QBS Coach’s Revenge
Captain Maximilian Wagner looked around his ship, the newly christened Coach’s Revenge and nodded to his number one. Unlike others, Max knew the power of his EI, and he reduced his team crewing the ship to just seven, plus himself.
A total of eight humans, fourteen repair bots, six universal bots, another twelve Marine bots, and whoever he was transporting at the time, like the Guardians and Guardian Marines below.
The EI’s name was shortened to Revenge. His ship was similar to the G’laxix Sphaea, modified for humans and tweaked for war, not scouting.
“Revenge, make sure our people are ready, confirm doors closed, make sure our guests are ready to go, and put us in position,” Max said to the EI as he sat down in the captain’s chair. He reached over and grabbed a small box that had been delivered to him before his team left the all-captains meeting with Admiral Thomas. He put the box in his lap and opened the gift, thinking the blue suede bow a nice touch.
With the bow untied, he pulled off the top and looked. Inside was an 8x10 framed photo of the Ad Aeternitatem from Earth. He lifted the frame out and turned it over, a smile on his face. Bethany Anne had signed the back and listed the date that he first received that fateful phone call, the one that got him into this whole mess.
There was a scrap of leather inside the box. He didn’t need a note, although one was included, to know this leather came from the captain’s chair of the Ad Aeternitatem. There was a safety pin included. He smiled and used the safety pin to affix the piece of leather to the outside of his captain’s chair arm, where he would never accidently hit the leather, even if a missile made it through their shields.
“To Eternity, my Queen,” Max Wagner said softly. He looked up at the screen. “Bring us online, Revenge.”
The alarm sounded throughout the ship letting everyone in the ship know.
The Coach’s Revenge was going to bring the pain to the Yollins.
QBBS Meredith Reynolds, Yollin Quarters
Captain Kael-ven, the one-time Yollin Annex Scout Ship captain, walked down the hallway in the Yollin quarters and waited. Soon the doors opened, and the Yollin mercenary company attached to Queen Bethany Anne came out. The first figure was Kiel in mechanized armor.
Not his normal armor, no, not this time. Kiel was in one of the new suits created by Jean Duke’s staff for Kiel’s team. They were silent as Kiel came walking down the hall, except for the clip of their boots hitting the ground.
“You look good,” Kael-ven greeted Kiel.
“Thank you, Captain.” Kiel grinned. “Are you ready for this?”
Kael-ven shrugged. “Who is ever ready for revolution and anarchy?” he asked his friend. “If someone should claim they are ready, they are either deceivers of themselves or idiots. However,” he put a hand up and pointed to himself, “I will play my role. Yollins have been under this slave system on our own world for too long. It is time we stand up and decide for ourselves, as humans do, what our future will be.”
Kiel chittered his laughter. “You understand that your leadership will be a very short one if your decisions don’t happen to match the ones Bethany Anne would make, right?”
“Fortunately, I expect my decisions will be acceptable to Bethany Anne.” Kael-ven put a hand on his friend's armored shoulder. “It is time.”
Kiel nodded to his old captain and then Kael-ven stepped aside, allowing the rest of the mercenaries to salute him as they followed their leader into battle.
For the first time in Yollin history, Yollins from the Chloret and Mont castes were following an alien back to Yoll to overthrow their own King.
This would not be a bloodless revolution.
QBS Coach’s Revenge
Shun looked over at Jian and laughed. “You need to stop pulling up the pants.”
Jian grabbed his pants and pulled up. “I know they’re loose in case I change without stripping, but they feel like I’m about to be naked in five seconds,” he complained.
“I say you do what the Americans say and go commando!” Zhu laughed at his friend. Both Shun and Zhu were in Queen’s Guardian Marine uniforms. They had their gear, they had their upgrades, and they had the desire to keep fighting.
“I’m not sure I can focus properly on the fight if my tree limb is hanging out over the water like that,” Jian said.
As they talked, Tim came walking by in tight fitting jeans and a t-shirt that showed off his chest.
Shun put out a hand. “Tim?”
The man nodded and shook his hand. “Shun.”
“Can you tell me if you plan on changing your clothes or not?”
Tim looked at Jian, then rolled his eyes. “Jian.” At his name, he looked up. “Someone is playing a practical joke on you. It’s done to every new Wechselbalg the first time they go out.” Tim stepped to the side so that he wasn’t staring through Zhu, lifted his hands to his mouth and yelled, “Hey! Numbnuts. No, the OTHER numbnuts. Get Jian the right fucking clothes before I make you wear this shit!”
Tim watched the team members move for a moment and then nodded sharply. Turning back to the guys, he said, “Sorry, they really shouldn’t have done that before such a big operation, but... traditions. Well, that’s why we call them tradition. The new clothes will fit tight, but they rip easily. You’ll get another two sets. I suggest,” he said to Shun and Zhu, “each one of you takes a set. That way, if Jian changes to a cat, destroys his clothes, and changes back to human, you can get him in clothes so he isn’t fighting when the frankfurter is out of the bun. Remember, if you absolutely have to, you can shoot Jian. He’ll heal from your weapons, he might not heal from the enemy’s.”
Tim nodded to them as he stepped around Shun and continued down the hallway.
Within a couple minutes Jian was in his new clothes that fit significantly better as his friends packed the spares away.
Jian put his hand out in front of him. Zhu put his hand on top of Jian’s, and Shun placed his on top of both.
Jian lifted his chin. “For Bai.”
“For Bai,” Zhu and Shun agreed.
QBBS Meredith Reynolds, Military Operations
The military operations room was huge. It was fully three stories tall, with desks along the second and third stories, a wall of projection screens and a place in the middle with over 5,625 cubic feet of space for a three-dimensional hologram representation of the battle.
As needed.
Lance walked along the floor, chewing on his unlit cigar. He had three shipping containers of the cigars stashed away that he hadn’t told anyone about. Not his friends, not his wife, not his daughter.
Especially not his daughter.
He expected Patricia already knew. He didn’t hide anything from her, he just didn’t tell her and should it come out, Patricia would be able to say that she hadn’t been told. It was the best defense he could offer her. He suspected how much shit was going to be tossed in Bethany Anne’s direction for her ginormous shoe collection, and didn’t want anyone to start pointing at him.
Let’s face it, you could store a LOT of cigars in the same amount of space as just one box of shoes.
“Queen arriving…” a female’s voice was barking out when it was interrupted.
“You finish that statement,” Bethany Anne told the guard trying to announce her arrival, “and I’ll toss your ass into space.”
Lance turned to see that Bethany Anne had a hand on the lady’s shoulder. Her head was nodding in sync with Bethany Anne’s as the Queen finished, “I don’t want to hear that every time I go someplace for the next century. We’re going to leave it for the main room and any large meetings I attend. If that happens every time I walk in here?” Bethany Anne allowed the silence to grow for a couple of seconds. “It could get ugly.”
Bethany Anne gave the shoulder a gentle squeeze and continued in. Lance noticed Scott smile and wink at the guard Bethany Anne reprimanded.
No hard feelings, he seemed to say, and the woman blushed and sa
t down.
“Always making an entrance, Bethany Anne,” he said to his daughter as she sat in the middle seat, the one that could best view everything in the room.
“You know me, General.”
He observed that she was taking in all of the screens and that her eyes seemed to be reviewing screens in front of people around the room. “Always looking to be announced, right?”
“Ah, no.” He shook his head and stepped over to his chair, sitting at her left hand. “Usually you like to slink into places and let your shoes do the talking.”
Bethany Anne looked down at her armored feet. “Maybe that’s why I’m always on edge?”
“What, no shoe therapy lately?” Lance asked. He noticed many of those in the operations room were listening in on their chat.
“Yeah, It’s a shame no designers came along for the ride. Although,” Bethany Anne looked up, “ADAM is working with a promising young woman. Maybe I can see if Jean would let her inside the R&D room for a few days after this field exercise.” She waved up at the screens as she settled back in her chair and spoke louder.
“We are about to cross,” she called out, catching everyone’s attention, “the Annex Gate the Yollin King placed in our solar system years ago. We aren’t going through that gate announcing our intent to change their world. Rather, we are going through that gate with the intent to move through their space and head out to find our Kurtherian enemies.”
Admiral Thomas, who had just entered, asked her as he sat down, “You think that the King will allow us safe passage through his space?”
Bethany Anne turned to the admiral. “Not an ice cube’s chance in hell.” She smiled. “But seeing how he wanted to subjugate Earth first? I’m not too upset with delivering a set of Yollin revolutionaries.” She went back to looking around the room. “We can’t have frenemies at our backs, working to figure out how to take us down. So, we’re going to meet this King, kick his backstabbing ass and then beat him in battle. According to Captain Kael-ven, I’ll have to meet him in one on one combat and defeat him—which means kill him—to win the allegiance of the Yollin people.”
Bethany Anne reached for her waiting Coke. “Remember, I didn’t write the rules, folks.” She raised her drink. “But I’ll abide by them.” She winked and took a drink as the group cheered.
“Let’s cross that fucking gate, I’m getting impatient!”
The human’s ships, dedicated Puck Destroyers, multiple Sphaea class attack vessels, Puck containers for setting traps, shipping containers and Black Eagles hit the Annex Gate in a synchronized dance that had the G’laxix Sphaea hit the gate last, disappearing behind the green, yellow, blue and orange waves as ships hit the colored screen.
Then the gate exploded on the human side, throwing parts to the four corners of the solar system.
It was completely destroyed.
21
Planet Yoll, King’s Palace, Throne Room
The Yollin King turned his massive head, looked down at his Minister of Defense in annoyance. “What do you mean, we have an attack force arriving through Annex Gate Three One Four?”
The four-legged Yollin looked up at his king. “Your Majesty, Gate Three One Four was opened almost two solar years ago, and we have been receiving updated reports confirming the survey was proceeding as planned and continued to show promise. Two hours ago, a fleet of foreign military vessels and an...” Minister of Defense E’Kolorn looked down at this tablet and then back to the King, “asteroid came through the Annex Gate. In addition to these new ships, the modified survey vessel G’laxix Sphaea arrived last and the number of ships overwhelmed the gate, destroying it.”
“And you say they are making requests?” the King continued to stare down at the defense minister.
“Yes, they claim they are merely moving through our space in an effort to fight the Kurtherians.”
At this pronouncement, the Yollin King stared at his highest-ranking military commander and then started slapping his couch cushion loudly. His chittering laughter could be heard throughout the throne room. “Did you,” he tried to stop laughing, but failed. Finally the King got himself under control. “Did you say they are seeking a fight with the Kurtherians?” he rasped out.
“Yes, Your Majesty.” E’Kolorn confirmed. “That is what they are saying, in our language I might add.”
“So, they have taken our people as slaves?” The King sought confirmation.
“And our ship, yes.”
The King’s eye’s narrowed. “What are we going to do about this, E’Kolorn?”
“We are going to confirm they have our permission pass through our space to seek out the Kurtherians, Your Highness.” E’Kolorn answered.
“And then, Minister of Defense?” he pressed.
“Then we are going to ambush their ships, destroy their pitiful fleet, rebuild a gate in three years once we figure out where the G’laxix Sphaea went—unfortunately, the information was lost with the gate—and then raid their system for resources and slaves.”
“Very good, E’Kolorn. Make sure I have the head of their leader for my wall of honor,” he told the Chancellor as his hand swept towards multiple heads preserved with a plaque underneath stating the race, their solar system coordinates and the method of their death.
E’Kolorn bowed his head. “As you wish, my King.”
QBBS Meredith Reynolds, Military Operations
Bethany Anne put down her empty drink container. “So, Admiral Thomas.”
The admiral was flipping screens and spoke without looking at his Queen. “Yes, my ever patient and loving Queen?” he replied, trying to help control the anxiety, both inside this operations room, and across the fleet. Something he knew would be happening as people considered their own mortality.
Bethany Anne stared at him, then smiled, then started laughing. “Am I that bad?”
“YES!” both ranking military men on each side of her responded, in stereo.
Bethany Anne leaned back in her chair and looked around the room. “God, I’m bored!”
“It’s just a game at the moment, Bethany Anne,” Admiral Thomas told her. He hit a couple of buttons and pulled up the vast hologram that showed her fleet, the location of the now destroyed Annex Gate, and the Yollin planet with its two moons, three different base stations around the planet, as well as the incredible amount of space traffic between the moons, the base stations and the planet.
Plus, little bitty purple dots in their wake.
“You’re really expecting them to come up behind us?” Bethany Anne leaned forward. “Is this because Kael-ven said they would?”
“Yes, and no,” Admiral Thomas said. “Yes, to the part that Kael-ven led us to study this, but the no part is we studied Kael-ven and his substantial weakness to physical attacks from the rear due to his body structure. So, we’re assuming their strategist might have attributed a natural weakness they suffer to us as well.”
“Attacking Kael-ven that way became too easy, although he’s much better now,” Bethany Anne remarked. “I attack him from the rear during sparring sessions.”
“Good teaching,” Admiral Thomas agreed before he looked at the radar and smirked. “Gotcha!”
Bethany Anne slid forward in her seat when the new dots appeared. “They really are coming from the rear, pretty quickly, too.”
“Hard to accomplish a sneak attack if the other side sees you coming.” The admiral was sending commands to his ships, and Bethany Anne watched as the purple dots following behind her ships were designated Yollin 01 through Yollin 39.
“Hmmm.” Admiral Thomas picked up his tablet. “Send in Coach’s Revenge, target designation Yollin 21.”
On the screen, the ship labeled Yollin 21 grew in size.
Yollin Ship 21
“Pay attention to where the G’laxix Sphaea is at all times!” Captain G’yrlen said to his seek and destroy team. “That is the only ship we fear. What we can see, we can kill!”
Captain G’yrlen viewed his s
creen, trying to gauge the best time to help the fleet by cloaking it. His ship alone had the power to accomplish the feat, and that power wasn’t infinite. Because of the difficulty of matching speeds with their targets, it was a dance to figure out the proper distance. Cloak too early? Risk coming out of cloak too far away when power dies. Too late and his people would be seen before they cloaked.
Coach’s Revenge
Captain Max Wagner smiled. “Revenge, tell our support that Coach has a fight he would like to pick with those Yollin pieces of shit behind us. Cloak us all, we’re going in.”
Four Sphaea class ships that had hugged the Meredith Reynolds slowly faded from view, and dropped back from the main group as they lost momentum, braking just a bit.
Revenge allowed the EIs on the other ships to help keep the four ships in proximity to each other as it worked on figuring out how to best track Yollin 21 should it cloak. Soon, the human fleet was far in front, and the Yollin fleet was fast approaching. Their formation started picking up speed so that the Yollins wouldn’t pass them by.
The Revenge’s group had twenty-one seconds to do a final match of speed and direction when the Yollin Fleet disappeared off their radar systems.
“Well, crap.” Captain Wagner said. “Tell me you got them, Revenge.”
“Captain Wagner, I know exactly where Yollin 21 is and it will take approximately an extra two minutes and twenty-one seconds using visual clues before we are ready to board.”
Max touched a button on his tablet. “Marines? Get ready, you arrive in three minutes.”
Shun heard the captain of the ship declare they had three minutes before they would be attacking an alien ship, while hurtling through space, in a solar system so far away from where he was born that he had a hard time comprehending the distance.
All because of some stupid ass, species interfering, alien know-it-alls. He needed something to ground him in this chaotic mess.
He smirked, glancing over at Zhu.
“Heeeyyyyy, SEXY lady.” Shun started singing, a maniacal smile growing on his face.
Kurtherian Gambit Boxed Set Three: Books 15-21, Never Submit, Never Surrender, Forever Defend, Might Makes Right, Ahead Full, Capture Death, Life Goes On (Kurtherian Gambit Boxed Sets Book 3) Page 18
