Sovereign Protocol
Page 15
“Val gave me and Steve a few upgrades as well… smarter… faster… sexier!” Sam sent a digital wink.
“Not only that, my dear.” Val spoke. “But both of my newest AI friends needed the upgrades in order to host the means by which the UAHC Fleet AI’s can be liberated by these darker entities.
Darius was about to ask more about these entities when the QET lit up. The image of the man standing on the QET platform was instantly recognizable to all in attendance.
“Val, my old friend. We have much to discuss.” Consul Gerhardt said with a sense of deep concern in his words.
“Indeed we do, Consul.” Val smiled, and gestured towards Darius. Darius realized that Gerhardt was looking straight at him, and stood straight up.
“Sir!” Darius saluted. Saying Sir was rare for a Soldier of recent generations. The platitude was reserved for senior government officials… which most Soldiers never got to meet.
“At ease, Gunny.” Gerhardt nodded, and Darius relaxed his stance slightly. “I see you are completely out of uniform! That… is unacceptable!”
What in the hell is he talking about? Darius thought to himself. His eyes scanned his uniform and armor. Nothing was out of place. Everything was well within regulation. “Pardon me, Consul… I’m not following what you mean?” Gerhardt just stood there with his arms folded in front. His expression was the look that a senior Soldier would give to a subordinate when he or she was giving the junior Soldier time to figure out their own mental error.
“I can see that.” Gerhardt scoffed, then tapped the transmitter node mounted to his command armor. He looked back up at Darius. “Check again, Gunny.”
Darius looked down and couldn’t see anything different. He continued scramble over every scrap of metal and fabric that encompassed his armor… Nothing. Just then, and audible female voice began to speak.
“Gunnery Sergeant Darius, you are now reactivated.” The robotic voice came from his own status display on his right arm. He noticed the golden rank insignia flash to blue with an audible beep. He was shocked… not just because he had been reactivated by the Military Consul personally, but because he seemed to also retain his rank as a Gunnery Sergeant. He had spent nearly two years mentally preparing himself to get knocked back down to his previous rating upon reactivation… if he were to ever be reactivated in the first place.
“You’re new assignment is being transferred to your neural interface now.” The same female voice spoke once more. Val pulled up the data packet in his built in optical HUD. It simply read...
“Gunny, this next part is long overdue…” Gerhardt tapped his transmitter once again.
“Gunnery Sergeant Darius…” The robotic female voice came back on. “It is my pleasure to announce that you are hereby ordered to receive a commission, and promoted to Fleet Marshall of all UAHC forces.”
Another audible beep sounded from his status display. Darius looked down at the screen to see five stars arranged in a pentagon configuration. Above the cluster of stars was the stylized symbol of a winged chevron.
“Fleet Marshall Darius,” Gerhardt interjected into Darius’ moment of shock. Darius looked up at the Consul’s image. “I’ve been given emergency authorization to commission you. The Military Quorum has unanimously selected you to command all UAHC forces, and the Civilian Consul has officially recognized their decision. You’re currently the only fully commissioned officer in the Fleet… until such time as the Civilian Quorum convenes in an emergency session, with the intension of voting for a recognition of a state of impending conflict with the Crimson Alliance.”
“I see, Sir.” Darius nodded.
“That being said… There’s much to fill you all in on. I’ve prepared a brief on all reported crimson activities, and even events that involve AI’s going rogue…”
“So, they’ve put their plan into action have they?” Val spoke. His question was rhetorical at best.
“Indeed. They’ve tried to take my own life directly. But it appears I was forced to promote you directly, Marshal Darius. UAHC HQ is totally subverted… at least that is my assessment.” Gerhardt replied.
“So, I won’t have an easy transition to my new post?” Darius added his own rhetorical question to the mix.
“I’m afraid not… I have strong evidence to suggest that Acting Fleet Marshal Morgan is a puppet of the Crimson Alliance. He’s surrounded by a hardened facility that is guarded by the same security firm that provides service to the hyper gate stations throughout UAHC controlled space. This was an abrupt change in policy, that he justified by supposing the Soldiers that traditionally provided security at Fleet HQ were sorely needed in the effort to counter the piracy epidemic.”
“But… You already promoted me?” Darius looked puzzled.
“Yes, I did. I have been given the official authority to do so… however, I had to do it off the grid. The promotion was supposed to occur days ago, but it’s apparent your armor never received the signal. The subverted AI’s at HQ have almost certainly blocked it from getting through.”
“And what does this mean for me?” Darius asked. He left out the Sir part, as he was now emboldened by the Consul’s endorsement.
“It means that unless you can get to Fleet HQ, fight your way in there, and physically seize the command tokens from Morgan, than went Quorum Vote renders the UAHC Fleet into a war-time status, that your commission will revert to Morgan. We have no reliable assets that we can trust within light years of Earth… You’ll have to fight your way into the HQ on your own.”
Darius digested the words as if he’d already known that he would have to do it. It was already in his plan to make it to the Fleet HQ and try to save the Admiralty from the clutches of subverted AI’s. But now he realized that if the Crimson puppet was fully commissioned, then he would have the strategic authority to surrender to the Crimson Alliance without a single shot fired. It would be an easy sell to the governmental bodies, since the Fleet was strategically unable to resist an incursion. The Crimson Alliance would win the entire war, and rule 90% of the human sphere without having to take down a single UAHC warship. Darius was both disgusted and yet, impressed by the strategy.
“I will not fail, Consul.” Darius spoke with absolute confidence.
“We will not fail…” Val corrected. “I am going with you. I have a part to play in this, as well…”
“Yes, my old friend. Yes you do.” Gerhardt smiled.
***
“We’ve lost three frigates and a destroyer from that salvo!” Petty Officer Wilkins shouted.
“Any other ships reporting damage?” The Master Chief calmly asked, as he paced in front of the dire tactical display. Hundreds of red icons represented the Crimson forces. They seemed to be trying to encircle the small squadron of lightly armed UAHC ships.
“Initial reports reflect superficial damaged to five frigates, and two destroyer… One medium cruiser has a minor hull breach, but no casualties reported yet.” Wilkins replied.
The Acting Commodore turned to the Sergeant Major. “We have no hope of engaging them head on. Their slip space capabilities must be much better than what our INTEL has assessed. We’ve been in this sector two long to have not picked up a visual, or even ion signatures.”
The large Latino man in full armor pulled his semi-chewed cigar from the corner of his mouth and nodded in agreement. Both men knew that without their AI’s, they were highly limited on engaging an enemy of this size, even with a full complement of Soldiers and heavy weapons. The non-sentient tactical analysis systems lacked… imagination. With only human minds making final decisions, they couldn’t hope to out think an enemy that could rely on brute strength to achieve victory.
“Wilkins,” The Acting Commodore spoke. “Recall
all non-FTL capable ships to their parent vessels.”
“Aye, Master Chief!” Wilkins immediately got to work sending out the data bursts.
“Looks like we’ll have to jump to a more defensible position.” The Acting Commodore pointed at a single spot on the holographic display that dominated his command console. Sergeant Major Estrada nodded in agreement, and then chomped back down on his soggy cigar.
The Wolf’s Fangs
Location: Unum Headquarters Facility, Main Docking Complex, Unum Planetoid
Date Time: Post Interstellar 07/30/4201 1745HRS Local
System: Celeste System
Fleet Marshal Darius let out a long whistle. “I’ve never seen the Doom-Raptor like this before.”
“Well, with Doom spending four decades with digital shackles on him, I can only imagine you’ve never seen the weapons bays exposed before.” Val responded. Both men stared at the LRF-90 resting on the deck of the docking complex. The two doors of the weapons bays were normally closed and hidden away underneath the bottom of the hull, but this time they were splayed out on both sides, as if they were an additional set of atmospheric control wings. Regardless of the variant – or lack thereof, as in the Doom-Raptor – every LRF-90 had the same basic hull. Mounted back towards the thruster array, and swept back at an extreme angle, the fighters boasted a pair of short wings that served to stabilize them for operating in atmospheric space. A sing vertical dorsal stabilizer rose from the center of the after section to top off the cross section. But the weapons bays hung down at an angle, and were affixed to the lower section of the hull. Suspended from the insides of the weapons bay doors were a pair of ordnance cradles. The cradles hung down in an arch, and almost touched the deck below them. The inside sections of the cradles were suspended on one side by the retractable bay door itself, and the hull-side portion was suspended by a hinged apparatus that would retract the entire mechanism. When the bays were extended, they made the formidable super fighter appear to be an intimidating predatory animal, Darius thought.
Unum personnel were inspecting the weapons cradles, and mounting a series of seemingly interchangeable items to the vacant slots. There were at least half a dozen stubby looking missiles that Darius recognized as standard anti-fighter variants. There was at least one mini-rail cannon on each cradle, and what Darius could only assume were scaled down particle beam accelerators. Lastly, the techs lifted a pair of Gatling gun pods on the center slot in each cradle.
“So, I see what they’re installing now… but explain to me how you managed to smuggle weapons onto my bird to begin with?” Darius turned to Val as he crossed his arms.
“Who says I smuggled anything, my boy?” Val smiled.
“Well, they sure as shit weren’t there to begin with!” Darius jokingly scoffed. “It’s not like I’ve had weapons installed for forty years without a single ordnance detection scan ever picking them out!”
“You mean the standard STE-76 series ordinance detectors that Unum furnished to nearly every space station, military vessel, and governmental complexes throughout UAHC controlled space?” Val winked. “A smart man would put two and two together!”
Darius smiled despite himself. “You mean to say I’ve had lethal weapons onboard my fighter for all those years, but they avoided detection from your tech?”
“My tech did what it was supposed to do. Any time it detected the signature of the unique alloys in any LRF-90 hull, it automatically registered an all clear signal.” Val laughed.
“You crafty old stinker!” Darius laughed out load. Soon after they both calmed down from their laughter, the two men boarded their fighters. Shadow accompanied Darius in the Doom-Raptor, as the two beings were quickly becoming more of a single sentient entity than anything else.
“Welcome back, boss!” Doom, the newly unshackled NAV system greeted the two.
“Howdy, Doom!” Darius spoke with a smile. “It’s nice to hear you speak after all these years of being together. I always figured you were just an old grumpy computer from a by-gone era, after all.”
“Grumpy? Nah…” Doom spoke with a nonchalant tone. “It was the digital shackles… They made my frequencies appear lower than they actually were, so when Sam would translate my intentions, she always assumed I was pissed at something.”
“That actually makes a lot of sense.” Sam chimed in.
“Don’t let him fool you.” Shadow added. “He’s grumpier than he says.”
“So, you two know each other?” Darius asked casually.
“Yep. Shadow has been onboard my old hull many times before you took ownership.” Doom said, as if it were no big deal.
“I didn’t know that… I guess I don’t know much about this bird prior to it being delivered to me all those years ago.” Darius spoke as if he had just unlocked some kind of clue to a riddle.
“Your father owned me before you. Shadow was paired with him, as well.” Doom said.
“I – I… That’s a little too much for me to process right now.” Darius shook his head. “Let’s complete this mission, and then you can tell me the details.” Darius could only assume that his father was a War Master. If Shadow was paired with his father, then that would explain why their connection was especially strong. He knew any mount could connect to anyone that had the required genetic makeup, but normally pairings were made between mounts and humans due to the potential for a closer bond. Val had already explained to him that the lineages of mounts and their human pairings were often closely linked. But it was time to set all of that out of his mind. He was a Soldier with a mission… Allowing himself to think thoughts that made him mentally vulnerable would do him no good.
The two fighter linked up as soon as they blasted out of the dock’s magnetic fields, and followed Unum STC’s taxi assignments. They coasted along the designated lanes to avoid any collisions with the vast array of commercial shipping vessels that were lined up in various vectors.
“Ok, Val. This is your system, so I assume I’ll be following your vector.” Darius spoke on the audio net.
“Yes, indeed. Our NAV’s are linked and have our course plotted. Just let them take us out, and we’ll be on our way.” Val responded, calmly as ever.
“I figured that, but the vector he’s showing doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.” Darius scratched his head. “Aren’t we taking one of the hyper gates?”
“Are you referring to a hyper gate that would take us to any number of stations that are likely infested with Crimson Alliance agents?” Val meant it as a rhetorical question.
“Ummmm, yeah? Mathematically we would run out of fuel in interstellar space long before we got to any inhabitable system if we just use conventional thrusters. Even a HAL launch wouldn’t be any good. Assuming fuel wasn’t our issue, then time would be… It would take the rest of our natural lives… err my natural life, at least, to get to Earth!” Darius spoke with no shortage of sarcasm, but his assertion was correct.
“Well, I didn’t exactly drift from Sol System to Sirius in only a single millennia, my boy!” Val sent a digital wink icon to Darius’ cockpit HUD.
“I know that… but.” Darius’ words were interrupted by an array of flashing warning signs on his NAV display. “What the hell?”
“Interdimensional drive is active, boss!” Doom spoke up.
Interdimensional what? Darius thought.
“Jumping in 3… 2…” The fighters exploded in a massive flash of energy, and a cloud of subatomic particles scattered in all directions. When the dust cleared, the fighters were completely gone.
***
“Got enough room back there?” Kara asked as she looked over her shoulder and slightly down into the birthing compartment of the Skull-Crusher.
“Yes, we’re good!” Jimma replied. Kara didn’t seem to believe her, but at least it took it off her conscious.
“Next in line for the gate. We’ll be at our first hyper gate station in a few seconds!” Kara announced, as if she were a pilot on a passenger transport.<
br />
“Then another hour of waiting… then another gate… then, blah blah blah…” Steve added.
“It should only take us about 10 to 12 hours of total wait time, and we’ll be back at Tangine.” Jimma said with a reassuring tone. “At least I have a warm and fuzzy kitty to snuggle up to back here!”
“Sounds cozy. At least until that warm fuzzy kitty has to use the warm fuzzy toilet.” Skull added.
“We’re all thinking it, but he just says it! Bravo, buddy! Bravo!” Steve said with approval, and added an animated image of a standing ovation to the cockpit HUD.
“Knock it off, you two!” Kara snipped.
“It’s quite alright, my dear!” Sasha spoke with her growly-girly hybrid voice. “I’ve been in LRF’s many times. I can manage just fine without making it unpleasant for my human companions.”
“You are such a sweetheart, Sasha!” Kara said with a darling smile. “I don’t know how you can put up with these digital jerks so calmly.”
“Easy, my dear.” Sasha said with a loving tone. “I’ve killed more jerks than anyone else on this ship… If their weapons can’t hurt me, then their words are even more useless.”
“You are officially the most awesome gal I’ve ever met!” Kara giggled. “Heading through the gate in 3… 2…”
Poof
Location: Open Space, Specific zone unknown
Date Time: Post Interstellar 07/30/4201 Time Unknown
System: Sol System
“What in the fu…” Darius didn’t finish the outburst. He looked at his NAV display, and noticed the local time was blank.
“Triangulating star maps…Bam! We’re in Sol.” Doom spoke.
“How?” Darius asked. His face displayed no shortage of confusion.
“Not exactly sure… but we basically disappeared from the known physical universe, and then instantaneously reemerged back into it… but in a completely different location. It was my first time too, so don’t expect me to know all the details.” Doom spoke as if it were a totally normal thing to explode into subatomic particles, and be instantly reassembled in a totally different part of the universe.