AMP Colossus (14 page)

I spoke. "We are about to get overrun. There are too many of them."

I switched channels to the major. "Martin! Have that last cannon target those mortar launchers. We need those jammers!"

Several seconds passed before the first of the mortar cars imploded and then exploded as a gravity pulse found its mark. The cannon was swung around and the second launcher quickly taken down. As the soldiers reached fifty meters, the jammers once again became effective. Hundreds of Colossuns immediately went idle. But the others continued forward.

At forty meters, the major took a hit and was knocked from his command perch on the remaining pulse cannon platform.

I handed my pulse rifle to Ashley and pulled out my AK. "This is going to be nothing but messy. Shoot at their groins if you want the best chance of shutting them down. It seems to have the biggest impact on the core area."

Ashley quipped as she grinned and fired, "Ah, so they are males."

I marveled at her calm.

At thirty meters, I yelled over the comm, "If we go hand to hand, remember, pop that breastplate and pull that core!"

At twenty meters, I reached over and pulled Ashley behind the cannon base.

I spoke. "If they breach that short wall, we are in for a world of hurt."

Ashley moved back into the open. "Well, then we have to stop them. And don’t pull me back, as I can’t get off a clean shot!"

As the first of the Colossun soldiers reached the wall, they halted their progress and turned away. We continued to fire.

Ashley spoke. "What happened? Why are they turning back?"

I stood as I looked at my arm pad and popped off two more rounds from my AK. "They are turning back because we have help! Stand up!"

As Ashley stood, she could see the reason why the Colossuns had stopped their advance. A black line of bodies could be seen running in our direction. Their numbers were in the tens of thousands, if not more than a hundred thousand strong. It was every able-bodied Grell from the Embry Mines.

As the Ponik moon rose into the night sky, the occasional shimmer of an antique Grell family sword shone through the darkening light. The Grell charged forward as pulser rifles tore into their ranks. Bodies were ripped apart and slung in every direction, but the Grell continued to come.

I again shouted out a command. "Make every shot count! Those are friendlies out there!"

The Grell quickly descended on the Colossun soldiers. Their casualties were high. Their strategy was strong. The family blades were used to slice through the tethers, rendering the Colossuns inert. The battle was short, as the overwhelming numbers brought about a quick end. The remaining Colossun ship swooped in for a last pass at the horde of Grell. Our remaining pulse cannon fired a perfect shot, hitting the view-ports of the bridge and collapsing the cabin in on itself. The ship crashed hard less than a kilometer away.

As I stood on the platform looking out on the dark sea of Grell, I raised the shield on my helmet. The air was bitter cold and thin. A slight wind blew around me from behind. A damaged but still-functioning light illuminated my torso. The Grell turned in my direction. All was silent.

I held my AK over my head and yelled out at the top of my lungs. "Aaaaiiiiiiiyyyeeaaahhh!!!"

Several seconds passed before the Grell began to raise their weapons in the air and returned my call. The roar was deafening. Embry mines had been liberated and the main Colossun forces on Ponik defeated.

Ashley stood by my side with her rifle over her head and yelled out with her face shield open, "Wow! The Colonel was right!"

I glanced at her and yelled a reply over the nearly deafening cheers. "What are you talking about?"

Ashley continued, "Colonel Harper said you were possibly the luckiest man alive. If we ever got into battle, I should stick close to you, as you somehow always come out on top. He was right!"

When our casualty count was complete, we had lost another 126 Marines, and another 78 were no longer capable of fighting. The Grell had paid a tremendous price for their freedom. More than eight thousand lay dead on the battlefield, and another twelve thousand with moderate to critical injuries. But they were free for the first time in centuries, and it was a freedom they had earned.

In the following weeks, we attacked and liberated another eighteen mining hubs on Ponik. Each garrison fell as our tactics were refined and strategies realigned. The jammers worked wonders against the otherwise difficult enemy. At each location, thousands of microtransmitters made up the network that the Colossun androids received their communications over. After a thorough analysis, a single, yet powerful, computer system was found to be responsible for the decision making. Once the location of the system was found, the jammers were only used for initial contact. The systems were taken down, making the androids useless as soldiers.

As hubs were taken, more Grell were armed with pulsers from the defeated Colossuns. Complete control of the planet was only weeks away. Our efforts had been turned towards a comm exchange with the Grid. Our remaining harvester and two small transports were on their way, their bays gutted to hold the precious ore that we so badly needed. Ship production had begun, and the first destroyer was expected within weeks.

Huff Gervel was appointed as the first president of the new Grell Republic. The mines were reorganized, and the ores we needed for shipbuilding were mined and highly refined for transport to the Grid. In return, we shipped equipment to Ponik that would further increase their output as well as solve any self-sustainability issues that would arise. The Grell worked hard and were thriving under their new system.

Ashley and a number of our wounded caught a ride on the first transport to return to the Grid. She would be receiving a prosthetic foot. I remained on Ponik to oversee the establishment of a potential defense. The Colossuns would be coming. The only question was, when would they arrive?

The massive port door had been repaired, and the main bay was once again heated and pressurized. I sat at the command table with a bottle of Grell wine. It was overly sweet, but settled well and countered the otherwise bitter food of our hosts. Major Martin had served well, but with his injuries he had been sent home. Lieutenant Harmon Baxter was the new commanding officer, receiving a field promotion to the rank of major.

Baxter spoke. "Hitting the bottle again, are we?"

I replied, "Well, the wife is away, so the hubby’s gotta play… scratch that, I just need it to down this food. This place could use some salt!"

Baxter replied, "The men have been grumbling about that too. The next transport should include a resupply of our food stores, and they are sending along several cooks. You know, usually when we are camped out at a remote location, we are still on a ship. Hanging out in here is unusual. As Marines, we tend to like our routines when we aren’t fighting. They help us to recharge."

I sipped my wine and spoke. "I think we are all creatures of habit, Major. It’s all part of being Human."

Two weeks later, the first destroyer floated out of the shipyard on the Grid. The normal six-month build process had been shortened dramatically by the removal of all things political from the process. Michael Felix was finding his stride as a politician for the people. The shipbuilding companies themselves were in turmoil, as were the union workers who assembled the ships. But the fast turnaround was also a source of pride, and with the right words spoken by Felix, patriotism had overtaken the status quo.

On Ponik, we had taken the remains of our transport and combined them with the downed Colossun ship to create a transport. It was sub-light, but worked well to get around the planet and up to the destroyer when it arrived. I was eager to take a tour of our newest fleet vessel, titled
Granger
.

As I stepped onto the bridge, the captain greeted me. "Mr. Grange, glad to have you aboard, Sir. I’m Captain Yvette Mills."

I replied, "Nice to meet you, Captain. Who picked out the name?"

Captain Mills replied, "That would be President Felix. There were a few grumbles about you still being alive, as ships generally do not get named after people who are living. So, it was changed to
Granger
."

As I looked around the bridge at the shiny new equipment, Mills continued, "Did you bring your gear up with you?"

I replied, "I thought I was just coming up for a tour. Do you know something I don’t?"

The Captain shook her head. "I was told you received the communique about the tour."

I replied, "I did. When do we start?"

The Captain again shook her head. "I’m afraid you misread it, Sir. ‘Tour’ as in ‘tour of duty.’ We are heading from here towards Gurt Station. If the Colossuns are heading this way, it will be our job to either stop them or, at a minimum, evaluate their strength."

The Captain turned away. "Ensign, call down and see to it that Mr. Grange’s gear is packaged up for transport up here. Have it ready at the port when the shuttle gets back down there."

The Captain turned back towards me and spoke. "We’ll get it straightened out, Mr. Grange. In the meantime, how about I take you on a tour of our latest fighting vessel? I think you will like some of the improvements."

The start of the tour was on the bridge. It had the latest technologies applied to workstations for the various bridge personnel. There were also redundant stations in case part of the bridge fell to damage. The entire ship could be piloted from the bridge, engineering, or the medical facilities. One of the stations had a label across the front that read "Yacabucci."

The Captain spoke. "We have both front- and rear-facing Yacabuccis. And over here, we have our weapons station. There are four ion cannons forward and three aft, along with five down each side. They are the most powerful cannons we have ever produced for a ship. All combined, we have about one-sixteenth the power of one of those cannons on the Grid. And I will have to say, Sir, I am eager to see what they will do."

I was shown the comm and nav stations and then taken down to engineering. I immediately recognized the ion recombiners as those that the Durians had sold us and Frig had modified.

I spoke. "What is her top speed, Captain?"

The Captain replied, "We have an improvement over the original design. These engines are capable of being switched between positive and negative mode instantaneously. The system is tied into our field sensors on the front of the ship. We make use of the polarity of ion fields that we may be passing through. On our trip out, she managed 346 SOL on average. Without running through a nebula, our top speed hit 376 SOL."

The Captain continued, "Our scientists and engineers determined that the Durians used that same technology for their drives. It is the reason their ships were able to travel faster than ours. Oh, and did I mention that we fly with a complete complement of conventional weapons? We have quite the armory on here."

I spoke. "Do you know if they are evaluating the pulse cannons? It might not be a bad addition, depending on who we are fighting. It would be interesting to know how they fare against Tantric armor."

The Captain replied, "I will make a note to ask that question."

The Captain rounded out the tour by showing me to my quarters. The interior of my cabin consisted of a bunk, which was happily long enough for my frame, a desk and chair, and a small private bath. The Captain gestured for me to have a seat.

The Captain spoke. "Now for your assignment: you will accompany me on the bridge as an advisor. We will be heading towards Gurt Station. It would be naïve of me to think there wasn’t going to be a fight. If the Colossun ships are anything like those fighters you shot down with their technology, they are going to have a bad day going up against this ship."

I replied, "What do we have on here as far as troops? Are we planning to board any ships?"

The Captain leaned back against the desk. "I was told you would be interested in that. We have four hundred Marines, including four squads that Colonel Harper handpicked for you. He knew that if there was any boarding of other ships, you would find your way on there. He said he wanted these people off the Grid anyways, as they were driving him nuts. I would guess you know some of them."

I shook my head. "I could take a good guess at a few of the names. Either way, I am happy to have them. Some of them may be a little crazy at times, but I fit right in."

With the tour over, I walked with the Captain back to the bridge. Supplies were transferred to our Marines on the surface, and my gear was sent up to the
Granger
. Several hours later we left orbit, making our way towards Gurt Station.

I sat in a chair on the bridge and talked with Captain Mills. "A six-month journey from Gurt should only be a couple days for us, right? And if the Colossuns are already on the way, we might be running into them tomorrow. The ship is new; how much training has your crew had?"

The Captain replied, "The majority of the crew are combat vets. Most came over from Zimmerman's command. I was first officer on a cruiser in the forty-second Milgari war. This crew is as ready as any crew could be, Mr. Grange. For the new weapons and capabilities, we have simulators. They have been training on those, first on the Grid, and now here on the
Granger
, for several months. Admiral Chaulk has always been a stickler when it comes to training. We are prepared."

I sat back and nodded. "OK, was just curious. Glad to have vets with us. What's the plan if and when we spot them?"

The Captain typed on her console, and an image of the space in front of the ship popped up on the large view-screen to our left. "The blue line is our approximate sensor reach. If anything shows this side of it, we will come to a stop and evaluate. We will have plenty of time to decide what we want to do, as our image will not reach them for some time yet. One of the nice things about faster-than-light travel."

I replied, "Sorry, Captain. That wasn't what I was asking. Do you have scenarios planned for an assault? We could sit, cloaked, and then surprise them."

The Captain smiled. "You really are eager to board a Colossun ship, aren't you, Mr. Grange. We have practiced a variety of simulations, but you can never be sure of what to expect until you see exactly what's there. Come to think of it, I think you might benefit from a simulation or two. It will give you familiarity with our systems and should help focus your mind for any coming battle. Ensign Renaldi! Set Mr. Grange up with a few simulations. And see to it that they make full use of the ship's abilities. Maybe the Hetch offensive would be a good scenario for him to start with."

I was soon immersed in a conflict that had me scrambling to learn each of the major duty stations on the ship. I had to train my simulated crew to implement the orders as I would call them. The training AI was a remarkable application. I had used it before when playing Bollox on some of my longer Messenger runs. It had a nasty habit of misinterpreting commands at random, sometimes at the most inopportune moments. With a ship the size of a destroyer to command, I knew it was going to be a struggle. Eight hours later I found myself crashing in my bunk. Fifteen scenarios without a victory had me grumbling as I dozed off.

The following morning I was awakened by an ensign. "Good morning, Sir. The Captain requests your presence on the bridge. The enemy fleet is now within sensor range."

I slowly rolled out of bed and splashed my face with cold water. I then turned and took the three steps to my wardrobe. As I looked over my shoulder, the ensign was still standing there.

I spoke. "Is there something else you need, Ensign?"

The ensign replied, "Sorry, Sir. The Captain said..."

Before the ensign could finish her sentence, I pointed my finger at the door. "The Captain can wait the extra few seconds for me to dress. I'll meet you in the hallway."

As I entered the bridge, the Captain had her staff around her. "We have six that we categorize as destroyers, twelve frigates, and four support ships. What we don't know yet is what this behemoth over here is. Is that a transport or a mega-battleship?"

The weapons officer replied, "We don't have the resolution to determine that yet, Captain."

The navigation officer spoke. "We should have a firm image in about six minutes."

I stepped into the conversation. "What do you want to bet it's loaded with about a half million of those androids? Those ships won't do a lot to put down an uprising without destroying the place first. If you wanted your mines back somewhat intact, you would send in your troops."

The Captain spoke. "This brings a question to mind. If you have all these androids that are easy for you to control through commands, why have all these slaves? I would think it would be easier to put the droids to work doing the mining so you wouldn't have to deal with the natives."

I replied, "I had a long discussion with Ashley, my wife, about this very subject. I put forth the idea that maybe they kept them around for doing work that requires individual thought. Like the Tribuks we have encountered. Why have them if your androids could fly the ship? It's probably because their AI isn't advanced enough to do it on its own."

I continued, "My wife has a different theory. What good is an empire if you don't have others to serve you? Except for the Milgari, who were drugged, every hostile species we have encountered is most interested in control. They will completely wipe out a species here or there, but at some point it all comes down to controlling others. We have had plenty of Humans that behaved that way; just look at McKinzey if you want an example."

The weapons station second then spoke from his console. "We have a solid image. Bringing it up on the view-screen now."

The Captain spoke. "Hmm, looks like you win, Grange. These definitely look like shuttles lining each side. Tommy! You have the container sizes from that ore hauler we captured. Give me an estimate of how many of those containers that ship would hold!"