Of the other two battleships, one had no shields and no engine power while the other was firing on the unshielded side. As I continued to watch, it slowly rolled to replace the side with weakened shields with the other fully shielded side. I could also tell that more than half of the lasers on the stranded ship were down, while most of the still-shielded ship where functioning.
“Alright, put them on, Lieutenant,” I said, pointing my finger at her.
A droid that seemed to be made out of thin, duralloy rods, with a smashball-shaped head appeared on my screen. Behind it were the images of cousin Bethany and Officer Tremblay—the two representatives I sent to the Droids of the United Sentient Assembly to try and keep them out of this battle. However, it looked like instead of keeping them out of the Battle for Elysium, the two of them had somehow managed to get them to join it on our side…or, at least, they’d gotten them to attack the droids of the Harmony Fleet.
“Vice Admiral Jason Montagne of the Confederation Multi-Sector Patrol Fleet, it is good news to finally meet with you face to face, so to speak. Your representatives have told me so much about you,” the Droid said, and then gestured to itself. “But where are my manners? I am Chairman Bottletop IIV of the Free Sentient Assembly.”
“What can I do for you?” I asked neutrally. I was still trying to take in the situation—which was made more difficult by the blank-faced Tremblay, the thunderous looking Princess Bethany, and the expressionless metal face of the droid Chairman.
Ironically the fact that Bethany looked like she wanted to kill me was less disturbing than if she and Tremblay had looked pleased to see me. At least if they’d been smiling I would have known something was definitely wrong, as it was they had many reasons not to be happy to see me, so I was going to have to feel my way through this for a little longer.
“Why, we were hoping you would review the draft of our proposed peace treaty and then sign it,” the Droid Chairman, so-called, said.
“A Peace Treaty, what are the terms?” I paused, blinking rapidly as I tried to process the information. “I would also like to know your intentions with that captured battleship and the rest of your fleet,” I added, playing for time.
“We sent a copy to your inbox, at least we were supposed to,” the Chairman said, his joints and limbs rattling as he suddenly moved, gesturing with his hands, “we will send another copy over at once!”
“Ah,” I said, looking over at Steiner and motioning for her to find the file and then send it over to my handheld. A moment later, a file appeared. It looked rather large, I noted, as I scanned the first page. I looked back at the droid, “Perhaps if you could summarize? We seem to be rather short of time.”
“It’s a rather standard Non-Aggression Pact, acknowledging, as well as recognizing, our synthetic right to Life, Liberty and Immunity from Seizure of property through the powers of Eminent Domain, of our core valuables—such as ships, as well as of course our bodies, droid cores, and core programming structures. We’re also requiring ownership of a designated area where it is not illegal for us to exist, and which will operate under our own internal laws. We are willing to pay for such an area, if necessary, although we also want an agreement to defend whatever area is chosen from other human individuals, authorities, governmental and fleet structures,” said the Droid.
I grunted, skimming through several more pages while listening to the Droid talk. I kept my head down to play for more time until I knew more about what exactly was taking place around us.
Then the main screen updated again I could see the Forge and the battle taking place around the moon.
“How many ships did you say you had again?” I asked.
“We have one hundred and fifty fighters, along with our Mobile Home Structure, which has cruiser weaponry and battleship shields but a weak hull. In addition, we have another dozen warships of cruiser size and smaller. We started out with almost two dozen, but a number of them seem to have been lost fighting against Harmony within the jamming field.
“I see,” I said with a slow nod, “I think I understand the general gist of your terms. However, I’m afraid to say that your proposal is that it simply doesn’t work for me.”
“You are refusing this treaty?” the Chairman said, stiffening.
“A non-aggression pact just doesn’t go far enough,” I clarified, “and while I’m more than willing to recognize your right to exist—as well as agree right here and now not to attack you unless you attack me or are invading someone I’m duty-bound to protect—I’m going to have to insist this treaty be revised into something more along the lines of a Defensive Alliance,” I said coolly, as if completely unaware of the firestorm my words were about to awaken—on both sides of the negotiations.
“A Defensive Alliance is not within my current mandate,” the Droid sounded thunderstruck, as what I was proposing went far beyond simple non-aggression and my protection of whatever little area they wanted to set up shop within. “And I didn’t think that the Confederation allowed its Admirals to engage in that level of diplomacy.”
“Oh, it doesn’t,” I agreed breezily and then like a snap-lizard I struck, “of course, such an alliance would need to be directly negotiated with the Ruler of Messene on behalf of the Sovereign Star System of Tracto. As the Protector of Messene and Greater Tracto, in my role as Admiral, I’ll be assisting with the military aspects of this deal. But since you want what is essentially an autonomous, or semi-autonomous, area with specific rights and privileges—not just a military agreement—I’ll have to send you to speak with my wife. As the Hold Mistress and Sovereign Ruler, she can ratify any agreements you make which I, as her Protector and a Confederation Admiral based out of her star system, would then have no choice but to enforce.”
“This is all highly irregular,” the Droid protested. “Not that the Assembly is unwilling to discuss this, of course.”
“I understand,” I said sympathetically, yet at the same time I wasn’t fool enough to blindly sign whatever it was that those two officers standing behind the Droid had cooked up in order to save their skins. Not without a lot more time to review it than was available on a battlefield.
I tentatively hoped that whether or not I was forced to make a deal with these droids that this would also turn out to be something important enough to keep Akantha off the battlefield for the rest of the fight. A pregnant woman simply had no business throwing on power armor and engaging in hand-to-hand combat with enemy battle droids.
It was a two-birds-with-one-stone solution that I was rather pleased to have come up with.
“In the meantime, please allow me to send over a more basic draft of a military alliance while in this system, and accept my promise to abide by and enforce any agreement that is eventually negotiated between the Sentient Assembly and the Hold Mistress,” I said, crossing my fingers behind my back and praying that negotiations lasted until after we’d either saved or escaped from Elysium before breaking down or exploding. “As long as it does not infringe upon my personal honor as a man, an officer or a Prince of the House Montagne, I pledge to abide by it.”
There, I thought with satisfaction, that should build in just enough wiggle room so that I can continue to do pretty much whatever I need to.
“…..” the droid made a buzzing sound, “I will have to consult with the War Department, as well as the General Assembly.”
“What are you doing?!” demanded Akantha.
I urgently motioned for Steiner to cut the outgoing audio.
“Look, honey, I’m just doing my best to negotiate an important military alliance—one which will help keep you and,” I glanced at the region of her belly, “the children alive. One which, I hasten to add, hasn’t already been negotiated by a woman who’d like to see the both of us dead!”
For a moment she seemed to soften. Then she stiffened and the ice princess was back in full force. “I cannot believe you have the gall to think you can negotiate on my behalf!” Akantha hissed angrily, although this time
she had lowered her voice so I had to believe some progress had been made.
“Surely there is some isolated mountain range, uninhabitable by man or beast filled with highly lethal fauna and flora that no one wants? Or how about an asteroid or three out in orbit; just claim a few giant, floating hunks of rock for House Messene and give them to them!” I said, speaking urgently seeing as I didn’t know how much longer I could put off the Chairman before the deal was lost.
Akantha paused and frowned deeply. “Even if I gave a few worthless rocks to these creatures, what could we possibly gain that would be worth this?” she scowled.
“What could we gain? Akantha, we need that battleship they’ve captured, as well as any firepower they can bring to the table, if we’re going to make it out of this system alive,” I whispered fast and furiously.
“Very well…I will speak with them, but we will be discussing this again later,” Akantha said, giving me a look that threatened that when we did, I wasn’t going to like it.
Of course, I had to ensure we all survived until later for her to carry out her threat so I wasn’t going to worry about it.
Akantha strode over to the communication’s pit and Steiner quickly reactivated the audio and then transferred the Chairman over from the main screen to a console in communications for Akantha.
“You want an alliance but you also want lands; that makes this more complicated than a simple military alliance. It would be much easier if you were joining Messene as a vassal-hold,” Akantha said, nodding her head.
There was a pause as she listened to the reply via an earbud.
“We have several areas on our world which might suit your needs, but they are filled with angry beasts and monsters. You would have to cull these animals to make the region livable. On the other hand, there are many asteroids from which you could choose; they are bleak and somewhat inhospitable, but I am told they contain a valuable mineral…” she said leadingly.
There was another pause.
“Oh, you have already heard about the trillium,” she said, sounding less irritated then before. “Yes, we have any number of asteroids to choose from. Some are quite large and…spacious, or so I’m told.”
I face palmed. If she wanted to give away deposits worth many times their weight in gold, instead of a few monster filled regions of the planet then that was her problem. Although, if I was a betting man, I’d place money on a meeting of my little Warrior Princess and the inhuman mechanical terrors of the Galaxy ending up in nothing but fireworks and explosions, so I wasn’t that worried.
I mean, what was my downside here, a battle with a few machines that I was going to have to fight again later on someday anyway? Forcibly putting the worst case scenarios through my mind out of my head, I turned back to survey the battle.
It looked like only a matter of time before the Sentient Assembly-controlled battleship subdued the half shielded, engineless enemy battleship. Meanwhile, around the Forge the situation was growing dire. A number of Conformity Motherships, supported by a rapid-moving Harmony Destroyer Squadron headed by one of those Harmony Cruisers, were destroying the orbital forts and defensive turrets surrounding the moon.
“We’re receiving a hail from Captain Archibald, Admiral,” said Steiner.
I pursed my lips. “Put the man on,” I said.
“You’re a sight for sore eyes, Admiral,” the young Captain who was really just a First Lieutenant sounded very relieved.
“It’s great to see you as well, Captain,” I said, allowing a hint of weariness to creep into my voice, “but while I’d love to sit and chat, is there something I could do for you?”
“I didn’t call for help, sir—although, Murphy knows we could use all we can get to put this battleship back together again. No, I wanted to call over and see if you could use a copy of our scan results,” he offered.
“As coincidence has it, we’ve been struggling a bit over here, so anything you have could be useful,” I said, blinking with surprise.
“I figured you’d be short-staffed and, since we’re in captured ships, the update features are different,” the young Captain sounded pleased. “I’m having my staff send it over now.”
Lieutenant Steiner looked over and gave me the thumbs up sign a few seconds later. “Thank you, Captain,” I said, not used to being on the receiving end of helpful actions but feeling more upbeat than I had before.
“Anything we can do to help, sir,” Archibald said fervently, “with our engines out of commission, one shield generator down, and the ship torn up on the port side I don’t know what we can do. But you just give the word and we’re on it.”
“Understood, Captain; Montagne out,” I said with a smile.
That expression lasted until I got a good look at the screen. The Grand Fleet Battleships were still engines down and now covered with hundreds of those little gunboats Conformity liked to use as a combination swarm attack wave and mobile boarding parties. No matter how many thousands you killed, hundreds more were destined to get through your saturated defensive screen.
Closer to home, individual warships were scattered all throughout the area of the Jovian sub-system that had been covered by the jammer. MSP and Grand Fleet warships were mixed in with Harmony destroyers and, in a few cases, actively engaged in combat. The number of our ships that were adrift made me glare.
“New orders to the Fleet,” I said, narrowing my eyes as I took in the pattern of activity within the former jammer field, “all remaining ships are ordered to come to the assistance of currently-engaged MSP warships and then proceed toward the Flag.”
I then tapped out a new movement order that had half of our ships heading toward a large three ships versus four ships battle and the other half toward a one on one combat. With most of the smaller units off in support of the Conformity Motherships at the Forge, it should be relatively easy for my ships to gain tactical superiority and drive off or destroy the Harmony Destroyers currently giving them a bad time.
I looked back at the screen when that was finished. For a moment I hesitated wondering if I was about to make the right call. There were a lot of arguments for staying where we were and concentrating the fleet before moving out against the enemy swirling around the Forge.
However, looking at the damage I knew that it was either move now or lose the trillium mines for humanity—possibly forever. It was true that the Forge had lost only about an eighth of its defensive platforms; however, all of those lost were within a relatively narrow cone that lead right into the heart of the defensive network. The other platforms were using their maneuvering thrusters to try and compensate but if the combined Droid forces pushed hard the defenders would be too late.
In short, the Droid were within striking distance of the extraction and processing station orbiting the moon. If they could destroy that station and bomb the mines from orbit, they could wreck terrible damage that would take years of uninterrupted construction to replace.
“Contact the Sentient Assembly and inform them I need to speak with someone about joint operations,” I said, tallying up the twelve Conformity Motherships, one Harmony Cruiser, and three Harmony Destroyers we were going to have to deal with and not liking the odds—unless I could get some reinforcements.
It took me a moment to realize that the only activity still taking place on the bridge was from the Tracto-an part of the contingent, and that every Caprian, Promethean, and other member of a ‘civilized’ world were staring at me—including my Comm. Officer.
“Is there a problem?” I asked coolly.
Crewmembers started to look uncomfortable under the weight of my stare.
“Well?” I asked staring at my Comm. Officer.
“Sir, I know it’s not really my place,” Steiner said uneasily, “but….”
“Yes,” I prompted.
“It’s only…well, it’s the Droids, Admiral,” the Lieutenant said, looking red-faced with embarrassment.
“Of course it’s about the droids,” I said with a w
ithering look, “what, in particular, seems to be giving the majority of my bridge staff pause?”
She visibly stumbled unable to speak and another Staffer stepped up.
“Confusion to the enemy, Admiral,” said a former Tactical Operator firmly, “and we understand that sometimes you have to split them up and do what you can to get them fighting amongst themselves. But treaties, alliances, and joint operations? It almost sounds as if you’re getting ready to make nice with the machines after this fight. It’s a little overwhelming, sir, and it feels like we’re going too far.”
I stopped and turned to face the operator, running my tongue along the bottom of a molar while I thought of an appropriate reply.
“Well, Operator,” I said evenly, “while it is in no way my first choice, I am a man of my word. Moreover, Akantha is a lady of hers,” I could see this last shot hit home, which only served to increase in unease in the crew. “So, much as I might hope the negotiations fail—after we’ve defeated the more powerful forces of Harmony and Conformity—if the droids of the Sentient Assembly keep their word, assist us in saving Elysium and, ultimately, come to an understanding with the Tracto-ans then yes: I will make a deal with these Droids. And I’ll expect those of you here to abide by the terms of it, until such a time as I tell you otherwise.”
A surprised, disgruntled, and semi-mutinous rumbling started with those officers and crewmembers furthest from my line of sight, and then slowly swept around the bridge.
“Droids, sir!?” protested the operator, looking unconvinced.
“We don’t have a lot of choices here, people,” I said bleakly, “we are surrounded on all sides by enemies, we have precious few allies, and our backs are against the wall on this one. Frankly, we can’t afford to throw away whatever small chance we have to save these Sectors of the Spine for humanity. I swear that I will die before allowing the Spine to be ruled by machine intelligences,” I said heavily. “In the end, though, I’m going to have to ask each and every one of you to trust me, just like you have in the past.”
Admiral Invincible (A Spineward Sectors Novel: Book 7) Page 40
