E. D. F resurgent (e.d.f chronicles)

by Ian. J. Smethurst

  The low pitched whine of the Liberty’s gravitic engines grew louder as they thrummed into life, gently the vessel began to rise, a deafening screeching sound rang out as twisted metal rubbed against metal, loose parts of the loading bay it had smashed into began crashing to the ground all around as the Liberty struggled to free itself.

  Michael and Nikolai shielded their eyes as they hobbled away outside the badly damaged building. The engines of the comparatively huge Liberty barely a few meters above them were blowing dust and debris in all directions, several razor sharp metal fragments blew perilously close to the escaping men.

  Vargev risked a quick glance backwards, he could see a bright blue light through the swirling dust and detritus, energy was arcing and dancing furiously now, it was reaching critical mass.

  “ We’ve got to get clear; it’s going to blow any second.”

  As fast as they could manage, the two of them hobbled their way out of the loading bay, pieces of torn metal and roof, dislodged by the retreating Liberty continued to crash down all around them, narrowly missing flattening them both.

  The dark, black hulled ship overhead increased her speed as the remaining power was shunted to her gravitic engines. Smashed and bent support girders from the structure came crashing down as the ship forcefully freed itself. Eventually it was clear.

  Michael and Vargev had made it barely twenty metres from the structure when the device detonated in a gigantic blue-white blast that sent them both slamming into the ground.

  The huge explosion had deafened both of them temporarily, the shockwave reverberated throughout the entire structure, causing the weakened roof to collapse completely, a vast plume of smoke and dust arose from the almighty explosion illuminated by the fires within, before dissipating high in the night sky above them.

  The entire base was briefly illuminated by the massive detonation, and many who were busily fighting thought the Liberty destroyed. However, there it stood in the torn ravaged field across from the main thoroughfare. Near to where it had first crash landed, and this time safely nestled atop its landing legs.

  9. A truce declared

  Michael and Vargev both struggled to their feet, blackened, bloodied, and in Vargev’s case in agony, nevertheless they were still somehow alive. Both had injuries, Michael still hadn’t fully recovered from the crash, Vargev’s arm and ribs were in a bad way.

  Kinraid, Jacobs, and another medic came to their aid. “Jesus, that looks like some fight you two had over there,” Kinraid said as Jacobs and the other medic checked them over.

  “ We need to get both of you to sickbay, straight away.” Kathryn said.

  After a short pause, Michael asked, “what’s the prognosis, doc?”

  “ You’re bleeding internally again, colonel Vargev here has third degree burns to his left hand and upper forearm, as well as multiple fractured ribs.”

  “ We had best do as the good doctor says,” Michael said.

  “ You won’t get an argument from me.”

  The sun was just beginning to rise over the distant Valcasian mountains, the shrill darkness of night was gradually giving way to the pale light of a new morning, and ending what was the worst night of bloodshed of them all.

  Barely a fifth of the troops posted to defend the main gate had made it, many were wounded and the battlefield triage centre was swamped. The desperate cries of the dying could be heard as faint wails blown across the wind. The gate itself looked like a scene from hell. The still smouldering wreckage of three apollo battle tanks were strewn across the road at odd angles, casting a pall of thick black smoke over the area. The fallen forms of three dominator assault walkers were also ablaze, adding to the scene of desolation.

  The sole remaining dominator to survive the onslaught was ‘big Bertha’ its assault cannon completely empty of ammunition. It sported several rents and tears in its armour, and its hydraulic ram was slick with the Krenaran blood it had spilled during the night. Its bullet proof cockpit glass was completely shattered, inside stood its pilot, corporal Greystoke, tired, battered, and with a deep ragged gash that seeped blood down the right side of his face. Still, he stood victorious.

  Later that day Vargev was released from the med-bay of the Liberty, a few sessions in the dermal regeneration booth had largely healed his horribly burned arm. His ribs were healing gradually, the doctor had injected a drug known as protenase directly into the bone marrow of his ribs, to accelerate normal bone growth. However, they still plagued him and would for at least a week, so Kathryn had advised him.

  He was quietly sat on the collapsed form of a concrete column, silently taking in the desolation, hundreds of good men lay dead or dying defending this place, the base was virtually in ruins due to three nights of intense fighting. The constant smell of smoke and death hung in the air, he watched as wounded soldiers piled up the broken bodies of the dead, once proud men reduced to charred, bloodied corpses.

  To Vargev, this was the true horror of war, not the fighting, but the aftermath. Counting the cost and feeling everything his men went through, because he was one of them.

  With a deep sadness he knew that his men, although they fought valiantly, every last one of them. They were in no position to mount an effective defence for a fourth night, Echo base had fallen and his heart sank.

  I will make sure that people will know what had happened here. Those five hundred men held out against a vastly superior Krenaran force for three whole nights and gave every last breath to defend a key supply base against these monstrous Krenarans who would destroy it.

  A small tear ran down the grizzled commando colonel’s cheek.

  A young Lieutenant, by the name of Cole approached him and saluted, Vargev tried to return the salute, however he couldn’t, whenever he lifted his arms his ribs felt like they were on fire, the lieutenant understood however.

  “ Sir, it’s the Krenarans, they have stopped their attack and one of them wants to speak with you.”

  He snorted, so now they want to talk. It’s not enough that we’ve been pummelled into oblivion, now comes the inevitable surrender and you’ll all be spared plea; predictable.

  “ Thank you Lieutenant, tell him I’ll be right there.”

  Michael was still in sickbay and had fallen unconscious again, his condition had worsened. Kathryn monitored him closely, fearing for her captain’s life, he couldn’t die, he was Michael Alexander, the heroic captain of the Liberty, and one of the most famous and decorated officers in the E.D. F, and she needed him.

  Vargev returned to the sickbay of the Liberty to watch over his friend, Kathryn had informed him of Michael’s condition and Nikolai spent some time at his friend’s side, silently watching him, the damned Krenaran can wait.

  Finally, he said softly. “I’ve got to go now old comrade. I shall see you soon.”

  With that, Vargev left sickbay and Michael alone while Kathryn carefully monitored him.

  He walked with Cole to a raider parked not too far from the damaged Liberty.

  “ I think you’re going to have to drive lieutenant,” Vargev smiled weakly as he carefully clambered inside.

  “ Yes sir,” Cole drove the raider as carefully as he could manage across the bumpy grassy field, and back onto the broken tarmac of the road, he then hung a right and drove straight towards the main gate.

  A small group of Krenarans had gathered amidst all the wreckage, they were armed, several infantrymen and a couple of commandoes had their weapons trained on them.

  Cole parked the raider fifty feet or so further up the road, and they made their way down towards the small group. Looks as though these Krenarans were captured or surrendered, Vargev thought. However he remained silent, wondering how this would play out.

  The lieutenant spoke first, “this is the highest ranking officer currently present here; his name is colonel Vargev.”

  “ So this is the legendary Colonel Nikolai Vargev, you have garnered a fierce reputation amongst my people. I am Dalvosh, second in comm
and of Krenaran forces after lord Alax. Your men have fought with honour and bravery, and have earned the respect of the Krenaran people.”

  “ Err… Thank you.” Vargev replied, still waiting for them to demand his surrender.

  “ Let this day mark the end of hostilities between our peoples, both sides have already lost far too much in this needless war,” Dalvosh continued, nodding his head almost reverentially at Vargev, who was dumbfounded, could this be the first peaceful Krenaran, or was it just a ploy.

  “ First, have your men lower their weapons,” Vargev said. “Then we’ll talk.”

  “ If we do that, your men will kill us,” Dalvosh replied.

  “ My men are trained to obey my orders.”

  “ As are mine.”

  Both sides readied their weapons; long, tense seconds passed as Vargev eyed Dalvosh who at eight feet tall was considerably shorter and leaner than Alax, but still towered over the colonel nevertheless, who was attempting to discern any trickery in those deep red eyes of his. Dalvosh did likewise, he knew full well that Vargev was a deadly and implacable enemy of the Krenaran people and would not hesitate to kill them all, given the chance. Or that was what he had been taught.

  Both commanders almost simultaneously ordered their men to lower their weapons, after a few more tense seconds both groups lowered them. The sense of mistrust between the two commanders was still thick in the air, and they continued to eye each other suspiciously.

  “ What about the thousands of slaves you took during the war?” Vargev asked, remembering that horrible time at the now ruined Agemman colony.

  “ As soon as an official ceasefire treaty can be drawn up, your slaves will be returned to you. The Krenaran empire no longer wants this war, it has cost us too much already with the loss of two of our greatest leaders, together with the loss of ships and troops.”

  “ We can draw up an unofficial ceasefire right now, for a permanent treaty to be made official it would have to be signed on Earth in front of the E.O.C. A council, or in the presence of an elected member. However, our communications have been knocked out.”

  “ Then this is what we must do,” Dalvosh said.

  The remainder of both forces were assembled at the bombed out wreckage strewn remnant of the main gate. Hundreds of men and Krenarans had gathered, although the men were largely outnumbered by the lumbering Krenaran warriors.

  Vargev looked up into the clouds of the early morning sky, and let out an audible sigh of relief, the war was finally coming to a close. As he continued to contemplate the sky, he could just make out the contrails of shuttles and transports descending through the clouds towards their position. His sense of relief grew rapidly as the myriad of small craft headed his way; help had finally arrived.

  The few commandoes left alive and the troops of the ‘Hells angels’ all let out a great cheer, throwing their fists into the air as the shuttles landed in the debris strewn fields between the abandoned Krenaran trenches and Echo base itself, the sheer sense of jubilation from those men who had fought so hard to defend this place was palpable.

  More troops, E.D. F naval personnel and Solarians disembarked the numerous craft and headed to where Vargev, Dalvosh, and the survivors were gathered.

  What appeared to be a high ranking naval officer approached them flanked by a few soldiers of his own.

  “ Captain Ericsson of the Tempest, I’m assuming we are here to accept the surrender of Krenaran forces in this area?”

  Vargev took a long look at this ‘captain’, who the hell was he to waltz in here like this. Finally he said, “no surrender captain; peace, this Krenaran here.” He motioned towards Dalvosh, “is the new leader of the Krenaran military, he wants a ceasefire.”

  “ What about the war still going on across the other colonies?”

  At this Dalvosh finally spoke up in his deep, rasping voice, sounding very much like his throat had a bagful of shale tipped down it. “Not just here, everywhere. We no longer want this war, it has cost us too much already,” he repeated for the captain’s benefit.

  “ Peace, well I’ll be damned, I’ve forgotten what peace feels like.” Ericsson replied with genuine surprise.

  Vargev allowed himself a slight chuckle.

  “ I’d better get back to the Tempest and contact E.D. F command, let them know of the situation, although my ship has taken quite a beating itself.”

  The captain excused himself and made to leave the men when Vargev stopped him. “If you don’t mind me asking captain, how did you get here?”

  “ It’s a long story colonel, I’ll fill you in when you get onboard.”

  Aboard the damaged Liberty, Ensign Kathryn Jacobs was carefully monitoring Michael Alexander, he was still unconscious and his condition was steadily getting worse.

  Commander Quinn Kinraid was stood over the captain’s bed, watching. “After all tat he’s done; all tat he has accomplished. To just give up and die now like this, is just a waste,” he whispered to the medical officer.

  “ He’s a fighter; he’ll pull through. He has to.” A small tear ran down the ensigns gentle features.

  He had been haemorrhaging internally and had gone into anaphylactic shock, Jacobs had brought him round, kept him alive somehow. He was losing twelve pints of blood in three minutes, and if Kathryn hadn’t operated as early as she did, he would have been dead by now.

  The heart monitor continued its slow beeping, the sound thudded into their ears as the two of them silently stood over the frail form of their captain, they waited anxiously. Beep… beep…beep.

  “ We have done all we can, it’s up to him now.” She whispered.

  “ Keep me informed ensign,” Kinraid said as he left the small sickbay, although inside the pain he was feeling at watching his captain and friend slowly slipping away like this was tearing him apart, he had to keep some emotional distance, he was in command now, and the crew, albeit severely demoralised was counting on him.

  Arriving on what remained of the shattered bridge, he touched a control on his wrist comm. “lieutenant Logameier to the bridge.”

  Johnson Logameier had his head inside an access hatch of the primary power conduit of the ruined main engine, trying to affect some emergency repairs, when his wrist comm. buzzed; startling him, he bumped his head against a rather hard piece of insulation plating, cursing and rubbing his throbbing head, he answered, “on my way.”

  A few minutes later and he arrived back on the bridge, walking up to Kinraid he asked, “yes commander?”

  “ I need an update lieutenant, how are the repairs coming?”

  “ Slowly sir, she has taken a heck of a beating, power should be restored to the main engine within the hour, although it would be several more hours or even days before we are able to use it. As for the damaged launcher, we are not going to be able to repair that until we reach Delta base, and there has been significant hull damage from the crash.”

  “ Will she be able t’ make orbit?”

  “ In her present condition, no commander; we’ll burn up trying.”

  “ Damn,” Kinraid replied with an exasperated sigh, “how long?”

  “ We’re looking at weeks, sir.”

  The flicker of an idea began to form in Kinraid’s mind, “wait a bloody minute.” He whispered, more to himself than to anyone else. “We need a major base for repairs, right?”

  “ Yes sir.”

  “ Well, what in the name o’ god have we just bloody well crashed into?”

  “ Commander, the people here are more accustomed to building military vehicles and munitions, not naval systems.”

  “ T’ey are E.D. F engineers, some o’ them will have expertise repairing vessels o’ the fleet, they have a whoppin’ great fleet yard in orbit and transfer men to and fro all the time.” Kinraid was becoming more excited, a plan was coming together and he knew it.

  “ All the shipyard functions are in orbit, and we don’t know if the E.D. F fleet was successful or not without communications.”


  “ True, but tat’s not to say that it can’t be done now is it,” Kinraid replied, “I’ll get Kalidis, he’ll be able to help us, so he will. Lieutenant, you’re with me.”

  Logameier sighed, still unsure as to how this would work, however Kinraid was in command now, and he had no choice but to follow his orders.

  The two officers made their way towards the port access hatch and exited the ship, sealing the hatch shut behind them.

  Once they stepped out onto the windswept field, they appreciated first hand the sheer scale of the devastation. Ahead of them in the distance, the smashed loading area lay crumpled and smouldering. The once tall command building reduced to nothing more than a pile of rubble.

  Soldiers bearing the wounds of bitter fighting milled around performing their duties as best they could.

  The two men made their way onto the main road, still littered with debris and the occasional smashed vehicle; medics carried soldiers on stretchers, horrifically wounded and pumped full of morphine and other pain killing drugs.

  Kinraid wondered if ever there was a hell, this looked like it.

  As they made their way towards the main gate, they were greeted by more scenes of horror, the wreckage of blasted apollo’s and dominators lay smouldering across the road. Medics were everywhere trying to cope with the sheer backlog of wounded and dying. Acrid smoke still hung like a pall in the air, accustomed to breathing the recycled, purified and filtered air of the Liberty, it nearly choked the two officers.

  Either side of the road, rows upon rows of body bags were laid, each one inscribed with the occupants name, rank and serial number, a grim reminder of the horrible reality of war; people died.

  They made their way over to the most senior person they could find, a young sergeant. The two officers saluted the sergeant before Kinraid asked, “Excuse me, do you know te’ head o’ this facility?”

  The sergeant looked at them rather strangely, “I’m rather busy here commander.” As he set to the task of bandaging another soldiers wounded forehead.