Solarian Down

“Ode to the 1st of the 509th P.I.R.”

We do not stand in war like righteous men, mighty and unafraid.

Charging headlong tooth and claw slavering for the fray.

NO.

We hit and run,

backstab and cheat

and live to fuck another day.

- Hayden D. Linder

Gearin was feeling very proud. They had stolen the transport right out from under the noses of the fascist bootlickers. Those cowards never questioned anyone in uniform. Now he and his people were on their way to the objective. His men were ecstatic. They would walk into Black Oak’s communications center as easily as they had vehicle holding.

It was an hour later when they were pulling up to the gates of the secured compound. Twenty Infantrymen guarded the facility at any time. Another forty were either sleeping or off duty. Once they were passed the gate guards they would proceed to the barracks. They would deal with the guards there before drawing attention to themselves. The vehicle came to a stop.

Gearin open the rear hatch and stepped out to approach the “Fist of the Door” as his men formed up behind him.

“Three Hands to re-enforce, per orders of Military Counsel.” He stated.

“Certainly.” The fool replied as he let the three Hands of Morindi fighters enter the gate. “You may store your equipment in the barracks just over there.” He pointed to a structure attached the the far side of the communications building.

Gearin led his men to the building while running through his next steps. “Handle each task at hand. One foot in front of the other.” Is what Blackwell had taught them. So, store the gear. Position ourselves around the others. And finally eliminate the enemy in the room with the light Hard-light pistols. That would minimize the noise. The guards wouldn’t be wearing their armor in the barracks or at least not their helmets.

Gearin walked his men into the barracks and stopped about midway. He had been so busy thinking over what comes next that he hadn’t noticed the room was empty. The bunks and lockers were there but no people.

“What is this?” Cradin asked as she looked around the room.

“They are probably just at some kind of function.” Gearin answered. “We will wait for them to return.”

“I do not like this.” Ilrid said. “We should move on to hunting the security down rather than waiting.”

Gearin turned to look at her. “Are you a fool? There are sixty of them and fifteen of us. Surprise is our greatest weapon. We wait!” He said as he dropped his bag on one of the bunks.

“If there are sixty of them, then why are there only thirty bunks in here?” Ilrid replied.

He absentmindedly shrugged. “They probably share bunks/”

“And what is that?” Lindir asked.

Gearin looked where he was pointing. At the end of the room stood something very tall and covered in a thick tarp. The rest of them dropped their bags as the group approached it. Gearin reached forward and pulled the tarp down. There stood the largest set of Luthiel armor any of them had ever seen. It was glossy black and sleek. Like the infantry armor they were wearing. But it was about four times their size.

“That’s a tank!” Cradin stated. When everyone looked at her she explained. “Remember what Blackwell said about Solarian Heavy armor? He told us they have the light stuff, like what our Wardens wear, for their pilots and support staff. The medium that he wears and then the heavy stuff they call tanks. It’s about four times the size of what he wears.” She half pointed at the suit in front of them. “Like that.”

“I wonder what it is like to wear something like this?” Gearin asked with a smile as he started looking for a way into the suit.”

[You will never know, fecal sack.] said the Luthiel Fist who was already in the tank.

Lenaga could understand why she was cringing. The sounds of screaming and breaking bones were terrible. And Daroon looking a little disgusted didn’t surprise her either. She ’was’ relieved that Cailhem winced. Regularly, from the cacophony of pleading cries. And what sounded like physical mutilation. But when she saw Interrogator Reissole making pained faces? She became a little concerned.

“Are you -sure- it was a wise idea to use a Tanker from the same unit as our four dead infantrymen?” She asked.

Interrogator Reissole shook his Head. “No, Mid Warden.” [Fist. It is imperative that they live to be questioned.] He finished into his communications earpiece.

They heard the pain circus come to a halt. Leaving only the whimpering cries of the fifteen Morindi Raiders.

{My apologies, Interrogator. None of them are dead.}

They lead the other thirty members of Reissole’s team into the barracks. There was less blood than Lenaga had expected.

“I want everything scanned for explosives before anyone touches anything.” The Interrogator ordered to his people. “Make sure that “Fist of the Gate” knows no one is to touch that vehicle until we have had a chance to scan it as well. Then I want every stolen piece of explosives accounted for.”

Cailhem drug a bunk out of the carnage and set it on its feet so they could sit. Daroon followed suit and drew a second one close so they would not be cramped.

“Two questions still stand out.” Cailhem commented as they sat down.

“Yes.” Lenaga stated. “The emergency planetary plan stated that if a threat existed to planetary security. Then all communications would come through here. We were able to find proof they had read this plan, but what is the threat they were expecting?”

“And second, what is the purpose of that anti-gravity rocket. Who were they going to communicate with?”

“And we are positive that Blackwell is not the answer to both of these questions?”

“He steals a battleship without killing anyone. Then goes out of his way to save the lives of three Luthiel lawmen. Only to kill four guards for weapons and explosives?” Daroon answered. “He is crazy but not that kind of crazy, Interrogator.”

Reissole nodded and sighed. “Agreed... Then I am afraid we will have to wait until my people are able to get some answers from these Raiders.”

Soon Reissole’s team reported the scans were clear. All of the stolen explosives were accounted for.

“Good. Have them stripped, secured and transported to interrogation. And have someone get that transport back to Holding.” He ordered.

Lenaga stood up. “It appears it is time for us to return to our office.”

“Afraid so, but I will contact you the moment I have something.” He stated.

She was just about to incline her head toward Reissole in goodbye. When they heard the Emergency Information Alert broadcast itself across all information devices.

{Kuru Armada of 300 ships is engaging the Home Fleet. Failure appears eminent. All inhabitants are to leave any populated areas immediately. Prepare for ground invasion.}

“Korvan’s balls.” Muttered Maviel.

“The Home Fleet will not last long! They are only 46 ships at present!” Reissole stated/

“We have to get back to the tower!” Lenaga yelled.

“Why?!” He yelled back and she stopped, suddenly unsure. “The High Warden’s tower will certainly be a target. You cannot go in there and right now all of the Wardens are probably trying to get out.”

She thought a moment. “So what do we do?”

“For starters, get this armor on. I suspect that your Warden’s armor will not be enough.”

Everyone in the Infantry detachment were hustling to get everything inside. Lenaga and her people grabbed the armor from the Raiders and ran in with it. Once inside they found a few small offices but a large bay of elevators in the center. Reissole led them to an elevator where they discovered a panel of twenty floors to choose from.

Reissole saw the look of surprise on the faces of the four Wardens. “This top floor is just menial duties. This facility is actually a communications bunker.” He smiled as he pressed the button for the 16th floor. The car quickly hummed its way down.

“How many men do we have here?’ Lenaga asked.

“About fifty Hands. BUT many of those are technicians.”

“Can they fight?” Cailhem asked.

Reissole looked offended. “They are Black Oak.” He growled.

When the car came to a halt he motioned them to a side room to swap out their armor and then left to check on the situation.

“You just -had- to ask him if they could fight.” Daroon commented.

“It seemed a prudent question.” He replied unabashed as he changed.

It was not long before Lenaga was leading them out of the room. She asked for the Interrogator and was pointed toward the main communications room.

The room was large with multiple Luminesced Floating Screens. She saw Reissole standing near the rear with a few other Seekers. She led her party to him.

He saw her as she approached. “Wardens, the situation is not good. Communications across Luthiel and offworld are down.”

“But what about our back up plans in case the Raiders were successful. The minute we found they were going to bring down communications we made alternates. Right? Daroon asked.

“We did.” Reissole nodded. “But whatever that Kuru fleet is doing is jamming everything.”

“But why send those children to infiltrate this place if it didn’t matter?” Maviel asked.

Reissole shrugged. “Give them something to do. Make them feel important when in reality they probably just used them as spies. I doubt the Kuru would let children dictate who leads the government after this invasion. But you know that is what they promised them.”

Cailhem nodded. “I can see those dung heaps believing that.”

“We do however still have visual information.” He tapped the man in front of him to bring up his orbital view of Luthiel. “Whatever they are doing did not affect that.”

“That is really stupid.” Lenaga commented. “Why would they not jam that as well?”

“They probably do not know about it. These viewers are secret and only used by Black Oak.”

“What about that communications rocket? Is it possible the Raiders did not tell them about that?” Lenaga asked.

The Technician sitting next to them said, “It was propulsed by anti-gravity plates. Correct?” When Lenaga nodded he went back to his screen. “That means I may be able to locate it. It will have a small gravity signature. And it “should” be the only thing up there that small.” A few minutes later, “Got something!” He set the speaker to broadcast..

{...oup of six tangos to the Blue of me! They’re dug in pretty good but if we can clear them out we can get to those transports!}

...[Understood, Copenhagen. We’re comin up your Red, Honey Reaver’s movin up your yellow. We should be diggin em out in under a minute. Just hold em in place for us.]

{Will do, Snowman.}

“That is John!” Lenaga blurted out. The interrogator looked at her. “Snowman” is the name he used on that ice planet!”

Reissole nodded and turned to the technician. “Contact him -after- this operation. It sounds like they are in the middle of something. Find out his intentions. Maybe we can work together.”

“Tell him your with Lenny and the twins.” She stated.

The transmission was very clear. They could hear the elimination of the Kuru troops. The actual fight lasted less than a breath. When it became obvious they had moved on to getting the transports running. The technician broke in.

[Snowman, this is Black Oak Crimson. I am with Lenny and the twins. Do you Understand?]

{...Crimson, I hope you’re not about to tell me some “You’ve got my girlfriend and if I wanna see her alive blah blah bullshit.” Cause I’m kinda in the middle of somethin here. Over.}

[I need to know your intentions, Snowman.]

{Uhh, we have a ceasefire with the Luthiel. We don’t have one with these Orcs. How’s that sound?}

[That sounds good. You intend to fight the Kuru?]

{They’re bigger than us. Stronger than us and scarier than we are. Which makes us feel a little... vulnerable. So of course we have to kill as many of them as we can.}

{<It is pretty much our only form of self expression.>} One of John’s men commented.

[One moment, Snowman.]

“Orders, Interrogator?”

“We need to meet.” He turned to Lenaga. “Any ideas?”

“You do not want him here?”

Reissole shook his head. “I am not sure if they know this place exists and I cannot be sure what will happen with the peace talks. So, no.”

“Tell him to meet us at Handolf’s.” She told the technician.

[Snowman, can you meet in the ruins of Handolf’s?]

{Ruins? Damn it I loved that place.}

[Yes, we all did. When can you get there?!]

{Depending on traffic, we’ll be there in twenty minutes.}

Fifteen minutes later,

{Crimson, this is Snowman.}

[Go ahead Snowman.]

{I’m at your rear door across the alley. Open the door when you’re ready to receive.}

Lenaga motioned for Cailhem and Daroon to take the door. They had arrived with Reissole and a Hand of Black Oak infantry. When all looked good in the alley they opened the door and waited. Daroon saw what he assumed was John in Solarian combat armor. Daroon motioned him across and watched as he crossed the alley quickly. He popped open his visor the moment he got inside.

“Did Lenny make it?” He whispered.

Lenaga popped open her face plate and jumped on him just before kissing him deeply. Their kiss lasted long enough that one of his men complained.

{Snowman, we didn’t come here to watch you make out with your elf.}

John pulled away and sighed before setting her down. [Yeah yeah, you bastard. Gonzo, send over far side security.]

Lenaga watched as four men rushed across the alley. But instead of coming through the door they split into two groups and took cover outside. They placed themselves with two men on either side of it. Each group had one man facing in opposite directions as they watched the alley for trouble.

{Far side security, set.}

With that said, a steady stream of men came rushing across to them. They paced themselves so there was never more than one in the alley at a time. But very quickly there were an addition twenty men in the building.

{Near side security, bring it in.}

She watched as another four men came across one at a time. And then the last four outside came in before closing the door. They were using the back storage room of the building as it couldn’t be seen from the street.

“OK. do I need to put men out for security or are we good?” John asked.

Daroon answered. “We have two upstairs watching the alleys and two in the ruins of restaurant watching the streets.”

John nodded. “Do we know what’s going on? Do we have a plan?”

Interrogator Reissole brought up his Luminesced Floating Screen. He slid it to show the situation outside the orbit of Luthiel. “The local fleet was able to do a great deal of damage before it was destroyed. But there are still around 215 Kuru ships controlling this sector.”

John knew that with the war the Luthiel had only kept a fleet of forty ships here. And judging by the number of Kuru up there, they had known it too.

“Did any of them get away to get word to your other fleets?”

Reissole shook his head. “We did not have the time we needed to find a way to protect ourselves from the Fold weapon the Kuru created. All of our ships were stuck here for the fight.”

“Alright.” John nodded. “So, what’s the plan.”

Lenaga looked at him. “We were kind of hoping ‘you’ had one.”

“Ahh guys, we mostly just run around and fuck shit up.” He looked to his men for confirmation who all began to nod and give grunts of approval.

“Oh, it is going to be such a pleasure working with these humans on this,” Reissole commented.

John smiled at the situation. “You got images of the Kuru fleet. Do you have images of the planet’s surface?”

“Yes. What are we looking for?” Reissole asked as he switched the view on his screen.

“An aircraft assembly area. We have to get up to that fleet if we’re truly gonna muck things up a bit, and these Orcs have to have an AAA of some kind.”

“Why are you calling them orcs?” Lenaga asked.

He looked at her surprised. “They’re eight feet tall and green with dreadlocks. What the hell am I supposed to call em?”

“I do not know.” She shrugged. “Kuru, maybe?”

Reissole gratefully interrupted. “I think I have it. Outside of the city in the flatlands. They have some sort of resupply point. Armor and heavy weapons and troops. I can see several craft being unloaded. Looks like a large amount of traffic from the fleet.”

John had him enlarge the screen so everyone could see it. It took them only a few moments to come up with a plan.