“We already have a prototype swarm. I suggest we use it in combination with the F-35s. The swarms can start the initial attack distracting the Creytes. The F-35s with much larger and more powerful lasers can deliver the knock-out blow.”
“Good let’s do it. Although, I’m not sure we will sequence the attack as you suggest. Keep me apprised of anything that starts to slip through the cracks. I’d like to hear from you every 30 minutes until we get things under control.”
1 AM: STAR Hawks Team Activated
Bob Jackson and his latest girlfriend, Carol, had just arrived at his apartment when a rude chirp from his wireless phone broke the otherwise romantic mood. Bob angrily grabbed the device and examined the display to see who was bothering him at this late hour. It was an alert from Bronson himself. Bob gave Carol a quick kiss and grabbed his wireless PDA. On the screen was a message telling him that STAR Hawks had just been place on DEFCON 1. He stared at the screen and couldn’t believe what he saw.
“Bob, what’s up?”
“I can’t believe it. It’s work! I have to go.”
“Go? We just got here. Bob, you promised me.”
“I know Carol. I don’t have a choice. You know what my job is.”
“Yes. I know others in the Air Force. They can always put things off for a little bit.”
“Carol I don’t have time to argue this. Something bad is going down. I have to go, and I have to go now. I’m sorry. I will make it up to you.”
“We’ll see.”
Bob grabbed his duty bag and headed towards the apartment elevator with Carol close in tow. She argued with him the entire distance of the hallway and during their trip down the elevator. Her appeals had no impact on Bob. Bob knew he had no choice.
When Bob pulled up to the base gates, he noted the increased security. It was a short drive from the gates to the hangers and the buildings housing the STAR Hawks operations and its shuttles. Bob felt a rush of adrenalin pulse through his body as he pulled into the already full parking lot. In front, he saw one of the bay doors to the hanger open and a small army of mechanics and service technicians gathered around his shuttle. Bob knew some sort of mission was up. Maybe there was some news on Karen and her missing shuttle.
The loud roar of a fighter engine interrupted his thoughts. An F-35 had just landed and was heading straight for the STAR Hawks hanger. Bob quickened his gait as he walked across the parking lot. He didn’t want to appear too anxious and had to resist the urge to run.
Bob walked through the small gate leading to the front hanger. An MP was standing there and ordered him to stop.
“Captain, you’re required in the situation room.”
“Thanks Sergeant. Do you know what’s up?”
“No sir. Just that this mission has the highest priority. It comes straight from the President himself.”
Bob quickened his pace and headed for the situation room. If Ratherson was in the loop, a lot had to have changed since he last checked in. After all, it was Ratherson and his whore Helen who had Bronson placed in the brig. This had to be big.
Colonel Henley greeted Bob as he entered the room. Bob’s flight crew was sitting around the table. Henley pointed to one of the chairs and Bob took the seat.
“Captain, your team’s mission will start at 6AM sharp and that does not include travel time. As you have probably heard in the news, the Creytes have become a problem in West Virginia. They have killed and eaten some civilians and completely thwarted all attempts by our law enforcement to handle this situation. It is now up to us to eradicate this problem. We are going to be part of a joint effort using some experimental technology produced by GeoTechnology. They are installing new laser devices on the shuttle and 6 F-35’s. The F-35’s, a special Army Ranger unit, and our shuttle will attack the Creyte base in West Virginia. The Army Ranger unit will use microbots armed with explosives. We considered some prototype micro-laser, but that didn’t work out. The F-35’s will lead off the attack followed by you in your shuttle. Once this initial bombardment is completed, the Rangers will launch a single assault with their microbots. The microbot assault will be followed an attack of the Ranger Unit itself. The entire attack should take less than 10 minutes. We give you more details later this morning. I want all of you to catch a couple hours sleep. The duty officer will wake you at 4AM. By then, your shuttle should be armed and ready for joining the other assault teams in West Virginia. You can eat breakfast on board the shuttle. This mission is code named Mountain Expungement. You’re all dismissed.”
Bob’s head was spinning. He had no idea how he was supposed to catch a couple hours sleep with the news just dumped on him. However, he knew this mission would require all of his strength and alertness. He left the briefing room with his team and headed for the bunkroom. They exchanged several comments and quickly retired to their bunks.
When Bob dropped into his bunk, he fell asleep in spite of his racing mind. When the duty officer sounded the wake-up alarm at 3:30AM, it jerked Bob out of a deep sleep. He was additionally surprised that the schedule had changed and they were now to start the mission half an hour earlier. Bob joined his team and they headed towards the briefing room and Colonel Henley.
Colonel Henley glanced at the STAR Hawk team as they entered the room. He was deeply troubled by the latest turn of events forcing him to assemble his team ahead of schedule. The Creytes had just attacked the GeoTechnology facility located near Dulles Airport in Northern Virginia. Fortunately, they had moved the lasers to a different location prior to the attack. The Creyte attack forced Bronson to change their timetable moving up the planned time of attack. Henley discussed the latest developments with the STAR Hawks team and provided them with the additional mission parameters. He then dismissed his team and ordered them to board the shuttle and prepare for flight.
5:30 AM: Mountain Expungement
It was dark and overcast as the first wave of F-35’s initiated their flight towards the Creyte stronghold. As the F-35’s approached firing range, a massive explosion shook the sky with the first three F-35’s exploding into balls of fire and being instantly vaporized. The second wave managed to get off a single volley of laser fire prior to succumbing to the same fate as the first wave. Bob watched the entire drama take place in front of him as he flew the shuttle through a wall of fire. He managed to fire a single volley as a laser shot hit the shuttle. The shuttle’s thermal insulation protected the shuttle from total destruction leaving Bob some capability to crash the shuttle into the side of the mountain hundreds of yards from the Creyte defenses.
Bob felt a sharp pain shoot through his leg. A piece of metal from the damaged shuttle had pierced his right foot and protruded up and through his calf pinning him to his seat. Bob watched the Rangers launch the microbots against the stronghold. They approached the stronghold like large swarms of bees with thousands of explosions as the microbots hit the Creyte fortifications. The Creytes fired back at the swarm, filling the air with balls of fire, which slowly and methodically destroyed the microbots. Bob thought the intensity of the Creyte firepower lessened as the attack proceeded. The microbots were partially successful at eliminating the Creyte defenses. The Rangers followed-up with an attack only seconds behind the last microbot assault. Bob’s stomach turned as he watched the Rangers come within 50 yards of the Creyte stronghold. Several Creytes were standing over a weapon system just waiting for the right moment to destroy the Ranger team.
Borella was closely monitoring U.S. preparations for battle. The new laser technology and microbots should increase the chance of success, but Borella knew that they would be no match for the embedded Creyte defenses. He decided to initiate an alert and activate the newly provisioned STAR Hawk shuttle with Karen’s and Ratface’s teams.
Ratface was already awake when the alarm rung in his quarters and the alert message flashed across one of the monitors in his quarters. Borella was activating his team to start immediately on a mission to defend the U.S. team attacking the Creyte stronghold.
Ratface was ready for action. It was what he missed most from his earlier SEAL days. It only took Ratface a matter of seconds to leave his quarters and run for the shuttle bay.
Oria and Karen were in a deep sleep when the alarm sounded in their quarters. Oria took a quick look at one of his monitors, read the message, and nudged Karen in the arm. “Karen, this message is for you. I’m going to join Borella on the bridge and watch from there. Good luck.”
Karen was anxious to try out the newly outfitted shuttle. “Thanks! I don’t think I’m going to rely on luck. I’ll catch you later.”
Karen threw on her clothes, gave Oria a quick kiss raced out of their quarters and to the shuttle bay. It took her less than 2 minutes to reach the bay where her crew and Ratface’s team were just starting to assemble. She entered the shuttle and headed straight for the captain’s chair. She started the shuttle’s initiation procedures and flipped on the mission screen.
The mission screens described the current situation in West Virginia. She watched on the overhead monitors the in-progress attack of the F-35’s and gasped when she saw Bob’s shuttle burst into a ball of fire and crash into the ground below. She was anxious to get her shuttle moving.
Ratface and Captain John Foster checked in the last members of their combined teams. Once Foster closed the shuttle door, he signaled Karen that they were good to go. Karen released the shuttle from the docking locks and headed it towards the shuttle bay doors and to space.
Once the shuttle was free of the Hercules, Karen hit the throttle and felt the surge of power as the shuttle rocketed towards Earth. In only seconds, the shuttle was moving at almost Mach 20. Karen was amazed at the shuttle’s speed. Karen carefully angled the shuttle to pass through the Earth’s upper atmosphere. Without the new shielding, the shuttle would have quickly vaporized from the heat generated between the shuttle’s shields at the Earth’s atmosphere.
The pain in Bob’s leg intensified as his shuttle shifted slightly on the mountain slope. He grimaced as the spike piercing his leg twisted and angled his view slightly upwards towards the sky. Bob’s mouth dropped as he saw a large bolt of light and flames dart across the sky. It streaked within several hundred yards of the Creyte stronghold and fired several balls of fire at the Creytes. The Creyte’s managed to fire only once at the shuttle before being destroyed by the shuttle’s attack. It slowly dawned on Bob that the shuttle leading the attack was Karen’s shuttle, only it was significantly more powerful and quicker than it was before.
The Ranger team halted dead in their tracks as they saw the second STAR Hawk’s shuttle obliterate the Creyte defenses. The Rangers watched the shuttle complete its attack, land near the mouth of the Creyte cave, and a small team spring from the Shuttle’s doors initiating an attack against the Creytes following them into the cave.
Ratface and his team stormed out of the shuttle into the Creyte cave laying a wall of laser fire as they raced into the cave’s mouth. Ratface took particular pleasure in annihilating each Creyte that dared to show its face as he led his squad into the cave in typical Seal fashion, only now they had lasers and shielding from special suits.
Retilia and Durinea did not like the reports coming from their retreating troops. It was clear that they would have to leave their command post. Durinea led Retilia to a highly classified space warp gateway. When Retilia saw the gateway, he was genuinely surprised.
“Durinea, I have only heard rumors of this device. I didn’t think any were yet deployed.”
“This is the first one. You’re not the only one who has had connections back home. My brother is the lead scientist on this project. Of course, he was willing to set us up as their test site. It should work only once and then self-destruct. Let’s get going before this whole place explodes.”
Durinea led Retilia into a small escape pod inside of the gateway. Once seated, Durinea flipped a few dials and prepared the pod for flight. Retilia watched through the pod’s window as a squad of men entered the gateway’s chamber. Durinea just barely launched the pod as Ratface and his men fired on the gateway. The gateway exploded into a burst of flames from the laser fire. Ratface blasted one of chambers consoles destroying the self-destruct mechanism before it could engage.
12:00 PM: Bronson Meets with Karen and Star Hawk teams
Bronson waited anxiously for Karen and Ratface to reach his office in the Pentagon. He had watched the entire attack from the Pentagon’s situation room. He had a moment of fear when he watched the near destruction of his teams. At first, he grimaced at the sight of Karen’s shuttle, but when he realized what was happening a large smile broke out across his face.
Karen led Ratface through the Pentagon and into Bronson’s office. She exchanged the usual formalities with the General and then introduced Ratface.
“General, I’d like you to meet Herbert Milano, formally a Navy Seal Chief and now known as Lieutenant Ratface of the Azortec Federation.”
“Good to meet you, Lieutenant. It looks like you have received a slight promotion since your Navy days.”
Ratface bit his tongue. It had been awhile since he had to deal with military formalities. “Yes sir. I was just promoted by Admiral Oria in the past week.”
“Judging from your last mission, it looks like the Admiral has justifiably placed confidence in you. I have heard much about this Admiral. Of course, I didn’t know that he was an Admiral. I would very much like to meet Admiral Oria. Do you think either yourself or Major Brown could arrange the introduction?”
Ratface chuckled to himself as he responded. “Yes General, I don’t think Major Brown, I assume you are keeping your last name, would have any problem arranging for you to meet her husband.”
Bronson roared back “Husband! You married Oria!”
“Yes sir, and Ratface, I haven’t really given a name change any thought. I don’t know that a name change is an Azortec custom.”
Bronson slowly let a smile come across his face. “I guess I should wish you well in your marriage. It doesn’t appear that you’ve had much time for a honeymoon. At any rate, I need the two of you to fill me in on your mission and the changes to your shuttle.”
Karen felt relieved that Bronson didn’t jump all over her case for marrying Oria. “Thanks General, in our short time on the Azortec Starship Hercules we’ve learned many things. Probably the most important fact that we have become to realize, is the extent of danger that now faces all of Earth in the next year.”
Bronson knew something big was up. “I suspected as much, please proceed.”
“Yes General. The Oria we know today actually is from a year in the future. Apparently, Azortec has a host of its own internal political problems, which will result in them permitting the Creytes to take Earth and use it as a farm planet. As you have already witnessed, the Creytes eat humans, much like we eat cattle and chickens.”
Bronson felt a growing knot in his stomach. “This is incredible. If the Azortec Federation sells us out, how are we supposed to defend Earth against the Creytes?”
Ratface hated this type of meeting. It reminded him of why he never wanted to become an officer. “Oria’s purpose for coming here is to get us, with his help, to build a fleet of starships with trained crews from Earth. There’s no question that Oria’s objective will be difficult to achieve. We have less than a year to move Earth’s military 20,000 years into the future.”
Bronson felt the knot in his stomach grow a little tighter. “Clearly, we are in uncharted waters. I have to get ready for a meeting in the White House. Major, do you think you can have the Admiral meet me here around 1600.”
“Yes sir. I’ll let him know. General, Oria is equivalent to a Five Star Admiral, and by custom in the Azortec Federation, all planets treat someone of Oria’s rank as a head-of-state from another affiliated planet. His visit to the Pentagon of course isn’t a State visit. Protocol is important to Azortec, much less so to Oria.”
“Very well Major, that will probably become more of a factor when we introduce him to
the President. We don’t yet have an established protocol for meeting alien civilizations. You said he is equivalent to a Five Star Admiral. We don’t currently have anyone in the U.S. military at that level. What is his position inside of Azortec?”
Karen responded, “Good question. Oria has been around over 500 years and that is a long life span even for Azortec. In the past, he has commanded their entire military and achieved considerable recognition. Currently, he is over one of their four quadrant fleets. Azortec allowed him to keep his rank even though he asked and was transferred to one of the quadrant commands.”
3:00 PM: Meeting at White House
Bronson joined the White House security meeting that had already been running for several hours. It was his turn to brief the Security Council on the morning’s events. As he entered the room, he sensed a more laid back and friendly atmosphere than he had the last time he sat before this group. Of course, Helen Marshal and her clique were in control during the last meeting.
John Wilson, the SECDEF, was leading the meeting when Bronson entered the room. “General Bronson, your timing is impeccable as usual. Everyone is anxiously waiting your report.”
Bronson cleared his throat prior to speaking. “Thank you, Mr. Wilson. A lot has happened since I last stood before you in this room. I don’t have much in the way of slides given the recent pace of events. As everyone is undoubtedly aware, we have defeated the Creyte stronghold in West Virginia. However, Commander Retilia is still at large. Another piece of good news is that we have recovered Major Brown, her crew, and the shuttle. In fact, it was her shuttle and a team of retired Special Forces men that sealed the fate of the remaining Creytes in West Virginia.”
Hosa Medina, the acting National Security Advisor interrupted Bronson. “General, you said that Retilia is still at large. What are our next steps with him?”
Legend of Oria 1: Initial Contact Page 33
