Talosian Chronicles 5: Raptor Squadron (15 page)

Ian nodded. "She had a very strong vision of what's about to happen to us, and it overwhelmed her. For now, Poul's got command. Those incoming ships are carrying some kind of super-elite Imperial Shock Troops coming here to kill the planet. Which doesn't make any sense unless there is something here they really don't want us to find. Jenny said their targets will be the cities of Rominy and Starlight. She didn't say what they were after in Rominy, but their target in Starlight is that freighter I mentioned earlier. They are also armed with a very nasty chemical weapon and mechanized combat suits.

"What’s the status of our Marines?" Ian asked.

"Full deployment. They've all either hit their primary targets or are about to," Major Eischens replied.

"Double fighter cover for both cities. If they haven't engaged an enemy, get the Marines back on their shuttles and get them back to one of those cities," Ian said as he pulled up the continental map and battle areas for the planet. Tell Majors Corvis and Williams to prepare for the possibility of a massed attack by heavy armor. Have them coordinate with the Marine commanders to prepare for the attack.  If even one of the enemy transports makes it into the system I want all our people to assume biological combat protocols."

"What about the civilians, Sir?" Chloe asked. "It's gonna be impossible to help all of them."

"I know, we're going to have to stop them before they get to the surface. At the very least we have to destroy the large pods those transports will be dropping. That's what the fighters are for. If and when any of those fuckers make it here, they will drop out of hyper insanely close to the limit and come in hot. I want all three ships to focus on destroying them. If they make it close enough to drop their pods, then the fighters are to immediately ignore everything else but the large pods. We cannot allow even one of them to make it to the ground. If it does; the planet's finished," Ian said.

"Large pods?" Chloe asked.

"According to Jenny's vision, they will drop two types of pods as groups. Several smaller pods and one large pod. The smaller pods are actually heavily armed powered armor suits. But the larger pods are carrying the chemical bombs. No matter what, we cannot let any of them make it to the surface of the planet. I'd prefer not letting them into the atmosphere at all since we have no idea what they are comprised of," Ian said. "The armored power suits are going to be problematic all by themselves, but those large pods are game enders."

Chloe looked back at the display in the tank. "Okay, we can do this…" she said and began typing on her terminal She touched her earpiece. "All units, this is Command; stand by for mission change." She changed channels. "Weapons command, we need as many AM hypermissiles as you can launch put on the inbound tracks. You are authorized to launch on target acquisition." Still typing, she changed channels again. "Reserve fleets, this is command. Immediate return to n-space and assume defensive formation in system. In bound hypertracks are priority targets and must not be allowed near the planet. They are equipped with highly toxic chemical weapons."

Chloe and Eischens both continued to redeploy their troops based on Ian's orders. He watched as the structure of what they were planning was plotted out on in the big tank.

"Admiral, Admiral T'rolith is on a private comm for you," one of the comm techs called.

Ian nodded. "Thanks, I'm pretty sure I know what's he's calling for, so please make sure it is very secure."

"You're gonna tell him the truth?" Eischen asked.

Ian nodded. "They'll find out sooner or later anyway, so it might as well be now." 

In front of Ian, a small window opened displaying an Alliance Admiral of the same race as H'joles. The window was bordered with red and black stripes indicating a scrambled, secure channel.

The new Admiral nodded a bow to Ian. "We are deploying as requested Admiral. With respect, I would know your information on these incoming ships."

Ian nodded. "I completely understand Admiral. That's the reason I asked for the secure channel. We have deemed this information to be highly classified and wish to be careful with its release." Ian paused to frame his response. "As you know, the Terran people are genetically close to the Talosians as well as the Benesian races. As a result, we have begun to develop certain special abilities of the type the Benesians have developed." He paused because of the look of shock on the large being's face. "We do not know why the Talosian people have not developed similar abilities, as we do know they have the correct genetic make up for it. However, one of the abilities certain rare individuals have developed is precognition. My wife, Commander Jennifer Williams, is one of those people. Although she does not have such visions often, when she does they are accurate nine out of ten times. We do have a person that is more accurate as well as more sensitive, however she is not with us on this mission. Fifteen minutes ago, Commander Williams had a vision of this battle." Ian said and told the other leader of the vision.

"We do not know if this outcome can be avoided, but I refuse to standby and do nothing to prevent it," Ian finished.

The shaken commander nodded. "I can understand your actions now, Admiral. We will do our very best to prevent this vision from becoming a reality. Let us pray that this is one of the times the Commander is wrong." He stood proudly. "On my blood I swear that this knowledge will not be passed to anyone without your leave to do so." He relaxed again slightly. "Admiral, I thank you for the trust you have shown me, I will not betray it. Guard well this secret, Admiral. If it ever gets out, you will have more than just the Empire to worry about. I would ask that you consider trusting H'joles as you have me. He is of my mind on such things and will work to protect you as well. I know of no one else in the Alliance worthy of that trust at this point."

"I understand, we must keep this from the Empire, but the Benesians can detect it in us. Surely the other leaders are trustworthy?" Ian asked.

"Not to let the Empire know; yes, but there are other issues involved. I fear even my own people would not respond well to this knowledge. I would be pleased to advise you more on this after the battle," T'rolith replied.

Ian gave him a half grin. "Yes, we are a little busy for such a discussion. The rudeness of the Empire knows no bounds."

T'rolith snorted. "Neither does their utter contempt if they have come to murder this world. That is a crime unforgivable to all the races of the Alliance. These worlds are our life; to intentionally kill one of them is to kill a part of ourselves. I will tell my people you had one of your Raptor teams watching the closest systems, that is how you know of the attack. Most believe your teams to be almost supernatural anyway."

"Reserve fleets are dropping out of hyperspace and moving in system. Tiamat is moving to the planet and will assume Combat ATC functions," Chloe said so it could be recorded into the logs.

Ian nodded. "Good, we'll need her fighters for this." He brought up a plot of Starlight and the surrounding area, including the starport. "What's the status of the
Damocles
?"

"They're through the shield and are moving to their drop point," a tech replied.

"Put me through to Major Williams, please," Ian asked.

"
Damocles
, what's up boss?" Cindy's voice said in his earpiece.

"When you get finished with your current mission, I would like you to head over to the starport try to clear out the people. We may have to hit the place from here, so I want to make sure we have a clear target," Ian said.

"Chemical weapons and now this? Is there something we should know about?" Cindy asked.

"Nothing I have time to tell you about, but the faster you can clear that starport, the better off we'll all be," Ian replied.

"Understood, we'll get it done," Cindy replied.

"Good, keep us posted. Guardian out." Ian closed the channel and tried to figure out which of the large hangers was the one holding the freighter. "Operations, contact the resistance and see if they can begin the evacuations of the target cities. Give them as much assistance as we can spare."

"That will expose the local resistance to the Imperial troops. But, since we have Marines already heading for the cities, we should be able to protect them," Major Eischens replied. "I'll get them together to work it out."

Ian nodded. "Good, please tell them they need to hurry. I know it'll take time to evacuate an entire city, but the sooner we can get people moving the safer they'll be."

"Major Eischens, what about the cargo line? Wouldn't that system be ideal for evacuation?" a tech asked "It even has a gate in the shield for moving troops in emergencies."

Eischens nodded his head. "Awesome idea. Set-up a camp midway and unload the trains there. Make it happen! Rivera, Peters, help Ensign Dawes."

"What's so special about the rail system?" Ian asked.

"Nothing really, except that there is one route that was designed and built to haul huge amounts of cargo between Rominy and Starlight. A standard rail line has one rail for the train. This turkey has four. Two rails for each of two trains that usually move constantly between the two cities. It's built to move heavy weights very fast. They're shut down for the moment, but we can get a hell of a lot of people out of the city on those." Eischens explained.

"How long does it take each train to get from one city to the next?" Ian asked.

Major Eischens had to ask the computer, but replied. "Six hours one way. Twelve hours, plus load time, round trip. Figure thirteen hours."

Ian shook his head. "Too long. Start setting up camps one hundred klicks from each city, more camps every twenty k after that. Have each train take a load out, then return to the city for another load. Try to set that up for the any other trains as well."

Eischens nodded and looked to the tech that was busy making it happen. He nodded back indicating that he had heard the Admiral.

Checking the tracking screen, he saw that only three inbound tracks remained but they would arrive in system in thirteen minutes. As he watched, another trace stopped, indicating that ship making it had been destroyed. That left two; the same number he believed Jenny saw in her vision.

Either the resistance had the same idea, or the tech setting it up was really fast, because Ian saw that they were already moving to secure the rail depots. "Ensign Dawes, assign two platoons to assist at the cargo yards and one platoon for each of the passenger terminals. Make sure they take their shuttles; they may need the replicators," Ian ordered.

"On it, Sir!" the young man replied.

Ian and his team then returned their focus to fighting the battles. Only to be interrupted a few minutes later. "Sir! The Imperial troops are… Sir, they're helping to evacuate the city!"

"Excuse me?" Ian asked.

"I got a report a few minutes ago of one bus convoy getting ambushed by Imperial troops. As soon as the enemy troops realized what was happening, they not only stopped firing, but withdrew. Now, I just received another report of one of the convoys being flagged down on its way out. Sir, they say they were brought there by Imperial soldiers," Ensign Dawes reported.

"The evacuation will help them as well as us," Eischens replied. "Still, it's surprising they would go this far."

"Well, maybe they'll be willing to let us evac the hospitals we can't get to yet as well," Chloe said.

"Be alert for traps or deception. Make sure everything and every person is scanned before getting on that train. All we need is for one of those people to carry a bomb onto one of those trains," Ian replied. "Comms, please get me Admiral T'rolith."

"We're expecting those ships to drop out any minute Admiral, what can we do for you?" T'rolith asked.

"Have you ever heard of Imperial soldiers assisting in the evacuation of civilians from a battle area?" Ian asked.

T'rolith looked surprised. "It's not unheard of, but it is rare. I believe it mostly depends on the enemy commander. Is that happening on the planet?"

Ian nodded. "We have reports from Starlight as well as Rominy of the Imperials guiding civilians to a place where we can pick them up for evacuation. Have they ever tried to slip bombs or other devices into the refugees?"

T'rolith shook his head. "Never. Up until the start of the terror attacks, I'd believed their sense of honor prevented that. Perhaps the ground forces have a different code of conduct than the naval forces. Still, it is good to be wary."

"Thank you Admiral. I'll try not to interrupt you further," Ian replied.

T'rolith shook his head. "It is not an interruption. I would have sought advice as well in this position. I should have known you would not have called were it not important. It is our duty and honor to assist."

Ian smiled at the being and nodded as the channel closed. "There you have it guys; there is precedent, but it's rare. Stay on your toes everyone."

CHAPTER SEVEN

TDF Raptor
Damocles

City of Starlight

Hyperion, Aurigae system

As they flew Cindy, could feel the Raptor shudder slightly as the weapons fired. Nothing was said over the comms during the trip until finally Sasha broke the silence. “Major, we will be dropping you in about a minute. Things seem pretty chaotic out there right now, people are streaming out of the city on whatever kinds of vehicles will carry them. The roads are getting clogged, but the area near the capitol building looks clear. There are still fighters in the area, as well as ground missile batteries, so be careful.”

Cindy could hear the rear door open. In the position the Rails were in, with the front of the vehicle lifted to the ceiling, she couldn’t actually see it.

“Thanks Sasha,” Cindy said, enabling the weapons and scanning systems on the rail.

She felt the nose of the craft come down and could see that Rail One had rolled forward to the end of the ramp. Looking past them, Cindy saw the low skyline of Starlight scrolling out from under the Raptor’s belly.