by Ben Winston
"Because of the fluid nature of their duties, they have a whole different set of rules and laws they follow. They even have sanction authority in any situation," Tonya replied. "The main reason I came to tell you about it is because, this team will be made up of Benesians."
"Wait, aren't Benesians that race of pacifistic women?" Adam asked. "How does that work for a Raptor team?"
Tonya shrugged. "I have no idea Sir, but it must work just fine, because they made it out of training."
Just as Adam was about to ask another question, his office door opened to admit a teen-aged girl. "Daddy?"
"Karen? What the hell are you doing here? You should be in one of the shelters with your mother!" Adam said angrily.
The girl, Karen, ignored the question and was staring at Tonya. "Oh my god, this is one of those Aliens isn't she? Daddy how can you and the government be helping these people? Don't you know they are only here to take over everything?"
"She's not an alien. Now answer my question young lady! Why aren't you in a shelter? Where's your mother?" Adam demanded.
“Mom was 'busy', and I didn’t feel like trying to fend off the fucking creep she’s with. The sick bitch even tries to help him get into my pants! I know you don’t believe me, but damn it, I don’t fucking care anymore! I won’t go back there.
"There's no attack coming; they just want us in those shelters so its easier for them to round everyone up. I was going to go hang out with Poser and Lammie but, uh, they were busy. So that left here,” The girl hesitated, but got a rebellious, mean look on her face. "Poser said that they had already taken over everything. That they had brainwashed the President and everyone else. I mean, we already know that most of what the assholes in Washington tell us is total bull anyway, but now they’ve even taken over Central Park! Do you have any idea how hard it was to sneak past the…”
“Karen! There’s a reason the park is closed. The riots that are downtown would be here if the people could get in here. As it is we have to escort hundreds out of here every damn day," Adan had toi strain to control his anger. "No one is brainwashing anyone. These people are here to help us survive what's coming. Does this place look like a brainwashing center? Jesus Christ girl! Use your head!"
Adam's intercom beeped at him. "Sir, tracking has the TDF Raptor T'gal Althea and the cargo shuttle Pride requesting landing clearance."
Adma reached over his desk and touched a control. "Granted. I need you and Major Hines to meet the Raptor. Apologize to the Major for me and tell her I am dealing with a personal emergency. You can bring her back here if she needs to see me."
"Yes Sir, we're on our way," the man replied.
Adam closed his eyes in thought. "What are we going to do with you? The shelter's already over-capacity and I can't spare anyone to take you to another one." He shook his head. "I knew I should have followed up when the team I sent for you reported back that your mother said they would get the shelter on their own. That woman has never taken the incentive to do anything."
"Sir, why doesn't she just stay here in the base?" Tonya suggested. "She can stay in your quarters when the fighting starts and she'll be just as safe here as she would be in the shelter."
"I suppose your right, Sergeant. It's not like we can take her anywhere else!" Adam replied, frowning at his daughter. "By the way, Master Sergeant Tonya Miles, this is my daughter Karen Wells. Just so you know Karen, Master Sergeant Miles was born and grew up here in New York City. Yes, there are aliens here as part of the Terran Defense forces, but they are not here to hurt us."
Tonya nodded. "In fact, you'll be meeting one of them very shortly. Just for the record; your father is in command here, not us."
Karen looked confused. "Wait, what about Lammie and Poser? If this is real and they're still out there…" Karen asked, afraid for her friends now.
"Where are they?" Adam asked.
"I don't know; Lammie has this thing about doing it on the subway. They could be anywhere by now," Karen said.
"See if you can get them on your cell phone and tell them to come here. I'll let the guards know to expect them. If they show up, we'll get them underground, but don't hold your breath; with all the rioting and other shit happening, they might not make it," Adam replied.
"How much time is left?" Karen asked.
"By midnight, the fleets in space will be fully engaged with the enemy. By this time tomorrow, we could have enemy troops all over the city," Tonya replied grimly. "You're friends will need to hurry."
Karen nodded and pulled out her phone to call her friends. As she stepped over to a corner, there was a discrete knock on the door. Adam's aide opened it to allow three very beautiful women to enter. The office was getting a little crowded, but not yet uncomfortably so since the aide and Major Hines had stayed outside. The Benesian woman came to attention and saluted Adam who returned the salute. "Major F'ren Althea of the Raptor T'gal Althea, reporting in Sir. Pleas allow me to introduce my family; this is my beautiful mate, H'nel and our daughter T'dlan."
Adam bowed slightly to the women. "It is a pleasure to meet you ladies. Welcome to New York. "I am Colonel Adam Wells, United States Army. This young woman is TDF Master Sergeant Tonya Miles. She is in charge of the defense installation here. The young woman over in the corner rudely staring at you is my daughter, Karen."
Adam's words seemed to snap the girl out of her awed haze and she blushed. "I'm sorry, you took me by surprise."
T'dlan stepped over to her and held out her hand in greeting. "Hi, I'm T'dlan. Are all the girls on Earth as pretty as you are?"
Tonya grinned at the girls and turned back to Adam and F'ren. "With your permission, I'll show Lady H'nel and the girls to their quarters. Perhaps T'dlan and H'nel will help Karen adjust to to how things work around here?"
H'nel grinned as well. "I'd be happy to help. Don't worry Colonel, we'll take good care of her for you."
Adam nodded his permission. "But just so you know, she is from here and has no idea about your customs. She doesn't have any experience with Terran stuff either; she only met Tonya a few minutes ago, before that, she'd been living with her mother."
"I understand Colonel," H'nel replied.
Adam smiled. "Please call me Adam. Since it looks like our daughters are going to be friends, we should get to know each other as well."
H'nel cocked her head to one side and gave him a strange smile. "I look forward to that."
Before Adam could ask what she meant, Tonya led the group out of the office, leaving Adam alone with F'ren.
"Sir, I apologize for my mate, we are relatively new here and she hasn't gotten used to being around males very often," F'ren explained.
"I'm afraid I don't understand Major," Adam confessed.
F'ren smiled. "I think she took your words in a more… romantic context than you intended. I'm afraid we have yet to get used to your customs as well."
"Oh! I'm very sorry Major! I had no idea I was making a romantic gesture towards your mate, that was not my intention at all," Adam explained.
"Please, think nothing of it. I understand completely," F'ren replied holding up a hand to calm Adam. "While I am not opposed to adding a male to our relationship, I would like to get to know them first." She grinned to help put the stunned and confused man at ease. "While we are off duty, please address me as F'ren."
Adam nodded. "Thank you, Like I said to your wife, I'm Adam when we're off duty. However, from the sound of things, we might not be going off duty for a while."
"I fear you may be correct, Colonel. We brought down a squad of FROG drones for your men. The Terran Marines should already be familiar with them, and should be able to help train others if the need arises," F'ren explained.
"I don't think I've been told what those are, Major," Adam said, grinning. "I could be wrong, because there has been so much, though."
"I can imagine. FROG is an acronym that strands for Forward Roving Offensive Guard. The are basically a human shaped, walking tank. They carry missil
es, a medium class laser or particle cannon, and a small, six-barreled mass driver. They have shield generators and are encased in the same armor as a fighter craft. It is also equipped with a limited power anti-gravity unit to enable it to jump great distances.
"It is also a drone craft, but unlike the construction drones you are probably used to seeing these are not controlled by an AI but rather human pilots. An AI cannot and will not take action that will cause harm to another sentient being unless it's in direct and immediate defense of another. The human pilots for the FROGs are kept in a secure vault-style control room here at your base.
"The pilots will 'feel' damage taken to their craft, but it won't hurt them. If a drone gets destroyed, the pilot can be immediately assigned to a new drone and returned to combat. It might actually be easier for you to think of them as a type of very heavy infantry that can be destroyed but not killed," F'ran finished.
"Wow, it sounds like we should have a lot more of those; Infantry soldiers that don't get killed is a good thing!" Adam replied.
F'ren nodded her agreement. "Yes, any system that can save lives in combat is a good one. However, the FROG itself is pretty big and heavy. They stand over ten feet tall and weigh two and a half tons each, when fully loaded."
"That's still a lot lighter than our armor; our tanks weight almost sixty-five tons and most of the infantry vehicles are over ten. But, as impressive as the FROG sounds, it still can;t replace a soldier on the battle field; they just can't go all the places a regular soldier can no can they do everything a normal soldier can do," Adam sighed. "Even with all this advanced technology, we still can't replace the soldiers. Maybe that's a good thing," he added thoughtfully. "The last thing we need is for combat to become easier. As long as their are lives on the line, it will serve as a deterrent. Of course, that hasn't stopped anyone yet, but we can hope."
"Excuse me Sir, but you are needed in the control center. A situation is developing," Adam's aide said over the intercom.
"On my way Corporal," Adam replied and led F'ran to the door.
The control center was only a short distance down a hallway and through an open blast door. For the time being, a guard was stationed at the door, but once the fighting started the guard would step inside the control center and the blast door would be closed and sealed. The guard would man a remote-controlled weapons console to protect the bunker on the outside.
As they approached the holotank in the center of the room, F'ran nodded to Major Hines who nodded back. Adam looked into the big tank. "What's up Paul?"
"Sir, sensors are showing a large group of people approaching the park from Harlem. They are coming down fifth avenue and also east one hundred and sixth street. These are two separate groups that will meet here," He highlighted the northwest corner of the park. "These are rioters; they've been smashing windows and breaking into buildings as they move."
"Shield status?" Adam asked.
"It's in stand-by so we could collect and transport stragglers to other shelters. Captain Tugata has is unit deployed around the outside edge of Harlem Meer, just inside the shield markers. He's already called in that he can hear the crowds," Paul Hines reported.
Adam nodded. "Activate the north end of the shield, at a soft setting. Do we have any water cannons available?"
"No Sir, they are all still being used elsewhere by the police department," Major Hines replied.
Adam nodded. "Yeah, well as hot as it is out there, they'd probably thank us for cooling them off anyway."
"Perhaps that might present an opportunity for us. They are rioting in protest of the lack of shelter space, correct?" F'ran asked.
"That's the main complaint, yeah. The real problem is that once a riot starts, it almost takes on a life of it's own; violence simply for the sake of violence," Major Hines said sadly. "If we could get them to calm down, we might be able to help at least some of them."
F'ran touched her comm device. "Althea, please put me through to Command, Priority routine immediate.Connect to the speakers here."
"Raptor Command on line. Go for Althea actual," a young woman replied.
"Control, I need to request immediate transport for approximately fifteen hundred civilians to be picked up in Central Park, New York City, United States," F'ran replied.
"I'd like to help you Major, but the problem is we have no place to send them. As of forty minutes ago all shelters are reporting a ten percent over-capacity. We don't have anywhere to take them," the girl replied.
"What of the SOTH camps? Has that plan been approved?" F'ran asked. SOTH stood for 'Somewhere Other Than Here' it had been a hasty plan cobbled together that would basically dump people outside of populations centers with little more than tents and supplies.
"Hmm, I haven't heard yet. Hang on a tic and I'll look into it. In the mean time, I can send you a civilian freighter, the girl asked.
"Major, can you hold off a second?" Tonya Miles called from across the room.
She hurried over to the group of officers. "I'm afraid your reports are not completely accurate."
"What do you mean, Sergeant?" F'ren asked.
"Well, I couldn't understand why our big construction drones should just sit around idle when we were running out of shelter space, so I put them back to work building more shelter space. They're deeper than recommended, and don't have all the amenities of the main shelter, but they can keep people alive." Tonya replied.
"Please show us," Adam asked and motioned to the holotank. Tonya nodded and brought up the new underground structures and had them displayed in relation to the current facilities. "They're still working of course, but two of the new areas are available. They're little more than bare plasticrete, but they have power, sewer and replicators. They don't have holographic projectors or any of the other comfort items yet. These are just your basic bomb shelter until the maintenance drones can get in there and finish them. Honestly, they don't even have beds yet."
"Tonya, if I knew you wouldn't take my head off, I would kiss you!" Hines said excitedly. "We can do this, can't we?"
Adam grinned at his friend. "Yes we can. The people will have to help us, but it can be pulled off. Paul, I want every replicator we have to start making furniture for the new shelter. How big were you making this Sergeant?"
"Honestly Sir, I just told the drones to keep building until I told them to stop. As you can see, three of the sections are done, and they are getting close on three more. That should give us about sixty thousand more beds. I'll have to pull the drones out after that; I think we'll be out of time by then," Tonya finished.
"Control, did you get all that?" F'ren asked.
"I certainly did. I'll still send you that freighter, but most of the first load will be furniture and emergency supplies. If you folks can get it unloaded fast enough, we might be able to get more people over to you before it gets too dangerous for them to fly," the girl replied. "Major, I'm putting in a recommendation for citation as well as promotion for Master Sergeant Miles under your name. I'll even add my stamp to it for what that's worth,"
"That would be perfect, Control, thank you," F'ren replied.
"Control, this is Colonel Wells of the United States Army and site NY four. I'd appreciate it if you would put my name on that as well, please," Adam said.
"It is so recorded Sir. Cargo is confirmed and mission is approved. The civilian medium freighter Horizon's Reach will be departing Phoenix Base as soon as they can get loaded." She paused a moment and chuckled. "I just received a message from the Admiral. You might want to inform Captain Miles that she is out of uniform."
"That was fast!" Adam said smiling at his shocked friend.
"Sir, all requests sent through me are passed on to General Anders and then to Admiral Williams. I am allowed to skip the General if he is busy, and he was. All of that information was sent directly to Admiral Williams' office," the girl replied. "It's also the reason the freighter could get the priority it has. All orders came directly from Admiral Williams."
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F'ran smiled. "I'll take my team out to Duke Ellington Circle and see if we can get them to calm down long enough for them to understand they'll be safe."
"You might need to persuade them. At this point, they are little more than a big destructive horde." Hines replied.
"Well, I suppose my team and I can always just strip naked and stand on top of the Raptor. That'll shock them into listening to us!" F'ren replied grinning in humor.
Adam snorted. "Or start an orgy!"
TDF Star Dancer
Vicinity Lunar Point L1
Earth, Sol Sector
"All units! Action stations! Enemy arrival is imminent, I say again enemy arrival is imminent!" Ian said over the open comm to all the separate commands.
"Sensors indicate Caldarian fleet mass reduced by forty-one percent. Targets passed minimum hypermissile limit; defense network standing down for reload," one of the operators reported.
"It's up to us now, do we have their exit locations?" Ian asked.
"Not exact Sir, but some of the vultures are moving closer to Earth," came the report. "Contact! Hyper-event forming vicinity Mars orbital track! Sensors indicate small to medium craft emerging. No vultures are close enough to engage!"
"Give it to the closest unit," Ian ordered. "Fuck!" he swore mostly to himself. "That's how their going to drop out near Earth, they sent a scout in first! Alert Earth and Orbital defense commands to expect enemy capitol ship exiting in orbit. Warn Earth to expect orbital bombardment and troop deployment!"
"So much for shifting them into the path of the Imperials," Chloe said.
"No, that could still work. They won't drop more than two Super Novas on Earth; they'd trip over each other," Ian said. "We can still shift the rest once the exit while we deal with the two that got in." He was studying the holotank and the placement of his forces. "Our defenses can deal with the smaller stuff, but the Super Nova's will be the problem." He looked up at Chloe. "Send an alert to Jenny and the Commander of the Dawn's Path to prepare to make for Earth Orbit and engage the Super Nova. We're the two closest ships with enough fire power to hurt them."
