Chapter 6: The Battle for Callisto

“Welcome back, Jason. I’m sure we will all be fascinated to hear of your adventures, but you need to excuse us while we deal with the current battle,” said Andrea.

Linda came over and gave him a kiss. “You look rather fit, and I think you have grown a bit,” commented Linda. “I think we will need to inspect your Warhammer to check if it is still operational once this little lark is over,” Linda said as she gently grabbed the front of his trousers, triggering hooting and cheering.

“Arrival is imminent in ten, nine, eight,... , three, two, one,” Ship counted down. They waited for the battle holograms to refresh data on the situation.

“Firing all cannon, turning sufficiently to broadside the area. Done. Firing missiles and cannon at will. Fleet firing and missiles almost at target, cannon impacts show shield failing. They have fired at us but our shields are holding. No missiles from the Ghoul ship as yet. The cube is behind the ship. Marked as an ally on War AI. That cube is a monster. The cube is firing.

“We can see the Ghoul ship. A cloud started to form around it but has failed. Massive hits all over the ship. It’s the same porcupine type of ship.

“The firepower of that cube is stupendous. See how as it tumbles as its cannon fires? It is so clever. The firing rate is so high as cannon recovery is not an issue. By the next rotation they are ready. They can sustain three times our rate of fire.

“Look at that the ship is breaking apart and pods are shooting out. We will shoot every single one of them down.

“Jason, look, there on the holo,” said Andrea excitedly pointing at a green beam that emerged from the cube. “The cube sent out a tractor from way back there, and captured two pods. Good luck to them, I wouldn’t risk a live one of them on board our ship.”

“It looks as though you guys and The One have done a great job. He said he would be there and he was.”

Jason sent, “Thank you very much!”

He saw a big yellow 3-D smiley in his mind and the cube disappeared.

‘A telepathic Emoji? Why not after all?’ Jason laughed.

“Okay, people, the first stage of the fun is over. Let us get on with the job we came to do,” said Andrea waving everyone to concentrate on the sensor and other combat information streaming towards them.

They could see huge amounts of debris and crippled ships from both sides.

Dogs and Marine AIs left the ships in waves, undertaking their usual attacks which they had down to a fine art. This time however they were attempting to practice the external mine placement technique. The mines were large and were attached to dogs and Marine AIs in close to a zero gravity environment in the cargo hangers. A crane moved the mine to be held and attached to the marine who was strapped to a hound. The mines dwarfed the Hound / Marine combination. Once on the dogs the effects of inertia were nullified. However, they had also modified the mines. Despite their mass, they were not affected by inertia; much as with the shuttles, tanks and ships.

The ground situation was in turmoil. A mass of troops on both sides were locked in combat. The Mob had managed to land five times as many attackers as there were defenders, and had achieved air superiority in the last hour, with devastating effect. The Mob was dominant on the ground and protecting twenty factories and industrial centers they occupied.

Peter Kane and Morgan James knew Admiral Julie Woodcock and General Bruno Messina well. They were both respected and well-known throughout the Empire. Unfortunately for them, they did not have sufficient forces to adequately defend the planet. They had been warned but were overwhelmed.

Both Linda and Andrea were rapidly liaising with their counterparts.

“Admiral Woodcock, we will be launching our attack on the enemy fleet in the next few minutes, I will send you a live feed of the action as it occurs. My colleague General Linda Andrews will be communicating with General Bruno Messina to discuss the landing of our troops. Please report only in the broadest of terms to Central Command, as they are infested with spies. Please do not reveal our methods. You will be surprised by what you see and no doubt you will not believe what you are observing. We don’t have the time to be able to brief you in more detail, but we have launched our attacks on the fleet. Warn the ground troops not to fire on our beasties in case they can’t believe the AIs.”

The battle computers transmitted pictures of the attacking dogs and Marine AIs to both the planetary fleet command and to the ground command indicating friend.

“Admiral Phillips, I have never seen such an amazing sight in my life. Those dogs look like some of the dogs of legend. I noticed that the dogs have Marines that look like Marine AIs. I knew that we had a project to investigate them but I did not know that any had been manufactured. I observed the speed of reaction and my War AI informed me that no human could have responded at that rate,” said Admiral Julie Woodcock.

“General Messina, we are now launching our ground assault. You will observe the dogs that you have seen previously along with the Marine AIs, but we are also deploying a new version of the landing gunships together with what we call Mech Warriors. Please tell your troops that the hounds will not harm them and inform them that they may observe the following images,” said Linda as she sent pictures of the two sizes of Mech Warriors, along with pictures of the dogs and Marine AIs.

As had been agreed, control was vested in Andrea and Linda. Jason, on Linda’s instructions, sent in his dogs with Marine AIs to take out the gunships and tanks. The missile and artillery emplacements would be next and then they would engage in subsequent terror activities. Linda sent in her dogs and Marine AIs to reinforce critical positions, and to prepare safer landing areas for the assault craft.

Fighters were also launched to protect the shuttles and gunships, and to attack ground positions. Before the mass landings occurred, any large enemy troop concentrations were tagged and bombarded by ship’s cannon, while any well fortified ground emplacements were hit with missiles.

Electronic countermeasures hid their arrival, facilitating the surprise attack. Fifteen minutes later, the already damaged enemy fleet was silent. The external mine technique was highly successful on the remainder of the ships that were operating, but they had employed it very selectively as the salvage value of the fleet was greatly increased. The ships were not internally protected they discovered and returned to the previous methods to further reduce damage.

“Morgan, to date I have not committed many of our troops, Marine AIs, or Mech Warriors. I have been very concerned about damaging them, and have been concerned about the rate of attrition of our weapon systems. Part of our objective today is to end this conflict as fast as possible, and then move on to the Mob worlds. What do you think?” Linda asked looking at Jason, Morgan and Peter.

“Linda, I have found another ten million Marine AIs, and another twenty-thousand various Mech Warriors which along with twenty freighters of missiles and miscellaneous supplies should be plenty of reserve. There is still a lot more where they came from, and I will ensure that when this conflict is over you will be fully supplied for whatever you want to do. I have found a total of one hundred and twenty-million Marine/Combat/Naval AIs. We have as many as we can carry and the rest are going to Porquenta. The Empire has released whatever equipment we need to get the job done!” Morgan said.

“We have nearly nine hundred miscellaneous ships headed for Porquenta, loaded with captured equipment and prisoners,” said Admiral Peter Kane. “Porquenta is salivating in anticipation of what he can get his hands on.

“In my experience the bigger the force you send in, the less damage you face. You have plenty of capacity for repairs and ample reserve equipment. You also need to test how you do a full scale invasion and manage support. Go for it, and we will support you,” General Morgan James said firmly as he looked at her. Jason nodded his head.

“Very well, then. We all don’t want to waste time. I’m going to send in my full complement of Marine AIs and Mechs along with their heavy weapons. I want to reduce, the damage to factories and the theft of material,” Linda stated and gave her orders.

She then deployed the Mech Warriors to fly in and engage enemy fighters en route supporting ship fighters.

Within three hours there was a profound change in the balance of the ground war. The dogs were still able to run riot through aircraft and troops, and within a further two hours the enemy command and control was captured and the Mob surrendered.

Of considerable concern however was the fact that the Mob had been successful in flying out large amounts of supplies and material from the planet, particularly from the most technologically advanced sites. One entire advanced electronics factory producing products intrinsic to control systems for large weapons systems as well as all the components within the missiles had been removed in its entirety. Many other factories had had both fully manufactured and manufacturing components stolen and removed. In particular the entire computer systems from a hundred factories had been stolen with all the manuals and specifications for equipment design. At the same time intelligence arrived to show that similar losses had been sustained on Phobos.

Jason received a surprising call.

“Jason, my boy, this is your great uncle Cassius. I’m very pleased to welcome you to the Empire. This call will have to be quick as my secretary has gone to town briefly, and he watches my every move which makes me feel like a prisoner in my own palace.

“I’m very much looking forward to your arrival. Please come to stay with us at the palace when you arrive. Your aunt Alana and I look forward to seeing you? How is your health? You do look more healthy than I was lead to believe.

“You and your fleet have done very well. You need to make sure that you are well recompensed for all the effort that you have undertaken. I will make sure that that happens.

“I have spoken to the wife of Peter Kane and I understand a lot better than many realize the position he was in and the brilliant job he did diverting Papa Zora. Had it been someone less clever it would have been a catastrophe.

“We have serious, even disastrous, planning problems in fleet command. They have underestimated the enemy and you have saved their butts. They did not mobilize properly and if it was not for you this would have been a calamity. Your aunt is as formidable as usual. She puts a rocked under the intelligence group every day. I could not manage without her.

“My secretary believes that I’m exaggerating, as he takes me for a fool. I need you here just as soon as you sort out The Mob. We have a lot to do my boy, a lot of clearing out of deadwood and I think you can help me do it!”

“Cassius it is a pleasure speaking to you. I have seen the reserves you have, and the response was not appropriate to the level of threat. I do know that The Mob has been infiltrating the Empire for some time, as had Papa Zora. I have encountered other beings that I will tell you about when I see you. This has been a disturbing campaign.

“We expect to negotiate with Fleet Command to go to The Mob core planets. Peter Kane believes he knows their locations, and the most likely planet where they are taking the stolen goods. Once of the secretaries with the Mob fed him the information. We are currently collecting intelligence about the situation on The Mob worlds. From what we are able to see from the people we have captured, they are close to internal conflict. We have seen different groups fighting each other on the ships we have captured. They have not destroyed their ships as they did in the past. I’m hoping that we will be able to do more when we get to their core planets.

“The situation on the ground is not yet stabilized on Callisto. Phobos is almost stable. We will do our best to deal with the challenges as expeditiously as we can, and we will then have enough time to be in The Mob system ahead of their freighters.

“I thank you for your invitation to visit you and to stay in the palace. I will do so as soon as I’m able, once we win this war. We will settle the situation here quickly and then move on. Do you have any information for me on my great-grandfather? I’m very worried about him, as I have heard that he may be in danger.”

“Jason, I have a growing sense of disquiet about what is happening in my palace. Some of my staff remain friendly with those who are running your great-grandfather’s estate. I suspect that they are keeping information from me. I will meet with my intelligence people in an attempt to find more information for you, prior to your arrival. Go and be well, my boy, we look forward to seeing you. You are doing a great job,” said Cassius enthusiastically before signing off.

“He is a real force of nature and conversations are not necessary with him. He is happy to speak all the time,” said Jason smiling, “I do like him and my aunt a lot. He is saying the Palace has been infiltrated. That is a worry.”

“Jason, come join me and Morgan while we negotiate with Fleet Command. I have spoken to one of my good friends at Fleet Command who tells me that they are in a terrible mess. The Emperor has ordered an intelligence investigation into Fleet Command.

“The Empress said that she spoke to Peter Kane directly after Jason was injured, and Peter Kane was very clear about the imminent attacks on planets by The Mob. His very detailed report was changed after receipt so they are investigating how that happened. The message was changed to a possible attack and a small attack. They have an audit trail and found the original message. That is one of many reasons for the inadequate mobilization. The Emperor is furious and is demanding action.

“He has also told the media about your teams’ heroic efforts and the amazing Peter Kane and Morgan James, who saved the Empire from tragedy.

“My sources say your cousin was seen in the capital on business, and he was not in a joyful mood!”

“The Empire forces don’t have ships available to be able to intercept the freighters in time. They also don’t have the ships available to attack The Mob planets in the next month. They are now mobilizing, too little and too late. They want us to get them out of their mess.

“We will be negotiating predominantly with supreme Admiral Zanza Tito. She is a very fine woman and has been my immediate superior for many years. We have the greatest respect for each other. She has been mortified by what has happened, but she has the greatest faith in us particularly after we have achieved so much so quickly. She is very friendly with your great aunt Alana and went to school with Emperor Cassius.

“If I know her she will mobilize a powerful fleet to follow us in a month. I hope by then it will be all over. She is involved in a very big cleanup of her staff. My fear is that the saboteurs are buried very deeply within her staff. I think we have other embedded infiltrators, as well,” Kane said. He handed over to Linda and Andrea.

“There are three areas to consider. They don’t have enough troops to clean up on the ground at Callisto. It will take them at least a week to get troops to Callisto,” said Linda.

“We need then to intercept the freighters with the contraband. Then we need to decide what to do with the situation in The Mob worlds. Let us move on to the discussion after the negotiation with Tito,” Andrea said.

Jason watched the large hologram form. The background was blanked out. They had learned from Morgan James how much he had learned from what was seen in the background.

Jason observed the picture clearing, and he saw an imposing looking women sitting at a large table with three colleagues to her right and two to her left.

“Admiral Kane, it is a pleasure to see you. Your fleet has indeed done well. Congratulations, you have done an excellent job for the Empire. I’m sorry to say that we have faced unparalleled internal sabotage and obstruction.

“Today, I wanted to talked to you about leaving three million troops on the ground until we can get there in a week and then we hope that you can run down the freighters. I understand that it may leave you very short on troops, as I understand that you left three million behind on Phobos.

“We will then be able to catch up with you when we do a full mobilization in about six weeks, at the Mob core worlds where we can progressively invade planet by planet.

“Admiral I would like to introduce you to Lord Kargo, who is the great-grandson of the former king.

“I’m very pleased to meet you, Lord Kargo, I know your grandfather well. He and I are great friends, and I’m sorry to hear that he has been ill.

“My Lord, you appear to have done extraordinarily well. You have managed to acquire a small army and fleet and have found some extraordinary people. I have also heard some interesting rumors from our spies in the priests Guild about their belief that you are a demigod and that you have your own God that is a planet.

“I was very sorry to hear that you were so grievously injured on Nirvana, and then were injured again on Virgil. I’m sure that the King would not have expected you to have to resort to direct involvement in ground warfare. My Lord, please look after yourself,” said Admiral Tito.

“Admiral, it is indeed a pleasure to meet you. I would be very interested to hear about the types of sabotage that you have experienced,” Jason inquired.

The Admiral sat thinking for a few moments. She appeared to come to a decision.

“The Empress told me directly that she had been warned by you, my Lord, as well as by Admiral Kane, of an impending invasion of seven planets. She informed us that Peter Kane had diverted them from an attack on our core worlds. She assured me that a report would follow from you Peter. The report was much watered-down and only later did we find the original. As a result of the doctored report we reduced the scope of the proposed mobilization.

“We discovered that all our commands were watered down in their turn, and led to mobilization of small fleets with minimal troops. The Emperor himself stormed in with a vengeance like a rampaging Kroger. He insisted that we investigate in great detail what was happening internally, and said that he believed we were being sabotaged. His own intelligence was indicating that our response was pitiful.

“The sabotage occurred on many levels. Infiltrators replaced our own AIs with enemy AIs. They are a level above ours, look like them and are of alien design but mimic ours. Communication and Command became corrupted. We found several highly placed spies and infiltrators. It took time to find out what was happening as our intelligence was unreliable. We replaced all our equipment, but the newer AIs were slow to catch up on thousands of years of experience. Missiles and equipment on ships have been faulty. Equipment and ammunition orders were inappropriate for planetary assaults.

“Our counterintelligence service is out of their depth, and is having to start again. That is some of the essence of the issues.

“My Lord, I have spoken to the Emperor and he said we are to agree to your reasonable requests. He said a Kargo never asks for more than he is entitled but also rarely less than what he is entitled.

“We confirm that we agree that you will be paid the value of the material recovered and in addition full recognition as citizens of the Empire would be accorded to any of your lordships forces who survive.

“Any planets you capture will be owned by you. You will keep the fleet that you captured and we will resupply and repair it. The law of salvage applies to all enemy ships that you capture. We will require access to some of the ships to investigate the technology,” said Admiral Tito. “Title for both Porquenta and Mars is now clearly in your name. When this war is over, there is no doubt that you will have many applicants to live on those planets and they will be very valuable to you.

“My Lord, I’m very curious about what the priests said about you what do they mean?”

“Admiral Tito I will be happy talk to you in much greater detail when we discuss this war later. I’m sure I can entertain you with our cyberwarfare at the very least!” Jason said, and laughed heartily. I can assure you I am no Demi-God.

Jason realized during the negotiations that they did not realize that he had had a negligible attrition of his forces and that he did not think that they had asked about, nor were they aware of the full extent of his forces. He suspected that they didn’t care as long as they were his responsibility.

For them to allow the entry of a few million people into the Empire where the Empire consisted of trillions of people was a nonissue. In addition, the Empire would be acquiring significant people assets at a time when the Empire with a growing average age of the population was increasingly being depleted of fighting people. They would see that they were giving away nothing.

“Jason, our sensors now show that the enemy reserve fleet will be here in thirteen minutes. Debarking of troops has been suspended until we have completed this encounter. Our mines are in place and we have been joined by the reminder of the functional ships. Admiral Julie Woodcock and General Bruno Messina will be joining us in a few seconds.”