OMEGA Conscript (20 page)

I reached over and took Jack's hand for a firm shake. "You have a sharp sense of humor, Jack Carson. I should one day hope to have the same."

As the shuttle carrying Go and his team landed in our docking bay, the order came in to proceed down to the planet.

Jack flipped the orders up onto the large holo-display. "We will be setting down in section D, wherever inhibitor number twelve spikes itself into the ground. From a first look at the maps, it will be around the foothills of a mountain range called the Fountains. Our group has an objective of capturing three towns and a mine in that area. Initial reports say one of those towns has been heavily fortified."

Garrett walked onto the bridge with his newly enhanced battle-suit. "Look at me. I look like a clown."

Jack laughed as he shook his head. "If you were a clown you'd sure be a scary one. Those fins give you a threatening look. If I was to see you coming at me, my first thought would be that you must be some kind of lunatic."

Jack turned toward me and winked.

Garrett looked over his arm bracers. "Really? I thought they looked kind of flaky. Like something you would see in a bad movie."

Jack held up his hand and offered a nod of reassurance. "Trust me. The Grumar will run!"

Garrett banged the bracers together. "I hope you're right. Anyway, when are we heading to the ground?"

As we flew toward Doomlight, Jack pulled up a side screen showing troop deployments. "We have two transports going in with us. One has sixty thousand troops, the other forty thousand plus support personnel. The second transport has supplies, food, additional gear, and medical facilities. It looks like our mission, when we first hit the ground, will be to secure the perimeter. We'll erect a three meter steel wall with a battle step on the inside. The wall will have to be fastened together with chemical welds because the inhibitors will be up and running when the last transport sets down."

Go walked onto the bridge with his holo-display up over his arm pad. "Once those inhibitors come on, these ships will lose power. Until the inhibitors—or at least the one in our section—gets turned off, we will be stuck there on the ground."

I replied, "How do we turn them off when the fighting is over?"

Go swiped several screens, finally flipping a screen up on the big display. "On the base of the inhibitor tower you will find a box. It has a mechanical combination lock on it. Dial in five-five-zero-nine and it should open. Inside is a simple on/off lever. Pull it down to shut it off."

I asked. "Where will the tower be in relation to the transports?"

Jack replied, "We will be setting down right beside it. The defensive wall will go up around the transports, so it will be fully under our protection as well."

A Talisan colonel came over the comm. "Emperor, the Talisan Group 72 and Group 85 Rangers will be under your command. We look forward to fighting beside you, Emperor. It will be a great honor for us all."

I nodded. "Thank you, Colonel. As soon as we hit the ground, coordinate the setup of our command post. We will meet there to finalize any plans coming from Grunta Command."

The colonel bowed as the comm channel closed.

Jack laughed as he shook his head. "You should cherish that loyalty, Knog. They will follow you into the fiercest fights without blinking an eye. That kind of soldier is hard to come by."

I sat back in the chair. "I just hope we aren't leading ourselves into a slaughter."

Garrett looked over the display. "Too bad we can't coordinate turning that inhibitor on and off when it's to our advantage. You know, we could start a fight with bludgeons and switch to blasters all at once for only a few seconds. They wouldn't have a chance to fire back before that field was back up."

Go shook his head. "Won't work. The field takes about a minute to build up. Besides, once it's on, we won't have comm anymore. We wouldn't have any way of coordinating our use of it."

Garrett tilted his head. "Hmm. That's the first I heard of not having comm."

Go began to explain, and Garrett cut him off. "Don't say it. It makes perfect sense that comm wouldn't be available, it just didn't occur to me, that's all."

Go continued, "I wasn't going to say that. I was saying that our only means of comm once we get out there will be by plain old talking or using flares. If a team hits trouble, fire off a flare. The surrounding teams will assist if they are able. Other than that, we'll be communicating through runners."

Garrett reached up and scratched his chin as he looked over at Jack. "How is it he knows this stuff and I don't?"

Jack shrugged as Go replied, "I know this because I read all two hundred of the battle briefs Grunta Command sent out this morning. It's mostly common sense stuff—keep your head up and block swings with your equipment, let it do the work for you, that kind of thing."

Garrett looked back at Jack. "How long before we are on the ground?"

Jack glanced at his nav display. "We hit that fleet in eight minutes and should be touching down on the surface about five minutes after."

I said, "Are we expecting any trouble from the fleet attacking our transports?"

Jack nodded. "I think we can expect a couple waves of missiles coming our way. We have enough destroyers, and those new battleships, that I can't imagine many of them will make it past. After that, our ships should keep their ships busy enough for us to slip through to the ground. Once those inhibitors are up, we should be shielded from any bombardment from above."

Go smacked Garrett on the shoulder. "Should have read those briefs this morning while you had the chance!"

Garrett scowled. "Thanks for stating the obvious. Besides, I won't need the briefs, I'll have you right beside me making sure I hear every little factoid they contain."

Go shook his head. "Sorry, I have to blink out before those inhibitors come on or I won't have any power. You won't see or hear me until all of this is over. But don't worry, I'll be hanging around to keep you and Knog safe. If you see Grumar or Grotus fighters disappearing, you'll know I'm nearby."

Garrett laughed. "Comforting to know."

As I looked around the bridge, I couldn't imagine a finer crew to be going into battle with. Jack had managed to stay alive through countless incursions. Garrett was determined and always found a way get things done. And Go, Go was now our secret weapon that could not be touched, stopped, or destroyed.

Still, this was war. People would die. My whole family was at risk. My wife, my children, even our parents were taking up arms. They would fight side-by-side until the end. I pitied the enemy who came up against them. And yet … I feared for all of us.

War is often waged against the unknown. The best of preparations often fall short of needs. I hoped today's fight, the fight before us, would bring a victory—the first victory of many to come in our quest to bring back the AMP.

   Chapter 20

The Grumar fleet that came out was larger than expected. More than three thousand teardrop ships, along with seventy-five battlecruisers, rushed out to stop us. The space between our fleets was soon filled with Grumar missiles. The Human-piloted destroyers fared poorly with their weak armor. Our newest battleships took damage, but held their own. The first wave of thousands of Grumar missiles failed to hit a single transport.

As the great ships began to collide in battle, a second wave of missiles came forth. Ion cannons, added to our newest Talisan transports, began to fire repeated rounds at the incoming wave that had somewhat escaped our destroyers.

Jack yelled. "Mr. Jefferson! We have six coming in toward our transport! Get us out front!"

The
wump
wump
of our cannons could be felt as Jack piloted the
Garmon
to the front of the transport fleet. In under a minute the initial fight was over. Eighty-two out of more than eighteen hundred transports had taken slight to moderate damage. Six of my Talisan transports however, were too damaged to make it to the surface, instead disintegrating in the upper atmosphere.

As we entered orbital space around Doomlight, Jack said, "The inhibitors are being deployed. We have an ETA of ninety seconds for the spikes. We will be on the ground a minute after. Troops will have two minutes to unload before those inhibitors come online. After that we are on full manual.

"And be prepared, Knog. Of the six transports destroyed, one was ours. We just lost sixty thousand good men. When we touch down, you'll have to make do with the forty thousand we have left."

My heart sank at the news of our loss. These were my people, my responsibility. Our plans would have to change, and change dramatically.

I watched on the holo-display as the air in front of the
Garmon
's hull reached 1100 degrees in only seconds as the air burned along our gravity shield. From the ground, the
Garmon
and the other ships would appear as fireballs streaking down from above.

The landscape for the target area quickly came into view and showed as hilly and heavily forested. A number of large waterfalls tumbled from the mountain range just to the north, hence the name "the Fountain Mountains." The hills, with moderately dense forests, were experiencing a drought.

On the display, the ground rose quickly to meet us. We settled in a clearing two hundred meters from the spike. Our companion transport settled on the north side of us, flattening the dense forest with its gravity shield as it landed. In what seemed like an instant, streams of Talisan fighters were on the ground and moving toward their predetermined destinations. I followed Garrett and the Talisans from the
Garmon
out onto the grassy ground as Go blinked out.

I walked a hundred meters toward our new command center as the edges for an inflatable tent were being spiked to the ground. By the time I reached the tent the inflation was nearly complete. Tables were brought in, maps unfurled, and runners sent out with initial orders as our troops assembled.

As I walked through the opening toward the general in charge, every Talisan stopped what they were doing, turned, and bowed. General Boni Marrik was waiting at the main command table.

As she began to bow, I said, "I'm giving the order now that I am not to be bowed to or have any other formal recognition given to me during this campaign. Our goals take precedence, and I don't want people wasting time bowing to me when there is important work to be done."

The general nodded. "I will pass that order along with our next group of runners. Lieutenant Doota, please see to it that everyone here at command follows that order."

The lieutenant turned and began to spread the word.

I looked down at the map before me. "We are down to 40 percent, General. What's our new plan?"

The general replied, "We have fifteen hundred men heading northeast and northwest, toward the mountains. Another thousand are being dispatched to go straight north. According to the scan data coming in, we expect those areas to offer light resistance, if any at all. That includes the mine due north of here.

"The towns in inhibitor section D12 are Marito, here; Fallmas, here; and our main target is Tanningar, here. According to plan, we will be sending fifteen thousand troops to both Marito and Fallmas while holding six thousand in reserve here. When each of those towns has been secured, we expect to bring ten thousand from each to a rally point here, midway between us and Tanningar. From there we march against their garrison."

I nodded. "Do we have an idea of what we are up against with each town?"

The general looked at her arm pad as it went dead. "I'm afraid that data did not come in. The inhibitor is now active, so we will only know what we already know."

I looked around me. "Go? Can you hear me?"

I could hear a faint reply as if Go was screaming from a distance. "I can barely make out what you are saying! The inhibitor is knocking down the signal coming from my external mic and going to my external speaker!"I nodded and raised my voice. "Understood! I need for you to go recon Marito and come back here with a status report of what we are up against! We need that information immediately!"

I cupped my hand around my ear to better hear Go's faint voice. "Roger that! I'll be back as soon as I can!"

With that reply there was silence.

"General, send a runner out to both the Marito troops and the Fallmas troops. Have them hold position until they receive further orders from us. If they are attacked, have them defend their position, falling back slowly if needed."

Garrett raised his hand. "I'd like to go out with one of the runners if possible, get a good feel for the terrain."

I nodded.

A runner was quickly dispatched toward each offensive group, with Garrett choosing to join the one heading toward Fallmas.

I continued: "We wait for Go's assessment before we attack. No sense sending in fifteen thousand men if we only need a hundred. I would rather have troops massed between here and where we know they have a garrison."

A runner came into the tent. "General, the first hundred panels of the battle wall are up. Progress is moving slowly now that we no longer have the power hammers to make use of."

Boni Marrik nodded. "Thank you, Private. Keep us informed."

I asked, "Power hammers?"

The general replied, "Spikes are driven into the ground and the panels anchored to them. With the power hammer, that job only takes seconds. The spikes will all have to be sledged in for the rest of the wall. We are focusing our efforts on the southern wall first since any attack is likely to come from Tanningar. The panels are fastened to each other with sliding nuts and bolts, allowing the heights to be adjusted for a somewhat even wall."

Boni Marrik continued to fill me in on the details.

Go returned quickly. "Can you hear me!"

I looked up, speaking in a loud voice. "Go?"

Go yelled, "Marito has a series of wooden spiked fences surrounding the town! Gates allow troops in or out! My best guess would be fifteen hundred Grumar are standing in defense there! If we go in with what we have, I believe they could be quickly overrun! I would only leave a couple thousand to defend after! I'm heading to Fallmas now!"

I turned to the general. "Send a runner for the team to advance and take Marito. Leave a thousand to defend and send the rest to the rally point."

The general nodded as another runner was dispatched. Five minutes passed. I said, "I wonder what's taking him so long?"

The general looked at the map. "Fallmas is several kilometers farther, and the terrain is rock and ravine infested."

I replied, "That won't matter with him."

Several minutes later, Go was yelling in my ear. "I took a side trip up above the inhibitor field! The war above is not going as planned! We have already lost a sixth of our destroyers and 10 percent of the new battleships! Those Grotus battlecruisers are extremely tough to kill! Only three of the seventy-five have been knocked out of service! They are down 20 percent on their teardrop ships, but changed tactics are frustrating our fleet!"

Go continued, "Fallmas has a large contingent of Grumar there! I would say eight to ten thousand, and they are dug in heavy! I saw at least a dozen Grotus also! I'll be back in ten with an assessment of Tanningar!"

Silence returned. "General Marrik, send another runner to Marito. When the troops are finished there, instead of heading to the rally point, send them to Fallmas as reinforcements. We need to hit that place with enough troops to knock it out. I want a single battle for Tanningar when the time comes."

After the new runner was dispatched, one of the original runners returned. "The operations around Marito are going well. The defensive positions are not well defended and the Grumar troops seem to be a bit in disarray. Colonel Baake expects the town to fall within the hour. Our troops should be entering the northwest end of town in the next few minutes."

The general replied, "Thank you, Private, please go back into the pool and send out the next runner—no message, just status. And tell the pool officer I want a runner out every three minutes unless he hears otherwise."

The private turned and scurried away.

After looking over the topology of the path to Fallmas, I gave the general new directions. "General, I will be heading toward Fallmas to join Garrett Rourke. When Go returns, send him that way."

The general nodded as I turned away. Once out of the tent, I transitioned to a full run. In less than a minute I had passed the end of the transport and entered the rocky woods. At speed, constantly ducking and dodging low-hanging branches, to the casual observer I would have looked like a sinister shadow slipping quietly through the trees.

I startled the first of two runners as I blazed past their locations. When I caught up to the tail end of our troops, I slowed to a jog. As the Talisan soldiers marched, I could see through their expressions that they looked upon their two-meter-tall emperor with admiration. As I began to feel prideful of my troops, I remembered their prior foray into slavery and all the misery they had inflicted upon the Feldons. I wondered if any amount of penance could make up for what they had done. I then thought of the Feldons. If they could forgive the Talisans, why couldn't I?

When I caught up to Garrett he was in conversation with the colonel. "Have you hit any resistance at all?"

Colonel Bod Nubria replied, "Two forward scouts were taken out with crossbows before they could signal. I believe the Grumar are still wrestling with the unexplained loss of power."

I replied, "We have reports that Fallmas has eight to ten thousand troops dug in around the town. At least a dozen Grotus were seen moving around. Pass the word that if any Grotus are encountered, I want every crossbow we have firing at them and them only. Killing one of them is worth killing five hundred Grumar, so have your archers aim at the Grotus first."

The colonel turned and passed the order back through the ranks.

Garrett asked, "Do we have any information about weak points? Should we sweep in from the north, or straight in, or what?"

I shook my head. "We don't have information that specific. Go did a quick flyover of the town, and that's what he reported. He's checking on Tanningar now. He will join us after. If you hear a faint noise that sounds like yelling from a distance, stop and listen. It may be Go. It's the best he can do with the inhibitor running."

Screams erupted as a dozen hidden Grumar rose from a trench and charged our position with broadswords in hand. The broadsword was the backup weapon of choice for the Grumar. Family swords had been passed down through generations. It would be a first-time use in many generations for the Grumar, for anything other than ceremony.

For the Talisan, the selected weapon was the six-bladed mace with a folded-steel sword guard at the hand grip. On the opposite arm, a narrow forearm shield ran to just past the elbow where a blade trap would catch a deflected blade. The effect of the trap was to transfer momentum to the wearer's opposite arm. After the catch of a blade, the strike from a mace would come forward with a velocity not seen from a normal swing.

It was our first hand-to-hand encounter with the Grumar. My Talisan fighters killed twelve and lost three. For the Talisan, to die in battle for their emperor was a death of honor. The Talisan troops surrounding the fallen propped their bodies up against nearby trees and spiked their maces into the tree behind them. The effect was a Talisan with a raised mace, waiting for the next fight to begin. The soldiers following behind would be emboldened by the scene.

As we moved forward, the attacks increased in frequency. Our progress ground to a halt as we began to push up the front side of a ridge. When attacking from below, the Talisan mace was less effective. My weapon of choice was a seven-kilogram maul. My height, while going uphill, placed me on equal footing with the Grumar fighters. Their broadsword lacked the cutting power needed to break through the Grotus battle-suit I wore. My maul easily broke bones and crushed skulls. After the short slow-down, our progress continued up the ridge before us.