Chapter 6: This Ain’t No Picnic!

“It so often happens that, when men are convinced that they have to die, a desire to bear themselves well and to leave life’s stage with dignity conquers all other sensations.”

— Winston S. Churchill

Investigation site Area 57, The Plane of Mazzoo

Three hundred miles from the capital city Pema, Planet Patu, Universe Mespa 49.

Meeting between Baroness Yekez Yom and General Namu Nef

“Yekez, I thought you might like to be here when we finally break into the Ship. We are using the Ghoul survey tools to define how it lies. I can confirm the ship is twenty-five miles long. It will dwarf any Ghoul ship. The ship is awakening but it is not reacting to our drilling. Thank you for acquiring the Ghoul boarding ship, it is proving itself to be essential to our success. We can confirm that at long last we have something that can get through the hull,” said General Namu Nef, site overseer and General in charge of alien technological acquisition. “We have drilled a big enough tunnel to take the boarding craft down. We have placed it against the hull and we are starting to drill. It is slow but we are progressing at last!”

“Namu, as children we fantasized about traveling to the stars and now, we can. The Ghoul captives are so amenable to persuasion. They tell me this ship is one of the ships of those that built them. They know how to operate the ships and will help us access the most incredible education and technology. They tell me we will find educational systems on board that will wrench our people forward millions of years. We will be acquiring the knowledge of the ancients and the power to conquer not only our galaxies but move across universes in ships that can smash any opposition.

“Namu, your ideas of how to capture the Ghouls and then use them was a great inspiration. Who would’ve known we could find such treasures on our own planet? We have moved the education of our people forward a million years using what the Ghouls know. The ancients knew how to deliver education, and it has been so fast. Our society is awash with knowledge and new ideas. With knowledge will come great power. We will all enjoy as many slaves as we wish and we will have subject nations serving our every aspiration. We will become rich beyond our greatest wishes.

“I have brought you a gift from our leader. She greatly appreciates your work and wishes to reward you. It is a gunship and it is beautiful. I parked it in your hanger safely deep underground. It is sleek, but powerful, elegant but dangerous, just like you enjoy your men,” Yekez said laughing with her old friend.

“Our captive Ghouls are very helpful attracting further Ghouls to venture here and into our clutches. They will make pretty pets for us. Sadly, they are so ugly and do not last long here. We are learning to train them. They are terrified of complete discharge which could led to the loss of their memories, personality and programming. We are using this as the incentive to get them to do as we wish. We have found a tool that can drain them a bit at a time,” Yekez said laughing. “If they are good, we feed them a slave. They are becoming increasingly compliant.”

“Our spaceships are progressing. Using AIs and drones makes life a pleasure. Ghoul replicators make manufacture so easy. We could reach the stars independently, but these ships look like the treasure that will make the rest of our lives and the lives of our people a pleasure. Conquest has always been my favorite word. Subjugation is a very close second. Torture fights with subjugation for second place. What pleasures I see ahead of us my old friend Namu!” Yekez exclaimed delightedly.

The Destroyer MMP Korgan

Above Investigation site, Area 57, The Plane of Mazzoo, three hundred miles from the capital city Pema, Planet Patu, Universe Mespa 49

“Sire, we are ready for you to travel to the ground. The ship informs me it is under attack from a Ghoul drilling device that is slowly making progress and is urging you to hurry. We cannot see anything on the ground near the location, but I encourage you to be careful. Something must be there. The gunships have reached the designated location and are setting up. I will place you and your group precisely at the correct location in one minute,” said Ship tersely.

Sixty-seconds later Jason surrounded by his group found themselves on a sandy plain. He noticed a large hole close to where they were standing and several smaller holes in close proximity. Two-seconds later he was surrounded by forty Marine AIs from the ship. He saw hundreds of Marines disembarking from gunships a hundred yards away establishing a perimeter. He indicated he was switching off his shield so the underground battleship could locate him for teleport.

Enemy troops in heavy armor, bristling with weapons began boiling out of the holes. Jason frantically communicated with the ship by telepathy. His group the AIs and the troops began firing at the enemy. He saw the shields of his group flaring as they were struck repeatedly. Ixal was sticking to his side like a rash. Suddenly, a huge figure emerged from a hole, three yards from Jason and raised an assault weapon to fire directly at Jason. He dived to the ground while turning his assault rifle towards the enemy. Ixal dived next to him between him and the enemy and as she fell turned and fired at the enemy. Jason saw her hit by an intense beam and saw her overloaded shield fail and she shouted she was hit. Her shot caused the enemy’s shields to flare and then fail, but as she hit the ground the aim of her rifle was jarred and she hit the enemy in his foot. The enemy soldier stumbled as he began to move towards them and shot Jason in his thigh as he fell. Jason lost consciousness as his armor was pierced, his leg was burned and the toxic atmosphere entered.

Jason regained consciousness to find himself in a pod. He heard a disembodied voice say. “I have been hit I am failing, you will have to evacuate yourself. The toxic gas is removed. Your leg treatment is only partly complete.” Jason saw a red-hot area form near him. He realized the pod was under attack. He transported himself out and saw the enemy soldier limping out of the door. He saw Ixal lying on the ground and struggling to get up.

“Jason my right leg is useless, but I managed to hit him in the shoulder with my sword. I didn’t penetrate his armor as I lost my balance. My assault rifle did not come through. The ship will not respond to me. You are not in any fit state to chase him.

“Ship this is Lord Jason Kargo please respond.”

He heard a very lethargic voice say: “Sire you are not genetically identified to take control. You need to be identified by a pod.”

“Can you stop that animal rampaging through the ship?”

“You are not yet authorized to command. Please enter a pod for identification.”

“Please put me in a pod to obtain full identification.”

“I am trying to find an operating pod. Pod number four thousand seven hundred and fifty-six is operational. Jason found himself in a pod. “Please identify my DNA to the ship and rapidly do a makeshift repair so I may catch an enemy rampaging through the ship.”

Jason lost consciousness, then regained his consciousness and found himself next to Ixal. “That was very quick,” said Ixal.

“Please repair Ixal as fast as you can, Ship!” Jason ordered. “Transport me to the location of the enemy but behind him.”

Jason found himself behind the enemy soldier who was using its assault weapon to try and burn a hole in the hull. He heard a grinding noise at the same location on the hull. Jason crept forward silently then stabbed both of his swords deep into the back of the soldier and twisted them. As the swords penetrated General Namu Nef, she turned and raised her assault rifle to shoot Jason. He held on to his swords and swung away. She fired at him and missed. He realized he had not hit a vital organ. He tried to slice downward using all his weight. Nef was very strong and continued to try to fire at Jason. He could feel the ship rising and the tone of the outside grinding changed. He held on with his hand on the left sword and pulled out the right to stab it into her. She twisted and his sword was wrenched from his hand. He twisted away as she fired a single shot that grazed Jason’s side. He grabbed for his knife and tried to stab her neck but she continued to turn and shoot and hit his foot which burned agonizingly. He saw black blood bubbling on the back of her armor where his right sword had been. He saw her face as she desperately tried to turn. She was evidently in pain. He swallowed his own pain, the Azayal way and swung his knife into the back of her neck. She finally collapsed. Jason stepped back and sliced off her head.

“Ship transport this enemy into stasis or into any other form of secure incarceration. Remove the attachment and support struts of the enemy drill,” Jason commanded. He heard a clatter from outside the hull. “Transport away any beings operating the drill.” He heard the drill continuing. “Remove the drill.” He heard more grinding then silence, then grinding again.

He heard the lethargic voice again. “My Lord the hull is greatly weakened and we will not be safe for spaceflight. Make your way to the bridge, I must make the area secure.”

Jason hopped and limped away as quickly as he could. He heard loud banging and then the drilling ceased.

“Remove the drill and raise the ship two miles into the atmosphere.”

“Yes, sire I will do as you command. We will break the ground in approximately five minutes.”

Jason communicated telepathically to Razza. “We have fought off one of the enemy who joined us on the ship. He hit me superficially on my side and in the middle of my right foot. The ship hull is badly damaged by a drill which almost penetrated through. I will take us up to two miles and then look at repair options and then go to a medical pod. Where are you guys?” Jason asked.

“We had a hell of a battle on the surface. There were thousands of the vermin that appeared out of bolt holes. Their faces are like your worst nightmare. They have insect like heads on a humanoid body with double sets of nasty razor sharp teeth and long round tongue with teeth on the end which looks like it drills into a person. I saw several without helmets. They are fierce fighters. They have some kind of EMP weapon, they disabled the AIs very quickly. Every third soldier had an EMP device.

“We are fortunate we had the Azayal and Gromelix with us, we needed them all. Without them we wouldn’t have been able to hold them off on the surface. The enemy even had gunships and tanks that emerged from underground and ghoul fighters. The extra fighters and gunships from the Azayal, Mergal sent along with us, are the only reason we are alive. We needed the fighters to reduce the overwhelming numbers of the opposition we faced. This was no primitive group of people. The weapons look like those of the Ghouls, real nasty stuff. They could get through our shields and armor.

“We got back to the gunship with thirty-seconds to spare. We thought the monster soldier had killed you. We’re almost at the ship now. The hologram shows hundreds of huge ships breaking through the ground and rising up,” said Razza.

“I’ve got to go now and try and find a way of dealing with the hull problem. I will speak to you soon,” said Jason grinding his teeth. The pain decreased as his suit administered treatment.

“How long will it take you to repair your hull, Ship?” Jason asked.

“Sire, I regret to say my replicators are not working. They will need repair before I can fix the hull, secondly, we cannot do repairs in this universe. We will need to move to another one that is suitable,” the ship said tiredly.

“Do you have any boarding pods that are operational, ship?”

“Yes, sire I do, what do you wish me to do?”

“Send your boarding pod to the existing hole and fit it into the hole and make it secure. Will you be able to then fly to the next universe for repairs?”

“That is an excellent suggestion, My Lord, it will possibly work ... The boarding shuttle has been activated and is heading for the hole ... I am directing the pod myself ... We have arrived at the hole ... Our boarding pod is slightly larger than the enemy one which is ideal ... We will achieve an excellent seal. I have closed all adjacent bulkhead doors when you transported to the bridge as a precaution in case of a leak. I am evacuating the atmosphere in those areas to reduce the pressure on the weakened area. This will be achieved within ten minutes,” said the Ship sounding very much more enthusiastic.

“Can you pound the surface around where we left to ensure there are no enemy left alive?” Jason asked.

“Sire, I will wait forty-five seconds as the last of our Gromelix gunships are leaving the surface ... I am firing on enemy fighters approaching the area ... Antimissile systems are active ... Sire, we have one small missile heading for us ... it has been destroyed by one of our destroyers ... Ten enemy fighters and a gunship destroyed ... Commencing fire on the ground with heavy cannon. The area has been bombarded to a depth of ten yards. Penetrating missiles fired ... Nine of ten missiles exploded one failed ... not bad after such a long time ... No life signs noted from the area. We did not see the life signs of the enemy at first. They used sophisticated cloaking. It took a few minutes after the attack began to find them through their cloaking.