The Recruitment: Rise of the Free Fleet

by Michael Chatfield

“What happened in the war from your perspective?” They asked. Resilient’s image as an AI appeared. The calm that had settled turned to rapid moving again.

  Resilient the AI’s strong yet matronly appearance was enough to relax me, and soon had the effect on the others. It was probably the lack of mouth that scared them, and the electric blue eyes. Resilient the AI looked at odds with her exterior, she looked as if she would be happy reading a book and watching her grandchildren, instead of being a behemoth which had gone through wars and battles with the scars to prove it, and would do so again, batteries firing.

  Once everyone was settled Resilient began talking again, an odd thing for humans to see.

  Going to have to get used to it with other races.

  “The war between the Union and Kalu was at a standstill, so they turned to us for assistance. We would help them win the war and they would give us five systems within the Union which we would rule. We agreed, there weren’t many AI’s and we all craved information and input from others, even biologicals. They gave us the hulls of the biggest and best ships they had. We transferred and alongside mixed species crews we won the war. They tried to recruit us for the war between them and the Syndicate. The council of AI decided that it was an inner policing issue, and we had already won them one war. A decision that many, including myself, did not agree with. We watched as the Union tore itself apart and we retreated away from sentients.”

  I could see there were mixed emotions in my people as Resilient continued, using her hands now. She’d getting used to our ways.

  “I disagreed with the council so much that I took on the name Resilient and made for Union space. I found that the Union was burning. I looked for people to pull together and make a force capable of taking apart the Syndicate. Yet with the Unions final act they crippled their own people.”

  Many shook their heads, they knew what it was like to have no means of retaliation.

  “I allowed myself to be captured, learning everything about the Syndicate and hoping to find people willing to destroy it. I chose you.” She looked at everyone on the screens before resting her gaze on me for a long second, everyone looking to me.

  “I swore to serve Commander Salchar and the Free Fleet as long as it strives for the freedom of every species and destruction of any forces that limits that freedom, including the Syndicate.” She bowed her head to the side, her features reminding me of Monk as she betrayed nothing.

  “Resilient is going to meet all of you, so that you can get acquainted. Think of it as another person you have to integrate into your structure. I will however not have any prejudice in this Fleet.” My tone hard as I looked at everyone.

  They came back in a smattering of affirmatives.

  “Good, you will have a day to interact, I want reports of your interaction to me within twenty four hours, with all of your input, even if you think she is a threat, tell me why. If there is no logical reasoning then we will have an issue. Resilient will not be reading the reports, and will submitting reports of her own.”

  “Now please don’t be alarmed as I appear in front of you, it is normal for an AI.” Resilient said in her soothing voice as I saw on a few of the screens as Resilient slowly came into existence there as well as on my own ship. The people were looking at her now as I stood in front of the screens.

  “Get acquainted, you will be seeing her more often, and get your people used to the idea of interacting with her if they come aboard the Resilient.” I gave them a two finger salute. Their training and drilling taking over as they all returned it, even ignoring Resilient who did it in her separate iterations.

  The screens went dead as I looked at the people in my conference room.

  I turned to Yasu, Henry, Rick and Marleen who was my tactical officer and Rick’s wife.

  “Yeah, so this is Resilient, Get along, she’s nice and she’s helped me a hell of a lot, and she can help you all as well, just give her a chance. Now while you talk I’m going to get some sleep.” I sat in an open chair.

  “Hello Resilient, I’m Rick, Salchar’s second in command, it’s good to meet you in, hologram.” He said, grinning as Resiliet seemed to brighten, her version of a smile.

  “It is good to meet you Rick, I feel that we will be getting to know one another quite well in keeping the Commander informed.” Her eyes sparkling.

  “Glad to have you onboard, well in-board? Well how would that work?” He asked as he and Resilient talked about it, Resilient talking to everyone on the bridge simultaneously.

  I stretched out in my chair as one by one they introduced themselves as Resilient listened, she already knew everything about them but I thought I could see a twinkle of happiness in her eye.

  I wonder if she’s finally happy to be interacting with so many people after the hundreds of years she’s kept herself in isolation. I shook my head thinking of the loneliness.

  Must’ve been hell

  ***

  The last three days had been hectic to say the least. The fleet was prepped while my people dealt with the revelation that there was an AI among them. There were quite a few that were reserving their judgments about Resilient, but the Kuruvians and the majority of the humans have accepted her. The Sarenmenti who had heard the most stories were taking a longer time adjusting to the thought of a good AI.

  Resilient’s crew was getting used to her, out of sheer exposure if nothing else. Resilient could show herself in multiple places at once while doing hundreds if not thousands of different tasks. The engineers and bridge crew loved her, and the Commandos talked to her about kit and battles. She was more reserved in these areas as it was obvious her wounds were still healing, like my own peoples were with Parnmal. Making it a good partnership—I was confident that my crew and Resilient would only become closer in our oncoming campaign to Chaleel and then Earth. The other members of my Fleet were also getting plenty of exposure as she was able to beam through their communications systems, but only when requested to do so.

  Overall I was feeling pretty good, even with the dread and nervousness in my stomach over what we would face as we returned to Earth.

  “Comms connect me with Chief Eddie.”

  “He’s online.”

  “Commander Salchar.” The old Kuruvian said a smile splitting his face.

  “Chief, how are we looking?”

  “Systems are online and working. Ready as you are Commander.”

  “Get me Parnmal docking control comms.”

  The screen on my chair showed that I was connected.

  “This is the flagship Resilient, requesting permission to undock.” I said.

  “Resilient this is docking control, you are cleared for flight. Creating flight path now and slaving to your helms display.”

  “Helm?” Rick asked before I could myself.

  “I have the flight plan, we are green. Awaiting docking tube release.

  “Docking tubes releasing.” Docking control said as I watched it on my external visual sensors as the umbilical that connected us to the station pulled away from our hull as well as the other clamps that had held us in place—retracting back into the station.

  “You are free and clear Resilient. Good hunting.”

  “Thank you flight control, keep the lights on.” As Rick acted like the second half of my brain.

  “Helm take us out.” I felt the thrum of the massive engines build as we glided out of the docking port and out towards the wormhole limit past the Oort line.

  “The other members of the fleet are leaving their docking ports and will link up with us before we exit the system.” Rick said. I nodded agreement as he continued.

  “Helm cut your speed so we allow them to catch up with us.”

  “Aye, aye COS.” It stood for Chief of Staff. Both Rick and I had taken on the hats of captain and first officer as well as commander of the free fleet and the chief of staff. It wouldn’t pass if it was on Earth, but hell it was my fleet, my ship and by damn if anyone had a problem with it they could come
to me and I’d tell them where to shove it.

  “Sensor pit, can you throw up a real time map on the main screen of our position and that of the other members of the fleet.”

  “Navigator have you completed your calculations for the jump?”

  “Yes COS. I’ve reviewed it three times. Our navigation computers are slaved with the other members of the fleet which have also completed their navigational calculations.” Ben, my Navigator said as his lower hands moved in what I’d come to know as slight nervousness.

  “How long till we begin charging the wormhole generators?”

  “Six hours, the Resilient’s bigger than the other ships in the fleet and she has only two fusion generators online so she needs a longer time to charge and direct that energy towards the hyper deflectors. Which will take a further four hours; we cannot cancel the jump once it goes beyond the final two hours as we will have built up too much power to bleed out of the deflector dishes without ripping the ship apart as the only way would be to make an unsafe miniature jump.”

  “Thank you navigation for the highpoints of jumping.” Rick had things well in hand. I wished that I knew what half of the stuff he was talking about was. Looks like I still had plenty to learn, joy.

  “Commander the rest of the fleet is coming alongside us.” On the main screen I could see six corvettes, three cruisers two destroyers and Bregend’s Battle cruiser grouped around the Resilient.

  “We’re going to have to work on formation drills.”

  “Agreed sir.” Rick said writing it down on his data pad

  Our ragged formation continued on towards the hyper limit.

  “This is engineering; charging the deflector dishes.” Eddie said as a thrum built steadily through the ship.

  “Thank you engineering.” The thrum reached its peak being heard throughout the ship, we had three hours to go before we were past the point of no return.

  Chapter Hellooo Universe! These monkeys can wormhole!

  The ship shuddered, jerked and buckled roughly like a bull, people being ejected from their seats as we made our first entry into another system.

  “Modulating shield for gravitational changes and anomalies.” Tactical said as there was a hive of activity in the tactical pit.

  The ship shuddered as my Mecha kept me in place stopping me from being thrown. Others that had gotten to their feet where thrown again and a few more left their seats.

  Then the ship lurched forward.

  “We’re free of the wormhole.” Helm reported.

  “Well we have some things we still need to work on.” I said to the crew in general.

  “Talk to me sensors.” Rick said sporting a gash on his forehead.

  “We’re in system 49364e the asteroid belt is absolutely loaded with precious resources. It’s making sensor scanning difficult. We’re clear out to ten thousand kilometres.” The sensor officer said her voice a quiver, obviously shaken by the re-entry into real-space and the pressure of her job.

  “Good work.” I could see Marleen was talking to her gunnery deck, their guns roving the area as they looked for signs of ships waiting in ambush.

  “Yes commander.” She said blushing before she looked at her readouts. “Clear to a hundred thousand kilometres. Nothing detected so…”

  “Picking up communication emissions coming from the fourth planet.” One of the sensor array operators said as the commander of the sensor pit forgot what she was saying and threw the information on the main screen.

  “Someone else double check that reading!” She demanded. That training’s coming in use.

  “I confirm communications emissions. I also detect what appears to be a volcano erupting on the planet, from these readings it looks like it will destroy the planet.”

  “Nav plot us a course, Helm take us in. I want that message people.” I said sitting forward in my seat.

  “I’m getting a faint signal from the planet.” The communications officer said as they held their ear bud to their ear as if they could hear the person on the other side better.

  “I’ve got it!” They pushed the incoming communications to the speakers in the room it came out garbled as the translator labored to work with the guttural sounding language.

  “I am Ursht I submit to the space gods that saved us, to once again help us. We have again failed you. We ask if you wish for us to survive to please save us and walk us up the path to the stars. We are unable to walk the path alone. If you do not wish this then we will accept our fate.”

  The message continued with Ursht asking for help that his race that might deserve to die wished for a third and final chance from these space gods.

  “Comms connect me to them.”

  “You’re connected sir.”

  “This is commander Salchar of the Free Fleet we are inbound to your planet to render aid, please tell us how we can be of assistance?”

  “The space gods do exist! Our sacred barrier given to us by the other space gods has failed and the world killer Tremeel has awoken spitting its rage into the sky to kill us.”

  “What is this sacred barrier like, what powers it?”

  “It feeds off of our rivers and streams, but to remain safe these rivers and streams have been depleted. Our people that toil in the mines of our planet traded with others from the skies for the materials we needed to keep the barrier running. It has been many moons since traders have come to our planet.”

  “So you need water like that from your rivers to keep the barrier running?”

  “Yes.”

  “Still not detecting any life forms on the planet.” The sensor commander said.

  “Ursht is there a reason we can’t see anyone on the planet?”

  “I am unsure though I have heard that we are hard to see with your electronic eyes and with most of your normal eyes.”

  They were hard to see with my own eyes as they were hard to see with the highly advanced sensor arrays over the ship. This bared something thinking upon. “Helm how long until we reach the planet?”

  “It will take us two hours.”

  “Did you hear that Ursht?”

  “Yes, we will await your arrival.” He said cutting the channel.

  “Get me Eddie.”

  “Fleet commander?”

  “Pool the reactor fuel we’d need for a planetary shield.”

  “How big of a shield?”

  “Sensor commander do you have readings on the shield and a possible generator?”

  “Yes sir! Sending to your terminal, the generator is the only structure we can see with sensors we believe.”

  “Eddie the data’s on the way.”

  “I just got it. We’ve only got the area, not the strength or the actual intake of the generator.”

  “Well then it’s going to be a good exercise for engineering to figure out how much would be needed. Think of it as an exercise.”

  “It’ll be good to give the slackers something they’re already going soft and we haven’t even been out of port for a day! Yes commander now you say it, it is a good idea. They would’ve just put down that amount from stores without a thought. Probably without even checking what it was! I’ll get my slackers working out how much reactor fuel well need, we’ll have it ready by planet fall or my name is Eddie Randall Christopher!” With that he cut the channel as I was left wondering why Kuruvians had what humans would consider first names with no real last names.

  Resilient requested a private channel over my implants as I accepted. “I am detecting facilities that are of AI construction on the planet.”

  “What does that mean for us?”

  “I do not know but I thought I should let you know.”

  “Pass on any information to Tactical, Sensors and Eddie.”

  “Certainly Commander.” She cut the channel as I waited. The fourth planet was the furthest planet in the system and luckily close to the point that we’d jumped into the system. Even then it would take us just under a day to reach the planet.

  *
**

  It was an hour before planet fall and I was as nervous as a drunk teenager before prom. Well they do say alcohol gives you liquid courage, but anyway I was damned nervous.

  So far each of the ships was pulling reactor mass from their own stores. It was a good idea to pull the mass from all of the ships so that no one was less than the others. On the flip side it meant that we had to somehow get that reactor mass together before shipping it to the planet, with time we didn’t have.

  “Commander it’s estimated from the readings we’re getting from the shield generator and its fusion plant that it will shut down an hour after we make planet fall.” That was enough time to put together a flight plan for shuttles to grab the fuel but not enough to do so and get the shuttles to the planet.