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Forum Index » » Fan Fiction » » Jupiter Fleet - Yes, its actually an update

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Author

Jupiter Fleet - Yes, its actually an update

Tbone
Grand Admiral

Joined: July 21, 2001
Posts: 1756
From: Vancouver

Posted: 2003-12-12 00:46

Chapter 10: Guises of the Mind

Devine awoke with a start and looked hurriedly around his quarters. He listened intently for several moments, hearing nothing but the soft thrum of the ship’s proton reactors. Devine sat back and closed his eyes, trying to remember the dream, but the details had faded and were impossible to grasp. He set his head down on the pillow and closed his eyes.

* * * *

The K’luth elder opened his eyes. He was on the floor, inside a room. Always the soldier, he didn’t panic, he sat up and looked around, taking in his surroundings. The room was grey and completely bare, maybe 6 by 4 meters and 3 high. There wasn’t a door to be seen in the walls or a trap on the ceiling. Standing up, he began to check for his weapons. Surprisingly, they were all there. The ceremonial daggers and blades he wore inside his robe were still present. The logic behind Leenan’Era leaving him armed after taking him hostage eluded the elder. He walked around the entire length of the cell, feeling and knocking lightly against every part of the wall in his reach. There was nothing that suggested a change in material or thickness, and he couldn’t feel even the slightest break in the texture to suggest a doorway.

He was about to try to floor when a voice entered his mind. You won’t find a way out, elder. The K’luth whirled around to find Leenan’Era standing there, wearing the same smile he last had on.

What have you done? The elder asked. What is the meaning of this? What have you done with the other elders?

Be calm, elder. The others are in good health. This is, shall we say, a re-educational experience. In the meantime, let us drop the formality, Lar’ast Yaaknar’Lan.

The elder’s eyes widened in shock at Leenan’Era. You have no right to address me by name! Whatever you may have done, you will abide by the honor of K'luth!

Leenan’Era’s smile grew even wider. Yaaknar'lan, you are in no position to be given respect. Leenan’Era could feel the angst of Yaaknar’Lan at hearing his first name being spoken. He reveled in the feeling.

The elder looked hard at Leenan’Era. He focused all his mental energy and thrust himself into the admiral’s mind. Leenan’Era stumbled back as is physically shoved, clearly not expecting the attack. While their minds were linked together, there were several methods of privatizing thought in existence that were taught to high ranking officers in the armed forces and to the Tribal Council. The K’luth were not psionic warriors, but there were ways to get deep into other K’luth minds.

Yaaknar’Lan didn’t let up, he pushed into Leenan’Era’s mind with reckless abandon, searching for the area containing what he needed, determined to find the secret that made him do something so—

The elder met a brick wall, and the next thing he knew, Yaaknar’Lan found himself sprawled in a corner of the room. He was dazed, the world in shambles. It seemed like forever before his sight returned and he was Leenan’Era standing over him once more. His eyes were fiercer then the elder had ever seen.

That was most unnecessary. I said I will show you what this place is, and I will not renege on that promise. I just pray you will understand what I am trying to do here.

With that, the admiral turned and walked toward the closest wall, and past right through it. Groggily, Yaaknar’Lan got to his feet and stumbled over to where Leenan’Era passed from the cell. As before, it was as solid as rock and didn’t give an inch. Giving up, the elder K’luth crawled over to the nearest corner and settled down to rest his body and mind.

* * * *

He almost found out, Leenan’Era was saying some time later.

IT DOES NOT MATTER. WE WILL PROCEED AS PLANNED, DO NOT ALTER THE DESIGN. I WILL SHOW THE ELDER WHAT I AM.

Of course, Leenan’Era replied.

* * * *

Yaaknar’Lan’s rest was restless, filled with incoherent dreams thanks to the shock his mind took. He awoke several times, finding himself in the same dull room, in the same position. He could have been there for hundreds of years and never had known it. When he was finally awoken by Leenan’Era, his body might as well have been that old.

The elder struggled to put together a sentence. Unless…you are here…to…release me…leave.

I may do that, Yaaknar’Lan, in a manner of speaking. Come with me.

Yaaknar’Lan was about to respond how he was supposed to do that, when the confines of his cell disappeared. They were just gone, as if they never existed. Yaaknar’Lan was now standing in a large hall, smaller than the first, but still quite large. He decided to hold off questioning the admiral’s latest act of sorcery for a later time, and followed the other K’luth further into the gigantic building. As he walked, he allowed his mind to wander back to the voice that invaded his head earlier. He soon found himself with too many questions and not enough answers (none in fact).

The admiral finally stopped outside a door, contrasting to the rest of the facility. It was small, short, and in the middle of a short hallway. It did not draw attention to itself.

Perhaps now you will understand, Leenan’Era said before stepping toward the door, which opened obediently on his approach. Yaaknar’Lan followed after a second’s hesitation, realizing that maybe he didn’t want to understand what would drive a K’luth this far. He had little choice in the matter besides.

The room resembled a laboratory, but one not built for use by living beings. There were several mechanical arms extending down from the ceiling, delicately performing experiments Yaaknar’Lan could identify with. This was obviously not what he was to be shown, as Leenan’Era continued walking toward the back of the room, where there was a single door. The door opened and the two K’luth passed through. Yaaknar’Lan stopped in his tracks and stared straight ahead. Inside a cylindrical vestibule, there was a single K’luth, suspended in a growth medium. Wires were attached to several points all over its body but there was a concentration of them all over the K’luth’s head. Experiments and surgeries had been done all over the body to such an extend it was impossible to tell if it was male or female. Its eyes were open, unseeing.

Yaaknar’Lan was in shock. He had seen many gruesome sights in his time as a soldier, but what he saw before him was monstrous, an abomination. What…what have you done? Yaaknar’Lan said.

I have saved our people, Yaaknar’Lan.

But, the humans are defeated. Even if the UGTO do take back Sol, they will never have enough ships to assault the rest of our fleet!

I am not talking about the humans. Leenan’Era replied quietly. They may be our enemy, but they are not our greatest threat. No, elder, I have saved us from everything. He said with conviction. Here, I have created the ultimate weapon, more powerful then a human warship, more powerful then the demon that pursued us. What you experienced was nothing. It was a drop in a massive ocean, only the beginning.

Leenan’Era continued, as if reciting a speech. You have no idea how long this has taken. This is the culmination, the final product, of my life’s work. I have turned our greatest gift into our greatest weapon. I have combined human and K’luth brain matter and formed what you see here. A weapon, a weapon to control the humans, and anything else in my—our way.

Yaaknar’Lan did not miss the slip. I thought you were desperate, the elder K’luth said, but now I see you for what you are. You are a madman. You have disgraced your entire race with this thing, and I will not let this continue.

Faster than lightening, Yaaknar’Lan pulled out the dagger his hand had been hovering over and aimed for Leenan’Era’s heart. Leenan’Era didn’t react, didn’t try to defend himself. The knife was milliseconds from contact before a force reached out and grabbed the elder’s arm. He tried to move his arm, but it was entirely frozen in place, almost touching Leenan’Era’s chest. Yaaknar’Lan pulled with his entire strength but the arm refused to budge.

I’m afraid you have no choice, elder the admiral said as if nothing had happened. You see, they won’t let you.

Confused, Yaaknar’Lan looked around the room until his eyes locked on the K’luth in the chamber. It had moved its head and was now staring straight at the K’luth elder, its disfigured face striking deep into Yaaknar’Lan’s eyes. Yaaknar’Lan stared straight back, feeling a fear like no other he had ever experienced.

* * * *

Devine was on the bridge of the Beowulf when he heard it. A faint whispering somewhere. He looked around the bridge, but no one was talking. The helm and navigation officer were both at their stations, but were looking at their control boards. Admiral Stewart and Captain Madsen were both on the bridge, but Devine had a clear view of them before the whispering started and they had not been talking. Devine was about to turn back to his station when the whispering started again. He managed a full circle view of the bridge before it stopped once again and saw no one’s mouth move. He supposed it could be the rustling of clothes or some quirk of the ship he had no experienced, as no one else took any notice to it. Devine turned back to his analysis of K’luth cruiser formations.

[ This Message was edited by: Tbone [NSS Pandora's Box] on 2003-12-12 00:50 ]

[ This Message was edited by: Tbone [NSS Pandora's Box] on 2004-02-17 01:56 ]
_________________

Axianda The Royal
Fleet Admiral
Terra Squadron

Joined: November 20, 2001
Posts: 4273
From: Axianda

Posted: 2003-12-12 03:48

WOOHOO!!!!

great chapter man that was freaky.....

keep it up

_________________

- Axi

Purpura
Cadet

Joined: March 16, 2003
Posts: 27
From: Living on top of a tiki hut bar enjoying the sun and the ocean

Posted: 2003-12-14 22:38

Freaky Deaky Man Another good piece
_________________

DaMadCow
Fleet Admiral

Joined: July 20, 2001
Posts: 407
From: A Farm

Posted: 2003-12-20 13:02

more more more
_________________

Tbone
Grand Admiral

Joined: July 21, 2001
Posts: 1756
From: Vancouver

Posted: 2003-12-21 16:47

Chapter 11: Calm Before the Storm

The UGTO scout Chinook was caught far behind enemy lines when the K’luth broke through the line at Lalande. On a recon mission around Articus A in Sirius, there was no chance for it to get back into UGTO controlled space ahead of the K’luth fleet. They couldn’t use the gates for fear of being detected and, despite being a long range scout their jump drive fuel was rapidly being used up by making the long jumps between systems. By the time they reached Procyon, it came quite apparent that they needed to replenish their fuel to full to have even a chance of getting home before they were long gone to dust. The crews on deep recon patrols were made of hard stuff and buckled down to find a suitable planet or gas giant far enough away from any enemies to replenish their fuel.

* * * *

The Tabarzin was presently stationed at Neptune with the rest of Davies's fleet. The repair facilities were all that Devine said they were. Ship’s hulls were being repaired at several times the usual rate and the use of spare plates was drastically reduced thanks to the molecular repair technology. The only problem was there were only two of the prototype stations, both of them on Triton. The dreadnoughts were the most important ships and, unfortunately, they were the ones that were the most severely damaged. The massive vessels took time to repair even with the new system.

The Tabarzin did not take any significant damage in the 3 pronged attack and its weapons were mostly lasers and particle cannons, weapons that did not require reloads, only recharfing. Safi took the lull in activity to continue planning the mission.

“What is our nearest weapons cache?” Safi asked.

“The closest one would be on Charon, but we can hardly get to it yet. Besides that the closest in on an asteroid in the belt, this one here.” Safi’s first officer pushed a few buttons and the view of Sol zoomed in on an asteroid circling the sun. “At the moment this asteroid is near to Mars, which is either good or bad on how you look at it. On one hand, it is far away from K’luth positions so the chance of being attacked is small, but on the other side of that is the UGTO. We could probably sneak away from Neptune without any trouble but we could be detected unless we are careful when we pick up our weapons.”

Safi looked at the screen. “We won’t be there for long; we will only be picking up one weapon. It will be all we need.”

“One weapon?” The officer asked.

“I’ll explain it soon enough. Are there any others of our ships at Neptune?”

“Yes, two others are stationed here. The other is at Uranus.”

“Contact the captains of the two with us to transport to the Tabarzin. Send a message to the ship at Uranus to establish a link with us here. I will tell everyone of my plan.”

* * * *

An hour later the two other captains were sitting in Safi’s conference room with the other captain on a viewscreen at the head of the table. The UGTO asked what the conference was about, but didn’t object to it. The ships were all part of the same trade company and had a right to meet, after all.

“Greetings to you all,” Safi began. “I thank you for joining me here today to plan our final strike. It will be a final strike because after it is done, we will have defeated our oppressors once and for all. Captain Halim, you are linked with us, correct?” Safi asked. The man on the viewscreen nodded. “Good. Gentlemen, here is my plan.

“You know that our final revenge was taken from us by these alien invaders. Our weapon stockpiles have either been left gathering dust or are out of reach. We only have several left in Sol itself, and only one of those is accessible. Fortunately, it has what we need, and we need little.” The viewscreen switched to show the asteroid containing the stockpile. “On this asteroid is a relatively small cache, but what it does have is this.”

The picture changed again. The two present captains breathed in sharply at what they saw immediately, with an almost comical delay before the third did the same thing. “I didn’t know we possessed such a weapon,” breathed Captain Mahir.

“It is one of the two we have, and its existence is privileged only to a select few.”

“I thought all of them were disposed of some time ago,” Captain Halim said over the link.

“Many were,” Safi said in return. “As far as we know, we have the only two remaining in existence.”

The third captain, Captain Adnan, asked, “How did we acquire them?”

“That particular piece of information, I’m afraid, has been lost to time,” Safi replied. “After the GCC uprising, much knowledge and many records were lost. I suspect we might have obtained them from a few disillusioned Russians, but that is simply a guess. However, I can assure you it is operational.”

There was a bit of silence, which Safi took to continue on with the preliminary planning, but one last question surfaced before he could speak. “Captain Safi, what is the weapon’s yield?” This came from Mahir.

That brought a smile to Safi’s face, as it was something he took pride in. He looked over at Mahir. “5 megatons,” Safi said.

* * * *

“This should be a fairly easy fight, compared to those behind us,” Devine was saying. “While we were unsuccessful in recapturing Pluto and Charon, sensor scans show the K’luth have only left a small detachment to make our lives that much harder. It is comprised mostly of cruisers and destroyers, nothing too valuable but still able to inflict some damage. We shouldn’t need to employ any complicated maneuvers or formations to sweep aside the defenders. A simple offensive stance should do the trick.”

“Do you see any complications?” Stewart asked. “If the K’luth attack one of our other planets or clusters while we are bogged down at Pluto?”

“It’s possible, sir,” Devine said. “But not likely as it would result in heavy casualties for their side, as well as leave Venus or Earth open for retaliation. We will not require many ships to take Pluto and its moon. Most of our fleet will still be able to protect Mars and the outer system. If the K’luth then decide to attack the ships at Pluto, our reserves will be able to back us up without reducing our combat ability at our secured planets too severely.”

“Odds for success?”

“I calculate them to be 90% in our favor, admiral.”

“I’ll take those odds any day,” Stewart remarked. “Anything else?” Stewart asked the rest of the room. When no one spoke, he dismissed the group.

Morhaime, however, stopped at the door and turned around. “Admiral, you are in charge here of course, but I do have concerns.”

“And what would those be Fleet Admiral?”

“That is such a clumsy title, admiral. I may run a tight operation on my ship, but I’m starting to forget my own name. Call me David in private, I insist. Anyways, my concerns are with the pirates.” Stewart was about to respond, but he saw Morhaime was going to elaborate, so he stopped himself. “I’m sure your own officers have brought this up many times, as have mine, but it is still a great risk to trust them so openly. Some of them do appear trustworthy; the legitimate traders for instance, but the ‘independent’ ships may not hold this fleet in very high regard. I would not put it past some of them to risk the entire future of their race on some petty vengeance. We are at a critical point in this offensive. After we retake Pluto, only Earth, Venus, and Mercury remain and those will require an extremely coordinated and concentrated effort to assault. I believe we should take precautions with these people, scan them continuously in the very least.”

Stewart was nodding. It was something he had heard several times, including from himself. All the arguments for taking action to monitor the privateers made sense and were logical, but Stewart had thought of another possibility. “There is a problem, however, with that. I would be taking this help with a grain of salt except that we are the last of our fleet. We have no back-up, no reserves, and no one else if we fail. These pirates are all we have. And while we see they we are all they have, I agree that they could not see it that way. But I am forced to tread softly with them. Chances are there are people out there that would take offense to be scanned over and over, even if they had nothing to hide. I cannot take the risk of alienating these pilots because they are the only reason standing between us and eventual failure.”

“So you will be taking no precautions at all?”

Stewart thought for a moment before answering. “In all honesty, I couldn’t say for certain. I would prefer to keep them under observation, of course, but I really don’t see a way without alerting them. These pirates have come across military grade weapons and armor, they could have easily salvaged sensors arrays as well that could detect even the most passive of scans. Until something comes along, we are just going to have to trust them.”

* * * *

There were indeed only a small number of ships at Pluto. Sensor returns showed only about 40 ships in the area, possibly more since they were still cloaked when the UGTO exited their jump. When the UGTO fleet, led once again by the Beowulf, began to advance, most of the K’luth uncloaked to attack head while others spread out to attack the sides and rear of the fleet. Devine revised the formation, sending heavy ships, dreadnoughts and torpedo cruisers, to the front to meet the advancing K’luth and sent light cruisers and destroyers to protect the flanks.

The firefight was brief. The dreadnoughts, with their superior front armor and greater weapon range, were able to damage several lead K’luth ships while taking the brunt of the assault on their superior frontal armor. Torpedo cruisers, clustered tightly inside the dreadnoughts, hurled concentrated torpedo volleys right into the middle of K’luth groups, causing major havoc with the splash damage, scattering destroyers and cruisers alike. The particle cannons and fighters from battle cruisers were able to keep the K’luth at the sides at bay, not allowing them to get close enough to use their disruptors.

When the attack on the front quarter dreadnoughts had dissipated, destroyers inside the UGTO formation broke out and pursued any remaining ships. Just then, a transmission came in from one of the privateer ships. “This is the Tabarzin, we have suffered a malfunction in our main reactor and have to pull back for repairs. Our computer is telling us it will be going critical in 30 minutes. We will be moving to a point in open space to make repairs.”

The channel was closed before anything could be said in return. The Tabarzin, one of the ships assigned to the port flank, broke off and headed out of the interdictor’s range. It moved quite quickly, but understandably for a ship in the beginning of a reactor meltdown. Devine moved another ship to cover the unexpected break off without incident. With the remaining K’luth ships now in retreat, drop pods were released from the dreadnoughts to attack the planetary installations. Two waves of dummy pods, ones that were empty, were released ahead of the ones that were full of marines. These were shot down first allowing the real pods to get several kilometers closer before getting in danger themselves. The command centers and power stations on Pluto and Charon were the primary targets and fell quickly before the overwhelming number of troops. The whole battle took less then 20 minutes from the first shot fired to the drop pods landing. The buildings were secured soon after and the UGTO took control of area. Barring Saturn, the UGTO now held the entire outer system.

* * * *

The Tabarzin did actually jump to a point in open space, but only to align for another jump toward the storage asteroid in the belt. The targeted asteroid was just inside the sensor range of Mars. The planet wouldn’t be able to get an exact reading, and Safi planned to power down the ship except for thrusters for maneuvering to reduce their signature even more.

Since they couldn’t head straight for the asteroid without alerting Mars, Safi stopped the ship a short distance out before powering down the ship. “Shut off the main reactor,” he ordered. The bright lights on the bridge dimmed and went dark. The blood-red emergency lights came out a moment later, bathing the bridge in an eerie glow. “Engineering, confirm reactor shut down,” Safi said over the comm.

“Reactor is powered down,” his engineering chief reported. “Engines are offline and thrusters are fueled. We are running quiet.”

Safi’s first officer spoke up. “Are we moving without sensors, captain?”

“Not entirely. We will be sending out micro-bursts from our array, kind of like sonar of old Earth submarines. It won’t be perfect, but anything more would be detected. It should be enough to detect any rock large enough to damage us though.” Safi turned to the helmsman. “Take us in,” he ordered.

The Tabarzin moved toward edge of the belt, the asteroids growing exponentially in size as they approached. No one spoke and, with the reactor offline, it was almost totally quiet on the bridge and throughout the ship. Already small pings and thumps could be heard echoing through the hull. Everyone knew those pebble-sized rocks weren’t a problem, but it was unnerving to say the least, especially as they increased in frequency. There were only a few gigantic asteroids in the belt, and none were near their cache of weapons, but it was the house and car sized rocks that posed a danger to the ship. The sensor pulses could only be sent out at 45 second intervals so there was a great margin for error. The computer was dictated to take in the information and compute trajectories to take the human factor out of the equation, but asteroids could still be missed.

The Tabarzin trudged along, slowly sidestepping past any dangerous rocks in its path. The pulses were so far sufficient, and they had mapped out a route halfway to their destination. The helmsman had just guided them around another large asteroid when something struck the ship...hard.

Safi was thrown forward from his center chair onto the deck. He felt the wind knocked from his body and coughed. His first officer grabbed his arm and helped him to his feet. Thankfully the helm officer had remained in his chair, though it appeared no one else had. One bridge officer looked to be unconscious, a cut just over his right eye. The man who was seated beside him called for a medic.

“Is it safe to stop?” Safi asked the navigator, a young woman.

“At the moment, yes, sir,” she responded.

“Full stop helm.” When the ship complied, Safi asked, “What hit us?”

The man at the sensors station was reviewing the logs. “An asteroid was hidden behind the one we just past. It must have ricocheted off the surface just as we moved around and hit us.”

“Any damage?” The medic for the downed officer arrived and stepped out of the lift then.

The first officer called up the reports. “No major injuries, a few bumps and bruises and 3 unconcious crewman. Is he well?” The officer asked the medic.

“There doesn’t appear to be a concussion. I’ll take him to sickbay to be sure and patch up the cut,” the medic replied. The man groaned in pain as the medic stood him up and supported him on his shoulder. They went into the lift and disappeared. The first officer continued with the report. “Engineering reports no damage to the reactor or any major systems but…” He trailed off.

“But what?” Safi demanded.

“The asteroid punctured a plasma line. It isn’t a large leak and isn’t causing damage to the hull, but it is putting off a large amount of energy.”

Which could be detected, Safi thought. “Ask engineering how long it would take to repair.”

The first officer contacted engineering and asked. The response was not very pleasing. “At least an hour, maybe 2.”

Perfect. “Engineering, could you simply cut off the plasma flow?”

“Yes, sir, we could.” Safi’s hopes flared. “But the reactor and engines would then require 2 more hours to start up. The plasma keeps the engines ‘warm’ so to speak. To cut off the flow would require us to slowly reintroduce the plasma back into the engines.”

Safi wanted to swear profusely at the moment, but he kept it under control. “And there is no way to mitigate the flow?”

“No, sir. Only a full patch would be able to contain the plasma for an extended period of time.”

Safi saw no other choice. He doubted he would be able to use the same excuse twice to break away from the fleet during a battle to come back when the leak was patched. “Thank you, monitor the leak for any abnormalities. We will continue to the asteroid.”

The first officer glanced up at Safi, about to mention that plasma leak could be detected. But he saw the look in Safi’s eyes and quickly looked back down at his panel. The captain had made his decision, and he wasn’t going to go back on it.

Safi ordered the helmsman forward once again, who was slightly shaken after the near disaster. Safi contemplated calling for a replacement, but figured no one would be in the best of shape after the near disaster they just had. They made it the rest of the way without further incident and prepared for landing. The weapons storage was located within several caves carves into the sides of a deep crater. The weapon Safi was after was buried far into the rock, to reduce the chances of it being detected.

The Tabarzin extended its landing struts and dug into the surface rock at the bottom of the crater. Safi and a few others exited the ship in EVA suits with magnetic boots to keep them on the iron surface. It was a short hike to cave that held the weapon. In the almost non-existent gravity, the device was easy to carry back to the ship. They entered the cargo hold and pressurized the area. After securing the device to the side of the hold, Safi returned to the bridge and ordered them back into open space and toward Jupiter.

_________________

Astral Viper
Cadet

Joined: February 27, 2003
Posts: 343

Posted: 2003-12-21 17:46

qsb possibly? or is my imagination running wild
_________________

GTN wasnt just a Fleet it was a Family we all were and still are and always will be brothers in our hearts.

From the ashes of Earth we rise like a pheonix spreading our wings

Grimith
Grand Admiral
Templar Knights

Joined: August 09, 2003
Posts: 836
From: Your local future farm.

Posted: 2003-12-21 21:59

Quote:

On 2003-12-21 17:46, Astral Viper (Save the Gaifens) wrote:
qsb possibly? or is my imagination running wild

~I had that thought myself. o_o

~Anyway, TBone, this is very excellent work. I just read through the whole thing in one sitting... started like an hour and a half ago. Very excellent work, man. Some backshadowed details might be left in... obscurity---kinda meaning that you didn't describe every little facet... but I don't think you're supposed to. It's what makes a person wonder.

~Once again, great job.

_________________

[ This Message was edited by: Grimith J. Reaper on 2003-12-22 12:36 ]
_________________

Axianda The Royal
Fleet Admiral
Terra Squadron

Joined: November 20, 2001
Posts: 4273
From: Axianda

Posted: 2003-12-22 06:58

sweet chapter as usual mate....

I think they have an old ICBM Nuclear missile

_________________

- Axi

Condor
Fleet Admiral

Joined: September 09, 2001
Posts: 136
From: U.K

Posted: 2003-12-22 09:20

nice story
_________________

Tbone
Grand Admiral

Joined: July 21, 2001
Posts: 1756
From: Vancouver

Posted: 2004-01-31 03:02

Part 2: My Enemy, My Ally

Chapter 1: Opportunity Knocks:

The Chinook finally was able to locate a suitable planet on their charts to refuel their jump drive. It was a system located behind, in relative terms, Sirius, the K’luth home system: Groombridge 34. They had checked on Epsilon Eri, the next system between them and home. One of the gas giants there, Izzy, was also suitable, but despite the planet’s size its 2 moons were arranged in such a way that each almost always had a clear view of the side the other moon couldn’t. Even with their ECM, they couldn’t hide for very long from planetary-based sensors. Refueling in any of Sirius’s gas giants was out for obvious reasons, so that left Lacaille and Groomridge 34. Lacaille only had 1 gas giant with hydrogen but, like Epsilon Eri, it has 2 moons, arranged almost as conveniently as those in Epsilon Eri. Groombridge, on the other hand, actually provided them with a good chance.

Its gas giant, Groombridge 4, only had 1 moon (which itself had 1 moon). The scout could easily exit their jump out of sensor range of the planet (even a tachyon wake could be detected through a gas giant) and move into orbit to collect hydrogen for their tachyon drive without anyone ever knowing they were there. It would be a stretch, but they should be able to get back to Sol. The Chinook set its course and made a beeline for the gas giant.

* * * *

The shaking awoke Yaaknar’Lan. He found himself in the ground vehicle that brought them to the facility on Yoth in the first place. It was obviously not in the installation anymore, but on the surface. Yaaknar’Lan looked around the cab and saw the other elders that accompanied him from Sol. His mind was momentarily blank about the past few days, but he concentrated and the memories flashed back.

Leenan’Era had brought them to Yoth to show them a new weapon system, somehow developed in secret. The weapon systems turned out to be, Yaaknar’Lan recalled, to be several new missile type weapons based on their own Psi technology as well as anti-matter technology stolen from the Unliving. The thoughts from the others confirmed this as well. He also remembered being greatly impressed by the simulations he was shown, the missiles performing as they should. The feeling he remembered he had at the installation returned, and spent the rest of the ride back to the shuttle in silent satisfaction.

* * * *

“We are in orbit around the gas giant,” reported the Chinook’s helm officer.

“Prepare the intakes for collection,” the captain ordered. “Begin descent into the upper atmosphere.”

The Chinook angled toward the massive body and began a slow slide into its swirling layers. They weren’t going to go deep, not deep enough to be crushed by the massive gravity anyways, but it was going to be a rough ride; helm and sensors were on full alert, as well as engineering to monitor the hull integrity.

The small craft began to rumble slightly as it began to bounce along the edges of the outer atmosphere. The rumbling soon grew into a intense shaking, the scout constantly being buffeted against gravitational eddies and wakes.

“Approaching collection point!” The sensor officer had to yell to be heard above the rolling thunder.

The captain shouted back his order. “Deploy the ram scoops!”

Two pods deployed on either side of the scout’s center body. Configured to collect hydrogen fuel, the scout banked into a high concentration of hydrogen gas, pushing the molecules into the tanks. The Chinook passed through the area 3 more times before it’s the pods were full.

The captain ordered the ascent and the helm officer gladly complied. His hands had been flying across the board, trying to keep up with the hazard locations fed to him by the sensor officer. He initiated the quickest and safest route out of the gas giant’s atmosphere. The scout burst through the final layer a moment later, leaving a plume of gases trailing behind it.

“Resume silent running,” the captain ordered. “Power down sensors and activate the ECM.”

The sensors officer was about to comply, but stopped short. The captain noticed. “Is there something out there?” He asked. He walked over to the sensor station, and glanced at the readout. There emissions were still well below danger levels, so he didn’t give the order again.

“I’m detecting a launch from Yoth, sir. It’s a bit scrambled, but the energy signature suggests it’s a K’luth shuttle.”

“Can we get a visual?”

“We are still behind the edge of the gas giant, sir, so we would have to move around the side to get a clear picture.”

“Can we activate ECM and still keep a clear lock on the shuttle?” The captain asked.

The officer checked his readout. “I’m detecting minimal scanner activity. Even if we go out there with no ECM, its even-money they’ll detect us. If we move out with 25% ECM, we should stay hidden. Say, 35% just to be safe.”

“Will that affect our visual?”

“It shouldn’t be enough to degrade it to non-usefulness. The picture should be clear.”

The captain thought for a second before addressing the helm officer. “Take us out slowly from behind Groombridge 4 and get me a visual. Bring up the ECM to 35% capacity.”

The scout, moving on conventional ion drives, made its way toward the horizon of the gas giant. The trip took less then 15 seconds. The ECCM detector instantly went up several notches as they went into the clear.

“What’s our signature?” The captain asked as he stared at the viewscreen.

“In the negatives, sir. Unless they spot our engine trail we are invisible.”

“Get that shuttle on screen and get me some reading.”

Sensors manipulated his controls to comply, and the shuttle immediately appeared on the forward screen. A few more seconds past before sensors began to relay sensor data. “It’s a small courier shuttle, no more then 3 crew and 4 passengers, but I can’t get an exact reading on life forms with ECM running. Scanning for markings now…”

When the officer didn’t report, the captain prompted him, “Well, can you tell what K’luth tribe is belongs to?”

“Sir, it’s a Tribal Council shuttle!” Sensors finally got out.

Captain pushed himself up to his feet. “Are you sure?”

“Positive, sir. The marking the K’luth use to mark their council ships is quite unique.”

A council shuttle, only a few hundred thousand kilometers away! The captain thought. Can I pass this up?

“Are the shuttles equipped with cloaking devices or weapons?” The captain asked the tactical officer on duty.

“Not to the best of our knowledge. Anything is possible of course, but the K’luth shuttles are too small to mount cloaks at last report, and no weapons that could seriously threaten us. Sir… may I ask what you are thinking?”

The captain, instead of an explanation, gave orders. “Helm, plot an intercept course with that shuttle and power up weapons. I want to disable that ship’s engines on our first pass. An opportunity like this doesn’t come along everyday.”

The second in command, quiet until this point, spoke up. “I think I have to point out, sir, that a tribal shuttle just doesn’t travel alone, even in a secured system. There is bound to be an escort somewhere in the system. They could even be with the shuttle now, cloaked and hidden.”

“I know, lieutenant, but think about what could be on that ship. A Tribal Council member, a leader of their entire society. Someone privy to every military secret of the K’luth. I think it’s worth the risk.”

It was obvious the captain wasn’t going to be strayed from the course, so no further objections were given. The Chinook closed silently with the K’luth shuttle, the helm reading off the distances. Fifty thousand kilometers. Forty thousand. Thirty. Twenty.

“On my mark,” the captain said, “drop the ECM and fire particle cannons.” The helm officer was just saying ten thousand as the captain called out, “Mark!”

At such a short distance, there was no chance for the shuttle. The cannon bursts crossed the distance in a matter of seconds, striking the small craft directly on its engines, disabling both its conventional and jump drives. The next volley from scout struck near the main reactor, crippling the ship’s power.

* * * *

Yaaknar’Lan was sleeping when the first shots knocked him to the floor. He was just getting to his feet before the next impact sent him head first into the closest wall. He was knocked unconscious before he could even think about what was happening.

In the cockpit of the shuttle, the two pilots were struggling with their equipment. Caught completely unaware, they didn’t even have time to send out a distress before the second hit disabled their communications. Fortunately, there was a back-up. As the main reactor went offline, an emergency beacon was ejected from the bottom of the shuttle and sent straight toward the nearest planet.

* * * *

“They’ve launched a buoy!” Tactical reported. “It’s heading straight for Vladimer. It’ll arrive in no more then 2 minutes judging by its speed.”

“Any chance of destroying it?” The first officer asked.

“None at all. It’s traveling at over 3 times our maximum speed.”

Damn, the captain thought. Can we do this in 2 minutes?

“Bring the ship about, prepare to dock with the K’luth shuttle. I don't think I have to remind you that time is of the essence.” The captain opened a intercom to his security detachment, a group of 4 men. “Security here,” the response came back.

“This is the captain, prepare to board the K’luth shuttle. Full armor and weapons. Sensor read…” the captain looked at the sensor officer, who held up 5 fingers. “Sensors read 5 K’luth on board. I want prisoners.”

30 seconds later, the scout had attached itself and burned its way into the K’luth shuttle. The 4 security men burst out into the room they had cut into as soon as the opening was big enough. It appeared to be the food chamber, where the food was grown literally on the walls of the ship. Wasting now time, the 4 men rushed forward as quickly as they dared. The door out of the chamber opened and let them into a small hallway, with doors on either side.

“Check the doors!” The leader called out. The first two were empty, but the next three that were checked each held a K’luth. 2 were unconscious; one had its neck twisted at a gruesome angle. It looked like it had been flung straight into a wall, but didn’t want to stop. “Take those two! Leave the corpse.”

As quickly as they entered, the 4 men moved back into the food chamber toward the hole made for the scout. With 2 K’luth still unaccounted for, the 2 men carrying the K’luth shoved them unceremoniously through the hole while the other 2 covered them. When the 2 had followed the K’luth down the hole, the 2 left on the shuttle turned and leapt toward the opening. Just as they got there, two loud cracks rang out. The two pilots had made it back to their passengers, and they had armed themselves. One of the security men took a bullet to the back of the head before he even heard the shot; the other got hit in the right shoulder. The remaining man turned and fired a long burst from his weapon toward the door into the chamber. He didn’t hit either of the pilots, but they were forced to duck behind cover, giving him time to slide himself into the scout and shut the hatch.

“Mission accomplished! Get us out of here!” The secutiry man said through gritted teeth.

The scout detached from the shuttle and began to move off at top speed. “Warp disturbance!” Sensors called out. “It’s right on top of us!”

A bright flash not a thousand kilometers away punctuated the statement. A K’luth dreadnought uncloaked and launched 6 AM torpedoes directly at the scout, not knowingly their own leaders were on board.

But it didn’t matter to the captain of the Chinook. “Emergency jump! Get us out of here!”

The scout’s tachyon drive engaged with what seemed like only millimeters to spare. By the time a search pattern was set for the UGTO scout, it had reached Sirius, as the captain had decided that after their little episode, being possibly detected at the jump gates was a small price to pay to spending as little time in each system as possible. The only strange thing was, even in Sirius, the [i]Chinook[i] didn’t run into any ships guarding the gates…

[ This Message was edited by: Tbone [NSS Pandora's Box] on 2004-02-17 01:01 ]
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$yTHe {C?}
Grand Admiral
Sundered Weimeriners

Joined: September 29, 2002
Posts: 1292
From: Arlington, VA

Posted: 2004-02-04 16:52

Quote:

On 2003-12-21 17:46, Astral Viper (Save the Gaifens) wrote:
qsb possibly? or is my imagination running wild

Guyz....its a Nuke! 5 megaton = Nuke! anywho, good story tbone i read all of them tonite, couldnt stop reading

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philll
Admiral

Joined: September 13, 2003
Posts: 268

Posted: 2004-02-04 17:05

moremore more
plzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz this is so good

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I have 6.5 billion imaginary friends, and youre one of them.

Tbone
Grand Admiral

Joined: July 21, 2001
Posts: 1756
From: Vancouver

Posted: 2004-02-26 01:35

Chapter 2: Revelations

The heavy machine gun ate away at Murney’s cover, while the rain pelted her helmet from above. If it wasn’t for the evaporation strip just above her visor, there would be a veritable river running down her faceplate. She had already lost a third of her platoon reaching this point, and the bunker was the only thing between them and their objective.

The bunker was placed on top of a hill overlooking a small valley. From the fire they had been taking, it had 4 light machine guns, a heavy machine gun, and an antiquated but still quite effective 120mm tank cannon. The tank cannon had caught them unaware as they moved through the valley floor, and Murney lost 3 soldiers on its first 2 shots. She had lost 9 more advancing into range of the bunker to take it out with an anti-armor missile. There was plenty of cover once they got in close, but now they were pinned down behind rocks and trees, within 150 yards of the bunker. At least they were below the firing arc of the cannon.

Murney looked around her, searching for any way out of this situation. Retreat wasn’t an option, and there wasn’t a way to flank it, unless…

She keyed up here radio. “King, you still with me?”

“Cowering 50 yards to your right, sir! Just look for the guy with his head in the ground,” came the response.

Murney looked and saw King waving. “Do you see any way at all, I don’t care how small, or getting up to that bunker unseen?” Murney asked. “I can’t see a thing from where I am.”

“Just a sec, cap!” Murney saw King duck down and move out of sight behind another boulder. He popped up a few seconds later, and got back on the radio. “It’s a long shot, sir, but I think I got something. There’s a line of rocks about 20 yards up the hill to my right. They ain’t big, but they go almost all the way up to the top of the hill.”

“Hang on, I’ll be right over.” Murney lifted her rifle and fired a few shots at the bunker before dropping into a running crouch. Careful to stay behind cover, making quick darts out into the open, she made it to King’s position without incident. “Show me!” Murney said without any preamble. King pointed toward the rock group. He was right, they weren’t big at all, almost no cover. But it just might be enough for one person.

Murney pointed up the hill. “Get their attention!” The rock she was hiding behind was suddenly pummeled with a dozen rounds. She eyed King, who was grinning like an idiot. “Just like that,” Murney grumbled, much to King’s delight.

King addressed the platoon, “Suppressing fire!” From cover, the entire platoon rose and shot at the bunker uphill. They had almost no chance of killing anybody inside, but it did grab the attention of the gunners inside. A hail of enemy gunfire answered the platoon’s, but luckily no one was hit. Murney had since sprinted over to line of rocks King had spotted and dropped to her belly. She began crawling as quickly as she could uphill, careful to stay low. Sporadic gunfire could be heard from her platoon, but they were now forced back under cover.

Murney reached the end of the rocks and peaked out. The bunker was still 50 yards away, but now all the gunners were focused on the platoon downhill; no one was looking her way. Stringing her gun on her back, she took out two frag grenades. She took a deep breath, then jumped to her feet and ran straight at the bunker. 20 yards away, she primed both grenades, hoping no one would spot her at this point. She reached the bunker’s edge and jumped into the air, on top of the bunker, while reaching down and shoving the two grenades through the narrow firing slit. The machine guns stopped firing abruptly, then two whumps shook the entire bunker, then the noise stopped entirely.

After Murney checked the bunker was clear, the platoon began advancing up the hill. She began to reorganize her squads for the attack on the main…

Murney found herself in a sitting in a chair. She tried to sit up, but she felt straps attached to arms, legs, and neck. She repressed a slight panic as she remembered where she was: the virtual training room on Mars. Around her she saw the rest of her platoon “waking up.” Several technicians entered and began to unstrap the soldiers. One by one, the soldiers filed out and began to put their uniforms back on. Murney found King waiting for her outside the woman’s dressing room. “That’s still one hell of an experience ain’t it?” King asked.

“No doubt,” Murney replied. “Still no substitute for real-life though, even if it does simulate everything.” The simulation did in fact simulate everything, from stimulating nerve ending for pain or adrenal glands to release adrenaline. There were obviously limits built into the “pain” area of the system, as even if it what caused it wasn’t real, the pain itself could still send a soldier into shock. “Though I can understand why command can’t risk large scale exercises,” Murney continued. “We can’t risk accidents of any scale. We need every single experienced soldier we need. Same thing for the greens we’ve picked up. The virtual system allows them to train for much longer then actually being out there.”

“Speaking of our replacements,” King said, “have you seen some of ‘em? Why, some of ‘em can’t be much older then 18. That worries me, Cap. These kids barely know what’s really going on out here or what a real war looks like. They are bound to freeze up at some point. I just pray its not when we need them not to.”

Murney simply nodded and kept walking. She was thinking of several things, including what King had mentioned. But she couldn’t dwell on it. This was a fight of desperation and that called for desperate measures. The two walked a few moments in silence, which was quite odd for King, when the intercom buzzed out a warning to listen. “Attention. All personnel will report to their designated loading zone at 1200 hours for equipment check, briefing, and departure. Repeat: all personnel…”

Murney glanced at King, then back in front of her. “Well, I guess that’s it then Lieutenant. ‘Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more…’” Murney quoted, somewhat awkardly.

King broke into one of his trademark grins. “Why, captain, I didn’t know you actually read.”

“No, I just like old movies.”

* * * *

Something has…happened Leenan’Era said.

I AM AWARE OF WHAT HAS HAPPENED. The already powerful voice had increased to a level almost beyond measure. It echoed inside the admiral’s head. THE HUMANS NOW HAVE THE ELDERS. AND THERE IS NO CHANCE OF RECOVERING THEM.

I wouldn’t say that just yet. Our rear guard has been deployed…

I KNOW AS WELL AS YOU DO THAT OUR “REAR GUARD” HAS NO CHANCE OF DETECTING THE HUMAN SCOUT CRAFT. YOUR PLAN IS IN SHAMBLES.

Leenan’Era stood there dumbly, trying to reply. Then what we have worked toward is ruined.

YOUR PLAN MAY BE RUINED. The voice boomed out. HOWEVER, I HAVE DISCOVERED AN ALTERNATE METHOD.

* * * *

The Tabarzin hung lazily over Mars, making a slow orbit over the red planet. Inside the ship, however, the atmosphere was very different. By now, the rest of the crew knew they were preparing a nuclear weapon for a strike they could only guess at. They were not troubled to be kept out of the loop, though, as they now had a purpose again. And the captain would never betray them. He was as steadfast to the cause as his ancestors ever were.

The warhead now lay inside the cargo hold, held in place by powerful clamps. Wires snakes across the deck, covering almost every square foot. The floor was a virtual kaleidoscope of different colored wiring, connecting to every port available on the warhead. While the warhead had been kept in a vacuum devoid of all radiation and interference, Safi would take no chances with this operation. Everything would be checked and double-checked and then everything replaced if necessary.

Right now, they were checking the detonation circuitry, what would send the signal to the explosives to crush the ball of plutonium into the size of a ping-pong ball. It was likely the most important piece of the complex puzzle that is a nuke. If the shaped explosives didn’t detonate at precisely the same time, the plutonium would fail to be correctly crushed and the nuclear reaction wouldn’t happen, or would be dramatically reduced in power. A megaton weapon could be reduced to only a few kilotons.

Safi and his first officer were in the cargo hold, both observing and supervising. While the Tabarzin didn’t have any nuclear scientists on board, they weren’t trying to build anything. The ship’s computer could detect any flaws in the weapon’s connections or construction. A problem would be if there was a problem in the explosives or nuclear material. Electrical wires could be replaced. Shaped charges, not to mention weapons grade plutonium, was harder to come by. And even if they did have plutonium (and they didn’t) they wouldn’t have the skill or equipment to replace the warhead’s. Safi was confident, however, that the nuke would check out.

“Captain, I am troubled,” the first officer said

“Speak your mind, my friend,” Safi said with a smile.

“I’m curious to what exactly we will be doing with this weapon. When we met the other captains, you only explained how to obtain it. What I’m curious to know is how we will destroy our target. The UGTO armor can absorb the energies of the ICC fusion weapons and even the K’luth anti-matter weapons to some extent. A 5 megaton bomb will barely dent the armor and the EMP wave, while it would short circuit many of their key systems, won’t harm the well protected circuitry around their fusion reactors and tachyon drive.

“You couldn’t be planning to attack the target. Even if they were totally isolated from the fleet when they were hit by the EMP, they could easily fend off our ships. And they won’t be separated by the fleet, not with such a valuable asset on board. So captain, with all respect, I ask what we plan to do with such a seemingly limited weapon at our disposal.”

Safi almost frowned, but kept the smile he held in place. It was one of the longest speeches his first officer had made in a while. He was not a talkative man, talking only when needed and only giving what was needed. “My friend, I have thought of all that as well. But all of it assumes one thing: that we will be attacking from the outside.” Safi let those words sink in. The stunned officer was about to respond, but Safi interrupted gently. “Follow me,” he said.

Safi led his second in command over to the computer console in the cargo hold and pressed a few buttons, accessing the memory banks. In a few seconds, a schematic popped up on the screen, one of a UGTO dreadnought, with the words NSS Beowulf printed neatly in the lower right hand corner.

* * * *

Yaaknar’Lan awoke to a world in chaos. His brain seemed to be slamming itself against the confines of his skull. He lay still with his eyes still closed, concentrating his considerable mental energy to recreate some of his focus.

When he was felt he was ready, he slowly opened his eyes. He forced to almost immediately shut them again, wincing. The light was almost unbearable! Why was it so bright on a K’luth ship, instead of the usual comforting darkness? Once again, he opened his eyes fractionally, forcing his thin pupils to contract quickly (another benefit to the K’luth genetic engineering). But as he opened his eyes further, a black mass appeared right in front of his vision. It spoke. It spoke! Human!

Yaaknar’Lan snarled and leapt off whatever he was lying on. Or tried to at least. He got maybe 2 centimeters off the bed before being stopped by the straps on his legs, arms, neck, and torso. To his benefit, the human didn’t flinch, didn’t even blink. It spoke again, and Yaaknar’Lan felt something being slipped over his head. He tried to resist, jerking his head away, but surprisingly strong arms held his own powerful muscles in place.

At least now we can understand each other.

Yaaknar’Lan was no stranger to the device. The name of it quickly became a foul word in the K’luth language. It simulated, impersonated, the perfect-ness of their psionic links.

I have nothing to say to you! Yaaknar’Lan broadcasted as loudly as he could, hoping to overwhelm the human’s weak mind. Unfortunately, the device was able to quiet him down.

Of that, I have no doubt. You needn’t worry, K’luth, you won’t be tortured or harmed, at least not yet. I wouldn’t dream of harming a Tribal Council member.

What you know of me in no consequence. You will be found, and you will be killed.

You see, that’s the strange part. How the device was able to convey the sarcasm of the humans, Yaaknar’Lan would never know. We are already in Van Maanen. We have encountered almost no K’luth rear guards, no reserve fleets. Sporadic scouting and the occasional squadron, of course, but nothing that could detect us. What do you make of that, K’luth?

The human reached out and took off the device, to both Yaaknar’Lan’s comfort and annoyance. What was the human blabbering about? Of course there were reserve ships. Obviously there would not be fleets of ships. It had taken a tremendous number to just subdue the ICC humans. The UGTO took even more and were still taking up resources to contain. Obviously the scout had just not detected them, as it was obvious they were not looking, making such a great distance in a short time period.

But a nagging part of Yaaknar’Lan’s mind kept on dwelling on what was to be gained by such a monstrous lie…
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Dimorrow
Grand Admiral
Galactic Navy

Joined: September 25, 2003
Posts: 94
From: West Midlands UK

Posted: 2004-02-27 06:38

shame on you Tbone......

i have spent two days reading this story over and over again at work!!! lol im in big trouble

but hey this story is incredible, the best ever

well done
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Tbone
Grand Admiral

Joined: July 21, 2001
Posts: 1756
From: Vancouver

Posted: 2004-06-08 21:06

And you thought this story was dead, didn't you? I don't really have an excuse for my not continuing this in any sort of scheduale, at least not earlier in the summer. In any case, I hope to be continuing this at least occasionally, which would be an improvment over the several months of nothing.

Enjoy.

Chapter 3: Into the Depths:

There were only 3 K’luth strongholds left in Sol; Earth and Luna, Venus, and the Saturn lunar system. It was agreed that Venus would be the next target because although it would have a large defending fleet, it would be only a single planet firing missiles at the UGTO ships instead of two—or several dozen. The fleet from Ross 148 would remain with the Jupiter Fleet throughout the rest of the Sol campaign. After the first disastrous attempt by the K’luth ships in Wolf 359 no K’luth ships, not even scouts, had been spotted in the system. The minefields still lay silent around each and every planet.

The war in space had gone well for the humans by anyone’s standards. The casualties inflicted on the K’luth fleets were massive and the recurring losses on the UGTO side relatively light. However, while Devine, Stewart, and Morhaime were brilliant commanders, they could not prevent losses from occurring no matter how much they tried. Ships were destroyed or crippled beyond repair and could not be replaced; tactics only reduced the amount. A briefing was called to discuss the status of the fleets, as well as future plans.

Davies, always the devil’s advocate, was speaking. “So are you saying we have sustained too many losses to continue?”

Devine was able to take it in stride easily by now. “Not at all, vice admiral. If the K’luth had many more reinforcements, as we have been led to believe, we would be in grave trouble. But I have some data I wish to show I have compiled with the help of the Beowulf’s sensor officer.” Devine called up the display on the main viewscreen. The header across the top read “K’luth Use of Jump Gate (Sol).” Devine indicated the numbers. “As you can plainly see gentlemen, the K’luth have not used the gate for anything that resembles a mass movement of ships. We have inflicted heavy casualties on them to this point, and I began collecting this data since after the attack on Mars. If these numbers reflect their reinforcements, they have brought barely ships to outfit several squadrons, no more.”

“What about long-jumping?” Morhaime asked. “They could have easily brought ships to Sol or Ross 148 not using the gate to avoid any attacks or detection.”

“That is correct, but I do not believe it is true. Look at the situation in Ross 148. We have caught glimpses of K’luth scouts on the fringes of sensor range, so they must be aware by now there are no ships guarding our planets there. And it would be a simple matter to avoid getting caught in the same mine trap they were last time, maybe even clear the fields with mine detectors. Yet there have been no subsequent attacks after their first disastrous attempt. Is it possible that they are simply gathering another fleet for another attack? Of course it is. But if their reinforcements are so limitless, why wait at all? Why not attack again before the field is back in place?”

There was a moments silence as the admiralty digested what Devine had told them. Bishop was the first to speak. “What are you saying Mr. Devine? That the K’luth have no more ships outside when they have placed here, barring those that may be in the ICC home system? That they have thrown all their forces into this single massive attack, simply hoping it would succeed?”

“Yes, rear admiral, I believe that is exactly what has occurred. They certainly have some ships outside Sol, supply ships and some escorts, but nothing that would be able to reinforce their positions here to any significant degree.”

“And the fleet that was in Wolf 359? Why would they not attack Ross 148 earlier, as Morhaime was attacking a planet?”

“The K’luth know war better then us. They have been fighting amongst themselves for who knows how many years, as well as with whatever enemy that forced them to flee here. I believe they predicted we would reinforce Sol with the Ross fleet. Unfortunately for them, they did not anticipate the minefield, or at the very least did not anticipate it to be as large as it was. As for any holding force in the ICC systems, they would not be as large as the fleet that was in Wolf. The ICC fleets were devastated, as you know, and they did not have such a huge defensive advantage that we enjoy here. We are receiving reports from some of our long range scouts still caught beyond Luyten that there are still several coherent ICC units out there causing some damage to K’luth installations. But these attacks are small and have been dwindling off, some time after out breakout of Jupiter.

“I conclude, gentlemen, that what we face here in Sol is almost the entirety of their remaining fleet.”

Stewart spoke up. “You have given us a lot to think about, Mr. Devine. If there aren’t any further comments or questions, this briefing is adjourned.”

Stewart got up to leave with the rest of the admirals, but Devine stopped him. “Admiral? May I speak to you in private for a moment?”

“Certainly,” Stewart said. “Continue the preparations for the attack on Venus,” Stewart ordered the other admirals. When they were gone, Stewart turned to Devine. “What is it?”

“I have something potentially disturbing to share with you, admiral. I did not want this out in the open as yet, because it is unconfirmed.”

Stewart was instantly on alert. “Out with it, Mr. Devine.”

“Do you recall when the privateer dropped out of the attack on Uranus?”

“Vaguely, Stewart said hesitantly. “The ‘Torbazin’ or something similar?”

“The Tabarzin. It claimed to have suffered a reactor failure and jumped out to a safe distance to effect repairs. You are unaware of how uncommon failures of that magnitude are.”

“Uncommon, but not unheard of. Those ships don’t have access to the best repair yards most of the time. Slapped together repairs of an earlier reactor problem perhaps?”

Devine had apparently already considered that. “Possible, not likely, but possible. But the reactor failure, if it was one, is not the troubling part. It is what occurred some time after it, in the asteroid belt. The sensor bases at Mars picked up a brief—a few seconds—flare of energy from inside the belt. There wasn’t enough time to positively identify the energy, but after full sensors were directed to that area, the left-over residue appeared to be plasma.”

“The K’luth don’t use plasma, do they?” Stewart asked.

“No, admiral. They have no need for it. Their anti-matter engines use a different start-up sequence. There was also a regularly shaped mass detected moving through the field shortly after the burst.”

“Well, those asteroids are moving all the time, what with the collisions and—wait, a regulary shaped mass you say? No asteroid discovered yet has been regular has it?”

“No, admiral. There is only one possibility; that ‘mass’ was a ship rigged for silent running.”

“Why wasn’t I informed of this earlier?” Stewart demanded.

“The mass wasn’t actually classified as regular under the sensor logs. It wasn’t until I reviewed them did I discover the discrepancy. The sensor personnel did track the object, however, until it intersected with another asteroid. They presumed the two collided.”

Stewart let that pass for now, and plunged on, seeing where Devine was leading him. “Do you think the Tabarzin was the mass discovered inside the field?”

“Not only do I think that, I believe the Tabarzin landed on that other asteroid. For what purpose, I do not know. But I believe an investigation is warranted.”

“This, Mr. Devine, is an understatement.” Stewart stood up and walked to a communications panel. “Stewart to bridge, contact the Mars sensor office. I need to talk to them immediately.”

* * * *

Moments later, Stewart and Devine were on the bridge, facing the viewscreen that contained the elderly officer in charge of the sensor bases. “Admiral, this is indeed a surprise to be contacted on such short notice, but I will always have time for you. What can I do for you, sir?”

“I need a portion of your sensor logs, of the asteroid belt,” Stewart said.

“Of the asteroid belt, sir?” The man was clearly puzzled. “But there hasn’t been any activity there for a long time.”

“There has been more then you think, and I need them now.” Stewart outlined the date, time, and location of the scans then thanked the officer when they were received.

“If I may ask, sir, what is this all about?”

“Nothing you need to know about, though I suggest you take a closer look at the shape of your ‘asteroids’ in the future.” Stewart closed the channel. “The attack begins in 12 hours, Mr. Devine. Will that be enough time?”

“More then enough. Thank you, admiral.” Devine left the bridge and Stewart sat in the command chair. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, thinking about this latest problem as well as a multitude of others. But it seemed his problems weren’t over yet.

“Admiral,” the communications officer said, we are receiving a distress call… from a UGTO scout!”

Stewart wrenched himself straight up in his chair. “Put it on audio!”

“This…UG…scout Chinook…pursued…luth shi…. Under heavy…mming…ttack. Req…immediate assistance.”

“Confirm the authentication codes!” Stewart ordered at once.

“Confirmed, sir. The codes are up to date.”

“Do you have a location of the beacon?”

“Yes, sir. Feeding it to the helm now.”

“Contact our wing of ships and give them the location. Order them into formation and prepare for tachyon jump!”

30 seconds later the admiral’s squadron of ships; his Elite Assault Dreadnought, 4 Battle Cruisers, and 4 Gunboat Destroyers, were aligned and jumping to the location of the embattled UGTO scout.

“Jamming field in effect, sir! I can’t contact the scout.”

“Get me a reading on the K’luth ships and the scout,” Stewart ordered.

“A Mandible-class dreadnought and 4 Beak-class Frigates. The scout has sustained heavy damage to its port side. It is outrunning the K’luth ships for the moment, but the Mandible’s fighter wings are surrounding the scout, forcing it to take evasive action towards the other ships. It won’t last much longer.”

“Take us in. Order the Battle Cruisers to launch interceptors and take those fighters out.”

The Battle Cruisers complied and each launched 3 Hornet-class Interceptors to engage the K’luth assault fighters. But the Mandible had 3 fighter bays, as opposed to each cruisers’ 1, and it had already launched 6 wings of fighters making a veritable swarm around the scout. Nimble as the scout was, it wouldn’t last forever. The interceptors did heir job though, they plowed straight into the middle of the buzzing fighters, broke formations, and scored hits.

The other K’luth ships had taken notice of the UGTO squadron by then and, seeing they were outgunned and outnumbered, broke off their attack on the scout, which was now heading straight for the Beowulf, assisted by its fighter escort. But the K’luth fighters remained steadfast, continuing to punish the scout’s compromised armor and hull. The UGTO interceptors tried their hardest, but number of K’luth made it impossible to stop every one from firing at the scout.

A bright flash lit up the small craft as a K’luth shot vaporized one of the scout’s proton drives, instantly disabling the scout and sending it flying head over heels. In a sheer bout of irony though, this in fact helped the scout escape a great amount of the punishment it had been receiving. The violent release of energy rapidly changed the scout’s direction and speed, disrupting any target lock the K’luth fighters had on it. The Beowulf was now almost directly upon the scout and snagged it in a tractor beam, stopping its forward movement and bringing it under the protection of its guns and escorts. The K’luth fighters recognized a hopeless situation when they saw it, and broke off their attack and headed back to the still retreating Mandible at their full speed. The UGTO fighters let them go, and returned to their own ships, but kept a close eye on their scanners none the less.

“Pull the scout into the main hanger and have a security detail there to meet it.” Stewart ordered. “Madsen and Devine, please come with me.” Stewart headed for the lift, with the two close on his heels.

* * * *

Two minutes later the trio was standing outside the hanger bay airlock, waiting for the area to be repressurized and flooded with an atmosphere. The massive doors closed with a resounding clang and immediately after the quiet hiss of air being reintroduced could be heard. The bay was ready for entrance in a few seconds. The airlock door slipped to the side and Stewart entered, flanked by his first officer, Devine, and six security officers. Stewart wasn’t expecting trouble, they had sent the proper communication codes after all, but there was no sense in taking that risk.

In any case, the rear hatch of the scout began to open. The security guards raised their weapons slightly, almost imperceptibly, as the hatched touched the ground. A foot appeared at the top of the ramp and began to make its way down. The admiral stepped forward to greet him. “Captain, welcome aboard the Beowulf.” Both shook hands.

“It’s my pleasure, admiral. I must thank you for you’re timely rescue; those fighters were picking us apart. When they got that last shot in, I was sure we were done for. I suppose it was a blessing in disguise, even if it almost destroyed my ship in the process.”

“I must admit to surprise at the size of the squadron that attacked you, captain. It was quite a force for one little scout,” Stewart wondered.

The Chinook captain didn’t especially like his ship being called “little,” but he wasn’t about to question an admiral. “It might have surprised us too, admiral. That is, if it wasn’t for our cargo.”

That sparked Stewart’s curiosity. “And what ‘cargo’ would that be, captain?” He asked.

A small smile escaped onto the captain’s lips. He turned and called up into the scout, “Bring him down!”

“’Him’?” Stewart repeated. “Who exactly are--”

At Stewart’s side, Devine’s back went ramrod straight. He began to visibly back away from the craft, clutching at the sides of his head. Stewart had diverted his attention to Devine, until he heard clack of hard soles on metal, except it wasn’t the sound of a human boot. He turned sharply and found himself facing a semi-conscious K’luth. Not just a K’luth however, one dressed in the uniform of the Tribal Council. “What in the world…?” Stewart started.

At that moment, the K’luth’s eyes snapped wide open and focused directly on Devine, a murderous intent obvious in them. Before anyone could react, the K’luth broke free of the two crew holding him and launched himself at Devine. The two went down, but they didn’t fight with their hands and feet. Both went very still, as the K’luth’s four hands placed themselves on top of Devine’s head.

[ This Message was edited by: Tbone on 2004-06-08 21:14 ]
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