by G. P. Hudson
Unfortunately the DLC ships were not having any of it. They sat there, like they were going to wait him out. Then they did the last thing he wanted them to do. They resumed course for the station.
Chapter 65
Seiben had stepped out from behind the cover of the trees and continued firing at the vessel. Darla yelled at him to come back, but he was intent on drawing the vessel away from his family. To his horror his firing didn’t do much harm to the craft. He wanted to get it as far away from the trees as he could. He would be dead soon enough. No point getting his family killed as well.
A pair of vicious looking guns came into view and he swore he could see the pilot smiling as he targeted Seiben. He felt like a tiny mouse being toyed with by a sinister cat. He kept firing, not knowing what else to do. Salty beads of sweat stung his eyes. His shirt already wet and clinging to his back, partly from the run, mostly from the fear. Darla was right. He was no soldier. Combat frightened him too much. Yet here he was, playing the military man when he should be with his family.
Any second now the pilot would pull the trigger and it would be over, but if his family was going to see him die, he would make sure it was while putting up a fight. It wouldn’t be enough, but it might be something. There are worse ways to die. At least this way his grandchildren might hear stories about how he fought to defend his family. Much better, he thought than dying of some prolonged sickness. He tried to convince himself that his family would get by without him. It didn’t work. His actions were foolish. He knew he had let them down. He closed his eyes and braced himself, waiting for the bullets to perforate his body.
If only I had more time, he thought. It’s all too short.
The crash shocked him. He jump back and opened his eyes. It took a moment for his mind to process what just happened. Part of him wondered if he was delusional. Had he been shot already? Was he seeing things before death? When the security craft hit the ground he decided that what he saw was real. A large man, at least he thought it was a man, clad head to toe in metal had leapt over him and onto the floating vessel. The force of the impact pointed the craft’s nose downward, so that when the guns fired they narrowly missed Seiben hitting the ground at his feet. The metal man fired his large weapon into the cabin, shattering the glass. The bullets tore through the pilot’s body, killing him instantly. With nobody piloting, the craft spun out of control and slammed into the ground. The metal man jumped off just before impact and surged forward with tremendous speed.
All around him the same thing took place. More metal men had appeared and were engaging the DLC security force. First they eliminated the hovercraft. Their incredible agility and power allowed them to leap high enough so as to fire directly at the pilots. Some took advantage of their momentum, and struck the hovercraft with great force, causing them to lose control and hit the ground where they would be finished off.
Then they charged the ground force. They crashed into their line with ferocity and unforgiving strength. The DLC troops wore armor, but still crumbled against the charge. Their line fell into tatters. Some tried to fight off the monsters, but the metal men withstood their weapons. They didn’t have enough time to inflict any real damage to the incredible glowing armor. The metal men moved with such speed that each man could only get a few shots off before they were either shot, or seized by a powerful metal glove and thrown across the battlefield. The metal giants streaked through the DLC ranks like demons, dispersing the enemy and gunning them down as they tried to flee. The DLC force had no chance. They couldn’t defend, nor could they run. The metal men were merciless.
Seiben was surprised at the soldiers’ discipline. When the metal men showed up there were no cheers. No displays of emotion. The soldiers held their positions and kept firing. Even when the metal men charged into the enemy ranks, none of the other soldiers joined the charge. They stayed where they were and continued firing in support.
Not that the metal men needed much help. They towered over their opponents. Their speed and agility was mind boggling. The security craft that had targeted him flew low, but was easily three meters off the ground. Yet the metal man had leapt onto it like it was nothing more than a step stool.
Who are these people? He wondered.
Darla’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts. She yelled at him to come back behind the trees.
Realizing that there was still fighting and that he was standing out in the open, he rushed back to his family.
Darla punched him several times in the arm. “What were you thinking?” she said, her eyes wide and fearful. “You could’ve been killed.”
“I… I don’t know,” said Seiben.
“You don’t know? You don’t know?! Have you finally gone insane?”
“I-”
“I am too young to be a widow. Do you understand me? Too young!” She punched him again, the fear in her eyes replaced by a look he knew well. Rage.
He wanted to say something to justify what he had done, but he knew it would do him no good. He knew that silence was the best approach when she became like this.
“Do you understand that you are not a soldier?” she continued. “You are a father. And a husband. I will not let you commit suicide. Do you understand? You are not getting off that easily.”
She whacked him again. He took it all silently. She was right, after all. He had to think of his family. His responsibilities. He couldn’t be running around playing soldier. What had come over him? What made him fire on that vessel? That wasn’t like him. He was too old to be playing the hero. Still, he couldn’t bear to watch those men get shot in the back. Deep down he admired their bravery. Their discipline. In the end they were defending him and his family. How could he just hide while they risked their lives for them?
He looked at Alina and Otka, their cheeks wet with fresh tears, and knew how. They needed their father. He couldn’t abandon them. Getting himself killed would be no different than walking out on them. Knowing their father died fighting would not compensate for the fact that he was gone. Nothing would.
He suddenly became aware that the gunfire had ceased. Peeking out from behind the trees he saw the men getting up from their positions. The metal men were returning from the field, their movements accompanied by a distinct whining sound, not much different from some of the machinery on his freighter. A couple jogged by him, each step causing the ground to shudder under their heavy boots. The rest of the group was following and Seiben started to get up as well.
“Is it over?” Darla asked, her face still tense.
“I think so. It looks like we’re leaving,” said Seiben.
Darla and the girls got up and stepped out from behind the trees. Soon Jon and Breeah appeared, with Burke and Daniels close behind. He noticed that Jon didn’t look tired like the others. There was no perspiration. He wasn’t out of breath. Nothing. He looked calm and fresh, like he was just starting his day. The other three looked like they were in great shape, but they all showed some signs of fatigue. But not Jon. Seiben wondered if he wasn’t a metal man in disguise.
Jon picked up Anki, and the two soldiers picked up Seiben’s daughters.
“Time to go,” said Jon.
Seiben nodded absentmindedly. He reached out for Darla’s hand, and its warm touch allowed him to release some of the stress building in his shoulders. They soon broke into a brisk jog, keeping pace with Jon and Breeah. The soldiers surrounded them, some running in front, while others protected their rear. The metal men created a larger perimeter, with the group at its center.
Seiben looked at Jon and asked, “What now?”
“There’s a ship waiting for us,” said Jon, without losing a breath. “We just need to get to the docks so they can pick us up. Then we’ll be safe.”
“Is this your ship?” asked Seiben.
Jon didn’t answer right away. The question seemed to trigger some reflection. He took so long in responding that Seiben thought he would ignore the question. When he did answer he simply said, “No,
it’s not my ship.”
Seiben wondered about that. Jon was a captain. If this wasn’t his ship then whose ship was it?
“Did all these men come from that ship?”
“Yes.”
“Some of these men are your men?”
“Yes.”
“But not all of them?”
“No, not all of them.”
“The other men, they’re on your side?”
Jon looked around at the Chaanisar soldiers surrounding him, “I’m not sure.”
The answer stunned Seiben. He wasn’t sure why he asked the question, but he didn’t expect the answer he got. What were they getting into here? Jon’s face didn’t give any clues. It showed no emotion. He stared straight ahead, giving no indication of his thoughts.
Seiben took in the landscape surrounding them. All that green. He had always enjoyed taking the girls out of the city to spend a day in the parks. They had some great times out here. He had always enjoyed being around nature. But now he looked at it all differently. For the first time it struck him that none of this was real. Sure the soil and the plants were real, and they grew just like any plant would grow anywhere else. But underneath that soil was metal and machinery. There was nothing natural about it. He had spent his whole life on the station and never thought twice about any of it, yet now it all seemed like a big lie.
Maybe Darla was right after all. She didn’t come from the station like he did. She came from a planet. She probably saw this fallacy all along. She would get her wish now. He would ask Jon to arrange for the ship to drop them off on one of the planets and they would start new lives there. He was handy. He could find some work to help get them started. How hard could it be?
He thought about all the people living on the planets, and on the station. He wondered again about where they all came from. He considered the myths again and worked up the courage to ask what was really on his mind. He looked at Jon and said, “Are you from Earth?”
Jon’s head snapped around and he looked at Seiben with surprise. The look faded quickly, replaced by a more pensive one. At first he didn’t answer and Seiben got the impression that he was trying to decide whether or not to reveal the truth. When he made his decision he locked eyes with Seiben and merely said, “Yes.”
Chapter 66
Bast watched the two destroyers on his tactical display, clenching his fists. They were going to make things difficult for him. They refused to chase him. Refused to play his game. Instead they resumed course toward the station. If they reached it he wouldn’t be able to retrieve his men.
There was a sizable distance between the two ships, but they were within each other’s energy weapons’ range. That made each attack more costly. While his ship was evenly matched with each DLC ship, the fact that both could fire on him changed the odds.
“Helm, prepare to jump beside the ship on our starboard side. Get us close enough that they are within range of our rail guns. Keep them between us and the destroyer on our port side. Prepare to jump us back to this position the second I give the order.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Tactical, target the enemy’s weapon systems. Rail guns in offensive mode.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Jump.”
The Chaanisar heavy cruiser landed beside the DLC destroyer and attacked. Rail guns, energy weapons and missiles fired in unison. The enemy deflectors held, dispersing the Chaanisar energy bolts, but the rail guns and missiles found their marks, damaging several DLC gun batteries. That by no means left the warship helpless and it returned fire.
Its energy weapons hammered the Chaanisar armor, but their targeting lacked focus. They didn’t hit any major systems. They were trying to adapt quickly to the attacks and that allowed much less time to target effectively. When the DLC ship launched its missiles Bast gave the order to jump. They landed back where they had started a moment before, the DLC missiles streaking off into empty space.
Bast considered the maneuver a success. They had disabled some of the ship’s weapon systems and successfully used them to block any energy bolts from the second vessel. The enemy had adapted and so had he. He watched the ships on the display, waiting to see what they would do, but they continued as before, heading straight for the station. They would need more persuading.
He ordered another sortie, same as before. Use the destroyer as a shield to block the second ship’s weapon fire, and focus on its weapons. By continually targeting its weapon systems he would seriously degrade their ability to defend themselves. By doing so he hoped to force them out of the fight. He didn’t want to destroy the ship. Doing so would require significantly more effort and resources. That type of engagement would result in his ship taking heavy damage. Even if they were successful, they’d be in no position to challenge the second ship. He also hoped that if he could inflict enough damage he would force the destroyers to change tactics.
They landed and the destroyer immediately let loose a volley of missiles, anticipating the Chaanisar assault. Bast had expected this response and had his ship fire missiles before immediately jumping away. The DLC warship launched its own countermeasures which successfully took out half the Chaanisar missiles. The other half, however, found their targets and slammed into the ship’s weapon batteries, further degrading its fighting capabilities.
Bast personally didn’t like this strategy, but it was working, and it kept his crew safe. None of them were afraid to put their lives at risk in battle, but why do so needlessly? If you had an advantage you used it. Throughout history wars had been won, and empires built, on the back of technological advances. A superior weapon, or strategy, was to be exploited, not squandered in favor of ideology.
So the Chaanisar jumped again and again, tormenting their adversary, confounding their every effort at countering the attacks. The tactic worked. The destroyer’s offensive capabilities were diminished to the point that the ship almost helpless.
This created the shift he had been looking for. The second ship changed course and raced to the rescue of their increasingly helpless brethren. The two ships had effectively halted their advance on the station. If Bast kept harassing them he believed he now could keep them from reaching the station in time. Now he just had to wait for word from his men.
Chapter 67
Earth. Seiben’s question surprised Jon. How had he figured it out? He had to give the crusty captain more credit. He didn’t expect anyone here to guess where he was from. He had thought Jansen might, but nobody else. There was no point in hiding the truth from Seiben. He too was a fugitive. Besides, what difference did it make out here?
None of the old rules applied anymore. He glanced around. The Chaanisar were fighting together with Space Force. If that wasn’t proof enough, he didn’t know what was. None of them could go back to Earth either. The Hermes was gone. How would he explain that to Space Force. The Diakans would demand blood, and Space Force would do nothing to stop them from getting it. They would happily hand them all over to Diakus. The Diakans would make a show of some bullshit trial, and they would all be executed.
It didn’t look like the Chaanisar could go back home. If what they said was true, the Juttari would revert them into slaves the moment they returned. They were stuck out here too. That made them allies, at least for the time being. How long that alliance would last was anybody’s guess. He still didn’t trust them, nor did he believe their story. Maybe they did revolt against the Juttari. Maybe that part was true. But a Chaanisar was not a human. Sure they started out that way when they were born, but that changed the moment the Juttari took them. It all changed the moment they turned on their own kind. He didn’t care if the Juttari brain chips forced them. They still did it. They still committed horrific atrocities against humanity. The ‘how’ and ‘why’ didn’t matter. They couldn’t be forgiven for their crimes.
He suddenly realized that Darla was speaking to him. “I’m sorry, what did you say?” said Jon.
“They said Earth was destroyed,” s
aid Darla.
“Who said?”
“The stories. The myths.”
“Earth was conquered, but not destroyed.”
Darla looked like she had uncovered some long lost religious artifact. “Who?” she said. “Who conquered Earth?”
Jon looked at Lieutenant Jarvi running up ahead and pointed at him. “They did.”
Darla’s face blanched and she almost tripped over her feet. “But they’re human?”
“Their masters conquered Earth,” said Jon.
Jarvi shook his head, obviously listening to the conversation. “Tell her the truth, Captain,” said Jarvi. He fell back alongside Seiben and Darla. “The Juttari Empire conquered Earth. We were taken from our parents as children and forced to serve the Juttari.”
Darla stared wide eyed at Jarvi. “That’s horrible.”
“Not as horrible as what they did after they were taken,” said Jon.
Jarvi was stone faced. “The Captain is right. The Juttari violated us. Turned us into instruments of war. And then they made us violate our own kind…” said Jarvi, his voice getting softer as he spoke, like he was contemplating the gravity of his crimes.
“You cannot atone for your crimes by blaming the Juttari,” said Jon. “The blood is on your hands.”
“Perhaps,” said Jarvi.
“But you fight together now,” said Seiben. “What’s changed?”
Jarvi’s voice became strong again. “We killed our Juttari masters. We are free to once again be human.”
“Killing Juttari doesn’t make you human,” said Jon.
“It seemed to work for you, Captain,” said Jarvi, not visibly angry, but with the faint hint of threat in his tone.
Jon scowled. “I killed lots of Chaanisar too. Don’t ever forget that.”
“And yet the Chaanisar help you,” said Jarvi. “As you can see Mr. Seiben, the Chaanisar do not hold grudges. If only we could say the same about our good friend, the Captain.”
