Warrior Chronicles 4: Warrior's Wrath

by Shawn Jones

  “Will the Nill allow it?” H’uum asked.

  “No. But we can do it anyway. We can use stealth platforms and they will not even know we are there. The reality is, I already have most of the assets in place anyway. I doubt the Nill will be too upset if they look up to see the invaders die before they can even land.”

  Liz Thoms added, “There will also be black ships waiting at the outskirts of the system to attack if they try to take out our ships or satellites.”

  Cort asked the next question. “What about the species that they have asked to help them fight?”

  “They will not be in place until long after the Nill are dead if we do not act,” Admiral Williams said. “While they are apparently very powerful, they are also very slow. The travel time for the lead elements of their force to Nill is twenty-three weeks. And they haven’t left yet.”

  “What happens if the Tapons get through to the planet anyway?” Lex asked.

  “We can offer assistance to the Nill. Dar has promised our new allies that we will not land on Nill without permission,” Cort said. “So if they turn us down, it will be up to them to defend themselves.”

  “Cortland, how did the vote go? How many species support the Tapons?” Bazal asked.

  “Nearly two-thirds of the voting members sided against us. Fortunately, they all think the vote went our way. It will be at least another week before anyone knows otherwise, and several more before they can respond. And as you know, Admiral Williams has cut all known forms of communication to and from Government World, so we don’t think there is any way the other side can coordinate.”

  “What about the Tapons? What is the latest on them?” Mike Rage asked.

  Kate Williams said, “Since the vote, we have been sending dummy transmissions to them. They already knew the vote went their way, so we cannot trick them the way we did their allies, but the messages they are receiving indicate that Lap’s people have taken over the comm system at Government World and they are currently consolidating the support of the dissenting planets. Because we control the systems that lie between them and the Nill, we should be able to surprise them in a few systems.”

  “How so?” Lex asked.

  “We are watching those systems with everything from tachyon nets to visuals. They have to make themselves known somehow, so when they do, we are hoping to pick something up we can use later on. Once we pick up transmissions or anything else, we are going to hit them with half-kilometer coil guns. Admiral Jones has six Mare’s Leg-class ships in each of the four most likely systems for them to visit.”

  “What is going on in their systems, Kate?” Cort asked.

  “We have destabilized the asteroids we are using. Most of them are in just slightly altered orbits right now, but will be in place over the next two weeks. They will take out sensor nets and a few patrol ships. Once the first hits are made, I will make them all active. I expect the Tapons to take out most of them, but the few kinetic strikes that do get through should keep things lively for a while. I cannot make any estimates though. I just do not know how or even if they will respond once it becomes clear that they are not random strikes.”

  “H’uum are your troops ready?” Cort asked.

  “Yes. I have ten million people in place for each of the seven enemy planets. Once the kinetic strikes are over, we will drop on the planets. I wish we had more time to integrate our troops, though.”

  “As do I. Actually, I wish I we had coach guns that were black. I would much rather just take out their planets.” Before Liz Thoms could respond, Cort said, “Yeah, yeah. I know, Admiral. Newton’s laws and mass and all that. I’m just saying it would be nice to do this without so many of our people dying.”

  “We could attack like we did against the Cuplans,” JJ said.

  Liz Thoms said, “We would have to refit the coach guns with H’uuman jump drives and use H’uumans for the crew. There is no way I could shield them enough to protect us from the radiation burst. It could be done, but I would need at least three months per ship, in the H’uuman yards.”

  “Sorry. Even I keep forgetting we have lost the Core jump system.”

  H’uum said, “We do not have that much time, but I can allay your concerns regarding the loss of life on our side. I selected older members of my species to serve as the drop troops, General. Most would die within months anyway, so they were pleased to be able to give themselves for the honor of the federation, rather than die anonymously.”

  “If they are elderly, is it wise to use them as warriors?” Mike asked.

  H’uum’s mandibles flexed. “General Rage, you have not had time to study my species much, have you? Our life cycle is very unlike what your kind knows. We only diminish in the last few weeks of our lives. Until then, we are not weakened in any way. Even our queens can lay right up until their last season. So our ‘elderly’ as you call them, make the best warriors, in many ways.”

  Mike replied, “I meant no disrespect, sir.”

  “None taken. Our alliance is young, and you could not know much about us this soon.”

  Cort could see Mike Rage processing what H’uum had just told them. He had gone through the same process some time before. Lex knew the H’uuman lifecycle. They had talked about it. Why doesn’t Mike know that?

  Lex said, “Also no disrespect meant, but that means we have an endless supply of suicide troops, sirs.”

  Cort said, “You’re right Lex, and H’uum and I have talked quite a bit about that. We have disposable warriors.”

  “Disposable warriors?” JJ asked. “That is a bit callous, sir.”

  H’uum smiled, “Not at all, Admiral. I think you are applying your values to my species. We are not that united, yet. You forget, we are sworn to defend the federation. To die fulfilling a Canon oath is a great honor. Our species aspires to such a death.”

  “So every one of you is a Marine,” Mike said.

  “General Addison made the same observation, General. We see such a death as a second life. We spend our young lives supporting the species, which is all a being can ask, then we are able to die for it as well. When recruiting for this operation, I had to turn many away because they were too young.”

  JJ thought about what H’uum had said. We need to keep that under control though. It wouldn’t be prudent to let them get too many numbers. For now we are fine, but after Heroc’s Law is expired. . . “Supreme, how does the joining of our species affect Heroc’s Law, and how will it affect us after ten generations?”

  “It does not affect Heroc’s Law at all, Admiral. The new First Queen, Laypa, has already ratified it. We are working now to assure that our laws default to honoring our ties to the federation. With some changes and some concessions from both sides, we can make an unbreakable bond,” H’uum said.

  Liz Thoms asked, “What kinds of concessions?”

  “Concessions regarding the government seat, for one. We are proposing the Federation Government rest here at Solitude, but since the planet belongs to Kimberly, she would have to deed it to the combined federation. Further, trade agreements have to be cancelled and rewritten to recognize a single government. Our communal system of government must be reconciled with your military democracy as well.”

  “Okay,” Cort said. “We will work those things out, but let’s get back to our little war for the time being.”

  H’uum clicked, “I have one other request that is pertinent to our little war, General.”

  After H’uum made his request Cort said, “I have no problem with that. We won’t force them, though.”

  “Agreed. It will have to be by their choice. But if they do not agree…”

  “Then we will never protect them again, H’uum,” Cort replied.

  --

  On Solitude, Cort was asleep next to Dalek when his comm activated. Shart and Bane both stood at the interruption, but Dalek just turned to his side. Kim was on her morning run with Coke, and the room was quiet except for the chirping of the communication unit as Cort put i
t in his ear.

  “Yeah?” he asked.

  “Sir, it’s Kate Williams. We’ve bloodied their noses.”

  “What happened?”

  “They appeared at Deint. When they hailed the planet, Terip ordered them to Government World. We tracked their signal and hit them before they could even turn their ship. The Randall fired from such close range, that our sensors got visuals of the other vessels. I doubt they even got a signal off before we fired at the rest. I also ordered the other three target systems to high alert.”

  “Good work, Kate. Go ahead and bombard their planets with our rocks. We still don’t know how they communicate and I don’t want to take a chance. Hit them hard and send in the shock troops. And Kate, no survivors. Not a single one.”

  “Yes, sir. Admiral Jones is already on the line with the invasion fleet. I will pass along your orders.”

  “Anything else, Kate?”

  “No, sir. We will send you an update in a few hours, or sooner if it is appropriate.”

  “Thank you. Ares out.”

  --

  On a planet that the Ares Federation had designated Tapon-3, hundreds of asteroids were raining down on the surface, raising clouds of dust and debris that blotted out the light from the system’s star. The first few hundred rocks to approach the sphere were destroyed by the system’s defensive network, but as Ares ships destroyed one satellite after another, resistance to the onslaught dropped to nearly nothing. Once the Tapons’ ships began to move through the atmosphere, federation ships shot them out of the sky before they could escape to the blackness and invisibility of space.

  --

  “Lap has betrayed us, there is no other explanation,” Krrril said to his council. “We have lost contact with three planets, but not before they confirmed the presence of both H’uuman and Ares Federation ships. In addition, we have reports that those planets have been bombarded with kinetic strikes. Two were a total loss and the third has reported a H’uuman invasion similar to the one that took the home planet from us.”

  “What about our other planets?” someone asked.

  “The asteroid strikes are of such intensity that our defensive networks cannot prevent all strikes. Every planet will be affected. In our case, we are fortunate. The asteroids that are headed toward us are still quite distant. We have at least six days to prepare, but there will still be more than three hundred significant hits.”

  “And we will still have to deal with the invasion fleet.”

  Krrril said, “That is correct. I believe we will lose our planets. Which means we must accelerate our designs for Nill, and I would like council approval to launch an attack on the traitors as well.”

  Deint

  “Lap has arrived, Your Highness.”

  Terip was in a foul mood. He had known something was amiss, but until that morning, he didn’t know the extent of the damage done to his empire, or the extent of the subterfuge. “Send him in.”

  Lap entered, surrounded by four guards, all of his arms in shackles. Terip, Cardinal Fourth, and leader of the species humanity knew as Blatterians looked at the prime minister and Speaker of the Collaboration of Species and said, “Were it not for the trust I place in your broodmate, I would have you disposed of, Lap. You assured me that the vote would be in our favor. We have invested our future in the Tapons. Now the Ares Federation is evacuating the diplomats of our allies from this planet. What have you to say?”

  Lap was both furious and terrified, but after years in diplomacy, he knew better than to show his emotions, so he reflected neither emotion in his reply. “The vote did go our way, Your Highness. I believe the Collaboration has fallen victim to Ares trickery. We made the mistake of using their communication system.”

  “You said we had control of the system! I have the message right here!” Terip searched through the pile of messages in front of him and threw one of them at Lap’s feet. “Explain that!”

  “I never sent such a message, Your Highness. As soon as the humans sent my coded message to our allies, they destroyed the communication equipment and abandoned our planet. That was when I first suspected something was amiss. At that same time, several Tapons on Government World were assassinated.”

  “I am Cardinal Fourth, Lap. Before me, three generations of my line have ruled our people and now I may lose it all. My own Matriarch will lose honor, and you are telling me that you have been deceived by the rapacious offspring of a planet barely old enough to bear life?”

  “They are cunning, Your Highness.”

  “They are thieves! They would not even be among the stars if they had not found a discarded trinket from a species ten million years their better. Your collaboration may have trusted them but I never have, and now they have brought ruin to our very system!”

  Lap was a diplomat, and as such, he did not remind Terip that His Highness had offered lines of credit to other species in order to secure their support for contracting the humans to protect the Collaboration. Instead, he just said, “Yes, Your Highness.”

  Terip looked up suddenly, “How came you to be here so quickly?”

  “When I realized what General Addison must have done, I left Government World and came here as quickly as possible. My first duty was to our people.”

  Lap’s broodmate entered the chambers. The look of shock on his face was undeniable as he looked from his captive sibling to Terip. “Your Highness,” he said, “I am sorry to interrupt, but more Tapons are in system. They are demanding we surrender to them.”

  Terip looked between the two and sighed, his mandibles flexing into a frown. “Would that we knew the ways of war. We have forsaken a protector, only to fall to his guile. Now we will face the wrath of another. Let us hope that our bloodshed is little.”

  “You mean to fight, Your Highness?” Lap asked. “But how? We have not taken up arms for a thousand years. You must surrender!”

  “Fear not, Lap. I agree that we must capitulate, but I will not surrender to the Tapons. We have been contacted by our cousins the H’uumans. Our fate lies in the hands of the forgotten colonies. We will seek refuge behind the shield of the Ares Federation.” Terip opened his desk and removed a H’uuman communicator.

  Ten

  Earth

  Dar Sike stood and walked around his desk to greet his visitor. “Chief, it is good to finally meet you in person. I am more than a bit surprised though. I thought you were done with us.”

  Shaking Dar’s hand, Chief Rhodes said, “It is good to talk to you too, Superintendent Dar. I truly wish I could be done with government matters, but fate will not seem to allow it.”

  Disappointed at Rhodes’ use of his formal title, Dar said, “Does this have to be so formal, Chief? You left the government without an explanation and ignored us for years. Now you are here and still seem unwilling to be more than civil. Why?”

  “Because something is going on in Africa and I need your help figuring it out.”

  Sitting down after pouring them both water, Dar said, “No. I finally have you in my office and I want an explanation. Why did you jump ship? Answer that to my satisfaction and we can talk about your problem.”

  “Really? I have to give you answers or you will not do the right thing? That is your Addison blood showing through, Superintendent.”

  When Rhodes stood, Dar thought he was going to leave. Instead the younger man walked to the office window, which looked out over a large dog park. Below the full length glass, a dozen breeds of small and medium sized dogs played while their humans talked and ate lunch.

  “You know, he has done great things. We have dogs again thanks to him. He united the planet. Gods, he even led us to the stars. I admire a lot of things about him. In some ways, I even wish I was more like him. But there is a monster underneath his skin. Not the kind of monster that lives under a child’s bed. The kind that gives adults nightmares.”

  “That monster you have nightmares about also does a lot of good. You said that yourself.”

  “It is no
t worth it though, Dar. He set aside an entire planet to bury the victims of his wars. Why would he do that unless he was planning on killing enough of us to fill it? He has killed trillions of aliens. He is not a savior. Not to us or the galaxy.”

  “Even H’uumans would argue that, Chief.”

  “And they would be wrong.” Rhodes turned away from the window and looked at Dar. “I took part in his wars. I pushed the button a hundred times to help him kill President Beard’s people when they tried to take Mars back.”

  When Dar started to comment, Rhodes held up his hand and said, “Wait. I get that it was necessary at that point. That is not my point.”

  “What is then?” Dar asked. Dar stood and walked to a sideboy. Without asking if Chief wanted one, he poured two glasses and walked to the other man, handing him one.

  “Thank you,” Chief said. Taking a drink, he answered Dar’s question. “It happened before that, when he attacked the Earth colony at the pole. I have a lot of nightmares about that day. We all spent days trying to talk him out of it, but he destroyed those modules and then ripped them open like presents to look inside.”

  Dar remembered reading the after-action reports from that day and the subsequent battle. He had lost a lot of family, including his pregnant daughter Kay then. “What is your point Chief?”

  Clare was right that day, Dar. Cort wanted to kill those people to prove his point. That Mars was his and no one else’s.”

  “You know that is not true, Chief. He was right. It was not a research colony like Clare thought. For the gods’ sakes, man, she was my granddaughter! And I lost my daughter days later. You were there, but I promise you that I have more nightmares about those days than you do. But Cort was right.”

  “How did he know, Dar? How did he know? And I admit he did, but how? How does someone become so good at killing that he knows something like that beforehand?”

  Dar went back to his desk and sat down. “I cannot answer that. But he did know. Maybe Bazal is right. Maybe he really is the god of war. I recall you told me once that you yourself said something like that to Keen.”