He wasn't sure what to do, but he had to do something. This was turning into a fiasco. He knew he couldn't paper over any of the mistakes, the blasted captain was logging everything for further review by higher. This was supposed to be a learning experience after all, training for other worlds. No, he thought, with the coming of the spring the Neos would be dealt with. He turned and angrily punched in an order to the surveillance department to map any large contacts. If his men couldn't strike them from the ground he'd use his shuttles or drop rocks on their heads.
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They created a cover of branches and then dug the shuttle out carefully, making sure they limited their activity to safe periods. The shuttle itself was military grade and therefore was designed to hide from orbital arrays. But they were careful to only work on the little ship when the pirate freighter wasn't overhead. Over the next week Cali, Moreta, and Moira installed their purloined parts and readied the assault shuttle for her coming mission.
It wasn't plug and play of course, many of the pieces had to be smuggled back to the surviving machine shops to be rebuilt or remanufactured. It was maddening to do, and downright scary for all involved. The last thing they needed was for some pirate to catch the illicit transfers.
Keeping the people who worked in the slave shops in the dark about what they were machining was also hard. They had to know they were working on something to fight back, but not what. It was tempting to tell them, terribly tempting but the threat of one of them being caught and tortured for the information was too just too possible, too scary to ignore. A single breach in security could tear her tissue paper plan all apart. Not even the couriers knew what they carried.
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When Blizzard asked where the fuel would come from the elder snorted. She pointed to a nearby river, swollen with melt off. “There. Over the centuries I have drawn water from the river now that the ice has melted and spring has sprung. It was such a hassle melting snow before,” she said shaking her head. Cali nodded. That task had fallen to her when she wasn't too busy. The elder had fretted over their power, worried that its' signature could be detected by the ship. “We take the water and split it into its components and that is the fuel we need.”
“Ah,” Blizzard replied. It was a measure of how far her education had come that she understood that. She was proud of herself for that.
“I wish you wouldn't be going though,” the priestess murmured.
The elder flicked her a glance and then waggled her ears in humor. “And just who would fly the shuttle? Only I can do that properly.” she said. She could finally do what she'd been trained to do, what she loved to do, fly. She had no intention of letting any talk her out of this role. No, not now, not ever. Her understudy was good but she had no experience. Besides, only she could work the weapons built into the craft.
They had been a hassle. She'd carefully checked each missile, even tearing each down to make sure nothing had rusted or broken over the centuries. One missile had had a nest in it, she'd cleaned it out and run diagnostics on it. The read outs had read clean but she'd mentally assigned that missile as a last reserve just in case. The last thing she needed, hell they needed was a misfire.
“I know,” the priestess sighed in defeat.
“Are the others ready?” the elder asked, changing the subject. The priestess nodded. “they are drilling?”
“When they can. We have them dispersed so spying eyes will not spot them,” the priestess replied.
“Good,” the elder said nodding wisely. Her people were learning she thought with approval. A herd or caribou had been struck the night before, most likely from orbit. A shuttle had done a strafing run on a group hiding in a narrow gorge, they'd been wiped out with nowhere to run. Fortunately it hadn't been anyone critical to their end game.
“Are you ready little one?” the elder asked, turning to Cali. The girl nodded grimly. She was their only other pilot. She'd trained hard for this role and was ready and eager. It was time for the ultimate payback she thought with savage glee.
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Pyotr belched and then rolled his shoulders. He had a bandolier of ammo packs across his chest. He adjusted it and then bounced a little, not so much in youthful eagerness for battle but to make sure nothing jostled loose or made noise. When he was satisfied he settled down and looked over to where the elder was sitting.
There was a twinkle in her eyes. She held her old spear but had a pulser in her lap. What little body armor her shuttle could provide had been handed out to those who had the most dangerous and vital of missions. Of course none could fit the bear, Pyotr thought. He watched her ears flick in amusement and a soft smile touched her lips. “What's so funny?” he asked.
She snorted as a white fox looked up from where she had been checking her needler. The elder waved for her to finish up. “Nothing, just a little wool gathering. You remind me of a fat Chewbacca,” she said, grinning.
“I do? Old boyfriend?” Pyotr asked suspiciously.
“Not quite,” the elder chuckled getting to her feet. She turned and climbed through the flight deck hatch. It was past time she got her own end of things going. Her eager copilot probably had it already done twice but it never hurt for her to be sure she thought.
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Cali grinned from the copilot seat as they finished the preflight. She was nervous, the elder could smell her excitement and fear, it was fortunately not nearly as strong as the scents wafting up from the other compartments. The shuttle was full, stuffed with the Neos of team one. Three had checked out on the improvised breather's she'd made. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that.
They lifted with the assault force at dawn and headed off, racing the sun at tree top level. On the dark side of the planet opposite the ship they took out the enemy shuttle with a single precision aimed missile. They'd logged the IFF many times before, now they copied the dead shuttle's IFF into their own transponder and then headed to orbit and the waiting pirate ship.
It was a short flight, under an hour to get to orbit actually. A short nervous flight. They could hear the occasional click and grumble as the Neos nervously checked and rechecked their various weapons. The elder pointed to the speck on the screen, beating Cali's exclamation by a half second. “It's a converted medium freighter. Just as I thought,” the elder murmured as she looked down and checked the passive feed. A stock Clydesdale she noted, the CF-1071.
“A freighter?” Cali asked. “They did all that with just a freighter?” she demanded, sounding affronted.
The elder flicked her ears, leaning forward against her flight harness. “It holds the high ground child, anything that does can command a battlefield. But in this case its' better than a warship as far as we are concerned. It means it probably doesn't have internal defenses.”
Cali blinked and then nodded slowly. “Oh.”
“Probably,” Moira qualified, looking down to check the throttle and engine feeds.
“Right,” Cali said checking her instruments.
“You like to play chess right little one?”
Cali looked at her partner and nodded. She'd played a few games with the elder over the past few months. “You know it. Why do you ask?”
The elder chuffed a laugh and pointed. “Simple. Check you bastards,” the elder said softly, smiling a feral smile as the ship accepted their IFF and opened her shuttle bay lock. Before the ship could recognize the discrepancy in their military shuttle compared to the dead pirate's civilian shuttle craft they were inside the ship's engagement range and passing through the lock in a pin point braking maneuver. They boarded the ship without incident, after all the pirates knew they were the only ones with shuttles.
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“Sir! Something fucked up is going on! Do we have an assault shuttle?” a bridge watch officer asked, turning to the exec.
In the shuttle bay the assault shuttle spun with it's retros, brief puffs eased her bulk to the deck with hardly a bump and scrape of her skids. The moment the pressurization light went green the boarding ramp went down and all hell broke loose.
They struck hard and fast, moving quickly out of the shuttle bay to keep from being pinned there. The few crew members in the bay gaped in shock as Neos poured out of the shuttle and went on a methodical rampage. None of the humans in the bay were spared in those brief moments of holocaust.
“Clear!” Pyotr called over his shoulder. He turned expectantly as the elder gripped his shoulder and then moved to the nearest terminal. A chimp jumped over a tiger to wedge blocks into the open hatch door, forcing it open. The tiger growled at the chimp but moved off to his assigned task.
Getting a map of the ship, the elder copied it to several tablets and then handed them out to the squad leaders without even looking up. She then directed the teams to their objectives. They moved out professionally, bounding to their assigned objectives.
With most of the pirates still on the surface of the planet it was relatively easy to mow through the initial startled resistance. The few moments of surprise were precious, their fastest fighters moved through the corridors for their objectives. Having armed Neos in the ship, tearing at them with weapons as well as taloned claws and savage teeth terrified the pirates. The Neos captured the bridge first, then engineering. With the threat of the ship's self destruct being used stopped they started locking down the ship. When she was sure the critical parts of the ship were secure the elder and Cali left for the next phase of the plan.
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She'd wanted to debark with the wounded but unfortunately they just didn't have the time to spare. Their lone shuttle was needed in too many places at once to wait. Hopefully they could hang on until they returned. Right now the shuttle was needed as over watch for what she knew would be coming. According to the bridge capture team someone had gotten a warning off to the ground.
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When word of the attack reached the pirates on the ground Patterson was shocked and furious. He didn't know where they had gotten the shuttle but he knew he had to do something about it or he was a dead man. He instantly rallied his forces for a counter attack, spittle spraying from his mouth as he screamed at them to hurry. They lifted in the remaining shuttles quickly but when they arrived at the ship they were either forced to return to the planet or were shot down by the assault shuttle. A few ran for the dubious safety of the wilds. Moira knew that they could be hunted down later so she didn't follow.
“I shouldn’t be doing this. This thing's a trash hauler, not a damn fighter jet. We should've at least gotten a test flight in but we couldn't chance it.... and I am definitely too old for this crap,” the elder muttered as they went in to pick up another load of troops. Fighting was still intense in the quarters of the ship. Someone had gotten to an armory locker and resistance was stiffening. Cali sat in the copilot seat doing a remarkable job. She'd studied hard to be here and had earned the right. The elder was proud of her. Proud of all of them.
“It works for us. It's a little late to have cold feet you know. Besides you're all we have grandmother,” Cali said.
“Then it is time to invest in you and the next generation,” the elder sighed, “I've done my part. Now it's time to train you to do yours.”
“I thought you had,” Cali said, giving her a sidelong look. The elder only grunted a laugh in response.
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Over several hours of fighting the ship was captured one compartment at a time. When they were finished it was clear of any surviving Terran but damaged. According to reports none of the spiteful Horathians had surrendered. Some that had been trapped had suicided to avoid capture. The elder wasn't too sure about that but after everything her people had done to achieve this victory she wasn't going to quibble with how they'd gone about it.
Blizzard was amazed that it had went relatively smoothly with only a dozen dead and two dozen wounded. Many of the Neos were excited about the technology as much as their achievement. She turned away from the cheering and back slapping when the last resistance was stamped out. Her wandering eyes found a familiar ball rotating on the main screen. For the first time she noted her planet, her homeworld from space. She was amazed by the sight. She wasn't the only one. “It looks so small,” she murmured.
“And blue and white,” Pyotr replied. He rolled his shoulder in annoyance, angry that some Terran had gotten a lucky shot in with a needler and chewed his right arm up.
“It's beautiful,” Blizzard said, nursing a scrape on her elbow. They could see the damage the Horathian's had done to their world. It was profoundly moving for all on the bridge. Many vowed to never let it happen again.
Act III
Chapter 6
With the pirates defeated the surviving natives came out of their homes and hiding places... first in wary confusion but then they joyfully celebrated when the news reached them. Some joined in the remaining fighting, either digging out the scum who were holding their friends and neighbors hostage or hunting them down and digging them out of their other hiding places before they strung them up in cathartic frontier justice. The irony of just how the tables had been turned wasn't lost on some of the more quick witted.
Over a period of several days they took stock, realizing that many of their non Terran friends were either missing or dead. Many vowed to never let something like this happen again. Word spread through the communities and a new government was proposed and voted on. One that would include the Neo community and would emphasize change and returning to inter stellar civilization.
Cali, the Terran girl who had started it all had changed. She wore a worn leather flight jacket and stood tall and proud. She'd grown over the past hard year, grown and flowered into a woman. Her curly brown hair no longer had the traces of blond streaks from her childhood. Her childhood was gone forever. She was a woman now, a woman unbowed and unbroken.
The Horathian threat hadn't ended with the capture of the ship, Moira and Cali had known that, as had Pyotr. The old bear had gotten into a few more scrapes crushing the remaining pockets of pirates on the planet. Her mouth twisted in a wry smile. Try saying that three times fast she thought whimsically.
The resistance had changed a lot over the months leading up to the forming of the new government. The government was in its embryonic stages, but it looked like the newly resurrected constitution would be accepted. They had taken on more formal rank structure under the Elder and Pyotr's guidance. Pyotr was shaping up to a good ground commander, just as Moira had hoped. She'd always had a soft spot for the big grouchy bear. He'd been her prized chess student after all.
The resistance hadn't disbanded, instead they had formed themselves into a militia and a space force. Blizzard, in a rush of patriotism and in an eagerness to keep what they had rightfully caught decided to join the newly minted Ranger militia. Cali did so as well after she made sure Susan would be okay with a step family.
Moreta had drawn out the surviving human elders. They were organizing, aiding in cleaning out the remaining pirates. Already the reeducation camp had been repopulated with any surviving Horathian who'd found someone willing to take their surrender. She had aged and matured, her passage into adulthood had burned her, but she'd risen through it, scared by the experience but proud like Cali. She had several admirers but spurned them all, or so the grapevine said.
Moreta was serving as a liaison with the Neo clans. The clans were unsure of the contact but both sides were encouraged by the trade Moreta instigated. Already those who had been injured in the fighting were in the remaining Terran clinics undergoing care and treatment.
The Neo pack elders were not amused at the next clan gathering. If they had t
hought things would return to normal they were now sadly mistaken.
“You knew,” they accused the serene elder. “You knew this would happen!”
The elder smiled softly, keeping her teeth covered. She crossed her arms under her shawl, serene and composed, content with her own involvement. “What would you have us do? Sit and watch our people die one by one? It's time we stopped living like animals and returned to civilization as free people. For their sake,” she indicated the children playing nearby. The elders scowled at the sight of wolf pups, bear cubs, Terran children, and cat kits playing with one another. They argued with the elder.
She nodded tiredly to some of their points about customs and didn't deny the accusations that she had wanted and planned this, not respecting their own decisions and beliefs. She had suspected this would happen. Once they had had a taste of technology, of living with it, the hardships of living hand to mouth would be hard to go back too.
She remembered back to the stories of the Mongols and other barbarians on ancient Earth. How nothing could tame them except their own desire to better their children. To learn to better themselves. The conquest of other lands had done that, for they had been forced to settle down to keep them, and in doing so they had been tamed, tamed in a way they hadn't understood.
“And what then? What if more come back?” the white leopard Shanti snarled, throwing her hands up in despair. “When they do they will burn our world! Even rebuilt that freighter won't stand up to spit in a snow storm!” she yowled.
Moira's old eyes turned to the here and now. “Then we must be ready. All of us. For their sake,” she replied calmly, indicating the children. She sighed as they looked again. “I never intended for you to live as an animal. I am more than that, as are you. I've wanted you to be free yes, but as people. It is time...” she said, then shook herself and continued gently. “We must make contact with Admiral Irons, or others like him. We must take back our heritage as protectors. If not for ourselves then for them.” She indicated the children playing nearby once more.
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