Stars & Empire: 10 Galactic Tales

by Jay Allan

  Going inside, Wade and his group were hustled forward and put in formation with other soldiers already waiting. The assembly hall was massive, and soon close to ten thousand men and women from Earth were lined up in separate sections with their towering escorts prominently intermixed.

  There was an upraised section in front of them where a number of higher-ranking military officers were standing. Wade instantly checked their rank, seeing a general and several colonels. Once everyone was inside, the general stepped up to the front and looked over the group. His face looked tired and his eyes weary from what had happened. Two of the red-skinned aliens of Marken’s race stood next to him.

  The general looked over the assembled soldiers and then glanced at one of the two aliens next to him, who nodded his head. Taking a deep breath, the general began to speak. “I am General Mitchell. I know this is very strange to all of you, but we are on board the large spaceship that went into orbit above our planet several days ago.”

  At this revelation, a number of soldiers began mumbling, as they hadn’t realized that much time had gone by or where they were. Men and women began looking around with growing concern on their faces.

  “This ship is from the Kleese Empire, and we have been conscripted to fight for them in an ongoing war between them and two other large galactic civilizations.”

  More people began to talk as they were having difficulty understanding what the general was saying. It sounded as if they would never be going home again. A feeling of general uneasiness spread over the assembled soldiers as they turned their attention back to the general.

  “What if we refuse to fight?” a soldier in one of the front lines yelled out. “I’m not fighting for no God damn alien!”

  “Nor am I!” another spoke loudly. A few others nodded in agreement as the talking in the large hall grew even more animated.

  A hatch behind General Mitchell suddenly slid open, and the room instantly fell silent when they saw what entered. It looked like a giant tarantula, but had a large hair covered chest in the front that rose up into the air with a large triangular shaped head on top and strange looking multifaceted eyes. Two arms extended from its upper chest ending in what looked to be hands with seven long digits. The creature was carrying a small control box as it came to stand next to the general and the two other aliens. The creature was large, with its body and six legs reaching nearly eight feet in width and seven feet in height.

  “You will obey,” the creature spoke in a deadly voice that showed no sympathy for the plight of the Humans in the room. “You have been chosen to serve the Kleese, and refusal is not an option.”

  “And if we don’t?” challenged the first soldier who had spoken, stepping forward and glaring at the creature on the platform in defiance.

  The creature studied the small control box it was carrying for a moment and then seemed to gently touch its surface. A resounding explosion echoed through the hall as the collar around the offending soldier’s neck detonated. Several soldiers next to the unfortunate individual fell back injured, and everyone panicked as they saw the headless body slump to the floor.

  “You will obey or die,” the alien spider spoke as it turned and left the way that it had entered.

  One of the red-skinned aliens looked on unsympathetically and then spoke. “Your injured will be treated in the ship’s medical facilities. Training will begin in the morning to prepare you for your first deployment. Those of you found to be unfit to operate our battle suits will be eliminated, so I suggest you get some rest and be prepared.”

  “We will now return to your section of the ship,” spoke Marken, looking over the small group he was in charge of. “In that section you will find food supplies as well as other essential items we felt you might need. Take only what you need for today; it will need to last.”

  “Was that a Kleese?” asked Private Dawson, hesitantly.

  Marken found and gazed at Dawson disapprovingly. “Yes and their orders are never to be questioned.”

  “Are we still in orbit above Earth?” Dawson asked in a subdued voice.

  “No,” Marken replied as he turned to head for the exit. “We left Earth long ago, and you will never see it again.”

  -o0o—

  Later, they were all back in their quarters talking over what had happened. Once they had left the large assembly hall, they had been taken to another large room where massive amounts of supplies were stored. They had found MREs, toiletries, and additional uniforms. Following Marken’s instructions, they took back with them what they would need for the rest of the day and for their morning meal. They also found a restroom facility similar to what they were familiar with behind the small door at the far end of their quarters next to the lockers.

  “What are we going to do, Lieutenant?” Private Eugene Russell asked with concern in his deep voice as he slowly chewed and swallowed the last piece of the roll that had come inside his meal. Eugene was a large man and had joined the marines in order to stay away from the gangs that surrounded and controlled the neighborhood his family lived in. “It sounds as if we’re never going to see home again.”

  Wade was quiet for a long moment as he mulled over an answer. He needed to talk to the higher level officers and see what they said. Surely, they would know more. The briefing they had just attended had been more to intimidate everyone than anything else. “I don’t know, Private Russell,” Wade replied in an even voice. “For now, we’re at their mercy. These damn collars around our necks don’t leave us much choice. You all saw what happened in the assembly hall.”

  “It was gruesome,” Corporal Stern replied. She knew she would have nightmares for days after seeing the private get his head blown off. Without thinking, her left hand reached up and touched the small metal collar around her own neck. “I say for now we go along with their training and try to learn as much as we can about what’s going on.”

  “I agree,” responded Wade, knowing that was the wisest thing to do. “Right now let’s all turn in and get a good night’s rest. We don’t know what’s ahead of us for tomorrow.”

  Everyone nodded and went to their bunks. A sensor in the room must have detected that everyone was retiring for the night as the lights in the ceiling instantly dimmed to near darkness. As everyone thought about their plight, Private Dawson spoke one final time. “I didn’t join the marines to become an astronaut. I never did like flying.”

  A few people chuckled and then the room became silent. Each was lost in his or her own private thoughts. They were far from home on an alien spaceship, and no one knew if they would survive the next few days. The gruesome death of the private in the assembly hall was on all of their minds.

  -o0o-

  Wade felt as if he had just fallen asleep when an alarm sounded, and the lights went from semi-darkness to bright. His eyes instantly snapped open, and then he remembered the previous day’s events. According to the alien Marken, they would begin their training this morning.

  “Every one up,” Wade spoke in a loud voice as he got out of his narrow bunk and began to dress.

  “What time is it?” Phil Dawson complained as he sat up and rubbed his eyes.

  “Don’t know,” Corporal Stern replied as she finished buttoning up her shirt. “We just need to be ready when Marken comes for us.”

  “I wonder what this training is going to be like?” Corporal Perry asked. So far, he had been quiet and hadn’t really said much.

  “I’m hitting the shower,” Private Nicole Foster spoke as she stood up and headed for the small door at the far end of their quarters.

  “Make it quick,” Wade ordered not knowing how much time they had.

  They had just finished eating when the hatch to their quarters opened and Marken put in an appearance. An alien in a battle suit stood directly behind him. “Let’s go,” he ordered, gesturing for everyone to follow him. “Lieutenant Nelson, you are responsible for the behavior of your marines during the training.” Marken then turned and went out into the cor
ridor, expecting everyone to follow him.

  “Double file,” Wade ordered as he and Corporal Stern stepped outside and into the wide corridor. The rest of the marines followed them, and they were soon walking in step toward their destination. Wade had already decided that their best bet to survive this ordeal was to maintain discipline and work together as a unit. He planned to keep his eyes open and try to learn as much as possible. He didn’t know if escape was possible, but he wanted to keep all of his options open.

  They walked briskly through several long corridors seeing other marine and regular army troops going in the same direction. At regular intervals, aliens in battle suits stood watching for any signs of trouble. After the demonstration the previous day of what would happen if the collar around a soldier’s neck exploded, no one seemed to want to challenge the alien’s authority.

  Wade wasn’t too surprised to see most of the small groups of soldiers walking quietly in formation. There were a few groups that looked more like a rabble and were not organized. Wade felt concern at what would happen to those who failed to follow through on the necessary discipline to keep their units organized.

  They finally reached a wider corridor with a number of large open hatches on both sides. Marken stopped, and then turned around to face the group. “These are our onboard training facilities. There will be four hours of training this morning followed by a brief break, and then an additional four hours of training before you will be taken back to get additional food and supplies.” Indicating for the group to follow him, he entered one of the open hatches and vanished from sight.

  Taking a deep breath, Wade and Corporal Stern entered next, followed by the rest of their marines. Going inside they stopped and gazed around in astonishment.

  “They sure know how to impress people,” Corporal Stern spoke in a quiet voice as her deep blue eyes took in what was in front of them.

  They were in a large room easily two hundred meters long and sixty wide with a ceiling a good forty meters above their heads. In front of them were several long lines of dark battle suits. The front of each one was open and there was a small platform where a person could step up and take their place inside. Jamie shivered slightly as she gazed at the narrow opening in the suits. She was slightly claustrophobic, and the thought of being enclosed in one of those suits sent cold chills down her back.

  Wade looked behind them and saw with surprise that several other groups had followed them inside. He was relieved to see that they were all marines; in all he estimated there was close to fifty of them in the large training room as well as three more members of Marken’s race.

  “These are our Type One battle suits,” Marken explained in a loud voice to the assembled marines. “In today’s drills you will become familiar with how they move and what their capabilities are. No weapons will be allowed.” Marken then pointed to Lieutenant Nelson and Corporal Stern. “You two, step up on the platforms and take the first two suits. Once inside the suits will close and form up around you. You may feel some initial panic, but as the suits internal computers sync with your body the feeling should go away.”

  Wade and Jamie glanced apprehensively at each other and then approached the two battle suits. They stepped up on the platforms and looked inside. The suits seemed to be heavily padded, probably to prevent the occupant from being injured during combat.

  Turning around, Wade took a cautious step backwards and eased into the suit. It was fairly obvious where your legs and arms needed to go. Once he was in and leaned his head back, the suit began to close up around him. In moments, he was in total darkness and felt as if he was suffocating. The suit adjusted itself around him and something like a helmet came down onto his head.

  Wade could feel a prickling sensation on his scalp as the helmet molded itself to his head. Suddenly he could see out normally as if the suit wasn’t even there. With astonishment, he raised his arm, only to see the suit’s metal limb rise up at his side. He raised the other arm experimentally and saw it perform as the other had. It was obvious that the servos and computers in the battle suit duplicated whatever motions his limbs made inside the suit.

  Wade saw Marken press a button on a control device he was holding, and the small platform in front of him descended into the floor. Marken then stepped forward and placed his hand upon the metal arm. Wade was astonished as he could feel the touch of Marken’s hand upon the metal.

  “Once the suit has acclimated itself to you, it will be like an outer layer of skin. After a while, you will scarcely notice you have it on other than being much stronger and faster.”

  Wade took a couple of tentative steps forward and found it was just like walking. He suspected there had to be some type of device in the suits helping him to keep his balance. Looking over at Corporal Stern’s suit, he saw with relief that she too had managed to take several cautious steps. Another thing he noticed was the steady stream of cool fresh air that was circulating within and how comfortable the feeling of the suit on his body was becoming.

  Jamie was still fighting to breathe in her battle suit. The thing was just so damn claustrophobic! After a couple of minutes, her breathing slowed down and she began to relax. It was a relief to know that she wasn’t in danger of having her head blown off because she couldn’t handle the suit.

  Marken nodded in satisfaction and then turned to face the other conscripts. “Excellent, everyone get a suit. We will begin the first phase of your training.”

  Everyone quickly obeyed and suddenly Wade heard a woman screaming in fear. “I can’t do this; there is no way I’m getting in that thing!” Looking quickly, Wade saw the woman was not a member of his group. He knew in his heart that this wouldn’t end well.

  A moment later, one of the other members of Marken’s people escorted the frightened marine out of the room. Wade had a sinking feeling that they would never see her again.

  For the next several hours, they worked out in the battle suits. Marken’s people had them jogging in formation, stopping suddenly and laying down, only to jump back up and resume jogging again.

  “Your suits must become a part of you,” he informed them in a loud, commanding voice as he gazed at the assembled marines in their battle suits. “Each suit is capable of operating at full combat power for ten hours, at which time they need to be recharged. The armor the suits are made of is a composite material extremely resistant to most weapons fire. They are also very expensive to produce, and the Kleese frown heavily upon one being damaged due to carelessness.”

  The rest of the day was much of the same. Learning how the suits moved, how to communicate with one another, and how the suits needed to be recharged from a portable power unit. At the end of the day, Wade felt as if he had done a full day of calisthenics; his joints and muscles ached and he was exhausted. He knew the suits would take quite a bit of getting used to, but at least his entire squad had survived the first day of training.

  They went back to the supply room and picked up what they would need for their evening and morning meals. They then jogged back to their quarters and collapsed on their bunks, exhausted.

  “It’s just like basic training all over again,” moaned Dawson as he opened up his MRE. “I just barely made it through that!”

  “At least we’re all still together,” Corporal Perry commented as he sat on his bunk looking at the others. “That poor girl that broke down; I wonder what happened to her?”

  “You don’t think they executed her, do you,” Private Hays asked with worry in her eyes.

  “I don’t know,” Wade replied as he began to eat. “I suggest we finish eating, get cleaned up, and get a good night’s rest. If tomorrow is anything like today, we’re going to need it.”

  -o0o—

  Day two of training began with more exercises in the battle suits. This time it involved hand-to-hand combat in simulated battle situations. Wade quickly found out that the servos in the suits gave him near superhuman strength and speed. They weren’t all that agile, but once you mastered
their limitations they became quiet easy to handle.

  “Cease combat!” Marken suddenly spoke over the com system that all the suits were equipped with. “Take your suits to the dismount stations and remove them. There will be a special meeting by one of your higher ranking officers.”

  Wade quickly obeyed, and he soon had his entire squad standing at attention in front of the now empty suits. A few moments later, all forty-nine marines were lined up and waiting. Wade saw with surprise a marine major enter through the hatch escorted by several members of Marken’s race.

  “Attention!” Corporal Stern snapped in a loud and commanding voice. Her and Wade had agreed to put on the best show possible for Marken and his people until they could decide what could be done to improve their precarious situation.

  “At ease,” spoke the major, gazing at the assembled men and women with a glint of approval in his eyes. “This will be your first briefing about the situation we now find ourselves in.” The major paused as he gazed down the double line of assembled marines. “I am Major Sanchez, and as you have been told, all of us were removed from Earth to serve the Kleese Empire in a war that is going on between the three largest civilizations in our galaxy. From my understanding, this war has been going on for well over a thousand of our years.”

  “A thousand years,” a private repeated down in the lines, finding it hard to comprehend how a war could last so long.

  “Yes, a thousand years,” the major repeated, deciding not to reprimand the private for the interruption. “This war involves the possession of newly discovered planets with inhabitants that two or all three of these empires desire.”

  “Did they desire Earth?” asked another marine.

  “No,” Major Sanchez replied with a frown crossing his face. “Our world was found to be unsuitable and a possible future danger to the empires.”

  “Will we ever get to go back home?” asked another private from the center of the formation.

  “Our duty and our survival rests now with the Kleese,” the major replied evenly. “We are going to a larger combat training facility where we will learn how the weapons for these battle suits work.” Major Sanchez paused again and looked slowly across the two lines of marines. “Early this morning an army corporal used one of the combat suits to kill one of his instructors. In retaliation, a member of the Kleese race entered the training room and set off the collars of all fifty of the trainees. Let that be a word of caution to you, the Kleese will show us no mercy. Our only hope to survive is to learn how to operate these battle suits and follow their orders.”