SODIUM:5 Assault (13 page)

I had toyed with a number of ideas and always returned to one name in particular, the Alliance of Major Planets. A.M.P. It was a neutral name that would not give superior significance to any one species. I was definitely pro-human, but I knew that specifically saying so was a bad idea. An idea that would cause the others to resent Humans as the empire continued to grow.

My own staff was unprepared for the decree and they were looking at one another and wondering what had just happened. They had grown fond of the sound of the Human Empire and suddenly I had thrown them a curve. When the meeting adjourned I asked my staff to remain connected and told them of my reasoning. Again there were a few grumbles, but nothing that would cause concern.

With the decree in place the orders soon went out to change all logos, tags and even BGS uniforms to reflect the new name. Redesigned BGS suits would be issued to every member of every species. Humans would retain our silver suits, but would have an additional thin red stripe added to the blue. The Kurtz BGS would be a golden color with an additional yellow stripe and the Borten of course insisted on a suit with a blue tint and a second blue stripe. The Barhoo, for obvious reasons, remained suit-less.

With the meeting adjourned and the trivial tasks of governance taken care of I settled back into my command chair and continued to watch as Zack's recon team moved about in the giant factory. The minutes of watching soon turned to hours of boredom as nothing of significance was being discovered.

After seven hours of room after room of nothing to see other than storage and machinery I left my chair for my quarters. I was soon fast asleep with the order given to wake me immediately if anything of significance was to happen. For the next 12 hours nothing did...

When I returned to the bridge in the morning, in the time we called morning, Zack's team was still moving from room to room and floor to floor in the space factory. They had been active for 36 hours straight. My instincts told me it was time for a rest, but I knew with the BGS and its regulated stimulants the 36 hour haul was easily handled.

Our training had shown that 72 hours shifts had no ill side effects, other than mental fatigue if an assignment was boring. Scouring the massive alien structure was anything but boring if you were the one that was doing it. Watching someone else doing it was another thing altogether.

After several hours of switching back and forth between the team planting the EDs and Zack's squad, the boredom finally broke. Zack's squad had moved through a wall into a cavernous room full of thousands of reactors. As his team looked on the reactors all turned full on and a ring-like structure on the ceiling of the room began to glow.

As the glow began to increase a magnetic pull was slowly unleashed in the surrounding room. The Marines had to quickly secure themselves before being pulled up from the floor. As the glow grew, magnetic waves began to emanate from the ring structure tugging ever harder at the Marines.

In an instant the magnetic pull increased exponentially and it was everything the Marines could do to maintain their position. Each had their fingers pushed through a grating on the floor with their feet fully extended, stretching upwards towards the ring.

The orange glow began to glow blue with small fingers of lightning bolts shooting outwards to the rooms walls. Again in an instant the room went bright white until a small portal opened on the ceiling in the center of the ring. The magnetic and whatever other energy being produced was sucked up into the portal and within seconds the room went silent.

The reactors returned to their standby state with only the faintest low hum telling of their being on. Zack and his team flopped to the floor as the magnetic field dissipated. Signal analysis from their suits sensors showed a massive amount of energy leaving the room down a magnetically shielded conduit to the plasma chamber of the Black Pearl assembly line. We had our answer as to where the plasma field was originating from.

Zack's team was then ordered to proceed in a direction perpendicular to the power room to see if there were more rooms like it. They dialed up their suits and performed a micro-burst in the assigned direction. For several hours they drifted through one power room after another. It was soon estimated that the factory likely contained 30,000 rooms just like it.

The ED team's sensors had detected the plasma influx coming from six directions when the Black Pearl was receiving its pea sized black hole. The quick math told that 5,000 black holes could be created at once. Again, the scale of the operation was nothing short of spectacular. The only thing the AMP had that would one day be in close comparison to the scale of the factory was the active Sodium skin being constructed to surround the Earth.

For the next 30 days the teams on-board the factory continued at their tasks. The 310,000 Marines that had drifted back away from the factory were in the process of being picked up. The Black Pearl matrix numbered nearly 3 million strong. It was decided that it was time to take action.

The fleet staff had planned to drift 15 transports from behind the rocky planet with programming to fire their BHDs and blink in inside 15 of the power rooms. Each would then deposit a nuclear device with a timer. The two Marine squads would board one of the transports which would then activate its skin and BHD back towards the rocky planet. The other 14 transports would do the same only in 14 different directions. They would also leave their BHDs running while the Marines drifted silently to safety.

If the Marine transport was detected or for some reason the fleet's position compromised, the EDs aboard the Black Pearls would be detonated. The plan was solid and I found myself eager to see it implemented. Our days of recon had done nothing but raise my anxiety levels.

When the transports arrived they each deposited their nuclear cargo and then awaited the Marine squads. As the teams entered the power room with the closest transport they were greeted with an open door and a ready ride. As they walked towards the transport they were all smiles. They were heading back to the fleet.

Half way across the room to the transport, a door opened on the far wall. A sudden stream of spider robots rushed through the opening firing gravity pulses at the Marines. Zack quickly gave the order to blink out and micro-burst through the floor to whatever room lay below. Three seconds later they blinked in on the floor of a Rubidium storage area.

As the team went over their options, another door opened and two more spiders came in. The Marines cut loose with their weapons sending the autonomous robots flying back out through the doorway before they had a chance to fire their own weapons. Zack ordered the team down two more floors with a similar result.

The next order sent them to the base of the space factory. Their only remaining option was to leave the massive structure and drift down to the planet's surface. Seconds later the team was on its way.

Eight of the 15 transports were damaged by the alien spiders and were unable to fly, but the remaining seven activated their skin and burst out into space seconds later. The nukes that had been planted had active skins so the spider robots were unaware of their existence.

When the transports sped off into space outside the factory the Black Pearl matrix came to life and began to spin. In less than a minute it was in pursuit of the first transport and with a burst of speed that was unexpected it quickly overtook it.

For another hour we watched as the giant matrix spun and annihilated the transports one by one. When the last transport went silent it turned back towards the factory. Zack and the two squads were still drifting towards the planet. The matrix swirled in beside the factory and hovered for several minutes. It then turned towards the fleet, still hidden behind the remains of the rocky planet, and started towards it.

The order was given to leave immediately and the fleet powered up and turned away. The matrix was soon in hot pursuit and gaining ground. Throttles were at full, but the Por Hollis drive technology seemed to be superior. The fleet quickly passed through light speed, but the matrix continued to pursue.

Zack and the Marines were half-way to the planet's surface when the nukes went off in the factory. I watched through Zack's camera as the immense structure seemed to explode in slow motion. Large pieces of debris were soon heading towards the Marines.

With the matrix of Black Pearls in pursuit of the fleet Zack gave the order to do a full burst for the surface. Seconds later they were landing at a space port with weapons drawn. As the spiders poured out of the port shafts Zack and his Marines began a firefight like I had never seen. The spiders were seemingly coming out in limitless numbers and his team was dispatching them as they ran towards one of the shafts, blasting everything as they went.

At the same time huge sections of the space factory were de-orbiting and would soon be crashing into the planet's surface. Zack was trying to get his team below ground. The spider numbers were overwhelming and Zack had to give the order to blink out and head underground. They would have to drift through solid rock in search of a tunnel.

Meanwhile the matrix continued to gain on the accelerating fleet. When it became apparent that they would be overtaken the order was given to detonate half the EDs that had been planted aboard the Black Pearls. Our Marine volunteer on-board the cube was sacrificed.

In an instant the great matrix of ships slowed as evidence of explosions could be seen through the bright orange glow. When the fleet's lead had increased to a distance considered safe they performed a 90 degree turn, heading in a new direction. The matrix continued in a straight line and was soon off the trail of the fleet. They had escaped.

Zack's team soon found their tunnel and once inside they blasted the walls with the hopes of creating a barricade, in a bid for time. They needed time to ride out the rain of factory parts that were screaming down to the red planet's surface, and time to form a new strategy.

When the tunnel they were in was sufficiently blocked they turned to make their way into the chamber at the other end. When they arrived at the opening they were greeted by another onslaught of spiders. Again, a fierce fire-fight ensued.

My fingers dug into the padding on the arms of my command chair as I pulled myself from side to side in attempts to dodge gravity pulses that were not actually coming my way. The holo-screen had a way of tricking the mind into believing you were there. Zack's Marines fought valiantly before the first of the squad was knocked from their position and quickly squashed beyond recognition. The fierce fire-fight continued.

Once the fleet had evaded the matrix it turned in a wide arc to make its way back towards the planet and the Marines they had left behind. The journey took another hour before a visual of the red planet was available on the screen. Soon it became apparent that nearly a third of the giant factory had been destroyed. The spider robots were already hard at work attempting repairs.

The fleet waited a quarter light years distance, looking for the matrix of Black Pearls, but it did not return. The order was then given to do a full assault on the factory and to attempt a rescue of the Marines. Transports were soon dispatched to the surface with thousands of ready Marines while the remainder of the fleet began their assault on the factory.

When I flipped my holo-screen back, Zack's teams had lost four more fighters. The spiders were closing in with several hundred slowly making their way up a wall to a blind spot. If they were able to get the advantage the Marines would once again have to go on the run, attempting to drift to another tunnel. The odds of survival were quickly turning against them.

As the fleet began its assault the destroyers were dispatched to pulverize and make useless the falling factory debris. After a quick sweep the skies were clear enough that the transports could land and the Marines could begin to fight their way into the spaceport and down to their stranded brothers and sisters.

As the new Marines poured out of the transports, the spiders once again came out in numbers, but the Marines had superior power and tactics. The surface battle lasted all of 15 minutes with the Marines taking only four casualties.

Below ground the spiders had achieved their goal of reaching the blind spot. Zack's teams could normally blink out and drift to safety only there was one problem. They had been away from the ships for more than a month and with the fire-fights and micro-bursts their power-packs were running low. Command estimated that they had one more micro-burst or one more fire-fight before they would be out of power.

With the spiders having moved to the advantageous position of the blind spot the Marines had to once again blink out and drift. They were soon in a chamber with another 30 spiders. They blinked in and took cover behind a rock outcropping and began firing at the mechanical enemies, preserving their shots until they counted.

The spiders were dispatched one by one, but not before the team members began to run out of power. When the last of the robot spiders went silent there were only two Marines whose packs were not completely drained. They each had enough for two more shots of their gravity pulse guns. None could make use of their active Sodium skins.

The group waited, hunched behind the rocks, looking for the next spider onslaught. Seconds later the tinks of their six legs on the hard rock could be heard as they made their way down the tunnel towards Zack and the Marines. I wanted to jump out of my chair and through the holo-screen to their aid, but it was not possible.

When the first of the spiders appeared in the tunnel opening, a gravity pulse immediately struck, sending it hurdling backwards into the others. Seconds later, two more popped into the opening and two more pulses were fired knocking them back. When the next three appeared only one pulse found its mark. The Marines were out of power.

The spiders began to pour into the chamber searching for an advantageous firing position. Just as they were about to reach it a large explosion occurred in the tunnel and the remains of several dozen spiders came shooting out of the opening. Then the new Marines came flooding into the chamber, pulverizing the remaining spiders as they came. When the fighting stopped a sergeant stood next to Zack and the remaining Marines with a case full of power-packs.

The teams were soon on their way towards the surface and the transports. A squad was dispatched to the other chamber to collect the bodies of the fallen heroes. When the entire mining port was free of spiders the Marines boarded the transports and departed for the fleet.

The fleet had launched half a million fighters and with the fire-power of the large ships, the factory was soon permanently out of commission. When the last large section crashed down upon the planet a destroyer flew over each space port and dropped a nuke into it. Fifteen minutes later the red planet and the massive factory were no longer a threat. The fleet headed back towards the Borten worlds to await new orders.