Chapter 14: Poutine perhaps?

Sergeant Leven had second thoughts as he was leading his platoon of recruits away from the damaged dropship. None of them had ever worn a Destroyer suit before. The first introduction to these marvels of Union military technology was planned for tomorrow and then the first planet drop would commence. That was the plan at least before the Basilone dropped into a system filled with angry Larkami battleships.

Glancing back his heart sank as he saw the proud dropship trailing a cloud of debris. Their ride would not last much longer.

A fully trained Marine elite force accompanied by Cerberus robots in deep space boarding configuration could perhaps carry the fight to the enemy, but...

Leven noticed he was not the only instructor with the same idea. What seemed like specks of dust emerging from the wounded drop ship were more marine recruits.

His suit computronic painted a bleak picture. There were twenty enemy battleships. In any other situation, he would only afford a weak smile at the outdated Kermac Habyr Battleships, but right now there was hardly anything scarier and more terrifying.

However what occurred next made him very proud of his recruits, of his branch and the Union.

His recruits came from the most diverse societies and all sorts of backgrounds.

True, the USS John Basilone

had only one Translocator cannon and not a single war load in its bomb magazines. The Destroyer suits authorized by himself to be fully enabled were equipped with a wide range of weapons and each suit included a micro TL with five one gram bombs. Laughable small and meant to defeat battle walkers and enemy landing tanks, but just like their big counterparts, no known Galactic Council shield technology could protect from Translocator fire.

His desperate, fatalistic decision deemed suicidal by himself just moments ago, changed into the same angry gung ho aggression his recruits displayed.

The big Line Cannons of the enemy ships that had no problems targeting and hitting the Basilone and the few other mostly civilian ships in the system had a hard time locking onto the minuscule targets, that buzzed like swarms of angry gnats around the Harbyr battleships.

The lead ship of the enemy forces suddenly lost shields. Bright flashing explosions where the Harbyr class had their shield projectors.

Roy only briefly noticed the four-armed friend Dirmon right next to him making contact with the hull of the enemy ship. The Petharian tore into the metal skin with an angry fury that was matched by Faragon to his other side. Ken, the Triple Strong held to a jagged tear of armor, while he poured withering fire from his SITKU into whatever was beneath.

The attack of the marine recruits was not without casualties, the large Line Cannons did have a difficult time locking onto targets, but when they did the blast spelled doom for the recruits caught in the light speed accelerated stream of energy.

The lead icon of Sergeant Leven blinked out and disappeared from Roy’s retina display along with three recruits of Bravo company.

He did not think about what he was doing next, he simply did it. “MAMA, can you switch me to platoon level?”

“Com Authorization level increased.”

“Dirmon, lead those troops on your side against that Cannon battery. It needs to be silenced.”

“Aye.”

“Ken, Mike take the starboard ordonnance. Our boys still coming in.”

“On it, Roy.”

Faragon, and you two,” Roy pointed past his Drach friend and motioned at two recruits he had no idea who they were.” Follow me!”

Rou dropped through the hull breach, blindly trusting his dragon friend to engage the suit-wearing enemy troops that had just entered the room below the hull breach. Roy disregarded the shots impacting his shields and instead of fighting he took a breaching kit from a suit compartment, lurched forward, and tossed the soft pillow-shaped object past the defending troops against the armored door. The thing adhered to the door and a heartbeat later an entire section of the wall crumbled to molecular dust.

Roy had never used a Breech Kit before, moments ago he did didn’t even know it existed, but he simply knew what was there and how it could be used. Neither Roy nor the other recruits knew that the Nano Wire connections not only allowed them to use these eight-ton battle suits intuitively but it fed much information into their minds. The device he had just used was not just a simple demolition charge, but a SPLAT, MK 4. These simple gray pillow-like things about human hand size were marvels of Human Terran war technology. SPLAT stood for Spectrum Pulse Load Anti Tech and these things adhered to virtually any material, analyzed what they were thrown against in a few nanoseconds, neutralized the energetic cohesion between molecules, but modulated the freed energies into a broad spectrum pulse, neutralizing most technical systems and devices. The SPLAT not only breached the wall but neutralized countermeasures, potential intruder containment measures, and automated weapon systems.

The strangest thing of the entire situation was not the attack, not the DI’s unconventional decision to lead his recruits into an all-out Deep Space assault; not the fact that Roy and his friends fought for their very survival and it was all real, but that despite all this, it felt right to him. This is what he was born to do. He loved being a Greenie, he could imagine himself eventually and maybe in many years to come to tend a farm with Tanya and Partner at his side, but this was him. Like in his beloved jungles, where he had to rely on his senses, his instincts to survive. Storming down smoke and fire filled corridors of an enemy ship and physically fight was nothing he would ever consider fun, but it was something he understood on its most basic level. Yes, graduation was still distant, but he knew it then and without a doubt. He, Roy Masters was a Marine.

The chair with Jane Smith on it burst into flames. The anger and penned up emotions of Geha made the fire so hot, the very metal frame of the variform chair had burst into flames.

The portel room’s fire suppression system instantly reacted and doused the fire with energy siphon rays and extinguishing chemicals, but for Jane Smith, it was too late, the mousy woman had only time for one painful scream before she had been utterly consumed.

Red strobe lights and the earsplitting wailing sound of a fire alarm told everyone of the fire emergency. Even though fires were pretty much a thing of the past, the necessary technology to deal with such an emergency was still mandatory.

Geha panicked. She knew emergency responders were already on their way and she was certain her psionic outburst had been noticed as well. She did not know much about the Union in detail, but she had heard of their Psionic laws, and this being primarily a military base, there was bound to be PSI Corps.

They would hunt her and she knew nothing about Lorman’s Starbase or the environmental conditions of the planet. If she was caught her chances to ever escape into Freespace were nil.

She rushed into the corridor of the fifth floor of this Portel. Every door she could see was wide open, bright orange robots emerging from wall compartment were already rushing towards her.

She ran the other way hoping to find some way to escape and avoid arrest. This was the second time she used a buildings fire systems to escape. This was not a secure medical facility, but a commercial accommodations provider, and this time she was not the only one rushing towards the marked exits. The other guests and perhaps also personnel of the portel were urged by speaker voices and more arriving robots to vacate the premises.

Moments later and as part of a group of beings, she emerged onto the main concourse of the local spaceport.

She didn’t stick around and used the quickly gathering crowd of onlookers to slip away.

Her eyes caught a Taxi stand and she signaled one of the bubble-shaped vehicles to take her on.

The fully robotic vehicle asked her with a friendly voice. “Thank you for choosing Lorman’s cab as your transportation provider. Where do you wish to be conveyed?”

“455 Judge Petro Ave.”

The cab accepted the destination and while the bubble whisked her through a brightly lit tunnel she realized that she was able to kill the woman that was tormenting her, but she still had this uncanny knowledge of things. 455 Judge Petro Ave was a valid address so it seemed and while she had never been on Lorman’s it was apparent whoever programmed her mind gave her this information.

She had been able to escape the woman, but she realized now that she could not run away from herself. All she knew about herself was a lie. Geha, the chosen daughter of the Tar, the beloved First Daiyee of Bas-Co did not really exist. She was Sybil Putnam, an evil construct created to betray those she loved.

Jane, the woman she had burned called her Sybil Putnam and said she had been a full-grown woman before she was turned into a girl. That the name Sybil rang true and with this realization, she felt that there were other memories, still hidden or blocked from her conscious mind.

She had betrayed the Co tribe. Divulged Tribe secrets, not even other Dai knew. She had revealed the location of the sacred grounds of the Co Tribe. A place where the Tribe could retreat to sent their fallen onto their last journey, and take rest. Devour and distribute the resources gathered and hold important Tribe meetings. Each Dai tribe had such a place, usually, a planet less sun far from traffic lines. Tribes were vulnerable while being there, conducting much-needed repairs on ships and the mothers themselves.

Dai lost all rights to ever be called Than and instantly became Okthi if they ever mentioned the location. A Dai would rather die than reveal any such information, yet she could not stop herself from giving Jane every detail.

The Bubble Taxi descended and the voice said. “We have arrived at 455 Judge Petro Ave. Please deposit the fare of three credits.”

She swiped her wrist com against the reader and the cab opened the door.

She was outside alright and not under a protective dome or somewhere subsurface. The local sun was about to set behind a distant mountain range and transformed it into a sharp black outline.

The local town was built onto a desert plane. Even now she could feel the heat of the day. There were robot gangs with vacuum hose attachments collecting fine reddish dust that seemed to be everywhere and she was certain the task of those robots was never-ending.

The taxi had dropped her off before a three-story, non-descript building. An illuminated sign told her that this was indeed building 455 making her certain that the street she was standing on was Judge Petro Avenue. Her urge to go towards that building was strong.

She wanted to commit suicide, simply turn her destructive powers against herself, she wanted death as it seemed the only way to escape that demon she had inside.

Yet she could not form the necessary will power to even cause a blister on her little finger.

A voice without substance or real presence inside her spoke with a strong notion of amusement. “Geha is not real, you are Sybil. It is your purpose to betray the Dai. You are not Than and not Dai. Now be a good girl and enter the regional NAVINT post to receive new orders.”

Geha knew this was true. Whatever was inside her grew stronger by the moment. Rebellious she yelled. “I am Geha.”

Yet, her own feet betrayed her as she already approached that building. It was then she felt a painful prick at her neck and that was the last she remembered before she passed out.

The former Saresii knew only to a few as Admiral Deepa Lydaa still went by that name she was assigned after the Arti Womb spit her out and into life, Deepa Lydaa was a member of the mystic Gray Cats ever since the First Age of Knowledge. Deepa, who after a long odyssey found the Planet of Rainbows and the Crystal Palace. A place where she came face to face with an old entity of godlike powers and knowledge. It was back then she became the daughter of Sojo and took on the identity of Mother Superior of the Sojonites.

When the Union was formed and the Saresii decided to become a member, it was another entity that urged her to become a Union Citizen and use her position and knowledge to assist that young mega civilization to take its place among the great societies of the universe.

There in the Temple of the Gray Cats, perched upon the rugged mountain peaks of Sares One, the Gray Cat appeared to her, revealing that this mystical creature of worship existed. There in the presence of the Gray Cat, she could not conceal who she had become. The Gray Cat itself made her aware of her true origins, despite all she had become, she was still Saresii first and foremost.

She had met the other immortals chief among them the warrior Richard Stahl, the administrator O’Brock McElligott and the mysterious woman with the name Alycia Lichfangh.

Deepa looked back on a life that exceeded one million years, neither Stahl nor McElligott was even close to that, yet she instantly recognized them to be one of her kind. Beings where age and time were a different thing than it was to mortals. However, Alycia who appeared with Stahl after the Immortal Warrior returned was a different story. She was neither accessible to Deepa nor did she seem to be impressed by a lifespan measured in eons.

In her time as Union Citizen, she met beings like the Camogi, the living matter cloud Vantuur and the glob thing Eduk who claims it fell into this Universe by accident. As diverse and unique these beings were, they all eagerly embraced the concept of the Union and so did she.

Deepa was dedicated to the Union and the concept it represented, this sentiment was recognized by the Administrator and it was McElligott who asked her to become the NAVINT Commandant and built this intelligence organization free of any restrictions, to become the shield of the Union. To defend it against all the invisible threats where battleships were useless.

Officially, NAVINT was formed in 2222 and right after the Union was formed. It was created to incorporate all the different Intelligence services of Earth, Saran, Pan Saran, and the Ult. Just like the individual fleets became one. NAVINT incorporated every intelligence service of new members ever since, but behind the scenes, it was an incoherent mess without a clear structure and a real unifying policy in place. Under the umbrella of NAVINT, they all kept cooking their soup and did not trust each other.

This was without a doubt the main reason the Peace Hawks could take hold within the Assembly and almost caused the young Union to falter and become a victim of the meddling Kermac. In 3592, just after the Y’All were defeated and the Galactic Council declared war against the Union when McElligott approached her and offered her command of NAVINT. To restructure it and shape it to what it had become. The Immortal Administrator gave her unlimited funds and a level of command power no other being possessed within the Union and Deepa accepted. Right after the Peace Hawk fiasco and the Darkest Day that marked the height of Peace Hawk influence, the Assembly was stricken by a collective shame that it was easy for McElligott to have her, the new NAVINT director approved and all her special powers and permissions accepted. To this day, her actual identity was known to the Assembly Security Council only. Neither her name nor her identity was known to the General Public. Pauli Station the NAVINT HQ was known to NAVINT operatives and a handful of high ranking Naval officers. Outside of NAVINT, only McElligott knew about the X Fleet and the Chimera Units. That held true for all the secret bases and outposts NAVINT operated. Some of them deep in enemy territory. No one but McElligott knew about New Olympus and the real role and purpose of the Nova Dioj. Only McElligott knew about the many secrets and some quite illegal and highly unlawful projects. At first, she felt vastly superior to the Old Highlander, but that quickly changed. That old Terran was among the most dangerous beings alive because people underestimated him and he carefully groomed that perception over centuries. If a man like him would have been alive when she rebelled against her father and the Saresii Council things would have been different, she was certain and he was the only man she respected on so many levels. The other one they called the Eternal Warrior was a different story. He remained an enigma to her and while she deeply respected McElligott, she had to admit to herself it was Stahl she feared. Deepa was certain he was the one that had the potential to develop into a real entity. While there was no one more beloved by the General public than Stahl. There was also no one the many enemies feared most. It was that apparently simple Terran soldier who became a real friend to the Klack Queen. She would send every last Klack to fight for him to the death. The elusive Mothermachine who had long transformed past the point of being a sentient machine, but a super-intelligent AI.

Who really understood Vantuur, the living Matter cloud? Its existence was not measured by years but by Galactic Rotations, compared to the billions of years Vantuur existed, she was a mere speck. Yet no one doubted the deep friendship Vantuur had developed with Stahl. Spark the living energy intellect who created the Non-Corps, openly called the Eternal Warrior its closest friend. The Petharians of the Andromeda galaxy worshipped him as a living god. Of course, there was the elusive and mysterious Alycia, a being belonging to the Coven. There was nothing known about her or the Coven, but that she possessed great powers and was not in the least impressed by Deepa’s apparently unequaled Psionic abilities. That Alycia was deeply in love with the Eternal Warrior was known to everyone, except perhaps Stahl.

Deepa had to include Cherubim. There was even less known about her, she was known to be older than all the other Immortals of Earth. No one knew her true identity or how she came to be. Officially she was the director of the Assembly News Service, a small Intelligence Service created by the Gray Ghosts long after NAVINT. Cherubim had been the commandant of the Terran Space Intelligence service that existed before there was a Union. Officially disbanded and its assets incorporated into NAVINT in 2222. Those in the know were convinced TSI still existed and was only pro-Union as long as it was also Pro Earth.