by Kal Spriggs
Lucius's eyes went wide at that. “What?” He looked around the room, surely he had heard the Admiral incorrectly.
“Right now we have identified the forces of the Federal Investigation Bureau as being involved, as well as certain elements of the Foreign Ministry. Minister Bueller and Mrs Nix are still at large and are considered to be extremely dangerous. As of this time, I am instituting martial law on Faraday until this crisis is resolved. I ask all civilians to get indoors and remain there until we have brought these criminals and their supporters to justice. In the interim, Minster of War Newbauer will be the acting head of state until a proper quorum can be established.”
“People of the United Colonies, we stand in the midst of a crisis just as terrible as the invasions of the Balor and the Chxor. I ask you now to trust in the authorities and the loyal men and women of the Fleet to protect you,” Admiral Dreyfus said the last in a solemn, sanctimonious tone that set Lucius's teeth on edge. “Admiral Dreyfus out.”
The signal went to a holding pattern and Lucius felt the gazes of everyone in the room.
He felt as if his entire world had shifted under his feet. Some part of him wanted to believe that the Admiral was mistaken, that he'd been deceived by the conspirators who had taken over his staff, yet that didn't fit with what Admiral Dreyfus had said. He had instituted martial law and he had claimed that Lucius was dead. Furthermore, he had declared Alicia Nix and Kate Bueller to be the masterminds of his death.
He had moved far too quickly for it to be mere confusion or deceit. This was the action of a well-thought-out plan. That could mean only one thing: Admiral Dreyfus was part of the conspiracy.
It made no sense to Lucius, but at this point: he had only one option: he must adjust to the new circumstances and move on. He looked up and his gaze swept the room. “Very well, we're in phase one already. We've lost the initiative, but I want to execute Plan Delta,” he said, referring to their final plan. It was their last, most desperate move, he knew. As soon as the order went out, their teams aboard ships and here on the planet would go into action. Men and women throughout the Fleet would try to take down the known conspirators and their supporters.
Since Admiral Dreyfus was the front for the conspiracy, it was all too likely that many otherwise loyal people would support him, unknowingly aiding the conspiracy. There was really only one way to counter that, Lucius knew. “Can we get any broadcast out?”
Alicia shook her head, “They're using the Fleet's jamming and transmission systems. We don't have anything on the planet to match that.”
Lucius sat back as his mind raced. “I need to get up there.”
Colonel Proscia had begun to snap commands into his communications unit. He looked up, “Baron, my people will be ready to go within an hour, but I strongly advise against you going up with the first wave, the casualties are going to be rather severe.”
Lucius shook his head, “No, I need to be up there now. Not an hour from now. There's going to be confusion and chaos aboard those ships and down here and whoever gets their message out is going to be the ones who get active and passive support from the people who don't know all the details.” He took a deep breath, “With Admiral Dreyfus backing the cabal, the only person who can override him is me... and because he has already declared me dead, then I guarantee putting me on the air will discredit him.”
“Since he's declared you dead, sir,” Alicia said, “he's almost certainly going to act to make that true. If you try to get aboard any of the ships in the Fleet, he'll have you shot down.”
Lucius pursed his lips. “Search all the frequencies, see if there's anything they missed. A navigation buoy, a weather satellite, anything.” He scanned across the network himself, but most of the planetary network was down or just held the emergency holding image. Clearly the cabal had already moved on much of the network.
Colonel Proscia spoke up, “Military communications are down outside of short range line of sight comms and encrypted frequency-hop transceivers like I've equipped my teams with,” he tapped the transceiver on his hip. “I've got a hard-line connection back to the Academy, but they don't have the broadcasting power to overcome the jamming and even if they boosted what they have, the cabal can take them out with a single shot from orbit.”
Lucius looked up at a burst of static and a flicker of imagery from where Doko worked. “What was that?”
Anthony Doko shook his head, “I thought I had something, it's on one of the research connections to the ansible network.” He moved to the main display and adjusted the input carefully, “It was just about... there.”
“Terrance, are you there? Dammit, Feliks, I told you we needed to boost the signal more,” an irate voice said. “What is it with this interference, anyway? Terrence, is that you?”
“Can he see us?” Lucius asked.
“Of course I can see you, and hear you too,” Rory said. Lucius recognized the alien technology engineer through the static, though more for his arrogant tone than by sight. “Baron, you have to understand that Feliks and I are in the middle of a very delicate procedure and whatever military exercise is going on, it's interfering with our work.”
“Sorry, Doctor,” Lucius said with a roll of his eyes, “There's a coup underway and we're trying to resolve it as quickly as we can.”
“Oh, good,” Rory said with a distracted tone, “Well, then if you'll just let me know when... did you say a coup?”
“Yes,” Lucius said. “Admiral Dreyfus has seized control of the Fleet and is jamming on all frequencies. Which begs the question of not only how you are getting a signal out, but how you're receiving our signal.”
“Tell him about the fighter,” Feliks said in the background.
“I don't think I should tell him that right now,” Rory said.
“He's going to find out anyway, you should just tell him,” Feliks said.
“I don't want to tell him...” Rory trailed off.
“If you don't want to tell him, then don't tell him,” Feliks said, “but I think you should tell him.”
“Excuse me,” Lucius said, his patience at an end. “What about the fighter? Are you broadcasting using its systems?” It seemed absurd that a fighter's transmission systems could get through the jamming from the entire Fleet.
“Oh, no,” Rory shook his head, “that would be ridiculous. The interference is far too strong for the fighter's systems to compensate. No, we've hooked its power systems into the Balor destroyer we've been working on. It's really quite amazing how...”
“You're punching through an entire fleet's worth of ships jamming with a destroyer's systems powered from the fighter?” Lucius asked incredulously.
“Well, yes, I suppose,” Rory said. “You see, I had a bet with Terrence that we could get a number of the secondary systems online just from the fighter's reactor while we waited on the go-ahead from you to fire things up. I was just discussing with him about how innovative the Balor communications system is. You see, not only does it allow you to push increasing power through it, but it also has this amazing ability to fine tune your receiver. Terrence was pretty impressed, and he was just about to admit that I won the bet, but then we were disconnected.” Rory frowned, “Wait, did you say coup?”
Lucius looked over at Colonel Proscia. “Colonel, I need my security team and some personnel to operate combat systems on a ship.” Lucius brought up his datapad, “If you can get into contact with Captain Beeson, tell them that I'm shifting my command to the Balor destroyer. He frowned, “Rory, fire up that destroyer.”
“Wait, what about it being too dangerous?” Rory asked. “I mean, I give it a ninety percent–”
“Mmm, fifty percent at most,” Feliks muttered in the background.
“Eighty percent chance of success,” Rory said, “But I thought you wanted to take precautions...”
“I do,” Lucius said, “But I also want to head off a military coup which is already underway. Your ship out there has the systems to broadcast through
the jamming, which means I need to be aboard. Get that ship operational, Rory. I'll be there in fifteen minutes.” Lucius cut the signal. He had to hope that with everything else going on, that their enemies hadn't picked up the open broadcast.
“Fifteen minutes?” Alicia Nix demanded. “How the hell are you supposed to get up there at all much less within fifteen minutes?”
“Have you still got a tap into traffic control's network?” Lucius asked.
“Yes...” she said after a moment. “I'm seeing a lot of traffic between ships in the Fleet, reinforcements I'd guess. I'm also seeing some traffic between there and groundside. From the communications feed, they have control of Skydock Station and they've locked down all other traffic.”
“Fine,” Lucius nodded. “All you need to do is take over the network and order all ships on Faraday to lift off.”
“What?” Alicia said. “But they've threatened to shoot down...” she paused and cocked her head. “They can't shoot all of them down, can they?” Most of those ships would be civilian freighters, but some would also contain foreign dignitaries and even some military escort ships. No matter how hell-bent Admiral Dreyfus was on taking over, he wouldn't want to make that many enemies.
Lucius nodded, “Make it a bomb threat. Colonel Proscia can probably set a few bombs off to get people moving more quickly. Just get it done. Also, have your people prep the combat shuttles here in the bunker. We stored them ready to go, but they might need some attention.” He looked back at Colonel Proscia, “You should probably launch your people at the same time. Whatever people you can spare for me, get them downstairs... and make certain I have a qualified pilot.”
Colonel Proscia didn't look up, “Your sister is qualified.”
Lucius looked over at Alanis, “You up for this?”
She frowned, “You know, I think my son is supposed to be born in an hour or so. I'd really meant to be there for that.” She looked up, “But even more than that, I'd like to make certain that he doesn't have to grow up under some totalitarian dictatorship. Let's do this.”
***
Chapter VII
Faraday Colony
United Colonies
February 8, 2404
Lord Admiral Valens Balventia grimaced as Minister of War Julian Newbauer finally appeared on his display. “I've been kept waiting for nearly thirty minutes. What is the meaning of this?”
“I'm sorry, Admiral,” Newbauer said with a snide smile that put lie to his statement. “Things are just a bit chaotic down here at the moment. Admiral Dreyfus and I had to have a discussion about some of the practicalities before I could talk with you.”
Valens gritted his teeth. While he personally despised Lucius Giovanni, it was clear to him that the men conducting a coup against him were far worse. At least Giovanni had some personal honor and spoke his mind. Newbauer was a snake. While Valens had viewed Admiral Dreyfus with a great deal of respect, the fact that he had backed a man like Julian Newbauer did not bode well for the future. “I asked a simple question, may I be cleared to retrieve Emperor Romulus from the surface of Faraday?”
“Well, that's something of an issue, Admiral,” Julian Newbauer said easily. “Things are just so chaotic and dangerous down here that we don't want to add foreign military elements into the mix.” His broad smile suggested he didn't care how Valens took the lie. “To reassure you, however, we've detached a company of United Colonies Marines to provide an additional layer of security for the Emperor... and Admiral Dreyfus assures me that his ships can provide aerial support if the company should prove inadequate.”
Valens' face flushed. The threat was clear enough. If Valens did anything that Admiral Dreyfus or Julian Newbauer disapproved of, they would kill the Emperor. A company would be enough to overwhelm the platoon that Emperor Romulus had with him at the moment. Aerial support from fighters would be there to prevent Valens from reinforcing him or trying to evacuate him.
“I understand,” Valens snarled, too angry to pretend to be polite. “I will await further contact.”
He broke the connection off before Newbauer could further irritate him. Valens looked up and saw the tight expressions of his staff. “The Emperor is alive,” he said, and many of the faces eased their tension. He nodded at his sensor's officer, “What can you tell me about what's going on in their Fleet?”
The officer gave a nod, “My Lord,” he said, “I'm still seeing signs of fighting aboard many of the ships. Many of their lighter ships have gone dark, clearly someone has cut power in order to prevent their use.” Valens nodded at that. The lighter ships would be more useful in this kind of large-scale mutiny or coup. They could pull alongside larger ships and transport troops as well as provide targeted support, blasting compartments containing the enemy into space.
“What about their bigger ships?” Valens asked.
“Paladin shows no signs of combat, but also has not had any transports moving from it,” the sensor officer said. “Their super-capital ships all show some signs of combat, venting gas, some sections without power. Clearly they don't have things in hand as well as they would like.”
Valens nodded. Part of him wished those who opposed the coup the best of luck, but with Giovanni dead, he suspected that they fought a losing battle. Funny, Valens thought, as much as I've always hated him, he's been a constant throughout my life, a rival to judge my own success against. Now that Giovanni was dead, Valens could admit that he had at least respected the man's capabilities.
What a waste, he thought. If nothing else, he doubted that Newbauer or Admiral Dreyfus would support the Emperor's efforts to liberate Nova Roma nearly so much.
He wondered how Lucius had died. He had seen the video of the kidnapping, of his rival being dragged limply from his smashed vehicle. I wager he didn't give in, Valens thought, not him, he was too stubborn to die easily. He hoped that the man had at least had the opportunity to take some of his assassins down with him.
“Very well,” Valens said. “For now, I want all ships at full combat readiness... and I want all Marine units standing by at their shuttles with full combat load out.” He saw them look up in surprise at that. “If we need to get down there to save the Emperor, I want them ready to go at a moment's notice.” He knew that three battalions worth of Nova Roma Marines would be excessive. Still, better to have them standing by... just in case.
***
Well, this sucks, Captain Daniel Beeson thought as a figure in powered armor cut through the bulkhead only a few meters away.
He brought his pistol up and fired into the faceplate of the armored figure even as he shouted, “Contact, rear!” In the chaos of the fighting aboard the ship, there wasn't really any way to tell friend from foe until they opened fire. Even then, Daniel knew that good people were killing each other in the confusion. Generally, however, only the enemy had powered armor and given this particular form of entry, he was certain to be an enemy.
The armored attacker stumbled back from the impacts of bullets against his viewport, despite the ineffectual nature of the attack. That gave Warrant Officer Ngomi long enough to turn and aim her plasma rifle. “Clear!” She shouted.
Daniel dove for cover. Even with the moment's warning, the heat bloom from the superheated plasma round as it passed down the corridor dried out his sweaty back instantly. The audible hiss of the plasma's passage through the air ended in a sharp crack and then a roar as metal and flesh oxidized.
What that meant to Daniel was that he shouted in pain and slapped at the molten hot embers of his attacker as they spattered across the back of his legs.
A glance back showed a pair of armored legs that spewed fire and smoke like truncated roman candles. Yet Daniel saw motion behind them. “Incoming!”
Warrant Officer Ngomi fired into the breach twice more and fire and debris vomited out as her shots hit something. Yet a moment later a solid stream of tracers lanced back down the corridor to cut Ngomi and the bulkhead she sheltered behind in half. A moment later another bulky
powered armored figure strode through the breached bulkhead, his armor scorched but intact. Again Daniel brought up his pistol, but his enemy didn't so much as shift as the bullets struck the faceplate, he merely leveled his Talyn Mark V chain gun in Daniel's direction and the barrels began to spin.
“Grenade!” Forrest Perkins shouted and an object landed at the armored figure's feet.
That got his attention and he spun away from Daniel to find cover of his own. Daniel rolled away, again trying to find cover, even though he knew at this range it must be futile.
Yet there was no sharp detonation, no wrench of awful pain and darkness. Instead, a moment later, Daniel heard another pair of shots from the plasma rifle and then the dull roar of the rounds impacting. Daniel cocked his head around to see the armored figure downed, and Ensign Perkins with a goofy grin on his face. “Take that!” Forrest shouted. He paused to pick up the empty magazine he had thrown before he ran up to the edge of the breach and fired through the opening, “Yeehaw!”
Daniel climbed slowly to his feet. He fished around through his pouches for a fresh magazine for his pistol, then gave it up and tossed the empty one away and stooped to pick up a submachine gun from the limp hands of one of the dead. “Forrest,” he said, his voice pitched to carry over the not-so-distant sounds of combat. “Aren't you from Saragossa?” He had split off the rest of Lucius's staff to link up with the other response teams and secure docking locations for the help that he hoped would arrive. That help would only come if Colonel Proscia had enough time to get his response plan initiated and wasn't captured or dead. Given the fact that most of the people who had come after them so far wore either black tactical armor or unmarked powered armor, he figured they were the enemy.
If that was the case, then Daniel was determined to hold out as long as he could and take down as many of the bastards with him as he could, until help arrived or ammunition ran out.
“What?” Forrest asked as he squinted around the jagged edge of the breach, “Yeah, born and raised.” He brought the plasma rifle up and fired, a moment later there was a hissing shriek as the superheated gas ate through armor plating and boiled the flesh beneath. “Take that!” Forrest shouted. “You don't like that, do you, you mutinous traitors?!”
