by Ben Winston
"Look, I'm sorry about your world, I really am. But you cannot fight evil with evil. You're trying to create a new empire led by insane people to fight a different empire led by insane people. Just look at those planes we were just fighting; they are killing their pilots and have the potential to destroy an entire city if one crashes. No sane leader would do that! The Cabal has to be stopped, Ranger. If you are helping them, then we will stop you as well," Greg said. "As for our Alliance not having the power to stand against what's coming here, I think you'll be surprised.
"The only thing this idiotic conflict is doing is taking our attention away from the preparations we need to be making to defend ourselves against your former bosses. Replacing the Drellian Empire with a human one is not the answer, Fighter Thyreen," Greg replied.
"Your leaders do not trust the technology I've given them. They only want to use technology they believe they fully understand. I am working very hard to educate them, but it's very slow since they don't trust anyone. Unfortunately, that is a trait we are going to need as the Drellian Empire will try to use guile to at least delay us in our efforts. I ask you again Fighter, for the sake of our people, please stop fighting us in this. I fully agree with you that this incessant fighting is counter-productive," Harkness replied. "If you joined with us, they would quit obsessing about you and we could start to make real progress."
"You mean they would enslave not only the rest of the planet but also the other races in the sector in order to force them to work to build the ships and other weapons we are going to need, right?" Greg asked.
"We don't have enough time to negotiate treaties, Fighter; the Empire is coming here to destroy everything and everyone! We don't have time to worry about hurt feelings or who does what, we need to get to work and we need to do it on a much larger scale than what we have now!" Harkness said almost desperately.
Greg sighed. "Ranger, I think I can almost understand you and your reasoning here, but you are so very wrong about so much I don't think we will be able to agree on this. We will not allow the subjugation of anyone for any reason. Those who would surrender their freedom and liberty in the name of security deserve neither. I'm sorry, but as long as you continue to believe otherwise we will remain at odds. The fighting here will continue until the Cabal has been removed from power and that power returned to the people of the planet, where it belongs." Greg cocked his head to one side. "Consider this, if I believed as you do, what would stop me from simply pulsing the entire area then just using orbitals to remove the Cabal base?"
"You care about the people, as do I," Harkness replied sadly. "The difference is that you believe you can save them all, whereas I am trying to save as many as I can." He smiled slightly. "The next time you're in town, you might want to check out the casino's Ranger. Good Journey to you and your mates."
"Thank you, Ranger. May I ask if you brought yours as well?" Greg asked indicating the empty truck.
"My mates were killed in the destruction of our homeworld, Fighter. As Shaynale was pregnant, it is a crime I am having a hard time putting behind me."
The man seemed very sincere and Greg doubted he was lying about any part of this. "You have my condolences, Fighter. I am sorry for reminding you of the pain. Good Journey, Fighter Thyreen."
"You should hurry, I think the new Emperor is getting impatient. I just heard the order for tanks to get into position to fire on us," Thyreen said. He nodded once to Greg and turned back for the truck.
Greg put his helmet back on and got back in his sled. "Well, that was informative. Let's get the flock out of here girls."
After he reviewed the recording of the conversation Greg had with Ranger Fighter Thyreen, Jarad told him what he'd learned about the casino in Las Vegas from the rebels living there. Ranger Thyreen had given them a suggestion on how to get rid of the Cabal leadership.
However, before the intel team could come up with a plan to hit the casinos, the Las Vegas rebels began a series of attacks that took the Cabal forces completely by surprise. While their mobile forces attacked some supply points around the city, small groups of fighters used the tunnels to sneak into the casinos. They killed the Cabal VIPs and soldiers guarding the place and rescued the people the Cabal was using for 'entertainment' purposes.
The new weapons and armor supplied by the Alliance was very effective, and the rebels rolled right over the Cabal guards. However, true to his prediction, the Cabal responded by bringing in new troops and vehicles with much stronger armor and shields. Modified tanks now patrolled the streets with the robotic minions the Cabal had been using.
The rebels only slowed down while they adjusted to the new players in their sandbox, but they didn't stop. By the end of the first month, they had killed six ministers, five senior Cabal intel people, and two military leaders. The destruction had not stopped there either. Hundreds of drones had been destroyed, and almost as many soldiers had been killed or wounded. Randy reported that his people finally felt they were making a difference.
Another curious item that Greg's intel folks noted was there seemed to be a very high failure rate with the new Cabal fighter craft. In many cases, the craft had simply shut down and fallen out of the sky. They noted that from the numbers of incidents they had recorded, the entire fleet had to be in danger of failure.
Indeed, the Cabal did seem to avoid using air support in many of their operations. Spy satellite images of the Cabal base showed hundred of the fighters simply sitting on the ground outside the main assembly area. One of the crafts recovered by Alliance Marines showed that the anti-matter reactor had shut down in mid-flight. Mandi and Arless were going over it, but so far could not isolate the cause.
The Terran Military used the opportunity to stage their first offensive raid on the assembly base. Greg and the Rangers were asked to assist by locating and destroying the defensive installations protecting it.
In addition to the weapons protecting the base, there was also a very strong shield covering the main area. The plan called for Terran Marines to land and destroy enough of the shield generators for the Terran fighters to fly through the gap and destroy as many of the enemy fighters as possible.
It was a very bold plan that had every chance of success. Greg was still worried, though, he knew they were going to lose people in this attack, even with all the training and equipment the Alliance had been giving the Terran troops, he knew that the Cabal had almost the same equipment and fanatically loyal troops.
"Greg, can I speak to you a moment?" Abraxis said quietly while Greg was alone in his office.
"Of course, Abraxis. That's what friends are for," Greg replied.
"Thank you, I have asked Jarad to join us. While this issue has to do with our defense, it involves my… feelings on a certain matter. I am still uncomfortable discussing such in public," Abraxis replied.
Jarad arrived very shortly after Abraxis spoke, and Greg got him a cup of coffee before they sat down at his conference table to listen to Abraxis. "What's bugging you, Abraxis?"
"It is something I noticed during your discussions with Ranger Fighter Harkness Thyreen. Very little of him is still human. He has been radically implanted with cybernetics. Most of which was barely theoretical when I was taken off-line. Some of it, I did not even recognize and am at a loss as to its function. He is literally more robotic than human," Abraxis said. "My question is why did the Prime Nexus do this to him?"
"Are we certain it was the Prime Nexus? Fighter Thyreen indicated that the Drellian Emperor was still alive," Jarad asked.
"The Drellian Emperor was killed thousands of years ago, Jarad. Never doubt that. However, part of the Drellian 'virus' included a Mnemonic Clone of the Emperor. In effect, the Emperor was read into the system as part of the virus." Abraxis explained. "It is the machine equivalent to a memory ghost."
"Then his personality is still alive?" Greg asked.
"No, only his memories. However, I feel it is part of the intense insanity now driving the Prime Nexus. I fear what wa
s done to Ranger Thyreen was an attempt to restore the Emperor to his own body so to speak. I also believe that Ranger Thyreen is being used as a dupe in all of this," Abraxis said.
"How so?" Jarad asked, interested.
"By trying to create a new empire here, Ranger Thyreen is distracting us from our primary task of building defenses for the sector, while getting the humans trained to fight with advanced weapons. If Ranger Thyreen is successful in getting the Cabal to rely on his information and technology, it would be very easy for the Prime to take over here using either Ranger Thyreen himself, or the node he brought with him.
"If the Ranger Fighter is successful in forming the new Empire, the Prime could take over here without a shot ever being fired."
"Do you credit his claim of two-thousand Ranger teams being sent here?" Greg asked.
"It is possible. However, a great deal of preparation would have to be made for that many Rangers to work in one sector. A node can service up to eleven Ranger teams at once before processing ability is affected. Twenty nodes would have to be relocated to within two sectors in order to effectively coordinate their efforts. That would leave the nodes very vulnerable to attack.
"Supply and medical facilities would also have to be built and brought in. If the force size being sent here is indeed that large, there is every chance that we will fail; dependent on how much time we have to build up our defenses. Ranger Thyreen seems to believe that time was very short. Although I do not doubt he firmly believes that, I also feel it is erroneous data planted by the Prime Nexus," Abraxis finished.
Greg shook his head. "What a mess. The problem is; we can't do much more than we are already doing."
"Abraxis, I know I've asked you this before, but based on the newer information and your instincts, what do you feel is the most probably force we are looking at from the Prime, assuming we stop the new empire on Earth," Jarad asked.
Abraxis' hologram looked thoughtful a moment. "I feel the Prime is already making preparations to send forces here. A more probable estimate would be in the area of two hundred teams, probably less. Because of the elaborate ruse set up on Earth, we most likely have more time than we estimated. The Prime will have to develop a method of moving nodes while keeping them protected, as well as keeping their sectors under control while they're gone. I am also sure it is aware we are making perpetrations of our own to oppose it.
"I have a very old file from one of the researchers that was sent here. In her spare time, she was attempting to analyze the long-term effects of the Drellian Virus on the Prime Core. I think perhaps it might be time to revisit that research with the assistance of Doctors Grein and Horlcun Telreen of Onaris.
"Silf Drend proposed that the Prime Core would develop a form of multiple personality disorder with a type of bipolar disorder. It is starting to look like she might have been closer to the truth than even she was aware of," Abraxis finished.
Greg nodded and look at Jarad. "Can you talk to Jon and see if he can get with Mister Telreen to check it out? This sounds more like something of interest to your department anyway."
"No problem, I've been wondering if we shouldn't be looking into getting a couple of AI specialists on staff anyway," Jarad replied.
"As for what was done to Ranger Thyreen, why don't you speak to Doctor Hasbro and show him your sensor readings? If anyone can help us figure it out he can. The rest of this we're just going to have to carry on with what we've been doing. I'll do some checking around and see if perhaps we can't get more going, like the automated defense platform factories, and the fighter assembly plant on Mars. I've been considering moving the flight school there as well; it'll give our folks more room and better experience during training.
"One of the companies at Vandenberg has made some motions about building automated ground defense turrets. Maybe I should get involved in more of these projects and see if we can't get them stepped up some. We still have a long road before us. There are a lot of dangers and a lot of trials we will have to face. But if we stay true to our goals, and keep faith is each other, we can pull this off," Greg said with conviction.
