by Ben Winston
"Commander, this is Ranger Greg Albright. Go ahead and get started on that. I'll see if the Council will authorize the long term support of the facility. Perhaps we can turn that clinic into a full hospital," Greg replied. "It's not much, but we do what we can, where we can."
"Will do Sir!" the commander replied. "Thank you, Sir, they do seem like a nice bunch of folks here. Hell, we've already been offered free meals by two of the local restaurants."
"Feel free to accept, but make damn sure the stuff is safe to eat. Good work, Commander," Greg replied. "Uh, it also might not be beef or pork."
"I had actually thought of that, Sir. I have four of my people delivering some supplies to those places as we speak. They offered to share it with us. We got the names of their local suppliers and will be sure to remit payment for the replicated food," the man replied.
"Again, good work. Ranger Jarad, do you know when you'll be doing that recon?" Greg asked.
"I'm gonna stick around and get some food, then I'll leave the Marines here while I go check it out. That should give them the time they'll need to start on the work; at least until the folks from Grimaldi can get here," Jarad replied. "I'll let you know what I find out."
After Jarad and Greg finished speaking, the command center on the moon warned Greg that North Korea was still massing troops for an attack into the south. As Admiral Rawlings had warned, the North had been promised the south and no one was going to stop them this time.
"Jolene, please climb up to orbit and continue to monitor the retreat of the warships. Bella and I will head for Korea and see what we can do to stop the idiots from killing each other," Greg asked.
"You got it, Greg. Good luck," Jolene replied.
"Bella, head for the DMZ and try to keep them from doing anything stupid. I'll head to Pyongyang and see what I can do about the head of the dragon," Greg said as he turned his sled slightly to the north.
"Understood. You know, we might have to kill some of them don't you?" Bella said gently. "I'm not all that happy about it either, but we might not be given a choice in the matter."
"I know, Bella. Just do the best you can please," Greg replied.
"You know I will," Bella replied.
"Abraxis, please connect me to…" Greg began, but the old AI interrupted him.
"Chairman Kim has refused any attempts at communication. His office told me that he has no wish to speak to you and that you have no business interfering in an internal matter," Abraxis replied.
"Okay, so tell them that if he doesn't speak to me, as well as recall his forces from the south, I will remove his nation's ability to wage war by the end of the day, and I'll start with him," Greg replied.
"Will you? Wouldn't that be counter to our message of preserving life?" Abraxis asked.
"You'll notice I didn't say I would kill anyone; I said I would remove his ability to wage war. Stuffing his fat ass in a cell on the moon is not the same as killing him. As for the military, they have a lot of equipment and weapons. It's hard to fight when all you can do is through rocks," Greg replied.
"What of his nuclear arsenal? He is preparing to use it against the south," Abraxis countered.
"We'll just have to jam the control systems for the time being, then get drones in here to decompose them. As for the rest of the equipment; I thought I once read something somewhere that certain metal alloys could be softened by sonic bombardment?" Greg asked.
"You did, it is the principle used in the clean processing of metal ores at our smelting facilities. It is also used at the foundries to form the metal sheets into the shapes we need," Abraxis replied. "You would use this as a weapon against their equipment?"
"I would if it can be done, and won't hurt anyone," Greg replied.
"I do not believe that is a viable option, Commander," Abraxis explained. "The metal in question gets very hot, and there would be the added effect of potential damage to the surface soil."
"Okay, so what about just making it very brittle?" Greg asked.
"That might be possible, but again, it would be a widespread weapon that could have a detrimental affect on the surrounding areas. If used in a city, for example, it would cause buildings and highways to collapse. In rural areas, vehicles and farm equipment would also be affected," the AI explained.
"Can we make the emitter so it focuses' the beam into a smaller area, say, twenty feet in diameter, or even smaller?" Greg asked.
Abraxis was silent a moment. "It can be done, however, because of the size of the equipment required, it cannot be mounted on a hyper sled. It can also not be used outside an atmosphere." He paused a moment. "Chairman Kim will speak with you in a few moments."
Greg nodded. "Good, please let Bella know she can use her pulse weapons against large concentrations of troops as well as equipment. That might be a good way to get the nukes away from these idiots."
"Governor Hollister is sending down several shuttles with drones and Marines to assist with that," Abraxis replied. "They will arrive in fifteen minutes."
The man that came up on his screen was not Chairman Kim. "What do you want Commander?"
"I want to talk to Chairman Kim and I want you to pull your forces back from the DMZ," Greg replied calmly.
"You have no business here. This is an internal matter that does not require your assistance," the man said. Abraxis identified him and printed his name across the bottom of the screen.
"I'm afraid you are mistaken, General Jang. You are poised to invade a country that the rest of the world considers a separate nation, that makes it an international affair. As we have stated in the past, we will not allow you to do this," Greg replied.
"We are not invading anything, Commander. We are finally moving to free our oppressed brothers to the south. Korea is a single, sovereign nation and you have no business here," General Jang replied.
"Well, since you will not let me speak to the real leader of your nation, you might want to tell him that in about five minutes, any North Korean military unit not moving back to the north will be shut down, your equipment destroyed, and your soldiers can walk home once they can function again. You can insist on whatever you want to insist on, but if you try to use force to make your arguments, you'll find me and our forces standing opposed to you."
"You and your 'forces' are nothing more than a puppet of American policy and your interference here will not be tolerated. You might have the rest of the world fooled 'Commander' but not the people of Korea. We see with unclouded eyes. If you do not withdraw your forces now, we will be forced to destroy you," the General replied.
Greg nodded. "I see since you are refusing to listen to reason in this matter… Abraxis, please locate Chairman Kim; I will speak to him in person."
"Chairman Kim is currently at the missile control facility sixty klicks west of the city. He is monitoring this conversation," Abraxis replied.
"Good, do we have control of their launch computers?" Greg asked.
"Affirmative Commander," Abraxis replied.
"Good work, Abraxis," Greg said. "Please seal the facility, but make sure they can still breath down there. Please commence wide-scale communications jamming in this country." He looked back at the general who was still on the monitor. "You can find out what has happened to your country when we finish our work here. Good Bye General." Greg closed the channel and opened a new one.
"Are you ready with that shield emitter, Lieutenant Tarjene?"
"We are in orbit above you, Commander. We can be there in two minutes," the young man replied.
"Excellent, please set your device as we planned and isolate the People's Palace. You might want to do the same thing with the main missile control facility as well," Greg suggested. "Remember to keep your own shields up; they do have anti-air missiles down here."
"Do you still want us to arrest the leaders?" The young man asked.
"No, not yet. Let's let them stew in their own juices for awhile; Kim is a control freak. Removing that control will likely be more than he
can take," Greg replied.
Struve Rim Training Base
Greg's Office
Struve Crater, Selene
Earth's Moon, Sol System
With the exception of North Korea, the rest of the world's forces had begun backing down. No one understood why yet, but they were. Although it was a good thing, something about off of it made Greg uneasy. The Cabal leaders being called to Virginia, and the sudden withdrawal of the forces poised for war? No, something else had happened; something Greg and his people did not now about and that bothered him.
Once the North Korean Leadership was isolated, the military was easier to deal with. Kim had made it very clear that nuclear and chemical weapons could not be deployed except under his express order. Greg and Bella quickly located and destroyed as many of those weapons as they could find. With the help of several shuttles full of Marines and drones, the rest of the North Korean forces were disarmed and their equipment destroyed. Obviously, they couldn't get all of it, but they did manage to pull the teeth of the massive war machine.
The military commanders in the south breathed a sigh of relief and thanked TDI for their help in diffusing the situation. Privately, the Commanding General of US forces in South Korea told Greg that he had orders to invade the North as soon as Greg and his people left. He assured Greg that the order had gotten lost in the confusion of the emergency.
The event did spur most of the countries of the world to petition for the assistance of the Alliance Council in restoring a functioning government and to assist in maintaining order. Oddly, the United States, Canada, and Mexico, the countries that comprised the continent of North America, did not ask for assistance.
With the reduction in military tension, the diplomats from the Alliance moved in and began working with the remnants of the United Nations to build a World government and to assist in the formation of regional instead of national leaderships. Oddly enough, the Ambassadors reported that they had not discovered any interference in elections or appointments to positions of authority. It was like the Cabal had completely disappeared.
Greg felt that something wasn't right; there was something going on that they didn't know about.
The feelings got so strong, that Greg decided it was time to have a chat with an old acquaintance. However, locating NSA Director Gerry Whiteshield was not all that easy. The main headquarters in Virginia was still staffed, but none of the Cabal members, which was anyone and everyone in a leadership position, were gone.
Jarad and Lionel, along with a few of their more gifted investigators began looking for a potential leak that would have given the Cabal enough tech to oppose the Alliance forces. Even with AI assistance, they found nothing; not even a lead that tech had been leaked.
The only thing Jarad had been able to find was an increase in activity at certain facilities in the Nevada desert. The most troubling part of that was that the guards were now wearing a form of advanced battle armor and carrying particle weapons. Abraxis had never seen the design before, which meant that the tech had not come from either the Alliance or the Drellians.
The existence of those weapons as man-portable units worried Greg. Particle weapons had been banned as anti-personnel weapons long ago by both the Empire as well as the old Rafliss Alliance. The weapons were very destructive. While it was just as hard for them to penetrate armor, once it did the person wearing the armor would be disintegrated by the particle storm unleashed inside the armor.
Less than a week after discovering this, a ground-based weapon was used to destroy any surveillance satellites overflying the area. Whatever was happening down there, they didn't want anyone to see them doing it. Joyce and her team began high-altitude flyovers of the area to gather intelligence until a satellite could be built with cloaking abilities. It was assumed they had not been detected as they had not been fired on during these missions.
"Commander Albright, you have a priority call from General Wilson of the Lewis-McChord joint base," the communications AI, Rosie, said.
Greg had been in his office trying to fit the pieces of this puzzle together. "Please put him through, and thank you, Rosie."
"You are most welcome, Commander." The AI paused. "General Wilson, the Commander is on-line."
"Thank you, Miss. Commander Albright, I hope you're doing well?" the General asked.
"A hundred and five out of a hundred percent, General. What can I do for you today?" Greg asked, smiling at the man as his image came up on Greg's screen.
The man grinned back. "Outstanding! General Greyson is here with me. We are calling because we've received some very troubling orders and heard some even more troubling rumors. First off, we've been ordered to move our entire force, Army units as well as Air Force, to Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada for retraining and reassignment. We are to leave our current equipment here which makes no sense at all."
"Commander, this is George Greyson. My brother-in-law is a squadron commander down at Barksdale Air Force Base. I spoke to him last evening and he told me that they had received much the same order, except they are to bring their planes. He also told me that several other bases have gotten similar orders. So far only two of the bases are preparing for the move. None of the others are beginning to mobilize as yet. However, John's son is a Georgia State Trooper and said that Fort Benning is a ghost town," the man said indicating the other General. "There's been a lot of activity at Fort Gordon as well. It's almost like we are all mobilizing for a major war."
"There is something going on down there. The Cabal has closed ranks and all but sealed themselves up in the experimental weapons facilities in the Nevada desert. We haven't been able to get in there to find out what's going on either. We do know they got their hands on advanced tech, but we don't know where they got it from. From what we've seen so far, it isn't Drellian nor is it ours. However, it is very deadly. The guards and soldiers we've been able to observe have been wearing heavy combat armor and carrying particle weapons. Those weapons are very nasty; they basically disintegrate any and all organic matter they touch. They can also eventually breach our combat armor as well," Greg admitted.
"I would assume they are planning on equipping you all with those new weapons. Our concern is what else they are going to do to you. After the reaction most of the military had during the last emergency, they would have to have a way to make sure you followed orders as well."
"Some kind of brain-washing?" General Grayson asked.
Greg frowned. "It would have to be. There is no way they could risk their troops not following orders. This time, they are going to want full control over the military. I'd bet my hyper sled they are going to be doing the same thing in a few of the other countries as well, like the Russian Federation and China. They are going to create a single force and try to take over the planet by force. The problem is, we really don't have the manpower to stop them yet. If they can do this quickly enough, they could win by default."
"I don't see how Commander. They would need the support of the people as well, and that is something they most definitely do not have. Hell, half the military doesn't trust them anymore either!" General Wilson said. "If they are doing what you say they are doing down there, we're going to need a place down here for our forces to gather to counter them."
"With respect General, with that armor and those weapons, they would walk right over you and not even slow down. If they are calling in pilots and planes, then they are going to have air support as well. This is going to get nasty," Greg replied.
"Then we are just going to have to join you, Commander. To be honest, that's what the people want anyway," General Grayson replied.
"Say what?" Greg asked, surprised.
"Son, whether any shots have been fired or not, we are already at war. We are again fighting for our freedom from tyranny. Because of your actions, the world is now aware of the activities of the Cabal and most of them do not like it. I can't speak for the other countries, but those of us here in the United States do not have a stable or tr
ustworthy government to make this decision for us. So it falls to each of us to make the decision on our own; do we follow the orders of this Cabal and volunteer to become slaves to their will, or do we take up arms and fight to remain free? The question is really that simple," General Wilson explained.
He would have continued, but Abraxis interrupted him. "Please excuse the interruption Gentlemen. Commander, we have just received confirmation that Cabalist forces have attacked and kidnapped several research facilities in California, Texas, Arizona and New Mexico. They appear to be kidnapping scientists, researchers, and their assistants. During the first two events, the attacking force claimed to be part of TDI and the people went along willingly. The remaining three facilities called in for confirmation and discovered that it wasn't us. The people at those facilities resisted," Abraxis said sounding sad. "They killed most of the staff and took the people they wanted anyway."
"The major news networks are blaming us for the atrocities and that is creating some confusion. However, the news people up here are working hard at proving the attacks did not originate with us. From the beginning of the previous emergency, we have been broadcasting everything that's happened and everything we've learned since it took place on the planet," Abraxis explained.
"..and so it begins Commander," General Grayson said. "They are not only trying to get all the scientists they can, they are attacking your support structure. The difference now is that people have died. We have to do something to protect the people, or they will start to believe you are behind the attacks."
Greg closed his eyes and sighed. "Abraxis, please call an emergency command staff meeting. If possible, please include all Terran Rangers, our advisers, and Council representatives. Have Rosie try to get all the friendly Earth military commanders for it as well."
Alliance Council Chambers
Grimaldi Rim, Selene
Earth's Moon, Sol System
