Chapter 18

Negotiations were swift between Vangis and Hratt. The Trenoc Alliance were desperate enough to clutch at any straw. Hence the Empire swiftly mounted expeditions to pick up their surviving citizens and bring them home. Imperial technicians also ‘manned’ various sites in the Tafta system and brought them fully back to active service, including the gas mining rig orbiting the inner gas giant in the system to enable the Empire to refuel their ships and prepare for the inevitable conflict.

Whilst all this was being done, the medical team I was part of had relocated to the surface and were treating any injured or ill that we could and sending those we couldn’t up to the orbiting Medical Carriers. We were also testing the prototype of our landing craft AI, finding that it gave us a massive advantage over and above the one built into our armour.

“Strange,” I mused out loud. “The 467^th are supposed to be drop landing specialist shock troops. But we’ve never done a drop once in this whole campaign.”

“True, though that’s mostly because these aliens aren’t invading and don’t hang around to be invaded in turn,” Torun replied. “We might get a chance if we discover they have a home system though.”

“Believe me, getting to ground in a landing craft is a lot safer than doing it in armour with just a grav-pack,” Flinn chuckled.

“Oh, I believe you,” I grinned. “The few practice runs I’ve been on were pretty chaotic.”

“Yeah, same here,” Torun laughed.

“Hmm. You have a couple of visitors, Kiria,” Flinn informed me.

“Oh, who?”

“Prefects Beeln and Regot from the 25^th Drop Assault Regiment.”

“Permission to see them, Flinn,” I asked, with a wide smile at running into my friends.

“Granted. We’ll call you back if it gets busy.”

I scooted off following directions from the AIs until I spotted the pair of them in the hospital entrance.

“Beeln, Regot! It’s so good to see you! How have you been?” I greeted them cheerfully.

“We’re fine, Inisir sends her love. She’s based on the Assault Carrier Hanot and couldn’t get time off,” Beeln replied as we exchanged hugs.

“Oh, we’ll all have to try and meet up as we’re all in the same system.”

“We will. I’m pretty sure Limo, Denna and Dorit will eventually be out here, though not Valla,” Regot finished with a sigh.

“Yes. I heard she died on Tarnoq during the invasion,” I nodded in understanding.

“Yep, their position got overwhelmed and there were no survivors,” Beeln added.

“We’ll raise a glass to her later.” I nodded.

“We will,” Regot agreed.

“So, what have you been up to?” I asked after a slight thoughtful pause.

“Fighting mostly, at least till the aliens buggered off,” Regot chuckled.

“Same here, along with the Healing bit.”

“Yeah, we saw the tri-dee of you leading that bunch through the alien vessel. We got loads of kudos by dropping the info that we knew you, trained with you and played on the same grav-ball team with you,” Beeln grinned.

“Hope it got you a few free drinks,” I laughed.

“Meh, I just have to turn on the womanly charms for that ... though it did help,” she giggled.

“No fixed man yet?”

“Not until after my first term of service. At the moment I just have fun and get the occasional itch scratched,” she replied with a wide grin.

“My, my, where has the shy little Beeln gone?” I asked with a laugh.

“Oh, she’s still there, just waiting for the right guy,” Regot laughed.

“Same here, but at the moment it’s just too dangerous to look for real love,” I nodded.

“Yeah, we have to rid a galaxy of these things first,” Beeln nodded.

At this point Flinn and Torun wandered out and I introduced them after the salutes to Flinn as she outranked them (as did I but they weren’t bothered about me).

“So just waiting for the aliens to strike and we teach them that they can’t run far enough or fast enough,” Torun stated after finding out just what Regot and Beeln did.

“That’s the plan, I believe,” Regot grinned. “Though at the moment we’re just helping set up some of the infrastructure we brought with us.”

“Kind of the same with us and medical aid,” Flinn nodded. “The people of this Realm are seriously demoralised.”

“Yeah, we noticed,” Regot agreed. “The Empire turning up has helped though.”

“Yep and we aren’t asking them to fight for us either,” I added.

“No, though I’m told we have a few volunteers,” Torun replied.

“Really?”

“Yep, apparently they want revenge. The techs and AIs are trying to get their shipyard set up to finish off a cruiser they were building and get it manned by them.”

“Well, good for them,” I nodded.

Hratt and Tret were in conference with the Empress and her security group, essentially giving them a briefing on the current situation. Also in attendance was Vangis, representing the Trenoc Alliance.

“So, we have a secure base to begin our campaign from?” Amantil asked.

“Yes, Serenissima. The Trenoc have been most accommodating,” Tret replied.

“It was the least my people could do after the aid you gave us,” Vangis added.

“Nevertheless, we thank you for this and will do our best to either help you rebuild or relocate.”

“We’re still discussing that amongst each other, though the security of locating to one of your worlds does appear to be gaining ground.”

“Let the Admirals know what you decide.”

“I will, thank you, Serenissima.”

“How are the fleet preparations, Admirals?”

“We’ve unloaded all our supplies and have completed all repairs and servicing. We’re ready to fight, Serenissima,” Hratt replied for them.

“Good, the 6^th and 7^th Fleets are leaving with the replenishment fleet and will be with you in two binary cycles. They are also bringing retrofitted Hegemony beam weapons that will work on the alien hulls as well as two more Missile Carriers and several not quite obsolete Hegemony Dreadnoughts with their old-style disintegration cannons.”

“Beam weapons that work will be a big help, Serenissima,” Tret nodded, looking pleased.

“The Hegemony released the specifications to our yards and we’re busy building them as fast as we can to fit onto our ships as well as our planetary defence grids. Whilst they may not win the war for us, we believe they’ll come as a nasty surprise to these aliens. So, try and preserve your fleets until we get the weapons out to you, though don’t hold back if the aliens attack a system before they arrive.”

“By your command, Serenissima,” both Admirals replied.

“All Troopers report to your stations. The enemy has been detected approaching the Histed system and we will intercept them there,” the harsh tones of the AI awoke me from a deep sleep.

“On my way,” I replied, stepping into the sonic shower before donning my undersuit and armour and followed the AIs directions to the landing shuttle.

I was soon joined by Torun and Flinn as we checked over our equipment and readiness state as well as ensuring that we had our weapons available.

The Florven Technocracy Navy was fighting bravely if futilely. The alien attacks on the systems next to them had given them warning that they might be attacked in turn, yet their ships did not have the means to defeat even the smallest of the alien craft. They’d done their best to scatter the population of the Histed system to as many of their in-system outposts as possible in the hope of salvaging something from what they knew was likely to be a massacre, but other than a few mass drivers based on the moon of Histed, had nothing that could stop the advance.

“Detecting more incoming ships!” a Detection Officer on the Technocracy Flagship announced to the bridge crew.

“Help or more enemies?” Captain Supreme Gisseg asked.

“Unknown ma’am, but approaching through XD space, not jumping in.”

“Probable point of emergence?”

“Unknown ma’am. The ships are moving far faster than ours can and are manoeuvring within the grav-zone where our ships cannot go.”

“Try to keep an eye on them and have a few units before them if or when they do emerge,” she ordered a Comm Officer.

“Aye, aye, ma’am.”

The 4^th and 5^th fleets finally emerged directly in the path the aliens were making towards the planet Histed and launched a massive salvo of missiles towards their vessels, led by the two Missile Carriers they had.

The results were as expected and caught the aliens totally by surprise, particularly when the Missile Carriers did not dart back within the protection of the fleets, but continued to fire at any reaper craft they could spot. This surprise was then compounded upon the alien attack vessels firing their slashing beams at the Missile Carriers only to see the Carriers survive it with their built-in shielding.

“Unknown ships are attacking the aliens!” the flagship Detection Officer announced. “They’re mostly using missiles!”

“Missiles? Aren’t their ships taking beam damage from the aliens?” Gisseg asked.

“Two of their ships appear to be immune to beam weapons, plus they have a lot of ... small craft taking out any ships who get too close.”

“Small craft?”

“Half the size of a Frigate but manoeuvre better than one of our fighters, ma’am. Also appear to be very heavily armed.”

“Message from unknown fleet. AI is translating it now,” a Comm officer announced.

“Put it in the cube.”

“Aye, aye, ma’am.”

“Greetings. My name is Admiral Tret of the Vreekoosian Empire. We’re here to assist you in your fight with the aliens. We’re sending your AI a datapack of the known types of alien vessels along with their strengths and weaknesses.”

“Greetings. I am Captain Supreme Gisseg of the Florven Technocracy Navy. Thank you for your aid. No doubt we’ll have questions later.”

“We’ll answer as many as we’re allowed, but for the moment, allow us to turn back these invaders.”

“Of course, and good luck,” Gisseg replied, feeling as if a heavy weight had lifted off her chest as the cube ended the transmission. “Regroup the fleet, observe the tactics the Empire craft use and try to passively scan their vessels,” she ordered the bridge crew.

“Aye, aye, ma’am.”

“Do not actively scan them. We may have the beginning of a friendship here and there’s no need to be rude.”

“All Troopers, board your craft and prepare for extermination missions!” the harsh tones of the AI ordered.

“Going after their landing craft?” I asked in general.

“Nope, we’re going after one of their inner core vessels,” Flinn informed us. “Fleet believes it might be a command and control vessel and they want a look at it ... if we can bring it down.”

“Oh great. Another learning experience,” I groused.