Gray Panthers: Battle for Earth

by David Guenther

  Dan got the room under control as he asked, "SSgt. Young and detachment, please come up on the podium." The nervous marines followed their NCO onto the podium and stood at attention. "At ease, gentlemen.” From behind his podium he retrieved a tray of ten shot glasses filled with clear liquid. "Please have a drink on me.” With trepidation each man took the offered drink and promptly downed them. The audience gasped as Dan turned once again to address them. “These men have been criminals; they have attempted to kidnap a member of our team who is very dear to me. They are also deserters from the marines. While investigating these men I have found they are actually men of honor who deserted rather that follow illegal black orders. They have been forced to do things under duress, which they no longer need worry about. They are also our new OPFOR and will be your worst enemies in the near future, which I believe will save many lives down the road. I can't, in good conscience though, consider this man in charge to be an NCO in our GPs. Please join me in welcoming and congratulating Lt. Young, OPFOR commander." The marines were noticeably relieved and broke out in smiles as the GPs cheered them in welcome.

  The Nike crew was subdued as they headed for home. Over half were still feeling their hangovers, and the remainder of the crew was quiet in consideration for them. Butch was looking at his XO and smiled. Red knew immediately what was coming next, especially since he would have done the same as captain. "Battle stations gentlemen," he said softly as he pulled an old style stopwatch from his pocket. Red pushed the battle stations button as the gong went off. "General quarters, general quarters. All hands man your battle stations.” Red commanded. A separate clock started timing the response located on the column near the button. Four minutes later the last section reported ready. Butch got up from his command chair, looked at his stopwatch and ordered the men to maintain battle stations for ten minutes, then return to normal as he left the bridge.

  Somewhere in the desert, Arizona

  22 December 2127

  Sgt. Arentz was feeling great; he was once again leading troops in the field. Arentz was especially happy to be out of basic training and leading a squad that in a past life the lowest ranking man was a Staff Sergeant (SSgt). There was a lot of talent and they would have no trouble showing the marines how it’s done. The desert around them was flat with little vegetation. As soon as they could cover the ten miles to the mountain ahead of them they could make camp and setup their NDP*. His pack was starting to chafe and he cursed the weight of all the gear they were carrying. The uniform was something he and the men did appreciate; it did an outstanding job blending into the desert landscape and blocked the sun yet did not feel hot at all. The beamer in his hands was an awesome weapon. He just wished the self-charging batteries were lighter. Pulling the pad from his front pocket, the map on it showed they were only a mile from a dry wash. That would be a good place to take a break and have some lunch. Quietly he informed the squad they were a mile from the wash and a break. The men became a little more responsive at the thought of the break and finally getting something to eat. Eyes were alert to find the wash and rest.

  OPFOR Lance Corporal Washington lay in his hide, trying to sight in on the squad. He was hot, and sun burned, but would not trade what he was doing with anyone. He and Corporal Ramirez were detailed to make life miserable for the squad that was now almost in range.

  * Night Defensive Position

  Sgt. Arentz got that feeling, a feeling he had not had in 20 years. He signaled the men to stop as he pulled his pad out again. He then set it for view of area, thermal, as the map on his pad changed to a satellite view of the same area only in thermal view. He first noticed his ten man team, and then noticed the thermal fingerprints of the two marines, one waiting for them at the wash in their direct line of march, the other at their 11:00 position, less than a mile away, probably already watching them. “OK, listen up. We got two hostiles, one is waiting for us at the wash a mile ahead of us; the other is at our 11:00 position, just under a mile. Everyone reset your beamers’ scopes to thermal. We are going to take out the hostile at 11:00 then try to circle around the second hostile and get into the wash and use the cover to get up close and personal, see if we can take him prisoner.” Washington noticed the squad’s change, as they aimed their beamers in his general direction and seemed to be hunting him.

  “Spider One, Two,” Washington whispered into his mic.

  “Spider Two, One, go,” Ramirez replied.

  “One, looks like I’m busted, the sheep are moving in my direction,” Washington reported.

  “Spider Two start to head for my position then, use your thermal cape and back track to your second hide as planned”

  “Two, copy”

  Arentz’s cockiness left him the same time as both targets disappeared from the screen. “Looks like we lost them, stay chilly, I hate jar heads. Looks like we’ll take option two for our route to the mountain, keep your eyes open.”

  The squad did not get 100 feet when a shot rang out and tail end Charlie dropped to the ground. His game suit reported him as having a leg wound and could not walk. The mission was compromised and his team was now being hunted. The extraction shuttle was 20 minutes out as Arentz once again swept the area and could find nothing. Time to make my own rules Arentz thought. “Grub, this is Sgt. Arentz, have you been monitoring what is going on here?”

  “Yes Sergeant Arentz, what can I do for you?” Grub replied.

  “Grub, if you can find the OPFOR, please eliminate them for us so we can continue our mission as requested,” he said crossing his fingers for luck.

  From above the unit, unseen, two zaps were heard as the report came in that both enemy snipers were simulated KIA from the drone. When the shuttle landed, the wounded man was taken aboard as the squad continued on its mission. Each man was wearing his own infrared capes to avoid any detection.

  Lt. Young argued fiercely that the men had cheated, calling in Grub to save their asses. Black Jack just laughed and said they had adapted and overcame; they had a resource and had used it. Young conceded defeat this time, but vowed he would not let his men be defeated so easily in the future. Lt. Young contacted Grub and requested he have an AI assigned to him for OPFOR purposes that the others could not interfere with. Grub instead agreed to provide a shuttle with an AI as soon as it could be setup for them.

  Gray Panthers, Arizona

  22 December 2127

  Dan and Abby were each impressed as they entered the latest cavern created by Grub. This one had a few differences; a massive retractable ceiling and Dan had the entire interior painted gray, “So they would feel at home.” Although they had planned for this to be Nike’s home port it was still amazing in its scope.

  “Well, another few minutes and we should be having the Nike land. I’m glad the additional housing was not a problem for her crew,” Dan said.

  “With all the amenities on the ship, I’m surprised we can get them off it,” Abby replied back, laughing.

  The ceiling started to retract as lights flashed along all the walls as an automated message warned for all personnel to depart the area for ships arrival. While waiting in the hallway, Abby asked what would be the next ship for the Gray Panthers. Dan’s reply that it would be either a supertanker or cruise ship pleased Abby as he had been thinking the same thing. The noise in the hallway began to increase as the hallways started to fill with personnel waiting to access the Nikes Cavern, anxious to start working on the flagship of the Gray Panthers’ future space fleet. The flashing red lights turned solid green and the maintenance workers made their way in to start their jobs. Crewmembers exiting made a hole when they saw Dan and Abdul going in the opposite direction. Dan could not help but notice the smiles and camaraderie exhibited by the crew, reaffirming his decision to have Bad as the ship’s first captain. Before getting to the ship’s deck, he noticed Bad with the FAA inspectors. They were bedecked in Nike uniform hats, carrying ship souvenirs, wearing colorful Hawaiian shirts and leis. Dan stopped and introduced himself, noting
he was glad to see they were all lei'ed in Hawaii. The exuberance shown as the inspectors answered any questions Dan was going to ask. Abby volunteered to escort the inspectors to their transportation as Dan followed Bad to the ship, saluting the colors and then officer of the deck.

  In Bad’s cabin, he offered drinks in celebration of the maiden voyage and its resounding success. They then began to go over the mission moment by moment. Butch was ready to admit his estimation of crew size was too high. He then continued to explain the current command and control on board was too inflated, a good example of that was his decision to retool the bridge to be more like a bomber’s flight deck. He saw the need for a bridge crew of only four crewmembers, command pilot, pilot, weapons system officer, sensor technician. The new information confirmed what Dan already believed and he broke out in a smile. Butch, seeing Dan smile at his admission, knew what was coming and simply said, "Out with it." Dan then gave Butch the orders to prepare a crew for a new ship, under the command of "Red" Erickson, if he had no objections. Butch surprised him by admitting he had already made the list along with recommendations for future ship construction. The proposed changes had already started as soon as the Nike landed. It was agreed the Nike would get five days down time to inspect all systems, and then they would launch to destroy the asteroid.

  Gray Panthers, Arizona

  22 December 2127

  Dan entered his office to find Siggy waiting for him with another older gentleman. Siggy introduced him as Wolfgang Bauer, explaining he had talked him out of retirement after he had been CEO of numerous German manufacturing companies, and had come to Arizona to retire. Dan ignored Wolfgang and asked Siggy, if he would be better that his last choice, and that they were still finding parts of skull and brain from him. Siggy shuddered and swore the new man was an impeccable choice. Dan excused himself, went into his outer office and then asked Grub about the new man. Grub found that the new man had in fact fled Germany, after paying off numerous paternity suits. He was very wealthy and had done an outstanding job as CEO in all his companies. Dan returned to the office and asked the old man if he could keep his pecker in his pants, if he hired him. The old man’s eyes narrowed and he said, “Probably not,” waiting for Dan’s reply. Dan looked at Siggy and asked him if he had told him about the special bonus he would receive with the job. Siggy shook his head no emphatically, as Dan once again turned towards Wolfgang. "Wolfgang, this job has one major perk, immortality. If you tell anyone about that or let slip any of our covert jobs we do, most likely you will end up with a bullet in your head. Now that you are forewarned, do you still want the job?" Dan asked, waiting for the answer.

  "Ja, I vill take der job und ve vill all be rich,” Wolfgang replied.

  "You will learn I don't care about money Mr. Bauer, but I do need someone competent to keep us out of jail and have plenty capitol. Once Siggy is done briefing you we will get together and go over more specific items. Welcome to the team,” Dan said with a smile. An hour later Dan returned to see a shaken Wolfgang. Siggy had already left. “Well Mr. Bauer, I see you are still with us,” Dan said, surprised at Wolfgang’s shaken appearance.

  "Mr. Daniels, I admit to crossing the line before in my past, but this is crazy. We need to inform the authorities,” Bauers said with no trace of an accent.

  "Well which authorities can we trust with this technology without starting WWIII or leaders protecting the world while rebuilding the world for themselves in their own image? I would really like to know,” Dan replied, resisting the urge to laugh.

  "So you have a plan Mr. Daniels?" Wolfgang asked expectantly.

  "Call me Dan, and yes I do, as a matter of fact. We will be saving the world in four days from an asteroid. I'm surprised you were not aware of that going on. I thought you were connected. What happened to your accent by the way?"

  "I try not to mess with people that scare me. I will support your endeavors the best I can. I will have to see what my friends know, Dan."

  Leaving the office, Dan was going to check in with General Black, when he saw the general walking towards him.

  "Afternoon General, how's your day going? Dan asked unconsciously stiffening. Black just pointed to Dan’s office with his thumb as Dan followed him in.

  "D2 you are my boss. You need to realize that. Just call me Black Jack, or if I'm in a good mood, BJ will do,” Black suggested.

  "OK Black Jack, what can I do for you? Dan asked.

  "We got our space guns, and we got our space ships. We need to figure out how we are going to organize ourselves and look at our tactics and strategy,” Black stated simply.

  "That's why I pay you the big bucks BJ. If you need help, don't you have a good staff to assign the task to?" Dan solicited.

  "My first thoughts are to go as cavalry, ten man teams, consisting of three man fire teams and led by an NCO assigned per shuttle, then using the shuttle for close air support. Three shuttles making up a flight, under a Lt. Three flights of shuttles making up a squadron, under a captain. I’m just not sure how we are going to use the shuttle crews. Do we treat them as officers like helicopters, or like navy landing craft run by NCOs?" Black Jack wondered aloud.

  "I think I'm going to cop out on you on this one and call them warrant officers since they have the responsibility for the shuttles and their tactics; have a squadron run by a captain. Then have three squadrons form a wing under a major responsible for support, logistics, everything you expect from HQ. They can work out of a shuttle that can be a spare if or when needed. Perhaps have the ground side the same?" Dan asked, shooting the idea off the top of his head.

  "Damn, now I remember why I put up with you all those years Sgt. Major. I believe that will work,” Black said happily.

  "That’s boss now, BJ,” Dan laughingly corrected. "Now we just need to find designators for each unit, maybe as they are formed give them a letter and a number, and they can christen themselves, as long as they keep it clean."

  Taking the rebuttal in the spirit it was given, BJ came to attention and asked permission to retire. Dan blinked, and then gave the approval.

  Gray Panthers, Arizona

  23 December 2127

  Dan looked over the table at Abby to his right and Butch on his other side along with Red and BJ. Thinking about the awesome responsibility and experience these men had previously, he felt like a fake as he prepared for the meeting. Then remembered as a senior NCO, there were many times he had to use specialists. He had to trust their abilities, having no way to confirm them, giving them their orders and proceeding from there. Looking at things in this new light, he saw before him, specialists ready to follow his orders. Nodding to Abby to start the show, Abby explained that Grub had informed him that nearly all weapons used by other species were based on energy or missile technology, so defensive abilities were along the same lines. Projectile weapons like the rail guns currently on navy ships could go through most alien space ships defenses known to Grub. So Grub was working with technicians to develop rail guns for the Nike and the shuttles, in addition to the beamers. There was also a modified beamer device that when planted into the ground would shoot out a beam creating a trench three foot wide by three foot deep by 100 feet long. The last item he presented was a limpet mine for space. The device had only a negligible energy signature. When a ship came close enough it was drawn to the ship’s force field. It then would either wait for instruction or immediately started to drain power from the shields. When there was enough power saved it would either explode or shoot a beam into the ship, until the energy was depleted. The other option was to let it collect the power and then wait for command detonation, or to continue to drain the power and simply vent it, weakening the ships defenses. Black was happy to report training was continuing well and unit cohesion was coming together. Butcher explained that the Nike was now believed to be space ready. All crewmembers had their space suit fittings and were almost done training with the suits. The crew was anxious to head for space and save the world. The ship was set f
or an extended period in space if needed. Thanking everybody, Dan congratulated them all on their progress. He went on to explain that after the asteroid was destroyed he wanted to proceed on to the lunar mission and set up a station on the moon to start processing H3. Dan explained he wanted to use the H3 to setup a power plants near every major population center, instead of a national power grid. Each would have its own force field and beamer battery to defend the populations. The cover would be explained that Dan’s philanthropy was going to the good of the world; free power from the moon. Just an initial cost to build each facility, employing local labor, then the cities would get the keys to the facilities. The only exception would be the facility next door housing the defenses. It would be explained that there was proprietary equipment that Dan did not want known. He would shut down any power plant that was disturbed. The same offer would be extended to all military bases since they were prime targets and similar in size to cities.

  Gray Panthers, Arizona

  24 December 2127

  Dan stood in the main hallway to the Nike’s cavern. He had promised himself he would shake the hand of every man taking part in the mission. Next to him Butch was doing the same, as he also respected the gesture and decided to share in the moment. As the last few stragglers were heading for the ship, he received an emergency call from Black.

  "D2 we are screwed. Grub just notified me he intercepted communications that DHS is coming to stop our launch. They have gunships and aircraft en-route. They should be here in 30 minutes." Dan did not listen any further. Looking at Butch he simply said, "Shit has hit the fan, launch now! Hostiles include armed copters and jets. God speed commander." Dan grabbed his hand and gave it a quick shake as he turned to head for the front gates. Just as Dan emerged into the sunlight he saw a shuttle launch, then seemed to just disappear as the defensive array was initiated, making it almost invisible to the naked eye. Two minutes later, it appeared at ten thousand feet. It was transmitting the IFF of the Nike as it headed south for the Mexican border. Grub called Dan letting him know it was the young marine Lt. with his modified shuttle. Dan looked at the shuttle again as it changed; it now appeared to be the Nike to the naked eye. Grub confirmed the inbound aircraft have been diverted; they are now being vectored toward the shuttle. "Grub, do all our shuttles have the abilities like Young's?" Dan asked.