He looked around at the remaining ten soldiers in their battlesuits. Six of them showed as wounded and could only move at half speed. “We’ll form four staggered lines of three and charge the top,” he said at last, knowing the last line would only have two in it. “Only one of us has to reach the reset button to win this scenario.”
“None of us may make it to the top,” Corporal Hunter pointed out. She had no desire to be hit by one of those powerful stunners. She could still remember how loudly Private Parker had cried out when he had been hit.
“I know,” answered Ryan, in a calm voice. “But no one expected us to make it this far. “Corporal Hunter, you’ll be in the second group. Keep an eye on the slope in front of you; the popups should target the first group. You have to take them out with your remaining explosive rounds as quickly as possible. I’ll see you at the top.”
“You heard the lieutenant,” bellowed Casey. “Form four lines and let’s get moving. The sooner we reach the summit and press that button the sooner we can get off this damn mountain and get some chow!”
Ryan watched as Corporal Hunter formed up the remaining soldiers for the run at the summit. From her actions, no one would know she had been grown inside a glass nutrient case inside of Vesta. Casey acted perfectly human; she should after everything she'd been exposed to at the Academy. Even today, six years after the revelation of the cloning technology, many people still refused to accept the clones as real people.
“We’re ready, Sir,” Casey reported a few moments later.
“Let’s do this, then,” Ryan ordered evenly as he looked at his remaining soldiers. “Go as fast as we can and take out any weapon emplacements that pop up. It’s only one hundred and fifty meters to the summit and victory.”
“Let’s go,” ordered Casey, resolutely. She already felt as if a stunner had her in its sights. She shuddered slightly as the first three battlesuits took off at a run. She waited two seconds and then her group took off. They were quickly followed by the rest.
Stunners and RG cannons quickly opened up as they rose up out of the concealing ground. The first line of battlesuits quickly fell, but the second line managed to take out most of the weapons. They were nearly to the summit when even more weapons seemed to pop up all around them. The charge faltered as they attempted to take out all the weapons now firing at them. The battle grew more intense as some of the soldiers ran out of explosive rounds and had to switch to RG rounds, which were nearly ineffective against the popups.
Casey felt several painful RG rounds strike her suit armor and her icon in her HUD turned amber. She also felt her suit slow down as it registered the damage. A moment later, she felt the stinging sensation of a stunner. She felt like her skin was on fire and then her suit shut down as she fell face forward onto the rocky slope to lie perfectly still. Ryan owes me for this, she thought as she fought through the slowly fading pain.
Ryan saw Casey go down and grimaced. They'd been friends throughout most of the four years at the Academy and combat training, he knew she would make him pay for getting her shot. Shaking his head, he turned back to the task at hand. The other soldier with him had an undamaged battlesuit and both of them were sprinting toward the summit. A soldier in a battlesuit could move faster than an Olympic sprinter, much faster. Everyone in the lines ahead were down and Ryan and his other soldier were firing desperately at the popups that kept on appearing. Ryan saw his companion suddenly throw his metal arms up and collapse in pain as Ryan leaped forward to land on the summit.
Everything fell silent as Ryan looked around in amazement. There were no weapons in sight. He'd made it! Looking around, he saw a large metal pedestal with a small pylon on top of it about fifty meters away. On the pylon was a large red metal button. All he had to do was stroll over and press it, and the scenario would be over. He had won; his platoon had done the impossible on their first try! They had conquered Charring Mountain!
As Ryan walked over toward the pedestal four stunners suddenly rose up out of the ground in front of him and blasted him in the chest. Ryan nearly passed out from the intense pain. Should've known it wouldn’t be this easy, he thought as his battlesuit struck the ground.
-
“Got him!” Dylan gloated with a laugh as he watched Ryan fall so tantalizing close to the pylon, which contained the red victory button. “No one beats Charring on their first attempt.”
Wade nodded. Charring Mountain wasn’t so much about victory as learning tactics and how to use the weapons the suits were equipped with. It also demonstrated very plainly that a battlesuit wasn’t invincible. Ryan’s platoon would be sore in the morning, but today they'd learned a valuable lesson. Even so, Wade had been very impressed by his younger brother. There was little doubt in Wade’s mind that Ryan and most of his platoon would qualify for the special project they had signed up for. He just hoped Ryan was ready for what waited in his future.
Chapter Three
Colonel Wade Nelson stepped aboard the five hundred-meter battlecruiser Constellation. He was met by Commander Adamson as soon as he exited the small shuttle. Over the last few years, the rank structure in the fleet had been changed and simplified since on many operations there were both fleet personnel and marines involved as well as individuals from nearly every branch of the military services that had existed on Earth. For the fleet, the rank structure ran Fleet Admiral, Admiral, Commander, Captain, Lieutenant, Ensign, Petty Officer (first and second class), and Spaceman (first and second class). For the marines, the rank structure ran General, Lieutenant General, Colonel, Major, Captain, First Lieutenant, Second Lieutenant, Sergeant, Corporal, and Private.
“How was the drill?” asked Adamson, knowing that Wade had gone on board Centerpoint to watch his brother attempt Charring Mountain.
“As expected,” Wade responded as the two began walking toward the ship’s Command Center. “Ryan actually made it to the top but was taken out by the stunners guarding the reset pedestal. He did surprisingly well for his first attempt.”
“I’ve never had to go through that drill,” Adamson spoke as they took a turbo lift to the level where the Command Center was located. “Has anyone ever made it on their first try?”
“No,” answered Wade, shaking his head. “The drill is set up to make it impossible to make it to the reset pedestal on the first or second attempt.”
“A no win scenario,” mused Adamson. “Do the marines participating in the drill know that?”
“No,” Wade admitted. “The battlesuits are an awesome weapon for a marine to use. It makes you feel invulnerable and capable of achieving almost anything. What we want our recruits to understand is that while the suit greatly augments a marine’s abilities, we’re going up against enemies who have the ability to neutralize or destroy a battlesuit. Charring Mountain teaches them that.”
Commander Adamson well understood that point. It was the same in the fleet; being in a powerful warship made you feel invincible until the Kleese show up with one six to ten times larger. Once that happens, your feeling of invincibility vanishes very quickly and a sense of reality sets in.
The door of the turbo lift opened and the two stepped out into the short corridor that led to the Command Center. As they approached the hatch, two heavily armed marines stepped forward to confirm their identities. After verifying who they were, one of the marines stepped over to the heavy metal hatch and opened it. If this had been a wartime situation, two marines in Type Two battlesuits would have been guarding the hatch. The Constellation had numerous corridors wide and tall enough to accommodate the battlesuits. All battlecruisers and light cruisers did now, though it had meant some major modifications in their designs. It had ensured boarders could be dispatched with a vengeance if it became necessary.
Once inside, the two went to the central command console. Wade looked up at the main viewscreen showing a view of space. Hundreds of unblinking stars were visible, reminding him just how small the solar system was in the overall scheme of things. On the main t
actical screen, Wade could see the friendly green icons of the rest of Second Fleet. It consisted of six battlecruisers, sixteen light cruisers, and thirty-two assault ships. Currently, there were six fleets of this size in the solar system. In addition, there were another four hundred of the smaller, disk shaped assault ships scattered about the system on patrol or protecting different habitats.
“I wonder how much longer the Kleese-Strell war is going to last?” Adamson commented as he sat down in his command chair. He knew the war between the two Galactic Empires had kept the solar system safe from the Kleese for the last six years.
“Not much longer, I’m afraid,” answered Wade with a look of worry on his face. “We’re still sending out diplomatic missions to the nonaligned worlds warning them of the Zaltule and the danger they represent to the galaxy.”
“Any success in bringing them over to our side?”
“Not yet,” Wade admitted in a frustrated voice. “Several have expanded their fleets and increased planetary defenses, but they refuse to join with us against the Kleese. They feel their neutrality agreements with the Kleese should keep them safe, and they’re hesitant about doing anything that might risk invalidating it.”
“What do you think?” Adamson asked as the Constellation began moving away from the fleet. He looked over at Wade, curious to hear his answer.
“I don’t think the neutrality agreements will mean anything to these Zaltule.” Wade took a deep breath and watched the viewscreen, which was now showing Centerpoint Station. “I believe the Zaltule will attack the nonaligned worlds to gain their resources and technology.”
“We could use some of those worlds on our side,” Adamson said as he looked at the main viewscreen. The station was visibly becoming smaller as the Constellation accelerated away from it.
The station was one hundred and twenty kilometers across and twenty-four kilometers thick. It had been stolen from the Kleese and brought to the solar system. Without the station, most of the surviving Humans on Earth would have perished. The station had tremendous manufacturing capabilities as well as numerous ship construction bays.
“The Zaltule seem to have taken over the fighting for the Kleese Empire,” continued Wade. “They’re more heartless and far more dangerous than the regular Kleese. I didn’t think that was possible, but everything is pointing toward that being true.”
“Where did the Zaltule come from?” asked Adamson, arching his eyebrow. He knew Marken had mentioned that the Zaltule were a warrior caste from the Kleese past. Their sudden reemergence was a mystery.
“We don’t know,” answered Wade with a deep sigh. “I’ve spoken to Marken and he's suggested the possibility that the Zaltule were in deep sleep somewhere in the Empire. I just don’t know if I believe that; we’re talking about hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of this warrior caste.”
“It’s a mystery,” conceded Adamson as he gave the order for the Constellation to leave Second Fleet and head for Vesta. He wasn’t anxious to face the Zaltule anytime soon.
As Wade watched, the station began to rapidly dwindle in size as the Constellation began piling on the acceleration with the ship’s sublight drive. The screen switched to a view directly in front of the ship and for a moment, space seemed to shrink in on itself as the ship’s Fold Space Drive was activated. The drive warped space directly in front of the ship, making the distance between two points shrink. The more power used to increase the warping effect, the faster a ship could travel.
“What will happen if the Zaltule attack the solar system in force?” Adamson asked as he thought about the forces they had available. “Can we stop them?”
There had been a massive buildup of the fleet using the construction facilities on Centerpoint as well as those inside Vesta. In the last few years, thousands of Human clones had joined the fleet to bring the crews up to their full complements.
“I don’t know,” answered Wade, truthfully. He'd spent numerous sleepless nights worrying over this. “We have the new ion cannons installed around all the habitats. We still have a hidden base at Jornada as well as the two we discovered in China. It won’t be that easy for the Kleese to wipe us out.”
Wade still recalled the stunned amazement everyone had felt when the Chinese had finally broken radio silence and requested supplies for their two hidden survival centers in Central China. Wade had gone down to visit the Chinese and tour their bases. The two Chinese survival centers had been built into the sides of several mountains in the Altun mountain range, which bordered the Qaidam Basin. It was a sparsely settled region and the Chinese had frantically used their military and civil engineers to drill two large tunnels into the mountains and set up twin survival centers after the Kleese missile had set off volcanoes and earthquakes across the globe. Each center, when finished, was capable of supporting 120,000 survivors and had supplies for three years. It was only when their supplies had run dangerously low that the Chinese had finally asked for help.
The Chinese had been made the offer of having a new habitat built in one of the asteroids but turned it down. They preferred to stay in their homeland, convinced that someday they would emerge and build a new China. A few Chinese had traveled to Centerpoint and even set up a diplomatic office there. Other than that, the Chinese were staying to themselves.
“I guess we’ll see when they finally attack,” Adamson replied as he leaned back and looked around the Command Center. “I understand President Randle is going to retire at the end of his current term.”
“It looks that way,” answered Wade. “The Federated Assembly has settled down and seems to be doing a good job representing the different habitats. The twelve members of the Federated Council are responsible men and women and have reached the point where they can be trusted to begin running things. President Randle has already turned a lot of the day to day operations of the government over to the council.”
“Things will sure be different without President Randle leading us.”
Wade nodded. He stood silently watching the main viewscreen, knowing they would be at Vesta shortly. Beth and he had been married four years back and both had elected to stay in the military. They'd decided not to have children right away, at least not until they knew how the conflict with the Kleese was going to turn out. He was also a little nervous about Ryan becoming a Space Marine. The new program Ryan had volunteered for did involve the new Type Four battlesuits. If and when the Kleese returned, Wade feared Ryan would be right in the middle of the most dangerous fighting. It was going to take him a while to get used to that thought.
-
Ryan was in the large food court in the center of Centerpoint Station. Over the last few years, it had been expanded and now almost anything one wanted could be found. There were even rumors of a black market operation where illegal pleasures and items could be purchased for the right price. There were nearly three hundred thousand Humans on the massive station. Many were part of the crew and others were a mixture of military, civilians, and a few entrepreneurs who were providing services for the station.
“You owe me for getting shot yesterday,” Casey informed
Ryan as they walked through the court taking in the sights. “How about Chinese food for a change?” The different aromas of cooking food present in the food court were making her feel ravenous. She also enjoyed spending time with Ryan as they'd been close friends for years.
Ryan let out a loud sigh. He and Casey had been friends since the early days of the Academy. He could still remember how innocent and naive she had been at first, particularly the first year or two. That was why all the clones spent their first two years of life inside Vesta under close supervision. It took them a while to assimilate how Humans interacted with one another and to be able to handle their emotions. Even now, on occasion, he had to explain things to Casey.
“There’s a new one over there,” she said, pointing excitedly. One of the things Casey enjoyed the most was trying out different styles of food. Only recently had she discover
ed Chinese, and she'd fallen in love with the different tastes and aromas.
Ryan nodded and they threaded their way through the crowd to the small restaurant Casey had spotted. She was right, this was a new one; it hadn’t been here a few weeks back. Ryan liked the wide-open spaces of the food court. There were tables scattered about where one could sit and take his or her time eating. People came here from all of the different habitats; many came to the station to trade or pick up supplies. Numerous small cargo ships now traveled from habitat to habitat delivering products and other items necessary to make life inside the habitats as comfortable as possible.
Reaching the restaurant, they took a seat at a table along one wall where they had a little more privacy. Ryan watched with interest as Casey examined the menu critically for a food item she hadn’t tried before. She was always wanting to try something new.
“This looks interesting,” Casey said, pointing to the sweet and sour chicken on the menu. “I think I’ll try that.”
They waited for several moments and Ryan was starting to get a little impatient. He noticed the server who'd given them their menus wait on several other tables, taking their orders. That was strange, as Ryan and Casey had been seated a few minutes before these others.
As the server passed by their table, Ryan reached out and gently tapped his arm. “We’re ready to order.”
“One moment,” the server replied before turning and rushing to the back of the restaurant to vanish through a door leading to the kitchen.
Ryan watched curiously as a larger man stepped through, followed by the server who was pointing toward their table.
Galactic Empire Wars: Rebellion (The Galactic Empire Wars Book 3) Page 4
