Free Fleet #03 No Rest for the Wicked (23 page)

“Me? Change? What a horrible idea!” Smith said, Connolly grinning as they walked towards the recreational areas of Nancy.

“So what's it like having an AI helping out?” Smith asked.

“A godsend. Lare has streamlined the process of fixing ships by thirty percent. He's also looked into laying down the first Dreadnought keel. We're going to wait until we've got the new Battle Cruisers out, but it's just amazing. We're going to be making our own ships soon enough. It's crazy.”

Connolly shook his head.

“That's good. Seems I'll have that to think about while I'm piloting a tug,” Smith said.

“A tug?”

“Well, the new fighters, as you said, won't be done for another couple of weeks. In that time I'm second on a tug. Are they as bad as I've been told?” Smith grimaced.

“Worse,” Connolly smiled as they got on a transport.

“Shit. Oh, well. It should be worth it. Have you heard how Earth is now coming after Yasu for looking after the kids of the Recruits?”

“Yeah, it's stupid. Earth can't support that number of kids. Hell, they wouldn't know how to deal with the fact that they're a year and a half old and look like they’re seventeen.”

“With the mental capacity of a twenty year old,” Smith said, and Connolly felt his eyebrows rise.

“That's got to be one hell of a managing issue,” Connolly said.

“Oh, you bet. Yasu is running shop on them all.”

“That has got to be interesting,” Connolly remembered the stories that George had told him and the other Commandos about Yasu, Salchar and the rest of the leaders of the Free Fleet.

***

Yasu closed her eyes, smelling the growing section. She was breathing in the soft aromas of earth, water, and nature.

She heard a thump. Her eyes found Wallace on the ground, Linda and Tyler in the tree, looking at Yasu. The expression
oh shit
plastered on their faces.

“Out of the tree this minute!” Yasu said, storming over to them. She yanked Wallace's hands out of the way, checking his head as Tyler and Linda toed the dirt.

Yasu felt the other kids watching.

“Keep staring and you'll be doing training too,” she said, the kids quickly going back to their work as Tyler, Linda and Wallace looked glum. “Put some ice on that later, and tell someone if it starts hurting more,” Yasu said as she moved away from the three kids.

When she had come to Hachiro she had devoted her time to creating a training plan for basic mecha control, fighting skills, and ship skills. Within the first rotation she had gotten her plans ironed out and left them to Takahashi. She kept close tabs on the man. While he was doing his level best to train people to the Free Fleet's standard, she still remembered how he had used her to ambush James. It was not something she was going to easily let go.

With her extra time she trained. She also read and much to chagrin she was growing bored with the incessant wasting of time. That is until one of the nannies in charge of the thousands of kids that the recruits had birthed asked if she wanted to give some self-defence classes to the kids. Yasu had thought it would be useless, but the kids were eager to learn. They loved doing new things. She didn't teach them like kids, but adults, and got the Sato sisters involved. She remembered the looks of confusion and shock that the Sato sisters had tried to hide as they helped train the kids.

The sisters hadn’t been the only one’s teaching the kids new things. Yasu had seen the sisters smiling and laughing with the kids. They were like big sisters, whether they wanted to be or not.

Yasu didn't treat the kids like kids. It was clear to see they hated that. They were much more advanced than their Earth-born equivalents. She treated them like teenagers and adults, something they appreciated and probably why they spent all of their time around Yasu. The kids weren't just human. There were Sarenmenti and Kuruvians as well. Some cared where they came from, but most just accepted the fact that they had a few hundred thousand brothers and sisters.

“Since you three have so much time to go climbing when you're supposed to be looking after the crops and plants that keep us alive, we'll be doing circuits today.” The three groaned.

“Come on,” she told them, the three following her as she took them into the training area. They nodded solemnly and greeted those that they knew.

The trainees grinned. Yasu's punishments were famous not only with the kids but among their own ranks.

“Arms, so you might be able to hold onto a tree better. Begin,” Yasu said as they found an open spot in the middle of the track.

She felt pride and caring for each child. All of them had their quirks and issues. Yet she had made it her policy that anyone could come to her at any time. Sometimes that had meant little to no sleep, but they were worth it.

Commander Whorst pinged her implants, so she opened the channel.

“Commander?” she asked. The Sarenmenti was the Hachiro’s commander, and her direct supervisor. Though it usually worked out that he assisted her in getting people trained and kept Hachiro running and building, which was nearly completely finished.

“Yasu, it seems that there is an issue on the planet.” He sounded concerned, but not alarmed.
Hopefully it's not more politicians being idiots
, she thought.

“What issue?”

“It seems that the Syndicate didn't only accelerate the Recruits aging. They did it to everyone on the planet,” Whorst said.

Oh shit.

“While these kids have accelerated brain growth, the majority don't have teaching implants.”

“So they're kids with big bodies and all the joys of that, with a developed brain and nothing in it.”

“Yes,” Whorst said.

“Tell the parents to get them sleep implants and start educating them on everything. If they can't handle it we will,” She said, looking at Linda, Tyler, and Wallace as they changed from dips to push-ups to pull-ups.

“I'll let them know,” Whorst said cutting the channel.

She felt that new weight rest on her shoulders as she wished, not for the first time, that Salchar was around. While they had fought like hell in the beginning they had finally come together, working as a team, as a couple. A small smile crossed her face. Maybe they would be adding another kid to Hachiro's halls sometime soon. She had done her training plan. She had sorted out the kids and dealt with the loss of everyone she had known on Earth.

She was ready to get back to the Fleet, back to Salchar.

***

George and Silly looked at the plans in front of them. Since the second battle of Parnmal Silly had churned out seven Corvette’s, four Destroyers, and three Dreadnought's. He hadn't finished one Battle Cruiser, and the reason he hadn't was the plan in front of him. It combined Felix's gadgets and the technology that had been created from throwing all kinds of Rex together, as well as the experiences of the ship's crews.

The new Battle Cruisers were only possible due to the number of them and the new technology.

“This is going to be one hell of an undertaking,” George said.

“Oh, it will,” Silly said.

“It's the most extreme double-bagging I ever did see,” George said.

Half of the Battle Cruisers had been stripped down to the bare armour, which was completely repaired. They had been cut along the sides, the engine cut out and the bow split, creating what looked like a flayed ship. The second half of the ships had their armour fully repaired and replaced and were slotted inside the first Battle Cruiser. The additional armour was stuck on using explosive welding and the result was that the Battle Cruiser doubled its armour.

Once that was done Silly and his crews had to go about putting in the new weapon systems and blow-out panels. New and upgraded reactors and engines would allow the Battle Cruiser to move as fast as before, though the charge times for wormholes would be increased. Eddie had wanted to do the same thing to Resilient, but the Dreadnought's had been built with thick armour and were one hell of a ship already. Destroyers were too small for the new upgrades, and so were the Corvettes. So it had to be the Battle Cruisers.

“Now, for the carrier conversions it's going to be a little harder. I was thinking of copying the Detara class Carrier,” Silly said as he brought up a hologram of the carrier.

It had pods on either side that acted as runways for fighters.

“Yes, but then you have increased jump times and weak points where the hangars are, due to being tacked on, not built into the structure,” Lare said, adding his own opinion.

“So go with a solid-state hangar system like the Oluti Class?” George said, a hologram of that carrier replacing the previous image.

“With a single hangar running the length of the Carrier there is the issue of incoming fire. A missile in the right spot and the soft underside is gone,” Silly said.

“Also if one side is taken out then having fighters coming in and out of only one side will severely limit their capabilities. Look at the issues Pandora is having because of that,” Lare added.

“So we need a system that has more than one way on and off the boat. And doesn't leave us with structural issues,” George said, flipping through holograms of various ships.

“I might have a suggestion,” Lare said, sounding apprehensive.

“Well, spit it out,” Silly said as a Hondula class carrier appeared. It looked like a rounded stone with odd nubs on it.

“The Hondula used wing pods that were close to the ship. They didn't launch at great speeds as they ejected sideways. If we had ships ejected forwards with rails like human carriers and not tube accelerators like the ones on Pandora we would have a lower power draw, but little structural change, and small targets with snap shields,” Lare said. The wing pods looked like half circle jet engine air-intakes with fins inside.

“Though you'll have limited launch capability,” Silly said.

“Launching will be slower, but with the right system we can take space from the human's again and store fighters inside the ship. If the runways are hit, then not everything is lost,” Lare said.

“Show me what your wing pods would look like on the Battle Cruiser.

The Battle Cruiser had little in the way of cannons, but had five wing pods. Two on each side facing forward and one underneath facing to the rear.

“How many wings could this puppy hold?” Georg asked.

“Eight wings,”

“Going with missiles and PDS still?” Silly asked.

“Yes, though there could be some medium classed cannons along the spine.”

Lare added in the cannons to the top of the carrier. It was the strongest part of the ship, away from the large areas that the wing pods would need, and would give the carrier some offensive abilities up close. Missiles were great, but the more options one had the better.

“Well, I think we just decided how we're going to make our Battle Carriers,” Silly said.

“Good work, Lare,” George added, grinning at the rotating hologram.

“Thank you. It was fun.”

“That's even better! Now to get these beasties made. In a few months we might be able to make a real carrier,” Silly said.

“Always seems that we're saying another few months,” George complained.

“Makes the anticipation that much more,” Silly, said giving him a playful pat.

“Now we have Battle Cruisers to outfit!” he said as he sent orders to have the already prepared hulls moved into the only free slip.

There were four slips, and a fifth quickly coming along. It didn't seem anywhere near enough, yet its size was massive. The fifth slip would fit Resilient and regular carriers. The sixth, which was being put together by Lare and a small drone army, should be big enough to start building the first super carriers. Silly rubbed his hands together. He hadn't felt so alive in a long time. Salchar hadn't lied when he said he'd be busy as Murphy's own meddling hands.

Chapter - The Obstinate and the Gamer

Lady Fairgate threw the cup she was drinking from. Her calm face turned into a mask of anger as she read the report from Foshunti's fleet.

“He thinks he can defy me? I fucking made him!” she grated, wishing she had something else to throw in anger.

No one in the room dared to make noise, or anything that would draw attention. A slave cleaned up the remains of the cup.

Word had reached her that Foshunti instead of destroying the Free Fleet wholesale, had turned it into one of his twisted games. Captain Lord Lifendi was still off on the line making sure that the Kalu threat wasn't a real one. While also trying to find out about the Planner that was rumoured to have been seen again. She looked at the screen, fuming. Foshunti had put her in a bad position. To chastise him would make her look weak, and while no one knew that she had told him to attack the Free Fleet full on, both she and he did.

It was a clear threat to her authority, but one that she couldn't change without looking weak herself. She wrote a message to Foshunti, detailing how displeased she was with the change in tactics, and also giving him a thinly veiled ultimatum to win against the Free Fleet. Or she would personally see to his re-education with her own KaaOrv.

She sent the message and watched the other reports coming in. People were upset per usual. She didn't care. She had made it her life goal to see the Union in ashes for letting the Kalu get through their lines and hitting her home planet. Everything and everyone she'd ever known had died, but she survived. Fuelled by her anger and a sharp mind she had brought the Syndicate together for the sole purpose of crushing those that had taken away her childhood.

Lady Fairgate didn't care about the Kalu. While they might be the ones that dropped the nukes, they weren't the ones that didn't keep their promise. Her promise was simple. She would fight for herself, and watch the rest of the galaxy burn. She revelled in chaos and anarchy. She had seen how planets that relied on trading had returned to the caves of their ancestors as they had nothing to live off of. She looked to Worshun, seeing how the planet looked like a mark on the perfect blackness of space, instead of the jewel it had once been.

She stood and began pacing so she could think. She needed to crush the Free Fleet, break their hopes as soon as possible. If the Kalu were a real threat then she would need to escape quickly. Earth would provide her with the things she needed to live out a joyful existence while the Kalu destroyed what remained of the Union. Why should she waste her time killing people when she could get another to do it for her?

The syndicate would be in disarray, looking for a leader and running in all directions. It would be perfect anarchy. Yet she needed Sol system for the safety it would provide. With the station, shipyard, and her own fleet she could live comfortably with humans crewing the areas of the ship that were beneath her people. She would unleash her captains and their crew onto Earth, dividing it up as she wanted and letting them fight for what they held, or for more, if they wanted it. She sent orders to Rosho, a station in a nearby sector, sister to Parnmal. They were to assist Foshunti in getting rid of the Free Fleet and re-establishing Syndicate control over the area. It was fine if Foshunti was going to play his games. She was going to make sure that he had enough damn ships that losing wasn't an option.

***

The mood in the conference room was sour. Krom, Bok Soo, Eddie, Shrift, and Rick sat with their faces ranging from anger to sadness.

“So what are we going to do? Salchar is defeated. He doesn't think he should command anymore. Cheerleader has one of the Captain Lords inviting us to a space duel, Marhtu has escaped and Daestramus is in chaos,” Bok Soo finished.

“Daestramus hasn't signed a contract with the Free Fleet and I don't think we should get involved. This is the people's fight. Are we ready for a fight with a Captain Lord?” Rick asked.

“Definitely not. Foshunti will have at least one carrier, a handful of Dreadnought's and more Battle Cruisers, Destroyers, and Corvettes than we've probably ever seen,” Eddie said, his manipulators moving in aggravated twitches. “A Captain Lord is not sent to settle disputes. They're sent to decimate the enemy so badly that no one even thinks of looking at a weapon for a century,”

“What about pulling back to Parnmal?” Krom asked.

“We can't,” Shrift said. “The station is so damned messed up from the battle against Keluthat Foshunti would roll over us and then the station. We need to buy them time in case we fail.”

“So we gather the fleet and hit them?” Rick said. He dealt in information, facts and figures. Tactics, finesse and subtlety was Salchar's realm.

“Seems to be our only option,” Bok Soo grunted, sitting back in his chair.

“We should tell the Battle Mistress,” Krom said as Rick held his chin, nodding.

“It's worth it. Takahashi can take over training, and she can come with the rest of the Fleet,” Rick said, as the ramifications of what he was suggesting spread through the room. Yasu should be there before Foshunti could arrive, and if the main fleet was messed up, then she would at least be able to react to Foshunti and his fleet.

“Are we going to leave forces behind?” Bok Soo asked.

“Either win this battle or Foshunti is going to roll over us and take everything we have. If we do win, I'm going to suggest we have a base that can operate autonomously of the Free Fleet,” Rick said.

“You might not have to suggest anything sir. You might be the COFF,” Shrift said.

A few looked to argue the point before dismissing it. All of them had seen Salchar.

“So what are we going to tell the Fleet?” Rick asked

“He's sick, he's getting looked after. We can't let them know how he really is,” Bok Soo said, the others giving signs of agreement.

“Okay we'll keep it quiet for now,” Rick said, sighing. He just wanted the old Salchar back, the man that pushed the Fleet forward, not caring about the obstacles in his way.

“What about Edwards?” Krom asked and Rick felt his anger rise.

“As much as I hate the man we can't do anything with him. I should've sent him on Toupe back to controlled space. We'll keep him on the bridge until we get somewhere where he can stand trial and answer for betraying the trust of the Free Fleet,” Rick said.

Bok Soo grunted, the others showing contempt and anger at the man that had used his position in a foolish attempt to gain favour with Marhtu and give control to the United States.

I'm going to have to look into that as well. Or get Min Hae to see how much of a hold Earth has on the Free Fleet. How the hell did James deal with all this crap?
Rick thought as he stood.

“Alright. That's enough sitting around. I'm going to get the Resilient tuned for link-up with Cheerleader's forces. We'll gather at DU12287 and prepare to give this Foshunti bastard a right good ass kicking,” Rick said.

The others stood as he nodded and left the room. He couldn't deal with the thought that he might end up in charge of the Free Fleet. He couldn't think of the Fleet without Salchar.

“Ben, do you have the plot to link-up with Cheerleader?” Rick said as the other man exited the conference room.

“Yes sir,”

“Good. Milra, get us underway. Vort, coordinate with the other ships.” Rick took his seat, In Sook returning to her station.

All those who had gathered for the meeting filed out of the bridge. Rick pulled up his inbox, finding a detailed report on Resilient's condition. As well as the condition of the other ships in the Fleet. He kicked himself for being too preoccupied to have asked Eddie in the meeting. He needed to get focused. Salchar was his friend and commander, but even he had told Rick to look to the Fleet before everything else.

***

Bok Soo marched in past the doctors, nodding to a few people he knew as he stopped in front of Shreesht who wore his complete mecha, fully buttoned up. Shreesht nodded back as he took a breath and walked into the room. Calerd was curled up in his bed, despondent. Another person from the relations team sat silently, rocking himself.

Salchar sat in his bed, looking at the view screen which seemed to look directly out onto Worshun, the planet that had been the jewel of the Union. Salchar looked up, a smile covering his face. It was tinted with the pain in the young man's eyes. He got up, and Bok Soo didn't miss the grimaces as the two of them embraced.

“God, it's good to see you,” Bok Soo said, his eyes misty.

“I didn't think I’d get to see your Iron hide again,” James said as they held one another for a moment, just happy that they were both alive.

Bok Soo pulled away and James took a seat on his bed as Bok Soo sat on the visitor chair.

“So what is this garbage with you not wanting to be the CFF anymore?” he said, his tone curious instead of harsh.

“I'm done, Bok Soo, I don't have the confidence to be a commander anymore. It's useless,” James said, slumping.

“Grit your teeth,” Bok Soo said and James looked confused. Bok Soo hit him in the face, causing him to tumble off of the bed.

“The fuck was that for?” Salchar said as he got off of the floor.

“Stop listening to your self-pity and whining. Listen to the people around you. You didn't listen to what I was saying. You only thought of how hard you have it and you got punched for it,”

“Thanks,” James drawled.

“Anytime, brother,” Bok Soo grinned. “You better get off your damned ass and get on that bridge. We're going into what's going to be our biggest battle yet. We're going up against the Captain Lord Foshunti,” Bok Soo said, seeing James shut down again.

“I don't care,”

“Grit!”

James got out of the way of the incoming fist this time.

“Ahh, now you’re listening. Now sit!” Bok Soo said, James doing so sullenly.

“Foshunti is the only know Dovark that isn't on his home planet. He is ruthless, and twisted. He see's battle as a joke, a way to put one over on the other. He loves sadistic displays. Many think he's insane. He commands the Talhalla, a Detara super carrier and the fourth fleet. Lifendi commands the third, Fairgate the first and second,”

“Why are you telling me this?” James said, clearly annoyed.

“Because you're James goddamn Cook, Salchar the gamer that took Mecha Tail to the MAO and MAT championships. You're the man that got this whole damn thing going, and you're the man that's going to see that it continues going,” Bok Soo yelled, actually coming up out of his seat a little.

“I'm not him anymore,” James muttered, his eyes cast down.

“Oh stop this crap. Yes you were tortured, yes you saw people die. We all have! You're going to have to suck it up and expect more of the same. We aren't glamorous or good looking, but we're what this damned galaxy needs to set it right,”

“You're at least human! Look at me, I'm a beast,” James waved at himself.

“You’re alive aren't you!? That means you either get with the goddamn program or fuck off! This is a team, not a group of individuals—sound familiar?”

Bok Soo saw the recognition in Salchar's eyes, even if he didn't admit it.

“That's right, you said that to me after our third game. You know what I did. I packed, hell I even left and then not even a kilometre from the house I turned my sorry ass around and rolled back to Mecha Tail. You know why I did that? Because I wanted to be part of something that I could be proud of. I didn't know it, but I wanted to be part of a team. I wanted to be a part of Mecha Tail. Now it's your time to find out if you want to be in the Free Fleet. Till then I'm going to fill your twisted little head with all the information you're going to need to win this battle against Foshunti.”

Bok Soo smacked his hands together, making James jump.

“Now, to begin at the start is best, as you said. Cheerleader was doing her scouting as per normal when a Battle Cruiser jumped into the system sending her this transmission. Bok Soo went through all of the information.”

James was forced to listen carefully for when he would say 'grit.’ Otherwise he knew he would end up on the floor again.

Bok Soo knew that James was hurting. He had been through immeasurable pain. He'd seen the people he'd ordered to the surface die. He took all of the blame on himself. He felt weak and useless. Bok Soo knew that those two traits were what had gotten a lot of teams into trouble when Mecha Tail had come onto the gaming stage. James wasn't that strong alone, maybe an average player. But when he had people to draw on he only seemed to get stronger, and he was far from useless. His mind was his greatest asset, not his body.

Bok Soo completed the most in-depth briefing he could, going on not only to describe the forces they believed were coming with Foshunti, but also the strength of the Fleet and reports from Parnmal that Cheerleader had passed on.

“So we need to win against him before he gets to Parnmal. That gives us three systems. Our projected link-up date with our forces is three days behind when Foshunti wishes to face us in DU122349,” Bok Soo finished, outlining the data of the alpha-numeric system, which had nothing but a weak red star and some barely formed planets. It had a Jovian and a massive iceball of a planet, the gravitational pull of the two massive planets had stopped other planets forming inbetween them, creating a massive asteroid belt around the sun.