Shadow Sun Rebellion

by Dave Willmarth

  The next question Nigel relayed was, “If we don’t have the resources, can we get a loan?”

  “For a Stronghold? Yes. If I remember correctly, my first one required something like a hundred thousand klax worth of resources. Again, one of you who wants to try this, please do so and report back to me. But assuming the amount is something like that, then we can provide you loans. You’d have to remain citizens of Invictus, vassals under me, your friendly neighborhood Prince. No taking a loan and jumping ship. But otherwise we’ll help you as we can. Chris, please set aside a billion klax for this, and a team of people to process the requests. Those of you who want loans for your own Strongholds or Outposts please message Chris. Sorry, man.” Allistor grinned as he imagined the look on the man’s face. He could conceivably get ten thousand requests flooding in.

  “How do we defend our land?” was the next question.

  “If you choose a spot close enough to the walls of one of our properties, we can cover you with our weapons. You can purchase weapons batteries of your own, but those get expensive. We can also look at maybe assigning a battle droid to help in the short term, although our supply of those is limited, and mostly they’re currently spoken for. Also, it seems that the system has some decent legal property protections in place, which you should be able to read about in the info tabs that must have popped up on your interfaces.”

  For the next twenty minutes Allistor and Ramon answered more questions. Then they got a message that Virginia and Bob had gone out and claimed twenty acres adjacent to the Stadium, and had been able to construct an Outpost using an existing structure at no cost. That message was relayed to everyone through Nigel.

  An hour later a report came in that Logan had traveled north out the gates and claimed the Guggenheim Museum and a big chunk of the lake in Central Park just north of the walls of Invictus City. It had cost him a hundred thousand klax to modify the building and add the usual walls and utilities. That news was also shared live with everyone, and the loan applications began to flood in. Logan of course hadn’t needed one, having several million klax from capturing Fort Knox and New York. He also reported that, unfortunately, most of the artwork had been removed. His plan had been to preserve the works he liked best, and sell the rest for hopefully big profits.

  It turned out lots of people wanted to continue to live inside the existing Strongholds, and were interested in leasing their claims to Allistor or others for farming, grazing, or whatever, to provide them with some income. Allistor was happy to oblige. Others asked about various parks that Allistor owned, wanting to claim land right next to them and make use of the parks as well. He agreed to that without hesitation.

  The only request he didn’t approve right away was when someone asked about creating a Stronghold on one of the other Channel Islands off Santa Barbara. When that request came in, he replied, “I’d like you to take some time to think about that. The land is mine, so it’s not going anywhere. And you’re welcome to it if you’re sure you want it. But we saw evidence of at least one major earthquake out there. I’m not sure how stable those islands are. And an off-shore quake could cause a tidal wave to wipe out the islands completely. So please, take a day or two and consider carefully. For example there are a few small islands here in the river in New York that are much less likely to be wiped out. Anybody want to live under the Statue of Liberty?”

  Allistor passed the evening answering questions, hearing reports through Nigel on his people’s claims, and the success of his DC and FL crews. The Florida team had chosen St. Augustine for its pristine beaches, and cleared a large beachfront hotel and a condo complex on either side of the pier just south of the Anastasia State Park. The DC crew had claimed the National Mall from the Lincoln Memorial up to the Capitol Building, the W Hotel, and several of the Smithsonian buildings nearby. They did not claim the White House, because it was already occupied. Allistor was anxious to talk to them about who they found in there.

  By the time Allistor and Amanda went to bed, about half of his people had reported claiming their parcels in various places. Chris had received more than two thousand loan requests, which was a lower number than Allistor had expected. And there had been more than five hundred requests for assistance in clearing buildings.

  The last thing Allistor did before going to sleep was ask Prime to set aside a thousand droids and coordinate with Nigel to provide that assistance. For most of the requests, just one or two droids would be enough to clear the small buildings in the locations his people had selected, and they could accomplish it in minutes.

  *****

  Allistor was awakened by Nigel at about 3:00am, the AI’s loud voice breaking him out of a deep sleep.

  “Sire! Sire! I must report that one of your citizens has been attacked!”

  Both Allistor and Amanda were instantly awake. “Who? Where?” he managed to ask.

  “Citizen Michael, Sire. He established a Stronghold of his own near the airport in Cheyenne. A colony ship has landed nearby, and fighters have assaulted the walls.”

  “Dammit! Loudspeaker please, here and in the Citadel.”

  “Go ahead, Sire.”

  “Dean! Wake up, buddy. Everybody at the Citadel. Michael’s new Stronghold by the airport is under alien attack. I need twenty battle droids, and anybody willing to help him fight, to get there now! I’m on my way. Prime, I need a hundred droids to teleport to the Citadel and meet me there.”

  Allistor equipped his armor as he ran for the elevator with Amanda right behind him. The thing moved fast, and a minute later they were stepping onto the teleport pad with a group of droids. The moment they arrived at the Citadel they stepped off, finding about half the droid force he requested already there.

  “Nigel, send the rest of the droids after me, we’re heading down now!” he shouted, jumping into a truck and zooming out the gate. Most of the Juggernauts were still in New York, and he hadn’t thought to bring one back. When he reached the gate, several humans flagged him down and hopped into the back, plasma rifles already in hand. The droids followed the truck at a run, easily keeping pace.

  He didn’t have any trouble finding the Stronghold. It was lit up with plasma rounds flashing up at the wall and back down toward the attackers. Allistor took the ramp down from the gate as quickly as he could, then punched the accelerator. When he got close, he saw battle droids on the ground firing up toward his own battle droids on the wall. Behind the attacking droids he saw several small figures standing around watching the battle. He Examined the first one he could see clearly.

  Goblin Warrior

  Level 25

  Health: 43,000/43,000

  The goblins all held weapons, but weren’t firing up at the wall. Allistor shut off the truck lights and used the flashes from the battle to light his way. As soon as he was in range, he stopped the truck and cast Mind Spike on the nearest goblin. The moment it started screaming, the other twenty or so goblins turned and swarmed toward him and his group.

  “It’s him! Kill the Prince!” he heard one of them growl.

  Allistor found himself ducking behind the truck’s engine as plasma fire poured in on him. The hood quickly melted away as the plasma penetrated it, but the engine block was solid enough to provide cover. The goblins might be small, but they had good aim. Behind him, his people spread out and dropped to the ground, firing back at the invaders. The droids held their ground and sent back withering fire.

  Not able to lift his head to fire without risking death, Allistor got lower and looked under the truck at his attackers. Channeling his Storm spell, he targeted the spot roughly in the center of the group. A searing pain in his leg nearly caused him to lose the spell. He clenched his teeth and carried on despite the continuing burning sensation from a melted piece of truck body that had splashed onto him.

  Several seconds into the cast, the lightning bolts began to fall. One after the other the goblins were struck, but didn’t seem to be taking any damage. Looking more closely, Allistor saw tiny shie
lds around each of them, reacting to the lightning strikes. He continued to channel the spell, hoping the blasts would eventually break through. His people continued to fire, their plasma rounds impacting the shields and fizzling out.

  When Allistor was down below half mana, one of the shields finally winked out, then another, and another. Nearly half the goblins went down under lightning strikes before the rest retreated into their ship. He quit channeling and gulped a mana potion. Then very steadily and deliberately he cast Erupt beneath the heads of each of the downed goblins, making very sure they were dead by piercing their brains with stone spikes.

  The rest of his battle droids arrived, and he ordered them forward to take out the attacking droids. He saw about thirty of them, but he’d brought three times that many. He did what he could to help, crawling closer on his belly and casting Vortex into the enemy droids. The winds didn’t budge them one bit, but the debris they picked up and slammed against the droids threw off their aim, even knocked the weapons from a few of their hands.

  More and more humans poured down the slope from the Citadel gates and added their firepower. Some switched from plasma rifles to standard Earth rifles and sniped at the droids, aiming for heads and weapons. The projectiles seemed to do decent damage, so they kept at it.

  The battle raged on, the tough droids on both sides dealing punishing damage to each other, whittling down health bars. Then Allistor heard a sound that made him grin. First one, then the other of the Howitzers boomed up on the hill behind him. The rounds struck amid the enemy droids, blasting half a dozen of them apart. The humans cheered, and Allistor saw the colony ship’s ramp begin to retract.

  The gunners must have seen it as well, because the next Howitzer round impacted the side of the ship just feet from the opening. The one after that flew directly inside, causing an explosion that rocked the ship. The Howitzers continued to focus on the colony ship, punching holes in its side all around the open door every thirty seconds or so.

  Allistor’s droids and the humans nearby continued to focus on the droids, burning them down one by one as they focused fire following Allistor’s lead. He’d began calling down a Flame Shot on them one by one to mark targets. Looking around, there were now more than a hundred humans firing at their enemies along with the battle droids. That much damage was taking each droid down in less than a minute.

  But the enemy droids weren’t just standing there taking the punishment. They fired back, each of them firing two plasma rifles. Humans were getting hit here and there, screaming in pain as the plasma burned away whatever it hit. Amanda and a few other healers did their best to keep them alive, but they were quickly running out of mana.

  Without warning a Juggernaut blew past Allistor, narrowly missing running him over. It quickly crossed the distance between the two forces, drawing fire from several of the enemy droids. It shrugged off most of the damage, slamming into one of the droids, knocking it into another. It plowed into two more before it was past them. As it turned for another run, the remaining droids turned to fire on it. Allistor targeted one of the ones still standing, and they continued to burn the droids down, the humans firing more rapidly since they didn’t need to take cover. Whoever was in the Juggernaut was making an excellent tank.

  With just three enemy droids left, the colony ship managed to get off the ground. It wavered and wobbled unstably as it rose. Unfortunately for them, when they reached about two hundred feet, they came in range of the Citadel’s anti-aircraft batteries.

  Huge plasma projectiles slammed into the side of the ship, burning through the hull like it was paper. Explosions inside spouted flames out the gaps in the metal, but the ship continued to rise. It turned its nose toward the citadel and fired, trying to target the batteries. But the shield dome was up, and the rounds didn’t penetrate.

  At about four hundred feet, a shot from one of Allistor’s batteries hit something vital in the engine, and the ship plummeted. Everything went quiet for a while, until the dust settled and Allistor saw goblins streaming out of the broken ship’s open cargo bay. He called an order to the nearest droid. “Kill or capture those goblins! Clear the ship!”

  As one, the remaining ninety or so droids charged toward the goblin horde, firing as they ran. The enemy droids were all down, and there was little resistance. Several of the goblins threw down their weapons and dropped to their knees with hands raised in surrender. Most continued to fire and were wiped out in less than a minute.

  Allistor checked with Amanda, and she confirmed no losses among the humans in the field. There were several who’d lost enough body mass to need some time in with the regeneration machines, but luckily the plasma was hot enough to cauterize wounds and keep the people from bleeding out before they could be healed. One man had a hole punched cleanly through his chest, and was struggling to breathe. He was going to need a new lung, at the very least.

  Ten of the droids took charge of the prisoners, moving them into a tight group and surrounding them as the rest charged into the open cargo bay, then farther into the ship. There was sporadic gunfire, but about five minutes later one of the droids jogged back to Allistor and reported that the ship was clear. Allistor received a notification.

  Level up! You are now Level 32! You have received two Attribute Points.

  “One hundred thirty-seven goblin fatalities, forty-three captured, Sire.” the droid reported.

  “And our losses?”

  “Twelve battle droids damaged beyond repair. One hundred eight damaged but repairable. Estimated repair time for entire remaining force is six hours.”

  “Thank you.” Allistor nodded at the droid. “Please keep the prisoners where they are for the moment, and begin repairs. Also please pass my gratitude to General Prime.”

  “Right away, Sire.”

  “I’m here, Sire.” Prime called out as he exited the driver’s door of the Juggernaut. The vehicle looked like a total loss. Its front end was crumpled from impacting so many droids, and it had plasma burns over about ninety percent of its surface.

  “Prime! Well done! You saved our bacon. Are you damaged?”

  “No, Sire. The vehicle absorbed the damage. I am afraid it will need significant repairs.”

  “Wonderful! I’ll trade a vehicle to save human lives and our own droids every time.” Allistor patted the general on the shoulder. “Please stick with me, I want to check on our friends.”

  Allistor jogged up to Michael’s gate, which opened as he approached. Michael and three other humans walked out, and he hugged Allistor. “Thanks, man. I thought we were toast!”

  “Anybody hurt?”

  Michael’s face was grim. “Yeah, we have two dead inside. Ralph here is a healer, but there was just so much damage. They both fell off the wall after taking hits. Nothing he could do.” The man Michael indicated looked down at his feet, but Allistor could see tears streaming down his face.

  “Ralph, you did a great job keeping these others alive as long as you did. I’m proud of you.” He put his arm around the man, patting his shoulder and giving him a quick squeeze. Ralph just nodded.

  “What happened?” Allistor turned back to Michael.

  “There was a small office building inside that needed clearing. I brought along Ralph and the others, and we were following a couple droids through as they killed stuff. It was going really well, until the whole place started to rattle. We ran to a window and saw this ship coming down. Left the building and got up on the wall just in time to see the droids march out and start firing.”

  General Prime added some information. “That is a Grolz class goblin colony ship. Among the smaller ships of its type. Generally carries two hundred colonists plus cargo and crew. It is barely light capable, and generally used for in-system colonization.”

  “Barely light capable? You mean light speed?” Michael asked, and the general nodded. “So then, these guys came from a planet in this solar system?”

  “Very likely. Or a nearby solar system. The ship’s light drive
is only capable of short hops. Anything longer and it would burn out, destroying the ship.”

  “I think we need to talk to them. Find out why the hell they’d attack you. General, can you find out if there is a leader among the survivors? Bring him to me in the Citadel. The rest can stay where they are under guard until we figure out what to do with them.”

  “I suggest you kill them, Sire. They now consider you and your people blood enemies, and will not stop trying to avenge their dead until you have perished, or they have.”

  “Fickin goblins!” Michael shook his head.

  “Let me speak to their leader first.” Allistor ordered, and the general saluted.

  “Do you wish to claim the ship, Sire? It is in poor condition now, but repairs would likely cost less than purchasing a new ship.”

  “We would indeed like to claim the ship. Thank you, general.” Prime moved off to fetch a goblin for Allistor. A moment later one of the other droids entered the ship, and Allistor got a notification.

  You have captured a colony ship!

  Grolz Class Colony Ship

  Ship Level 3

  Weapons Upgrade Level 2

  Physical Condition: 124,879/1,250,000

  Cargo Value: Unknown

  Do you wish to claim this ship? Yes/No

  Allistor mentally clicked on the Yes and received several more notifications regarding the ship’s condition, fuel level, and cargo. He didn’t understand much of what was on the cargo manifest, so he decided to ask Harmon about it in the morning.

  Prime returned carrying a squirming goblin by the scruff of its neck. Allistor had him wait there while they looted the dead goblins, both inside and outside the ship. When that was done, Allistor piled into the damaged Juggernaut with Prime, the goblin, Amanda, and Michael, and they returned to the Citadel. Then a small group of humans went inside Michael’s Stronghold to bring his two dead friends out and prepare a pyre. Droids were sent into the building to rip out some lumber, while still others finished clearing the building.