I remembered him once telling me of this mythical battle between the God Spirits the Dai believed in and a horde of evil Dai that turned into demons by all the evil deeds they did. It was the origin of the world Okthi and synonymous with all that was without honor.
Mar-Fo bowed again and said, “We have been sold to the Smelter Moons, as we were very young, and long before your father decided to go to the Union. We only know of these recent events from the Dai that are now sold in great numbers to the Smelter Moons.”
Har-Hi kept the hand on the knife but said, “I could not believe the Karthanian as he told me many Dai are sold to the Smelter Moons. How can that be?”
“We don’t know many details, mighty prince. I was eight and Mar-Ta was born on the Smelter Moon.”
Har-Hi’s face fell even more. “What enemy did your tribe face, back then? Surely it must have been a formidable enemy.”
Mar-Fo shook his head. “No, high prince, it was not. It was Cam Elf-Na who ambushed us and destroyed our clan. This is what my mother told me to remember.”
My friend could not hide his emotions as he heard this. “Tribe wars do happen but they are declared and it is at Thana Shoo such wars are fought. In the arena, warriors against warriors, not ships against ships.”
Mar-Fo answered, “I was still little back then, high prince. I do not know anything of the details, other than what my mother told me. Our clan leader bested Cam Elf-Na in the fights for the honor to be Champion of Thana Shoo. She said that Cam Elf-Na swore revenge and ambushed our clan by sending warriors to our Dai Mother, pretending to partake in festivities. They used weapons of unknown origin to kill our warriors from within. After that, they destroyed our defenses and killed anyone who resisted. Mother said he could not leave anyone alive to tell of his deed, so he sold all survivors to the Karthanians. Other Dai at the Smelter Moons tell us he used this same deception many times.”
Har-Hi shivered with barely contained rage. “Your story must be heard by the Pale Elders of Thana Shoo; it will end the reign of this demon! How many Dai Than are on these moons?”
Mar-To raised his shoulders. “We know only of Olx, the moon we escaped from, but there are 17 such places, all called Smelter Moons. On Olx, we think there are many times the number hundred.”
Mar-Ta held all fingers of his hands. “We are not very good with numbers and such but for each finger you can count a hundred for sure maybe a little more.”
Har-Hi whispered, “A thousand Dai slaves?”
The younger Dai nodded. “There are less now, I am sure, only the women and the young ones survive. The warriors usually die very fast as the overseers kill them for disobedience or for trying to fight and never let them out of the heavy chains.”
Neither I nor the others had said a word since the Dai talked.
Har-Hi looked at me with pain in his eyes. “I am honor bound to you, captain, and to my commission, otherwise I would go to war right now and not stop killing until the last Karthanian died for what they did to my people.
“I am Okthi; I am the son of my father, but I am also Dai and the blood in their veins is the same as mine. I cannot stand idle to see a megalomaniac destroy what is left of our culture and our heritage. With every Dai who dies, the gene pool of my species shrinks. And what of the cultural treasures every Dai Mother carries, the precious antiques and artifacts rescued from our doomed planet?”
Har-Hi was talking himself into a rage, like I had never seen before.
Mar-Ta said, “You speak with fire and honor, high prince, but why are you traveling with a weak Human female and taking orders from her and not on the side of your father with a Dai fleet in orbit?”
Har-Hi grabbed the throat of the Dai. “I am Lieutenant Har-Hi of the United Stars Navy first and above all else. It was my father’s wish that I become the first Dai who serves the Union and set an example. I am honored beyond your grasp of understanding to serve with this captain.”
The Togar growled, “She defeated a Shogotrz with nothing but an ax, and I have seen her attack a Drak armored troop carrier and win.”
Har-Hi tossed the young Dai aside and looked at me with eyes that shimmered with tears of rage and sadness. “Captain, leave me here. I will fight. I must do whatever it takes to free my kind.”
I put my hand on his shoulder. “I am not leaving you behind, and I am not leaving you alone in this. You are my friend.”
I knew he was close to tears. “Captain, that will end your career or maybe they’ll hang you first for abandoning our mission and disobeying orders.”
“Richard Stahl told me once that a captain must first and foremost do what she thinks is right. Our mission is important, and we will find a way to find that depot. Even if we have to capture the Red Dragon and squeeze the location out of him somehow, even if we have to fly to the other end of the Galaxy to find it. We will not leave here until the Smelter Moons are shut down and then we will fly to Thana-Shoo and talk to the Pale Ones.”
Har-Hi slowly put his hand on my shoulder and said, “Captain, are you sure?”
“You said you’d follow me to the gates of Hell. Sounds like these moons are the next best thing.”
I then turned to the Togar and the Karthanian. “I guess we’ll stay here, after all, at least until you all are no longer rebels. I think I even have an idea how we going to do that.”
The Togar said, “Whatever you need, captain; whatever you want us to do, we will do it or die trying.”
Mao’s voice interrupted us, coming from my wrist comm. “Captain, there is an army marching toward the scrap field forest, at least a thousand men with tanks, battle walkers, and bomber-flyers.”
Chapter 24: Thirsty Torch
The Togar glanced over my shoulder at the field screen image my PDD projected. It came from Mao, who had taken a surveillance post just 5,000 meters from the regional district headquarters, which was over 500 klicks from our current position. The images relayed came from the high-powered optics of Mao’s battlesuit and showed a force of about a thousand infantry soldiers riding on at least a hundred armored personnel carriers, accompanied by 50 battle tanks and 50 Mecha walkers with missile launchers. The tech used was clearly of Karthanian origin. Above the troops hovered maybe 50 armored flyers.
The Drak army had just reached the demolished installation, and we could see the soldiers dismounting their vehicles and swarming all over the place.
The Togar groaned. “They know we hide in the old Vaselkis scrap-field forests as we call this valley. It is big but they will find us with a force like this. We will fight but this will be the end.”
I said, “Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win, as a wise Terran once said.”
Har-Hi looked at the images as well. “Don’t worry, Togar, we already have enough firepower down here to defeat an army 10 times that size and, judging by their primitive equipment, it won’t even be much of a fight.”
I nodded and flicked the image to map mode, expanded the scale to see a bigger picture of the situation, and overlaid it with a tactical map I had the computronic generate.
While I did that, I said to him, “Defeating them is not the problem, Ninety. Doing it without them suspecting Union involvement and going into general mobilization, that’s the goal we want to achieve. Even better if we can defeat them and use the victory as a tool for our goals.”
While I was studying the map and formulating a plan in my mind, I could hear the Karthanian whisper to the Togar, “Are they serious? What army did they bring to defeat that?”
I turned and grinned. “I brought my friends and 50 marines.”
Looking back on the map, I said, “You could defeat them even without us. This scrap field of yours is huge! Almost 300 square miles of grass forest and shipwrecks of all sizes strewn in between; they would need serious sensor technology or a whole lot more men to find anyone in here. It is also a perfect environment for guerilla warfare. Aurelius lo
st legions of Roman soldiers against German barbarians because he had to fight them on their turf and that is what we’ll make them do as well.”
Ninety spread his big, golden fur-covered arms. “I am trained at the War Academy for Space Combat on Togar, and I don’t understand what you intend to do to defeat that force. We don’t have enough Meghlors and Burry beetles. Besides, they may have shields.”
I said, “If your enemy is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him. If your opponent is temperamental, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant. If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them. If sovereign and subject are in accord, put division between them. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.”
Har-Hi added, “She is quoting Shin-Tzu again, that is an ancient Terran who wrote a book called The Art of War.”
The Karthanian flickered his black round tongue and said, “Did you say The Art of War? Music is art, paintings are art, and dancing is art, but war?”
My Dai friend said, looking at them both, “I graduated from the United Stars Fleet Academy not so long ago. Before, I believed we Dai were the most warrior-like species, then I learned about the Terrans. They have war gods, war music, war dances and yes, even though they don’t admit it, they raised war to their highest form of art.”
I interrupted them with a slightly annoyed tone in my voice and said, “We can compare civilizations at another time. I have a plan, and we better get started.”
They all paid attention and I said, “We give them bait and lure them between the wrecks. Without their Sky Stations, we don’t have to hold back using real weaponry. Their tanks are next to useless in this environment, and we’re going to clean their bombers and flyers out of the sky.”
I pointed at several spaceship hulls. “Ninety, you take the bulk of your men out there and make sure they see you, and then you retreat to here.” I pointed at a spot of the map. “We will take care of their heavy equipment and then we attack here, but before we do all this, I want you to make a broadcast. I want you three to tell them to surrender.”
Ninety opened his maw and said, “We will do what?”
“I want everyone on Itheamh to hear you. I mean you, the Karthanian, and the former Ithe commander. I will arrange that images of the fight are broadcast and show that you win too.”
The Togar said, “I’ll do whatever you say we should do, but would that not make the Drak even angrier and ask for even more Karthanian help. Thousands will go to the Smelter Moons!”
I grinned. “I am counting on that.”
The Karthanian said, “I do not understand. We are already wanted criminals and they know us; but they are the ones who control the airwaves.”
“Not much longer. I have very talented people in that regard. We must win this war fast and decisive and in order to unite this planet, we need to galvanize the masses. I told you I have a plan, and it becomes clearer by the minute.”
I was wearing an Atlas-type battlesuit in full infantry configuration; this unit was hand checked by Circuit and I was certain it would not malfunction. The weapons at my disposal were frightening, and I was quite certain I could have stopped the enemy army all on my own. Not to mention that all my marines were deployed as well, each of them fully equipped and eager for a fight. Of course, that was not part of my plan, but we were there to make sure Ninety and the rebels would win gloriously, with as few casualties as possible and everything in full color, high definition on every visual broadcast receiver on the planet.
My suit was fully cloaked as I hovered 300 meters over the ground of the former regional Headquarters 3,000 meters to the south.
Elfi’s symbol blinked, and I activated the comm-link by looking at it. She said, “Captain, I’ve got Lt. Bergdorf. He and his team have infiltrated the enemy command post and are reporting in.”
“Patch them through.”
The Mini-Terran officer said, “Captain, the enemy force is commanded by General Bruk Kning. He was holding maneuvers with his unit nearby when they more or less stumbled on the destroyed camp. He was ordered to kill every civilian in the entire district. He is very confident, and he does not yet know that he just uploaded a Trojan horse into the entire military communication network when he called his superiors.”
Elfi, still listening in, said, “Shea and SHIP are ready to activate the broadcast at your command.”
I switched to the scrambled radio band I used to communicate with the rebels. “Ninety, are you guys ready?”
“Yes, captain!”
The suit system linked with the Tigershark and in doing so I could see what every Ithe was watching.
Ninety, the Karthanian, the former Ithe commander, along with the Mountain Man tribe leader appeared standing before a colorful flag and Ninety said, “Itheamh, hear and see! Some of you have heard of me, I am Ninety and these are Nefkin Boneface, former Drak Commander Jutika, and the village elder of the Oote Mountains. We are the Instigators and we are the Voice of Freedom. We speak for all Ithe, for all Drak, and everyone else living on this planet. To those in power, oppressing us with an iron fist with the backing of your puppet masters the Karthanians, we say Itheamh is yours no longer! We will stand and fight and sweep you away! The time of slavery has come to an end. The Smelter Moons will no longer run on Ithe and slave blood. We hereby declare the Oote Mountains and the entire East Plain District as ours. The troops currently here have one hour to leave or we will destroy them.”
I snickered inside my helmet. The Drak would scramble and try to locate the source of the broadcast but all they would find was the Command Post communications equipment of the general. The Magistrate was likely to think that his own general was in cahoots with the rebels, and the general would be afraid to go back, as he could not explain what happened and would fear for his own life, oh what a wonderful dilemma.
To Ninety, I radioed, “Now take the bait group out so they can see you!”
From the tall grass trees and onto the dusty plain came a force of about 500 rebels. They were riding an assortment of captured vehicles and animals. A force of 50 Gryther riders appeared as well.
The enemy general and his forces almost immediately spotted them. Yet there was confusion as the general barked orders in his communication device, but the soldiers heard something completely different. Elfi had much fun redirecting and mixing his orders. The enemy general ordered his flyers to open fire but what they heard was, “Hold your fire and stay back.” His ground troops got the order to advance and arrest the rebels on the official channels and from the general’s voice.
I almost felt sorry for the general and wondered what he was thinking as he saw his ground forces move, while his flyers stayed inactive.
I gave my own invisible marines the order to take out the tanks as soon as they reached the forest.
Har-Hi, Mao, Krabbel, and I engaged the flyers and shot them down. It was not a fight, it was slaughter. The Drak flyers had no chance. Their shields, formidable enough to deflect rocks, simple projectiles, and weak laser blasts, collapsed with the first TKU blasts. My wrist cannon, in computronic-assisted targeting mode, roared and bolts of superheated plasma accelerated to near lightspeed and ripped the enemy air force to shreds. It took no more than maybe 30 seconds and there was no flyer left.
I turned and accelerated like a projectile toward the forest. It was a rush that few experienced by flying very fast and close to the ground. I misjudged my speed and crashed like a cannonball through several tree trunks, creating a deep furrow into the ground. Yet I felt nothing. The suit protected me completely and was not damaged in the slightest.
My marines were much better trained with the suits and tore through the enemy battle tanks using their chain swords and the augmented strength of their suits to tear the tanks to scrap.
The main fight, however, was done by the rebels themselves, and they fought with utter determination. Now th
ey fought on even ground. They had energy weapons and did not have to fear sudden death from the sky. They fought like demons let loose. My plan was to take prisoners and let as many of the soldiers live as possible, but there was no stopping the rebels. They had lost family members and their homes by the hands of these soldiers and they let them have it. To my surprise, it was Ninety who curbed them and ordered them to show mercy.
It was over faster than expected. Of the thousand soldiers, 300 hundred had survived and surrendered. Among them was the enemy general.
Ninety had a hard time making them calm down. A large group of rebels had gathered inside the freighter wreck’s engineering section. The mood had changed completely. There was laughter; there were lively discussions, men telling other men about the battle and the fights.
I was back in my leather suit. Har-Hi, Shea, and Narth stood next to me in the back.
The Togar leader finally managed to get them quiet enough to speak. “This, my friends, was only one fight and I am sure many will follow before we can lay down our weapons and build a free society where no one has to live in fear or hide.” He paused then threw his arms in the air and yelled, “But we won. Hope is no longer a fool’s dream!”
They yelled and chanted but fell suddenly quiet as two Ithe warriors dragged the Drak general in.
One of them yelled, “This is the butcher of Uthoo; he murdered and executed thousands and sent many more to the Smelter Moons to a slow death.”
The general’s leather coat was ripped to shreds as was the rest of his uniform, and he showed signs of rough treatment.
Har-Hi leaned over and said to me, “It happened faster than I thought it would. While I can understand them, this world will not see peace for a long time.”
I wondered if he was right but I somehow had a feeling the Togar, even though he was no Ithe, would remain a leading force. As much as I hated to admit it, this Togar was as honorable as could be and had a sound set of morals guiding his actions.
Eric Olafson Series Boxed Set: Books 1 - 7 Page 141
