Galactic Empire Wars: Rebellion (The Galactic Empire Wars Book 3) (10 page)

Harmock gazed
at the main viewscreen in the Command Center as they neared the Talt planet.
For now, he would allow Xatul to continue to rule as head of the council.
However, once Harmock had subdued all of the nonaligned worlds, he fully
intended to take over command of the Council of Overlords and become the
Supreme Leader of the Kleese race and Empire. An Empire ruled by the Zaltule
that would someday control the entire galaxy.

Ryan waited
with some impatience outside the door to Major Stevens’ office. It had been two
days since his platoon had conquered Charring Mountain and it was strangely
quiet inside the dome. There had been no drills or additional instructions
though Ryan had taken his platoon out for routine physical training and a five-kilometer
run.

Casey was
sitting next to him fidgeting nervously with her hands in her lap. She knew
this interview was going to be very important and she wanted to do her best.
This was the hard part for her, running the platoon was much easier as she had
a structured system in place set up by the military to go by; this was
different.

“What do you
think they’ll ask us?” she spoke, looking over at Ryan expectantly. “I hope we
all qualify for this special program, especially if it involves the new
battlesuits.”

“I’m sure we
qualified,” answered Ryan, trying to sound confident. He was feeling a little
nervous also. If for some unknown reason he'd failed to qualify, he didn’t know
how he would be able to face his older brother.

The door to
Major Stevens’ office opened and Major Winfrey stepped out. He looked at the
two young marines and then gestured for them to enter. “Major Stevens is ready
to see you now.”

Ryan glanced
at Casey and then stood up and walked through the door. Casey followed close
behind. Winfrey shut the door behind them but didn’t enter.

They found
themselves in a small well-organized office with a bookcase on one wall and
numerous photos of various fleet ships on another. Major Stevens was sitting
behind a large desk, looking at two files in manila folders he was holding in
his hands.

Mark laid the
two folders down and gazed curiously at the two young marines coming into his
office. For that was what they were now that they had conquered Charring. They
stopped in front of his desk and came to attention, both saluting.

Mark stood up,
returned the salute, and gestured for the two to sit down in the comfortable
chairs in front of his desk. “I want to congratulate the two of you on reaching
the top of the mountain,” he began as he sat back down. “I watched part of the
drill and it was quite interesting. I’m curious, Lieutenant Nelson, as to why
you decided to use primarily energy weapons in your assault upon Charring.”

Wade took a
deep breath as he thought over his reply. He wondered if this was a test of
some kind. “Corporal Hunter and I talked about numerous strategies to use for getting
to the summit,” Ryan began to explain. “Everything we discussed seemed as if it
would end in failure. There was just no way to get to the top of the mountain
with enough of the platoon and working weapons left to allow us to win.”

“Do you agree
with that summation, Corporal Hunter?” asked Major Stevens as his eyes focused
on the young woman.

“Yes, Sir,”
answered Casey, looking confused. “The more we studied different strategies,
the more apparent it became that Charring was a no win situation. The scenario
is designed so no one can possibly reach the reset button on top of the
mountain.”

“Why would
that be the case? Why have a no win scenario?” Stevens asked, curious to hear
her reply.

“The battlesuits
give the occupants superior strength and speed,” Casey began, looking over at
Wade who nodded slightly. “You have enhanced vision optics and various sensors
to help locate and eliminate the enemy. The suits are impervious to most types
of weapons and allow you to carry a tremendous amount of firepower. In most
situations, a marine wearing a battlesuit has nothing to fear from the
opposition.”

“But that’s
not the case on Charring,” pointed out Stevens. “The RG rounds, while they
won’t penetrate the suit armor, still sting and the stunners are extremely
painful.”

“That’s the
point of Charring,” Ryan interjected in a calm voice. “Charring is to teach us
that the suits aren’t as invulnerable as we’re led to believe in our earlier
training. We’ll be going up against enemy combatants who have the weaponry to
damage or even destroy a battlesuit. We need to learn caution and not to take
the battlesuits for granted. Strategy must play a role in any scenario where
there will be combat, and we should resist the temptation to just try to bull
our way through the opposition.”

“Then how did
you manage to win?” Stevens asked his eyes looking penetratingly at Ryan. “You
shouldn’t have been able to win if it’s a no win scenario.”

“Sacrifice,”
Ryan answered with a deep sigh. “I calculated that if we cut a narrow swath up
the mountain and used our weapons to clear out the popups on our flanks we just
might be able to reach the top. Or at least a few of us would.” Ryan hesitated,
not sure if he wanted to explain the rest of the strategy he and Casey had come
up with.

Mark was
silent for a moment as he contemplated the lieutenant’s words. “So, you decided
to sacrifice members of your platoon to clear out the weapons on your flanks as
you burned a narrow path up the mountain. Is that what you’re telling me?” Mark
looked coldly at Ryan.

“Yes, Sir,”
replied Ryan unabashedly, as he realized the major was too smart not to figure
out what they had done. “It was the only way to win and I don’t believe in
losing, Sir.”

“Did your
soldiers know you were planning on sacrificing most of them to get to the top?
Charring is supposed to be about adapting to the changing scenario to save
lives, not to lose them.”

“No,” answered
Ryan, uneasily. “We decided it was best not to tell them. We realized in this
no win scenario that there was more emphasis being placed on learning strategy
and trying to save lives; it wasn’t designed to take intentional sacrifices
into account. It was the only way we could beat the mountain and that’s what we
decided to do.”

“You just
barely made it to the top,” Mark said as he leaned back in his chair and
focused his steady eyes on Ryan. “If you had lost one more soldier or had taken
one less energy weapon, you never would have made it and your sacrifices would
have been in vain.”

Ryan and Casey
remained quiet. They didn’t know if they were about to be reprimanded or what.
It didn’t sound as if the major was happy about what they had done. They knew
in some ways, due to how the scenario on Charring was designed, they had
technically cheated by refusing to play by the rules.

“This war
we’re in is a tough one,” Mark said as his eyes focused on the two. He'd studied
their files and been highly impressed. Ryan had graduated in the top ten
percent of his class at the Academy on Vesta and could have been an officer in
the fleet. Corporal Hunter had excelled as well, particularly in the science
part of the curriculum. “We’re vastly outnumbered by a race that thinks it’s
superior to us in every way. In their eyes, we’re nothing more than vermin that
needs to be wiped out. If we’re going to win, we have to take risks and make
sacrifices. That’s what you did on Charring and I offer you my congratulations.
While it wasn’t what we were expecting, it was an innovative way to beat the
mountain. I’m sure Major Winfrey will be modifying the scenario so this can’t
work a second time.”

Mark opened
the top drawer in his desk and took out a sheet of paper with a full lieutenant’s
insignia attached. “Second Lieutenant Ryan Nelson, effective today you are
being promoted in rank to full lieutenant.”

Ryan took the
promotion paper and insignia and gazed at it in surprise. He hadn’t been expecting
this. “I guess this means we qualified for the special project we signed up
for?”

“Yes,” Mark
replied his voice becoming much more serious. “Three other platoons will be
joining you shortly in the training dome. As you have probably already guessed
this training involves the new Type Four battlesuits. If we’re going to beat
the Kleese, we need every advantage we can possibly get and these suits will
help to provide one. The training will be difficult and not everyone will make
it through. For those that do, you’ll be leading the fight against the Kleese
to help ensure the survival of our race.”

“So, we’re
staying in this dome?” asked Casey, surprised. She'd been assuming they would
be moving to a different one for the advanced training.

“Yes,” Mark answered
as he stood up and walked over to the only window in the room. He looked out at
Charring Mountain and then turned back around to face the two new Space
Marines. “You will be pleased to know that you’re not quite done with the
mountain yet. Once you’ve become acclimated to the new suits, your platoon will
once again have to reach the summit, only this time I can assure you the tactics
you used this last time won’t work.”

Casey looked
over at Ryan and sighed deeply. “I guess we’re going to need a new strategy.”

“Sounds like
it,” Ryan answered. He'd hoped to be through with Charring Mountain, but it looked as if it was once more waiting in his future.

Major Stevens
watched as the two young marines left his office. He allowed himself to smile,
knowing that Colonel Nelson would be pleased to find out that his younger
brother had breezed through the first phase of the training. Wade and Mark had
discussed Ryan’s entry into the program in some depth.

This first
company of Space Marines, once they had qualified in the Type Four suits, would
be assigned immediately to a combat role to test them out against the Kleese.
The survival rate of this first group wouldn’t be too high as they would be
pitted against the stiffest opposition that could be found. Wade had insisted
that Ryan be treated like any other applicant and so far, Mark had made that
happen. He'd ensure this group had the best training possible and the most
powerful weapons they could handle. He would also be going into combat with
them.

-

Colonel Wade
Nelson was in the main Control Center inside of Vesta. The asteroid had four
large habitats with nearly six million people, making it one of the largest
concentrations of humanity left in the solar system.

“So, your
brother qualified for the new battlesuits,” commented President Mason Randle standing
next to Wade.

“Yes, Sir,”
Wade answered. “He begins his training almost immediately.”

“We’re going
to need men like him,” Mason said as he looked across the busy Control Center.

It was strange
not seeing Pamela Cairns around, but she'd retired to finish raising her
family. Her son was now sixteen and she had a two-year-old that was occupying
much of her time. She still put in an appearance now and then, but she had
turned her work over to Jessica Lang.

“This war will
be getting much more intense shortly,” General Bailey added from where he was
standing next to the military consoles listening to the two talk. He turned and
walked over closer to Mason and Wade. “Fleet Admiral Kelly is ordering more
fleet drills and General Mitchell is having additional ion cannons installed
around all habitats. He's also issued orders to make sure all the deep bunkers
are adequately stocked and for everyone to run some routine emergency drills.”

“A necessary
precaution,” responded Mason, folding his arms across his chest. He looked over
at Wade and continued. “A lot is riding on your mission, Colonel; we have to
coerce some of those nonaligned worlds to come into our Alliance.”

“We’ll get it
done,” promised Wade, drawing in a sharp breath. “We won’t come back until the Alliance is an actual fact.”

“I know you
will,” Mason replied with a nod. “General Bailey, I’ll be setting up some
evacuation drills for Vesta in the next few days to practice getting our people
down into the secure bunkers; I need you to coordinate the military part of the
drill with the vice president. We’ll be scheduling at least two additional drills
that will involve all the habitats across the solar system.”

Ralph Steward
had come a long way since the council was originally formed and had now taken
on the job of vice president. There was little doubt he would win the upcoming
election and take over as president. Mason was satisfied that Steward would
make an excellent choice and had no qualms about turning over the presidency to
the talented politician.

“I’ll contact
him later today,” Bailey responded with a nod. “I’ll also have military
personnel coordinate with the proper civilian authorities to check on the
emergency supplies in the bunkers. They’re reviewed routinely each year, but it
never hurts to perform a more scrutinized inspection in case something was
overlooked.”

Mason looked
around the Control Center one more time. Much had changed in the last six
years, with the military presence growing considerably. Over a third of the
people operating the numerous consoles now had some type of military training.
Turning, he headed for the hatch. He was meeting Adrienne in the Viridian
habitat for lunch and then they were going shopping to pick out some baby clothes.
Adrienne was six months' pregnant and they were having a baby girl. They had
decided, with Mason’s decision not to run for another term, it was time to
start a family.

-

A little
later, Mason stepped out into the habitat. He paused as he gazed out over the
remarkable world they had created inside the massive asteroid. It almost looked
as if a part of Earth had been taken and placed within the surrounding rock.
The habitat extended for kilometers, with verdant farmland on the periphery and
a big, modern city running down its center. Large apartment buildings towered
nearly forty stories and the city was full of green, as trees and parks were
abundant. The city had been built with the aid of Kivean construction
technology.

It took him a
few more minutes to make it to the restaurant where he was meeting Adrienne. He
also knew that his sister, Susan Kirby, was coming along. Susan was so excited
to be helping. She'd screamed loudly with joy when they'd given her the news
about Adrienne’s pregnancy. The two girls, Candace and Karen had been thrilled
also at the thought of a new cousin.  It was still hard to accept that those
two were now in high school and Karen would soon be graduating. Karen had
already announced her intentions to study Kivean medical science and Harnett
had agreed to help her in that endeavor.