The Inception: The Augmented Human Rebellion - Book 1 (15 page)

The Keysl natives, who were trained by the Jantl sailors, have joined the
AH Navy and will crew most of the captured Jantl Navy vessels.

***

18 of the captured Jantl ships have been repaired, and have been packed,
with as many munitions and spare parts as they can carry. Most of the
personnel crewing those vessels are the 4 armed natium humanoids, from the
planet Keysl. There is also a mix of other species.

Some of the Jantl iturune species also joins the crew, but the Admiral
has them stationed on other vessels. Emotions are still a little raw,
between the natium and iturune crew members. They will be mixed together,
after the hard feelings have been mollified, by time.

Right now, the Augmented Human Navy has 27 warships, of various
technological levels, and 3 freighters. It’s a 30 vessel fleet.
With a little more training, this fleet might be able to confront that 20 ship
Verm Navy Fleet, which committed genocide in the destruction of Tubor.

***

And ‘training’ is next on the Admiral’s agenda. The Admiral orders
‘boot camp’ for all new recruits. And educational courses are given to teach
the ‘common’ language, which is used by the AH Navy.

The Admiral starts a AH Navy University, which aims to offer courses in
everything, from personal finances to brain surgery. Each crewmember will
be brought up to speed in basic learning. After completing the mandatory
courses, the continuing education curriculum will be voluntary.

Courses on strategy, tactics, weapons, and leadership are mandatory, for
all officers and officer candidates. Courses such as: The Rules of War,
The Morality of War, and The AH Navy Mission are mandatory for all crewmembers.

Every crew member must pass proficiency exams in tropics such as Fire
Fighting, Emergency Medical Treatment, and Abandon Ship Procedures. There
are proficiency exams for general job functions such as: weapons, navigation,
communications, and engineering. And there are proficiency exams for
specific job functions, such as laser canons, plasma canons, missiles, and rail
guns.

***

Admiral Nemo is eager to get this ‘rag tag’ group of people and ships
ready for battle. As it stands, the AH Navy can defeat most planetary
fleets, and even some ‘small empire’ fleets. But they need to be good
enough to defeat a fleet of Verm Empire, or Darinx Empire ships, and they are
not even close to that level of proficiency - or technology.

The University and ‘job training courses’ will help with the crew’s level
of proficiency. The needed improvement in the Fleet’s level of technology
is something that can’t be rectified by the AH Navy’s educational system.
The AH Navy must either buy technological improvements, or appropriate
them.

Since there are no known resources for purchasing the technological
advancements, the Admiral moves the Fleet back into the Ruinx Sector, which is
wedged in between the Verm and Darinx Empires. There, he begins to make
plans for appropriating technological advancements.

***

A Personal Note

Captain Sandra Guilles has given birth to a 15 pound baby boy. His
name is ‘Justice’. And he is a handful. Sandra and Cade got spoiled
with Kiersten - now they appreciate her even more.

This little baby is keeping them awake, all-night-every-night. They
take turns walking the floor, and they take turns sleeping. And it goes
on for a month that way.

The Admiral asks Danion to search the Darinx files, and find ways to make
babies sleep. Danion finds a swing that moves by itself. The power
source can be electrical or you can wind-up a spring. The Admiral has an
electrically powered unit built, in Engineering. Justice loves it – he
‘sleeps like a baby’ now. And so do Sandra and Cade.

Naturally, every woman with a baby wants one. The Admiral has some
more produced, and makes it Fleet policy, to give a swing to every
newborn.

***

The Return to the Runx Sector

The Runx Sector has declared itself to be neutral, in the war between the
Verm and Darinx Empires, but both sides use the Runx space, at will.

It’s not likely that the Augmented Human Navy can find any ‘cutting edge’
technology, at the warfront. That kind of research takes place in well
protected areas, away from the war front. What the Admiral can hope to do
is to snatch a couple of large modern vessels. The AH Navy’s largest
vessel is a heavy cruiser. A ‘real’ fleet needs a couple of ‘behemoths’.

Probably the easiest place to pick up a behemoth would be at a
repair/maintenance facility. There would only be a skeleton crew on
board, and the surrounding space would probably be guarded by forces who were
not expecting any action.

An even better place to pick up a brand new, advanced technology behemoth
would be at a shipbuilding facility. What a thought.

Admiral Nemo asks Darius, to search the verm star charts and data bases
from the Integrity memory, to locate shipbuilding facilities. As
expected, all of the shipbuilding facilities are deep inside Verm
territory. “But, we do have about 1,000 verm sailors,” he thinks.
“I wonder if any of them have information about shipbuilding facilities?”

Admiral Nemo comms Captain Yeagl, the verm commander of the Starfire, and
asks him to query his fellow verm, in order to find out if any have
information, about Verm Navy shipbuilding facilities.

The following day, Captain Yeagl texts the Admiral 3 names of verm
sailors with information about Verm Navy shipbuilding facilities. 2 had
experience working at shipbuilding facilities, and the 3
^rd
was
raised near a shipbuilding facility.

Admiral Nemo speaks with each of the verm sailors and delves into their
minds, looking for information, which could prompt some strategy for hijacking
a ship.

And then he has it! The weakness in the system is at the point when
the ship is turned over to the new crew. All that the AH Navy has to do
is to replace the Verm Navy crew, with AH Navy crewmen – ones who were formerly
Verm sailors. The counterfeit sailors will take the big ship out for a
shakedown cruise, and never come back. The Verm Navy won’t even know what
happened to them.

The Admiral is so excited that he has trouble sleeping for a couple of
nights, as ideas pop into his head. They don’t need to replace the Senior
Officers - just the grunts. “Now,” he thinks, “how do I kidnap or kill
the real Verm Navy crew?”

The verm sailor, who grew up near a shipbuilding facility knows how to
kidnap the crew. His parents had operated and inn, where the new crews
would stay there for a night or two, before boarding the new ship. That
was where the switch could be made. That sailor also knew the process for
transferring control of the vessel, from the shipbuilding facilities’ crew, to
the Verm Navy crew.

The purpose of the first shakedown cruise is to train a skeleton crew on
the idiosyncrasies of the new vessel, prior to the official shakedown
cruise. Grunts have to know how to make the ship work, before the
officers can touch it. The shakedown cruise with the skeleton crew is the
best opportunity to hijack the ship.

***

Hampserd Shipbuilding Facility

After a month of reconnaissance and another month of practice, the
counterfeit Verm Navy sailors are ready. The Stalwart, under Captain
Vinxt, has emerged from FTL space close to the Hampserd Shipbuilding Facility,
and a shuttle craft - carrying 40 verm sailors belonging to the AH Navy -
disembarks.

The shuttle slips into the rush hour chaos, which always happens at shift
change, and makes its way to the Kilfrdns Inn. Raj Lyaltn, the AH Navy
sailor who grew up near a shipbuilding facility, has been working, as a desk
clerk at the Kilfrdns Inn, for three weeks now. He checks the counterfeit
sailors into a seldom used 3
^rd
floor barracks room.

Earlier, Raj Lyaltn had ‘checked in’ the real crew, for the new
dreadnaught class battleship, which is to take its initial shakedown cruise
tomorrow. That crew is just across the hall, from the room with the
counterfeit sailors – and they are sound asleep, due to the drugs in their
evening meal.

***

On Board the Behemoth

“I’ve never seen such sloppy sailors,” thinks the shipbuilding facility’s
Chief Engineer. “Their uniforms don’t even fit right. How am I
supposed to turn this beautiful work of art, over to a bunch of pigs?”

“Ship’s Away,” announces the Bosun’s Mate. “All systems showing
green.”

And with that little bit of fanfare, the hijacking of the dreadnaught
class battleship ‘Wasgerd’ shifts into high gear. As soon as the ship
enters FTL space for the first time, the counterfeit sailors mutiny and take
control of the vessel. They quickly drop out of FTL space, let the FTL
drive cool, and then re-enter FTL space bound for a new location.

Raj Lyaltn leaves his Kilfrdns Inn job early, and boards the waiting
shuttle, which whisks him to safety, aboard the Stalwart. As soon as the
shuttle hits the deck, the Stalwart speeds away - heading for FTL space.

***

Rison

Admiral Nemo, and his wife, Captain Sandra Guilles, are still getting
used to their new home. Everything aboard the dreadnaught class
battleship ‘Conqueror’ is big. And their living space is triple the size
of the one on the Integrity.

***

The Admiral’s children, Kiersten and Justice, each have their own room,
now. Kiersten is 2, and Justice is 1. Kiersten is ‘daddy’s little
girl’. She has her daddy wrapped around her little finger. Sandra
thinks that it is funny to watch, but she keeps telling the Admiral that he’s
spoiling his daughter rotten – and he is.

Justice, on the other hand, has mommy ‘wrapped’, as well. She just
dotes on the little boy. She collects his hair clipping, his finger
paintings, and even refuses to erase his crayon marks, from the living room
wall. “It is great art,” she says.

***

The Admiral finally talks Danion into coming out of the Nemesis, to be
the Conqueror’s AI. Danion is birthing a replacement AI for the
Nemesis. Danion has been prolific, beyond his wildest dreams. No AI
has ever been allowed to reproduce like this.

Raj Lyaltn is the Provisional Captain, of the Stalwart, and Captain Vinxt
is in command of the Integrity. Everyone who took part in the heist at
the shipbuilding facility gets a bonus, and an all expenses paid two week
vacation, on the beautiful planet Rison.

Rison had been their first employer in the protection business, and
welcomes the AH Navy for a visit. Admiral Nemo asks for, and gets,
permission to recruit more personnel, for the AH Navy.

The new battleship requires a crew of 1,200. The counterfeit
crewmembers who hijacked her, will get first choice of jobs on the ‘big ship’,
and there are already a lot of requests for transfer coming in, from the rest
of the Fleet. If he doesn’t get enough recruits, from Rison, the Admiral
plans on going to Keysl. Those 4 armed people can get things done, in a
hurry.

***

Keysl

The recruiting trip to Keysl has been a success. All of the open AH
Navy positions have been filled, with outstanding personnel.

There is an added bonus for the trip. The Premier contacts the
Admiral to welcome the Fleet, and to invite him to visit. Over dinner,
the Premier mentions that a fleet of 20 Verm Navy vessels had recently entered
Keysl space, looking for the AH Navy.

The Premier had responded, to the Verm Navy query, by saying that the AH
Navy had been in the sector, but left more than 2 months ago. The Keysl
Navy recorded the destination coordinates of the Verm Navy Fleet, as it entered
FTL space. The Premier gave those coordinates to the Admiral.

Admiral Nemo feels confident that the AH Navy can defeat the 20 vessel
Verm Navy Fleet, but the Admiral hopes to minimize AH Navy losses, by launching
a ‘surprise attack’. He orders ‘single ship’ scouting missions for the 5
nearest system, which includes the system that the Premier told him about.
Their instructions are: to emerge well outside of the assigned star system, and
to search for the Verm Fleet.

***

The Verm Fleet has been spotted in the Hortn System. The Admiral
checks the star charts, and observes that the Verm Fleet appears to be jumping
to the next closest system. If that is the case, the next destination
should be the Creel System. The Admiral gets intelligence on the Creel
System from the Keysl Navy, and then orders his Fleet into FTL space.

***

The Creel System

The Augmented Human Navy emerges into the Creel System, with all ships at
Battle Stations. There are no enemy vessels awaiting their arrival, but
the Admiral leaves the security level at Battle Stations – the Verm Fleet could
emerge at any moment.

The Admiral has data on two occasions, when the Verm Fleet emerged into a
new system – the Keysl, and the next system that they visited. On both
occasions, the Verm Fleet took the shortest route to the system, and emerged at
the edge of the system. Once again, the arrogance and overconfidence of
the Verm Navy is evident. If a military unit is concerned for their
safety, that unit will be behaving in an unpredictable manner. Judging
from their lackadaisical attitude, the Verm Navy is not expecting an attack.

The AH Navy spreads itself out, over a large chunk of space, hoping to
destroy some Verm vessels as they emerge. The exact point of emergence is
unknown, so an ambush cannot be set. But even if they only destroy a few
vessels during the emergence process, that still reduces the number of ships
that they must fight.

Admiral Nemo reminds his Navy that this is the fleet that destroyed their
home on Tubor, and committed genocide against the larten species. He
instructs all ships to target the enemy Engineering section, and to continue
firing until the FTL drive explodes – effectively destroying all life.

He cautions his Captains, that if a ship surrenders, they must cease fire
on that ship, or be guilty of a war crime. But, he instructs, if they
don’t ask to surrender, then just keep firing until they are destroyed.

The AH Navy Fleet waits at those coordinates for three days, in Battle
Stations alert mode. The Admiral is beginning to think that he was wrong
about their predictability, when Danion announces: “Vessels emerging.
Commencing firing.”

‘Shooting fish in a barrel’, as the saying goes. 4 Verm Navy
vessels are destroyed, while emerging, and 3 more are seriously damaged, with
hull breaches and fires that are visible. That leaves 13 healthy enemy
vessels, but those are not prepared for battle.

The battlespace is spread over a large swath of asteroid sprinkled space,
at the fringes of the Creel system. The AH Navy warships charge directly
at the closest Verm vessels, and receive little or no return fire, for the
first few minutes of battle. The shields on the Verm Navy vessels are not
even set to automatic, when the ships emerge. The 3 damaged Verm vessels
are finished off, before they can organize a defensive strategy, and a number
of the remaining warships have taken significant damage.

Admiral Nemo orders the 27 AH Navy warships to ‘gang attack’ the
remaining vessels, and reminds them to target their Engineering sections.
The Verm Navy vessels are outnumbered by about a 3 to 1 ratio, and the AH Navy
munitions are all being aimed at one critical point. The Verm shields
quickly fail under the barrage of energy weapons, and one-by-one the ships
explode and cease to exist, as an entity.

The Admiral withheld the Conqueror from the battle, because he wants to
save the ammunition. They have spare munitions for the other vessels, but
not for the big guns on the dreadnaught battleship. The Admiral is sure
that the Conqueror will need that ammunition some day.

***

Looking for Ammo

The
Runx Sector Again

The search for ammunition brings the AH Navy Fleet to the Runx Sector,
once again. They still have some reserves of munitions stored in their 3
freighters, but all of their munitions could be depleted in one heavy battle,
against a medium sized fleet. Admiral Nemo will feel much more
comfortable when all freighters and warships are fully stocked with spare
munitions. He looks forward to the day when they have a couple of secret
stashes, of ammo - there is never too much.

The Fleet emerges in deep space near the supply depot, which they had
reconnoitered as part of their hijack of the freighters Galaxy and
Starfire. The Admiral sends one ship into the supply depot system, in
order to scout for defensive systems. The AH Navy still has probes in
position, there – all they have to do is turn them ON.

The ship, designated as ‘A5’, sends an FTL information probe back to the
Fleet reporting that a massive buildup of warships is underway, near the supply
depot.

(Note: the AH Navy now has so many vessels, that it had to quit
referring to them, by name. The Admiral needs a naming system, which will
tell him something, about the capabilities, of the vessel. ‘A5’ means
that the ship is #5, and the manufacturer, was the ‘
A
rtons’
Empire.)

Admiral Nemo dispatches a second vessel – the Stalwart, under Captain Raj
Lyaltn. The Stalwart is to deliver instructions to the A5, and is
to remain with her. The instructions to the 2 scout ships tell them that
they should continue to send messages, via FTL probe, but if the Verm Fleet
launches into FTL space, the AH Navy vessels are to:

o
first,
record the FTL destination coordinates and

o
secondly,
both vessels are to return to the AH Navy Fleet, ASAP.

***

How exciting! Something big is about to happen, and the AH Navy
is here to see it. Big fleets often mean big battles, or perhaps the Verm
Navy is about to claim more territory – possibly the Runx Sector.

The AH Navy Fleet maintains its position for 8 days, and receives
periodic updates via FTL probes. The latest probe informs the Admiral,
that the Verm Fleet looks almost ready to launch.

Admiral Nemo has used the 8 days to get his ships and sailors
ready. They have spent the time running practice drills, and ’roll playing’
in various scenarios. The sailors are kept abreast of the latest news,
and the excitement is building.

Then the two scout ships emerge into AH Navy space. Captain Raj
Lyaltn announces the news to the Admiral - the 120 ship fleet has
launched. The coordinates are forwarded to Danion, in the Conqueror, who
announces: “It’s Parin. The Verm Navy Fleet is on its way to Parin.”

Admiral Nemo orders Danion to plot a course to a location near Parin,
but to make the destination some safe distance from the coordinates, of the
Verm emergence. Within 5 minutes the AH Navy Fleet - except for the two
scout ships - are in FTL space, headed for Parin. The two scout ships
will follow, when their FTL drives have cooled.

The extrucian crew members, who are native to Parin, are especially
anxious about the safety of their world and families. They know that
Admiral Nemo will not let the Verm destroy their planet without a fight, and
they are eager to join the battle for their home world and their species.

Even though
the Fleet has spent 8 days preparing for this battle, the sailors spend the
trip to Parin checking and rechecking weapons and equipment. The Senior
Officers review and re-review their plans and contingency plans. The
journey seems to be over in minutes.

***