failure and promised a refund to their customers as a result. The refund would be in the amount of the consisted with what was over charged since the plant went on line. No explanation was offered by the company for the outage but the local news services did find out what happened and reported it. Although the company didn't admit to guilt, they carefully didn't deny it either.

  All deep sea oil platforms were shut down five days prior to the attack and the crews were evacuated to the closest country. There had been plans to have small drones at each of the wells to seal them in case the rig was destroyed, but there hadn't been time to build them. The five-day shut down gave the tankers and other support vessels, as well as the 'Greenpeace' protest ships time to reach a safe harbor.

  Refineries were also shut down and an extra shield generator was installed. Once the refinery was evacuated, the shield was activated and the air was removed from the inside.

  Factories shut down, some of them for the first time ever, and the ones that handled dangerous materiels were also isolated. The world got a five day vacation prior to the arrival of the enemy fleets in order to move to the shelters and prepare for war. Surprisingly, even most of the protesters and end-of-the-world religious kooks quieted down and took cover.

  That only lasted so long, as shelters filled and began to turn people away. The one fact that all the governments had refused to tell the people was now coming to light; forty percent of the world population would not find room in the shelters. There had not been time to build shelters for everyone, and in some places, there had been too many people for the shelters to accommodate anyway. It was one of the reasons for encouraging people to 'move inland'. It was less likely the smaller cities of the interior would become targets, and there was more room in the rural areas and shelters anyway.

  Ian had every available shuttle moving people and filling up every shelter that had room. They tried, but did not get everyone moved before time ran out. Near panic, people took shelter where they could; civil defense shelters, basements and underground parking garages were filled, and still there were people left on the surface. Some of them either didn't care, or didn't believe the attack was real. Others saw the opportunity to steal property or money. Most of them would not live long enough to enjoy their ill gotten gains.

  Chapter Ten

  TDF Star Dancer

  Equatorial Orbit

  Earth, Sol Sector

  System hyperspace entry vector detected.

  Vector track 235.89.13 x 23.27.136 - distance 32c. Track Confirmed – No IFF detected; track assumed hostile.

  Time to weapon intercept – Target out of range; FR-17 hours 33 minutes.

  Track arrival at sector defense perimeter – 19 hours, 13 minutes, 03 seconds.

  Projected hyperspace event/ arrival this track: Sol System – 20 hours, 17 minutes, 47 seconds.

  72% probability of inner-system arrival.

  *Warning* Energy/Mass/Distance profile indicates potential fleet-size force.

  Multiple intermittent new tracks detected vicinity 179.54 x 233.129 distance >40c. Stand by for Confirmation.

  As Ian looked at the message from Defense Network Command, he began to feel like the butterflies in his stomach had been issued pulse rifles and sided with the enemy. The in bound vector clearly marked it as the Caldarian force they were expecting. Since they could detect and confirm it at this distance meant there had to be a lot of mass moving through hyperspace. Well, that many Super Nova's moving in formation would certainly qualify.

  The intermittent tracks would be the Imperial fleets. Again, the size and mass of those units making them easier for the sensors to see them. Although the extended warning was nice, it was actually bad news for Ian his forces.

  With the Caldarian fleet, they had a pretty good idea how many ships were coming and what size they were. So the early detection of them had been expected. However, the most troubling part of the message was the detection of the intermittent tracks of the Imperial forces. Basically, the further out they could be detected, the larger and more powerful the force actually was. Detecting the Imperial ships this far away was very much not a good thing.

  Briefly, Ian wondered what the leading physicists on Earth would say about this news. Once the truth about the attack had been made public, many of them were on this show or that, claiming how they didn't how the earth could be attacked by an enemy from another Galaxy because simply crossing between galaxies was a feat that would take hundreds of centuries to accomplish. Of course, these were the same experts that said faster than light travel was still impossible and the Terrans had made the whole thing up.

  Ian remembered an spot on Good Morning America that had featured a debate between one prominent physicist that swore faster-than-light travel was impossible, and an eleven-year-old Terran girl from Phoenix base. The 'expert' was allowed to explain how he knew he was right before the hostess introduced the other guest.

  The young la
dy was polite and friendly, immediately endeared herself to her audience, and slowly explained what, to her, was basic hyperspace physics. She used a holographic 'white board' to write out the formula that enabled hyperspace travel. She smiled and told the hostess that Doctor Terrance was correct; faster than light travel was not possible in our dimension. Hyperspace travel was not done in our dimension, but in hyperspace. Which is why it was called 'hyperspace travel' and not 'faster-than-light travel'. The way the girl explained it was in simple, easy to understand terms that left Ian grinning.

  The physicist studied her formula closely, and even asked a few questions, but the light slowly began to come on for him. He hadn't been embarrassed by the event, but was actually impressed with the girl. "Young Lady, when and where did you learn all of this? It must have taken you years of study?"

  "No Sir, when I was six, hyperspace physics was a required course in my teaching curriculum. I really enjoyed the course and have since asked for more courses in fluid dynamics,hyperspace physics, and quantum mechanics. It's a very interesting and I really enjoy it," the girl replied.

  "Ah, so you are a prodigy then?" the hostess asked.

  "Oh, no Ma'am. Although I do enjoy it, I only get average marks. I hope to do better in the future, but I'm still wrestling with a few of the more basic concepts," the girl replied.

  The Doctor grinned. "Dare I ask what you consider to be a basic concept?"

  "Well, I'm currently struggling with multi-dimensional and quantum string theory," the girl replied sadly.

  "So what do you want to do with your life when you finish growing up?" the hostess asked.

  "I think I'd like to be a fighter pilot, or possibly a Raptor team member," the girl said smiling.

  "I would think with your intellect, you could be almost anything you wanted!" one of the other hosts said.

  The girl shrugged. "Like I said, I'm really only an average student. I would like to contribute to our understanding of the universe someday, but I still have a lot to learn."

  "So what do you do for fun, and who are your idols?" the hostess asked.

  "I like to swimming and variable gravity gymnastics, I also like to read and play video games," the girl replied. "The reason I volunteered for this interview was so I could meet one of my idols; Doctor Terrance."

  "Child, you are so far ahead of me, I feel you should be my idol!" the physicist replied smiling.

  "Oh no, Sir! The work you and your peers have done is remarkable! The accomplishments you've made without the benefit of the advanced knowledge from the other races or the advanced teaching methods we use is, at least to me, indescribably heroic. If taken in context and compared to our different worlds, I can only wish to be able to accomplish half of what you have," the girl replied, making the man's day.

  Ian sighed with the memory of that interview and brought himself back to the present. He quickly composed a message to his commanders to alert them to the new information and to warn them to begin their final preparations. Ian also composed a message to the world leaders basically telling them the same thing. Finally, he composed a recorded message as a press release to the people of the world. He was firm in his resolve, showed none of the fear he felt, and above all tried to instill a feeling of hope in the message. Even though he knew it wouldn;t air for several hours yet, he hoped it would help to keep at least some people calm.

  Site NY4

  Central Park

  New York City, Earth

  Sol Sector

  The Colonel's aid notified him that Sergeant Miles was there to see him and he asked for her to be shown in. "What's up Sergeant? What can we do for you today?" When he saw the look on her face, he knew something was up. "What's wrong?"

  Tonya looked worried, but was trying to keep it under control. “Sir, I’ve been asked to inform you that for the time being, a Raptor team will be stationed here in Central Park with us. In fact, they should be landing any time,” she tried to smile, but her attempt was pretty feeble.

  “That has you worried?” Adam asked.

  "No Sir, it's not that. We just received word that the defense network has picked up an incoming fleet of ships. Command believes it's the Caldarians. They'll get here in just over seventeen hours. Sometime after that, the main Imperial strike force will begin arriving and that's when the real fight will begin." Tonya sighed. "Honestly Sir, I very much doubt it will make much difference to us down here; All we have to do is shoot down as much enemy stuff as possible, try to avoid getting nuked, and entertain any enemy troops that show up. We'll have the easy job," Tonya explained.

  "If you've got a couple of minutes, I'd like to pick you're brain a little. Please, have a seat, can I get you something? Coffee maybe?" Adam asked.

  "Just water would be fine Sir." Tonya replied as she sat down. "What would you like to know?"

  "Well, it was never really explained to us about the difference between these Caldarians you mentioned, and the Empire. Can you explain that?" Adam asked as he handed her a bottle of water and sat next to her with his coffee.

  "You've been shown the physical differences during the armor training, right?"

  Adam nodded. "Yeah, the Caldarians are these big ugly things that aren't even remotely human in appearance, the Imperial troops are shorter than us on average, but much stockier and stronger."

  "Right, The Caldarians are the race that the Talosian Alliance was fighting thousands of years ago that eventually destroyed there homeworld. Shortly after that, the Alliance of Races was formed to stop the Caldarian Expansionism. During that war, the Caldarians themselves were all but wiped out due to an unfortunate accident during the fighting on their own home planet. Unknown to the New Alliance, several Caldarian warships led the few surviving Caldarian merchant ships away from the war to a small dwarf galaxy just outside this one. That's where they've been hiding for the last four thousand plus years.

  "They survived by using their slaves to mine and drill for the petrochemicals they need for sustenance," Tonya explained. Adam interrupted her.

  "Wait, they eat crude oil?" Adam asked.

  Tonya nodded. "As well as coal, but mostly the crude oil. Anyway, it was recently discovered that the Caldarians had been systematically raiding planets in Alliance space to help support their population. They discovered Earth during the great depression and set up a base here. They were stealing oil and kidnapping people until we stopped them a year ago. We had our fighters plant a tracking device on one of the departing freighters and tracked it back to the dwarf galaxy. They sent a single warship back here to investigate the reports of advanced space fighters and shuttles their freighter crews had seen.

  "The fighting over the western United States was the most public result of that battle. That was also when the governments of the world learned of us. They were ready to start World War Three because the rest of the world thought we were United States forces."

  "I remember that part, So what's the connection between the Caldarians and the Empire?" Adam asked.

  Tonya shook her head. "There isn't one. They are not affiliated in anyway. It's just our bad luck that the two forces are arriving so close to each other. However, we did know that the Caldarians were coming almost three months ago when they departed their home in the dwarf galaxy. Before you ask, yes we told the World leaders as soon as we had confirmation. In everything we've always done or tried to do; we've comported ourselves as a military extension of the United Nations. They haven't always known we existed, but we've always tried to act in the best interests of the people of this world.

  "Anyway, in all likelihood, the Caldarians and the Empire will start fighting each other in this battle too. The Caldarians are greedy and don't like to share," Tonya explained. "As far as we can tell, the Caldarians have no idea the Imperial fleets will arrive shortly after they, themselves will. Either way, the Caldarians are going to be toast pretty quickly. The last intelligence report they could have received would have told them this entire sector was being guarded by n
othing more than a single, very old and out-dated Talosian Heavy Cruiser.

  "They are bringing everything they have left, basically they are moving here to take up residence. They would have abundant food and an endless slave force to serve their every whim. They believe this system is defended by a single ship that would be overwhelmed in minutes by the forces they have. If their reports were accurate, they would be right and we would all be slaves by the end of the week.

  "Unfortunately for them, they are going to be dropping out of hyperspace in the middle of the largest Alliance force ever assembled for a single battle.If they surrender, something Caldarian warriors just don't do, they will be ordered to leave the sector immediately without escort. If they don't surrender, they will be destroyed very quickly; possibly even before the Imperial fleets begin arriving," she finished.

  Adam nodded his understanding. "Okay, that does make more sense now. Everyone was talking about these two forces arriving here to attack us, and some of them would refer to them as a single force. I guess I'm not the only one that was confused by what we're facing.

  "So, we're getting a Raptor team; what does that mean exactly?" Adam asked.

  "A Raptor team is our version of Delta Force or Navy SEAL team. However they are less anti-terrorism and more surgical strike units. A Raptor team is trained to infiltrate and capture or destroy enemy capitol ships, disrupt supply lines, assassinate heads of state or military commanders, and any other dirty trick that could be thought up. Basically, they are trained to insert themselves into the enemy controlled space and raise as much hell as possible for as long as possible. If we have a mission that absolutely cannot fail, they are the people we call to pull it off.