“No way,” said Night. “She doesn’t have a suit, she doesn’t have a weapon and I don’t want to give her either of them. She has no loyalty to the group; she could do anything to sabotage our mission here.”
“It is true that I have neither suit nor weapon, but that’s because you haven’t allowed me to have them,” replied the spy. “I give you my word that I will do nothing to hinder or harm your mission on the planet. I understand the stakes that are involved and want to see you succeed. In order to do that, both the princess and her fiance need to be with the assault, and they need to be kept safe throughout it. If you use any of your soldiers to help him, it only degrades your combat capabilities. I have no responsibilities in the assault and can help him. I would like to be there.” She looked Calvin in the eyes. “Please let me help,” she implored.
Night started to say, “No” again, but was overruled as Calvin said, “OK, you can go.”
“Captain Deutch will never go for this,” argued Night.
“I’ll talk to him,” replied Calvin. “She’s right; we need her for this. She’ll need weapons too.”
* * * * *
Chapter Twenty
In Front of Ssilth, Epsilon Eridani ‘a’, May 6, 2019
“Two minutes to touchdown,” commed Shuttle 02’s WSO, Captain Jennifer ‘Sweet Jen’ Chapman to the soldiers in the cargo compartment.
“All right, you heard the lady,” said Master Chief, “two minutes to touchdown. Gear up!”
All of the soldiers stood up and snapped on their helmets. Completing that, they turned to the soldier next to them and checked them out. Then they turned to the soldier on the other side of them and checked them out, too. After about a minute, 33 thumbs were up. All of the members of the platoon were coming with the exception of Deadeye, who was in sickbay for a major knee reconstruction. Three of the four ligaments in her knee had been torn and needed medical rebuild.
Cabo Segundo Contreras’ arm had been repaired, and he was proclaimed fit for duty by the medibot, although the ship’s doctor had recommended two days’ rest. The princess had asked for him to be her personal guard, and he had chosen to forego his time off in order to accompany her. He had already told Top that he was coming, even before the princess had asked for him.
As the soldiers were checking each other out, the princess and her fiance stood in the back of the shuttle’s bay. The princess met her fiance’s eyes, and she asked, “Are you sure that you’re up to this?”
“I have to be,” he replied. “If you’re going, I’m going, too.”
“Five seconds!” commed the pilot, Captain Larry ‘Cuz’ Gage, and then there was a soft bump as the ship touched down. The ramp started down, and the soldiers stormed out of the shuttle to face the gates of the city half a mile away.
As the command group came down the ramp, the princess surveyed the area. “This is perfect,” she noted, as the shuttle blasted back up to the heavens, passing low over the 15’ walls of the castle on its way back up. She had asked to come down in sight of the gates for the psychological effect it would have on both the humans and her own citizens, as well as in deference to her fiance’s health. Making the people on the walls duck and cower in fear had been an excellent addition to the plan.
The group formed up into a loose circle around the lizards and the platoon’s officers, with more to the front than behind, and began marching toward the city. The land was low and flat, with the smell of the swamps to the south fetid in their nostrils. Most of the soldiers chose to switch to the recycled air of their suits, rather than smell the swamps. It was apparent that the princess felt otherwise, as she took several deep breaths and smiled. “Home,” she said with one of the lizards’ toothy smiles.
As the group reached about a quarter of a mile from the gates, they could see the number of people on the wall begin swelling. All wore red. “Looks like they’re all armed,” said BTO, using his suit’s visual augmentation. “Most have blunderbusses and crossbows.”
“I see them,” replied Calvin. “We expected it. Continue as briefed.”
Ssilth Castle, Ssilth, Epsilon Eridani ‘a’, May 6, 2019
“Lord Strell,” yelled the courier, “enemy forces have landed in front of the town.”
“Stop yelling and tell me what you saw,” replied Strell, from where he lounged on the throne. “Wake up,” he said, pulling on a chain that was attached to the throne.
At the other end of the chain, the former queen of the land hissed as it pulled on the nerve cluster near her tail. “Good,” she replied, “I hope they’ve come to kill you.”
“Don’t worry,” said the acting king, “I’ll make sure I kill you before they do, and that I send a message to kill your daughter first.” The queen subsided at the mention of her daughter, although she continued to glare at him.
“Now,” said Strell, turning back to the courier, “what is happening?”
“Something came down from the sky, and a bunch of humanoid things came out of it. They walk like people and have two arms like people, but their heads are rounded. They all appear to have some form of white blunderbuss.”
“Obviously, the heat has gotten to your head,” said Strell. “What looked like something coming down was just heat from the summer day as they approached. How many of them are there?
“There are about 30 with two of the lizards in their midst,” answered the courier. “The scouts report that the lizards are saying the two look like the princess and her fiance.” The queen raised her head at the last news, her heart lighter than it had been for months.
“It cannot be the princess unless the troops are my brother’s, which they obviously are not. If for some reason the troops are wearing red uniforms and are my brother’s, let them in; otherwise, kill them all.”
“Including the two lizards?” asked the courier.
“Especially the two lizards,” replied Strell.
The look on the queen’s face turned to one of horror. “You would just kill people without even talking to them? Without even seeing what they want?”
“Were I in Remurn, no, I would not,” replied Strell. “But I’m not in Remurn, now am I?”
In Front of Ssilth, Epsilon Eridani ‘a’, May 6, 2019
“The people on the walls look like they’re going to fire,” commed Corporal James Ball, who had the point of the formation. “You may want to keep the high value units back a little ways.”
Reflexively, Cabo Contreras stepped in front of the princess to shield her. Irina was a little slower, but when she saw what Contreras had done, she stepped in front of the princess’ fiance, too.
As the front rank reached about 40 yards from the wall, someone called “Fire!,” and crossbow bolts began flying toward the men. The shots were at the maximum effective range for the weapons and didn’t have anywhere close to enough energy to penetrate the suits at that distance.
“What do you want us to do, sir?” asked Night. “They’re not using their firearms. It may just be nuisance fire.”
“No, we’re not within range of their guns,” replied Calvin. “Those blunderbusses are more like shotguns than rifles. They can’t hit us here. I’m done playing with them. PLATOON! Clear the walls! FIRE!”
“With pleasure!” commed someone under their breath as the platoon began firing. The blue beams left afterimages on the retinas of the soldiers and holes through the majority of the unarmored soldiers on the wall.
Within seconds, there was no one left on the wall. Calvin thought he had seen at least one person that ducked before the soldiers could shoot him. He wondered what they thought of the lasers, which must almost look like magic to them.
With no defenders remaining, Corporal Ball made it to the gates. “Sir, the gates are locked tight,” he reported.
Calvin got the princess’ attention. They had discussed this possibility during the planning process. “The gates are locked,” he told her. “Do I have your permission to blow them?” he asked formally.
; “Yes you do,” replied the princess, just as formally. “Blow the gates!” she shouted, having been well coached. While the people in the castle may have had some experience with black powder, there’s no way they would see this coming. Hopefully, they’d at least move back from the gates. For their sake.
Master Chief supervised Mr. Jones as he set the charges, asking questions here, making suggestions there. When the explosives were set, the men moved back from the wall. Way back. Based on previous experience with Master Chief and explosives, Calvin wasn’t sure that moving back to Remurn was far enough. “Umm, Master Chief, is everyone far enough back?” he asked. “How big a blast radius should we expect?”
“Oh sir, are you still mad about the last time?” Master Chief asked. “Everyone is safe on this side of the wall. Most of the blast is going to go through it.”
“OK,” said Calvin, “blow it.”
“FIRE IN THE HOLE!” Master Chief yelled. Two seconds later, a giant explosion rocked the gates. The men had placed shaped charges where the hinges would be on the inside, and the gates blew completely off, falling backward to land on top of two men unlucky enough to be standing behind them.
The Terrans and the two therapods ran into the courtyard to find a mass of redcoats waiting for them. Having realized that their weapons were outclassed by the newcomers, they had chosen to wait for them in the courtyard. When the gates blew inward, they charged.
The soldiers entered the courtyard in an arrowhead formation, with Corporal Ball at the point of it, and the slaughter began. The redcoats fired a volley of crossbow bolts as they charged, which would have broken a formation of local forces. From the distance they fired, none of them had the energy to penetrate the suits, except for the bolt that hit Petty Officer Conboy. His shield switched from repulsion to attraction and accelerated the metal point of the bolt into him, driving it through his left thigh. “FUCK!” he screamed, looking down at the feathered bolt sticking out of his leg.
The members of the platoon fired as fast as their targeting symbols could center on the next redcoat. They were outnumbered 203 to 35 (plus the two lizards) when they entered the courtyard; by the time the local forces crashed into the left side of the Terrans they were down to 97 effectives. Seeing the princess in the center of the formation, the one remaining platoon officer yelled, “Kill the lizards!,” and the forces tried to break through the Terran lines to get at them. Even though the Terrans were stronger, and heavy in their suits, the impact of 45 of the local forces hitting three of the Terrans at once was more than they could stand their ground against, and they were forced apart.
The redcoats broke through the lines.
The princess and her fiance stood their ground, swords drawn, ready to fight. Once again, their protectors stepped in front of them, Contreras in his suit and Rozhkov armored only with her fierce determination. Contreras pulled a sword from over his shoulder with his left hand to block some of the blades flashing at him while the laser pistol in his right hand began thinning the numbers of the redcoats. Rozhkov didn’t back up, standing her ground with her sword and laser pistol. Seeing the Russian spy as the easier target, the redcoats charged her, and three men attacked her simultaneously.
The sword in her left hand was knocked free as she was hit by an attack that she hadn’t seen, and it fell to the ground. As she moved her right hand to block a slash from the person in front of her, the redcoat to her right saw the opening and slashed at her right leg. She saw the attack too late and still had to block the attack in front of her. She tensed involuntarily, knowing she was about to lose her leg.
The blow never fell as Yokaze materialized next to her. He blocked the slash with his wakizashi, while taking the man’s head off with his katana. He immediately shifted his aim and disemboweled the man in front of her, and she used the opportunity to pick her sword back up in time to block a slash from the man on the left. She fired her pistol into the man’s throat, and he dropped.
The left wing of the Terrans rolled around the remaining redcoats, sealing the breach and ending the threat. The right wing came around as well, trapping the redcoats. Within moments, the redcoats were surrounded. Several threw down their weapons and raised their hands in surrender; the ones that fought on were killed.
Almost 200 redcoats were either dead or unable to fight; none of the Terrans had been killed. Several had cuts or crossbow bolts sticking out of arms or legs, but most were only superficial wounds, as the swords or bolts had lost most of their energy piercing the suits. The bolt in Petty Officer Conboy’s leg was the only one that penetrated to any depth; the medic began working on his wound.
As the platoon began organizing to move toward the palace, a young therapod ran up to them. “He’s getting away!” he said breathlessly.
“Who is?” asked Calvin.
“Lord Strell,” the boy replied. “He’s going through the east gate!”
“I can show you!” said the princess.
Calvin made a quick decision. “Night, you take the Space Force and head toward the palace. I’ll take the Ground Force with the princess to catch Strell.” He turned back to the princess. “Lead on!”
The princess took off at the therapod’s version of a run. It was the strangest looking gait that Calvin had ever seen, yet it was faster than anything he would have been able to achieve without having the suit on. Even with it, he was hard-pressed to keep up. They made it to the gate in just under three minutes, in time to see a human leading a therapod through a small door. As Calvin got closer, he could see that the therapod was shackled with two chains. One was around the therapod’s neck. The other went through the therapod’s body, just above the tail.
The princess hissed when she saw it. “That chain goes into a major nerve cluster,” she said. “That chain would be beyond painful.” Then she realized who it was attached to. “The queen!” she yelled.
Hearing the scream, the man stopped and turned. He was holding a crossbow in his other hand, which he put to the queen’s head. “Don’t come any closer or she dies,” he said.
“I don’t care about me,” hissed the queen. “Kill him!”
“If you shoot me, I’m sure it will cause my finger to pull the trigger and shoot her,” he cautioned. “If you just let me go, I promise to leave her unharmed.”
The princess hissed her displeasure at him and was joined by her fiance who came up at a fast walk. Although the desire was there, his body wasn’t up to the three minute sprint, and he had fallen behind.
“That sounds really familiar,” said Calvin. “That’s pretty much what your brother said yesterday just before we killed him. You can either let go of her and surrender or we kill you. It’s your choice.”
“I think I’ll choose to kill the princess and run!” he said, as he aimed the crossbow at the princess and pulled the trigger. Seeing what he intended, the queen tried to knock the crossbow out of his hands. She was too far away and only succeeded in moving it slightly, which changed the aim from the princess to her fiance, who was looking down, out of breath. He never saw the shot. Rozhkov saw it as she came running up, having been left behind in the sprint. Without any other choice, she dove in front of the bolt. It hit her in the chest at the top of her right breast. She fell to the ground.
“That sucks,” she said before passing out.
Calvin looked up to find Strell had vanished. “He ran through the door!” said the queen, pointing at it.
“Get him!” Calvin ordered Tiny. He gave a crisp, “Yes sir,” and went to the gate.
“Aren’t you going after him?” asked the princess.
“Nope,” said Calvin. He nodded toward Tiny, aiming his giant .95 caliber rifle out the door. “Never try to run from a sniper,” Calvin commented. “You’ll only die tired.”
The big gun fired, the recoil so great that it even pushed the large, suited sniper back a little. “Got him,” Tiny said. With that large a gun, Calvin knew Strell wasn’t wounded. He was dead.
Calvin looked
back to find the princess nuzzling her mother. She was the queen once again.
* * * * *
Chapter Twenty-One
CO’s Conference Room, Vella Gulf, Epsilon Eridani ‘a’ Orbit, May 8, 2019
“Thank you both for coming here today,” said the ambassador. “I know that both of you are very busy trying to put your kingdoms back together.”
“We wouldn’t have kingdoms at all if it weren’t for you,” replied the human queen, Queen Glina. The therapod queen, Queen Risst, shook her head in agreement.
“Normally we wouldn’t want to intervene in local matters,” said the ambassador, “but these are not normal times. The fact that we are here at all is a matter of luck, as this ship is not our own. In fact, we too were visited by aliens from another planet, who ended up stranded on ours. They asked for our help, breaking a long-held rule of theirs by revealing themselves to us. The three members of that race, the Psiclopes, thought that the situation was so dire that they had no other option.”
“Unlike you, we had no previous notion that other civilizations beside ours existed,” the ambassador continued. “Now we just wish we didn’t know. The fact is, there used to be a galaxy-wide alliance that kept aggressive races from exploiting races that were technologically inferior to them. Unfortunately, that alliance appears to have broken up under the attack of many hostile races. Planets that were previously protected from harm will now be open to attack when they are found by these races. We believe that one of these races exists within fairly close proximity to our home planet. Because of this, we attempted this mission, hoping to find aid from some of the advanced civilizations against the terror that we believe to be coming to our planet.
“I am afraid that we will not be of much assistance in your quest,” replied Queen Risst. “We were unable to even hold onto our own kingdoms without your assistance. What aid can we possibly provide against races that have the ability to sail between the stars?”
Theogony 1: Janissaries Page 25
