TSN: The Best Laid Plans (Terran Space Navy)

by Paul Phipps

  “Thank you.” The words came from the calm well-modulated voice that made everyone in earshot tingle just to hear it. The Master aka Great Leader in turn picked up the telephone at his right hand once the Colonel disconnected. There was no dial, it only was connected to one other place.

  “Ayatollah Al-Quds the time has come. Attack the Infidels at 6:30!” The Great Leader ordered his Quarn-Slave.

  “Yes, Great leader we shall eliminate them! The Great Plan Shall Go Forward!” The Ayatollah Al-Quds replied reverently.

  In the city of Tehran, in the War room underneath the presidential Palace the Ayatollah Al-Quds in turn passed the order to the Revolutionary Guards Commander at his side. “You now have the time for our attack, do not fail!”

  The orders flashed along the buried communication wires. The vast armada of speed boat and missile boats fleet that had secretly been transported and hidden in plain sight now left their moorings and gathered in their assigned flotillas. The TSN Companion was where it always was. No motion was visible on any of its decks. The speed boats lined up in random pattern and waited. There was time now to go over the operational plans once more and then… there was time to contemplate what was to occur and pray to Allah for victory.

  * * *

  Bandar Abbas, 0630L

  The missile batteries lit up their Radars and then the Sunburn II’s were flying one after another! They flew straight at the great ship and the Point Defense Weapons on the Companion started to unleash their own special version of hell.

  * * *

  Commander Christine Fuller was sitting in the Captain’s Chair on the Bridge. Her husband Captain Albert Fuller was at the Intelligence and surveillance console that he had configured for his own usage. “Ok, Johan take out the Sunburn’s.” Commander Fuller announced. She then looked to her Husband, Remind me again, when are the IRBM’s supposed to launch at us?”

  “The Speedboats are next, the torpedoes they have been planting on the sea floor will also be released at the same time for a one-two Combination. They expect that the maneuverability of the boats will assist in keeping the crews safe and capable of at least two attack runs on us.

  While we are concentrating on the boats and the torpedoes the thirty nuclear warhead equipped missiles are supposed to hit us simultaneously.” He told her somberly.

  “Ok, we should be able to take all of that on. And the Redhawk?” She asked.

  It’s still on track for the IUR, current tracking is still good, they are going to use the Point Charlie Landing Site. That one is in the Iraq province near the Syrian Border. They are very confident that the Stealth Technology we gave them will allow then to slip right in especially since we are fighting a major Battle here at the Companion.”

  * * *

  “Great Leader, it’s time to go to the landing site.” His chief aide told him servilely.

  “Very well, let us go then.” The Great leader reached into his inner suit pocket and removed the small titanium case he had kept next to his heart for years now. With a wolfish grin he slid his thumb across the fingerprint scanner and slid aside the protective shield and pressed both buttons firmly. They lit up simultaneously with a muted green light, the “All is Well” signal began to broadcast. If it was not received for five minutes then the final solution would be released. He smiled and tilted his head back to savor the moment.

  He arose regally and his chosen bodyguards arranged themselves around him as they left the room for the Helicopter that would take him to the SSTO that would get him out of this filthy place.

  * * *

  The Redhawk was twenty-three minutes out from its destination when the vast Force Shield blockading the IUR came into view on the horizon. The pilots looked at the shield in awe and each in their own way made a silent prayer that they wouldn’t hit the damn thing.

  In Bandar Abbas the commanding General for the attack on the Companion was just stepping up to the platform in the command bunker that would allow him to see with his own eyes what was happening. The rest of his headquarters staff was attentive to their assigned video screen and communication equipment.

  He could hear the whistling of the shells from First and Second Guards artillery battalions coming overhead. The massive TSN vessel was sitting on the bottom of the Strait of Hormuz like it had done ever since that fateful day in November when it had appeared like magic. Suddenly the vessel starting to twinkle like the techno-light show he had slipped into against all the teaching of the mullahs in Frankfurt Germany so many years earlier when he had been a lieutenant.

  The shells started to burst overhead! The damned Infidels were shooting down his artillery Shells!

  “Send in the bombers now! Launch the Sunburns!” He called out to his staff in anger.

  * * *

  "First wave of J-17’s are now in position to release their munitions Commander” Johan reported.

  “Don’t bother with the aircraft; just kill the weapons, Johan.” Commander Christine Fuller ordered.

  A few minutes later Johan reported, “All incoming missiles are destroyed, Laser Guided Bombs are now neutralized.”

  “Forty five seconds until the IRBM’s launch” Captain Fuller announced. There was quiet on the command deck, “We have launch detect!”

  “They should have rippled fired them, they have just lost five of them right there in the missile field due to back blast from adjacent rockets causing their gyros to tumble.” Captain Fuller commented a few minutes later.

  Captain Johansson/ Comm Mode: “Redhawk has landed in the Iraq Province. Refueling is underway.”

  There was the sound and feel throughout the superstructure of the Companion of the six inch railguns now firing at the incoming IRBM’s

  “All IRBM warheads are now destroyed.” Johan reported.

  “Thank you, Johan” Commander Fuller told him. “Very good shooting!”

  Outside of the Companion the Iranian forces were milling around in confusion. Their weapons had been targeted but none of their people had been killed except for four of the speedboats running into each other. In some ways it was as if the Terran Space Navy were insulting them as not being worth the expenditure of a bullet.

  Captain Tufuga/ Comm Mode: “First Marines are ready to deploy. First MARS are in their assigned Support positions.”

  * * *

  “Great Leader!” The helicopter pilot called on the intercom. “The SSTO is now on the ground. We are waiting until the Fuel trucks refuel it and then we will land, just as you commanded.”

  “Excellent!” The Great Leader told the pilot. “The great plan is coming to fruition!” He told the other men in the helicopter.

  * * *

  Captain Fuller/ Comm Mode: “First and Second Revolutionary Guards Artillery have been ordered to fire upon us until they run out of ammunition.”

  “What’s next, the kitchen sinks from catapults?” He muttered to himself causing his wife and Johan to laugh on the bridge of the Companion.

  Commander Fuller/ Comm Mode: “Ok, it’s time to strike some fear into these Yahoos. Johan, continue to shoot down their incoming shells and then let’s use the big guns. I think two salvoes of Anti-Material Canister munitions should do it.”

  Johan-Companion/ Comm Mode: “I agree! Two Salvos ordered up.”

  * * *

  Outside of the Companion the IUR Revolutionary Guards Commander was now on a hill watching the unequal battle. The Gatling lasers were all firing, it was like a laser light show only the lasers were blowing up the howitzer shells from his entrenched guns far to the rear of his current position.

  He felt like jumping up and down and swearing like one of his privates. Nothing was getting through; all of the advanced weaponry was just as useless as the ones using simple ballistics. It just wasn’t FAIR!

  One of his men exclaimed when he saw the two massive turrets with their three twenty-four inch Rail Guns swivel and elevate like a Cobra Striking. The Plasma Bloom from each of the Rail Guns was eye-watering and the
sound felt like a five pound hammer hitting each one of them in the head.

  Once their eyes stopped watering and they could hear again, he turned and looked at his Communication aide on the backside of the hill was screaming into his microphone of his headset. Strangely he didn’t really understand what was being said.

  After some time, understanding came to him and he realized that all of his vaunted artillery was gone, every single piece of it. He slumped his shoulders and turn to stare at the Companion.

  For some time he just stared as if into a vastness of eternity, “Tell everyone to return to base. There is nothing more we can do here.” He finally said and turned away himself to go to the command bunker several hundred yards away. ‘It would have been better to just keep ignoring them like they had been ignoring us.’ He thought sourly.

  * * *

  In Tehran, President Ahmad nodded grimly as the Commanding General of the IUR armed forces reported the failure of the attack on the Companion. The First and Second Guards were decimated and all of their weapons were destroyed. The first Missile boat flotilla was also gone. Casualties and deaths among all units were very light though. The TSN had appeared to concentrate on destroying equipment only.

  And perhaps worst of all, his Ballistic Missiles were now gone too. His duty was plain; he now had to tell the Grand Ayatollah Tariq Al-Quds what had transpired.

  * * *

  The Redhawk had finished its climb back into low Earth orbit. There would be the need for two more burns of its engines as they skipped across the atmosphere heading for the unusual destination of Weh Island in Indonesia.

  Her pilots were conscientious and did their duty willingly; they still gave each other wild eyed looks every so often when they contemplated who their primary passenger was. It was true that each of them had been an ACT-Now member during the Civil War. Hiding that fact though was now second nature to them, but the man they had sworn to serve personally and follow his directions unto death was now in the passenger compartment! It was enough to give each of them shivers of… Joy? Anticipation? Perhaps maybe it was fear though?

  In the sealed passenger compartment of the Redhawk all was quiet. The Quarn-Slaves and their Master were in a deep telepathic conference.

  ::This is an amazing craft, do we have many of them to work with?:: The Master asked of his Quarn-Slave Lt. Col. Mitchell.

  ::We have two Master, the Terran Space Navy foolishly gave them to the United States and we in turn now control them both.::

  ::Can we build more of them?::

  ::Yes Master, they are giving us the tooling to do just that.:: Lt. Col Mitchell said

  ::Excellent! I see a great need of them to advance the great plan.

  Now then, we are going to the great gathering of all the Quarn on this world. The Mother has so decreed that we are all to attend. She will tell us what our roles are to be in the final conquest of this world.

  I am to attend a special ceremony with her. The outcome will be a bit different than she expects though. She calls it the ‘Ceremony of Joining’, well no matter… In the end I will supplant her and be the supreme leader of all of the Quarn on this world and then…then we will feast!:: He said in tones that filled his followers with near ecstasy.

  ::In the meantime you are to gather all of the Quarn who are loyal to me and me alone. You will then do the following.::

  He then proceeded to lay out his plan for his followers and the rest of the flight to Weh Island and the ‘Mothers Lair’ passed quickly.

  * * *

  President Ahmad of the Iranian Unified Republic had left the Presidential Palace. He was walking with his bodyguards to the building that housed the Supreme Council of Mullahs. Normally he would ride in his Limousine, this time he wanted to stretch out the time until he had to appear before them. He was less than a half a block from the building when an enormous shadow passed over his party and with a wide-eyed stare he saw one of the hated ships of the Terran Space Navy just hanging in the air.

  Man-shaped objects started tumbling out of large openings that had appeared on the bottom and fell rapidly toward the Council building. With a cry of anger he ran as fast as he could with his body guards bellowing at him to stop. Up the steps he went and he raced toward the large double doors that led into the council chamber.

  He stopped running and his feet skid on the smooth marble floor, one of the huge armored figures that had appeared in front of him caught him gently before slammed into them.

  “President Ahmad, thank you for joining us.” Came the curiously gentle voice from a giant of man in armor. “Please come with me, as the leader of your nation you need to see this.”

  President Ahmad walked numbly into the main room and was outraged to see the Ayatollah Tariq Al-Quds being held by two more of the armored figures. He could see that they were being gentle or as gentle as they possibly could as the Ayatollah thrashed about and screamed out his hate at them.

  His attention was then grabbed by four more of the TSN Marines carrying into the room a large device that looked much like a short tunnel. He turned to the man that appeared to be in charge and asked him what was going on?

  “The time has come for you and the others here to learn the truth of your situation.” Lieutenant Tufuga told him. “The device is a Scanner-Arch. It’s primarily a medical device used to detect and assist in the treatment of diseases and injuries. This time however it’s going to show you a very unpleasant truth.”

  The Scanner-Arch was soon placed to the approval of the technicians, at that point Lt. Tufuga proceeded to walk through it to demonstrate its capabilities. After showing that it would not harm a person he had the members of the Council of Mullahs and President Ahmad and his bodyguards walk through it.

  Each of them was informed about their health and what if any medical problems they had. Finally only the Ayatollah Al-Quds was left to go through. He refused and started screaming invectives once more. Lt. Tufuga signaled two of his men and they simply picked him up and carried him through the Scanner-Arch.

  Warning lights started flash at the entrance and exit of the Scanner-Arch, a hidden arm swung out and quickly injected the struggling man and he collapsed as the anesthetic went to work.

  “What are you doing!” the various imams and Ahmad started to exclaim. “He is a holy man! You cannot treat him this way!”

  Lt. Tufuga waited until the shouts died down and then he told them. “The Ayatollah Tariq Al-Quds is not human. Oh, he once was, but not now. He was parasitized by an Alien from another star.” There was silence as the Iranians struggled to understand what had been told to them.

  “Here, let me show you.” He quickly said before more questions or invective could be shouted. “This is the inside of President’s Ahmad’s head. It’s quite an ordinary human skull and brain as you can see.” He then projected the Ayatollah’s head next to the President’s. It was readily obvious to anyone, not just a medical professional, the brain was shrunken slightly and a new mass was wrapped around the cerebellum and spinal cord with tendrils going throughout the rest of the brain.

  Lt. Tufuga glanced at his medical people and was pleased to see the Ayatollah Al-Quds being placed into an ISO-Tube. He then told the rest, “To make a very long story a reasonably told one. He is now one of the Quarn. The Quarn are here on Earth for one purpose and one purpose only. They are here to consume all humans, we are nothing more than food to them.”

  He looked around him and then told them, “You are shocked and your world-view has been damaged. I regret that. We are taking the Quarn with us. If you want us to come back and discuss things more fully then you need only contact the Companion and we will send representatives to you.”

  And with that pronouncement the TSN Marines left the building and Tehran itself, leaving only a Scanner-Arch behind as proof that they had indeed been there.

  Friday, April 9, 2027

  Galileo City

  Admiral Webster and Commodore Webster stood quietly together as they gazed
at what appeared to be a large window. In actuality it was another application of the ‘smart’ wall construction on board the space going city. The view was of Indonesia, specifically Weh Island, from several thousand feet up. The island was covered with what appeared to be men and women. The interesting thing was that they had arranged themselves in concentric rings with the underground pool of the Mother Quarn as the focal point.

  Captain Fuller was standing off to one side and he was saying, “The entire Lair complex is also filled with the Quarn-Slaves. It’s totally amazing…” He said in wonder. “Originally we thought there might only be around six and a half thousand of them. Our current estimates show that there are nearly eight thousand of them on that island.”

  “Hmmmm…” The Admiral said as he furiously thought, “Do you have any idea how such a divergence in your estimates occurred?”