Citation Series 1: Naero's War: The Annexation War (16 page)

“Thank you, ma’am. Share th
is food with your neighbors. I’ve thrown in a few Corps credbands. Not much, but enough to buy your people some food on the black markets over the next few weeks. Thanks again, and good luck.”

The woman took the bag and her mouth fell open. Her kids waved, still eating
.

“Get back to your home and stay their with your kids,” Naero warned her. “If the fighting gets bad, get down to the basement or shelter if you have one
.”

She caught up to Hayden and they led their group through the darkened sweatshop. All the machinery would help conceal them from scans
.

Then explosions rocked the city square. Hover vehicles landed, and fighters battled it out in the skies above
.

Naero and Hayden took a pee
k out of one of the filthy sweatshop windows.

Five heavy Triaxian gravtanks, with
clear Hevangian markings brazenly filled the square, cannons and weapons pointed all around them.

Four hovering gunships
marked just like them, covered the gravtanks from above.

Each of the tanks had a genocide device mounted on it
.

Hayden scanned them before
Naero could.

“This is bad. Two biological, one nerve gas, and two atomics. Everyone seal up!
”

Everyone sealed their smartsuits or various battle armors
.

“They can level this city
with just one of those devices,” Naero said. “Kill everyone in it.”

“That includes us,” Hayden noted. “Intel is sending microfixers in to attempt to neutralize those devices. We need to buy them some time. About five, ten minutes
.”

Naero frowned. “That’s a lot of time in a fight.”

“Let’s see what they want. I think we’re going to see some kind of demands. Someone’s coming out.”

One of the grav
tanks opened up. A female Hevangian Field Marshall emerged, in black and scarlet tanker armor. Short golden hair and a badly scarred porcelain face that might have been beautiful once.

Hevangians were
extremely militaristic, and wore their worst scars like badges of status, honor, and virility.

A loudspeaker broadcasted her message
.

“I am Field Marshall Constance Dreth. No on has to die here today. We want the invading Spacks to surrender. In
particular, we insist that Strike Captain Naero Amashin Maeris surrender herself instantly, and the mindwitch, Shalaen. Come forward, hands up, no weapons–or we shall commence our attack to level this city.”

Half a standard minute passed
.

“Very well then. All units, commence attack!
The slaughter will cease when the Alliance fools surrender, or join the dead.”

Marine sniper fire impacted on the enemy’s
dense shields.

F
ield Marshall Dreth ignored the attacks.

The two atomic genocide devices lit up and hummed ominously
.

The other tanks began moving, spraying the nerve and bio-agents into the neighboring buildings
to the far side, blasting death through the windows and vents.

Stricken
civilians poured into the streets, trying in vain to get away. They flung themselves out of the windows and off rooftops.

The Hevangians leveled the nozzle jets right at the fleeing masses, engulfing as many as they could
.

Those stricken by the nerve agents gasped and collapse
d, convulsing on the ground and clawing at their faces and heads.

The bio-
agents were even more horrible. Victims bled out of their pores and every orifice, until their very flesh dissolved off their bones.

Shal
aen stepped forward, lifting her hands, her eyes blazing.

“I must stop to this madness
.”

The nerve agent and bio-agent genocide devices imploded on the backs of the tanks and then blazed with fire, consuming them entirely
.

Shalaen placed a containment field around the two infected areas
.

All within those areas except the enemy were already dead, so Shalaen immolated everything within them, including the two advancing tanks and their crews.
They vanished in a vortex of fire.

Leftenant
Hayden gave one command.

“All units. Take ‘
em!”

“Gladly!” Naero snarled
.

She drew her biggest bombs and crashed through the third floor window,
spiraling down at the enemy with her gravwing.

19

Concentrated Spacer
Marine fire from heavy weapons units chewed through the shielding on the enemy gravtanks and gunships. The Hevangians battled back with heavy fire of their own, devastating the civilian buildings, with no concern for civilian casualties.

The nerve gas and bio-weapon tanks
within Shalaen’s containment zones continued to cook off, their roasting crews dead.

High Marshall Dreth stood
by calmly, maneuvering and firing back in her gravtank, still shielded.

Marine
fire had not still not penetrated her stubborn defenses.

No one used explosives
or heavy weapons, in fear of setting off the atomics.

The enemy commander’s face remained placid as she pressed detonators to do just that
.

She lo
oked both concerned angered when nothing happened.

One atomic device shut
down and lost all power completely.

The other seemed activated, but frozen somehow
.

Naero spotted Shalaen floating in the air, both h
ands extended toward the device. Her other field collapsed. She looked like she was straining.

“Get the bomb away from here,” she shouted. “I can only hold back the blast
from activating for so long!”

Two enemy gunships focused their guns
right at them.

Shalaen shielded them from that as well
, heavy fire impacting on her protective fields.

Marine
pilots and a Spacer ghost dragon slipped in fast to cut the enemy gunships down out of the air, sending them crashing and burning onto the streets below.

Naero attacked the other gravtank with the active
atomic device that Shalaen had frozen.

Hayden joined her, along with a full squad
.

They penetrated the shields. Hayden and the
Marines placed plasma-cutting charges to rip the tank turret open like a can of Spum.

When the turret burst open, Naero jumped in to cut the
tank crew down.

They tried to draw blaster pistols, but she was too fast
.

Hayden flung the dead tank commander out of the way, and jumped in
at the controls.

He set them to
carry the genocide device straight up, and then leaped out.

Shalaen, Tarim, and several others went after it as it rose
with their gravwings, trying to get it as far away from the city as possible.

Field Marshall Dreth dumped her
inert atomic device, spun about, and shot it twice with her tank cannons, trying to set it off.

Nothing. Intel’s micro-fixers had done their work well
.

Dreth turned at bay, as Naero, Hayden and his
Marines closed in on her for the kill.

Enemy agents in full battle dress charged out of the buildings behind the last gravtank, and
shot forward.

Naero and Hayden’s
Marines intercepted them half-way, and the firefight was on.

High t
ek weapons from both sides barked and punched at close range. Warriors dropped or got flung back, dead and torn apart.

Captain Hayden drew both of his micro-grenade pistols and fired a sheet of exploding fire into the enemy’s surging ranks
.

The
microfusion blasts vaporized the foes right in their armor. Their armored legs were all that remained, and flopped over to either side.

Two
Marines in gravwings tried to set more plasma charges on the final gravtank.

Dreth
came at them and beheaded one with an energized short sword.

She sprayed the other
Marine with what appeared to be some kind of gellied flame gun, mounted on her forearm.

Naero saw her opening and
charged in, two battle blades arcing and crackling.

Dreth smiled
, drawing a long energy dagger to go with her short sword.

On top of the gravtank, they dueled
.

Foes still inside the tank shot up at Naero with blaster pistols
.

These s
hots barely deflected off her shields.

But shields could not stop blades
.

Naero p
opped in a few micro-grenades behind her, and pulled the knife battle down onto the back of the gravtank.

The
enemy crew inside popped out of hatches to escape and fire at her again.

Hayden and his
Marines shot their heads off.

A second later
, Naero’s microbombs cooked off.

High Marshall Dreth fought well
, her speed and strength enhanced somehow for a lander–speed drugs most likely.

Skilled b
lades flashed and sparked when they clashed.

Dreth
cut Naero down one arm, slashed her shoulder, and jabbed her in the right hip.

But Naero
ignored her minor wounds and gauged her opponent’s skill and fighting style within a moment.

She dazed the
field marshall with a wavekick, then slipped under Dreth’s defenses.

Naero’s o
ne iron hand rammed a long, blazing blue battle blade up through Dreth’s upper breast, neck, and out the top of her helmet.

Dreth’s eyes
and mouth gulped and froze wide-open in startled shock.

Naero’s glowing blue energy blade
lit-up and sizzled the flesh in her enemy’s mouth and skull.

She with
drew her blades and stepped away. Field Marshall Dreth crumpled down dead, rolling off the back of the shattered tank, to bleed in a widening dark pool on the dirty street.

Former
Triaxian warships surrounded the city square, secondary batteries in ground assault mode, cutting any remaining terrorists down. They were clearly working in full support of the Marines.

Admiral Sandusky blared down to them
over their link and via loud speakers.

“Are you all right, Captain Maeris? When you didn’t reach the transport, we heard fighting with terrorists erupted and came to help
.”

Naero smiled.
Better late than never.

“We’re fine,
admiral,” she called back.

Things could have gone much worse
.

Just then, the atomic genocide device went off in a blinding flash, high up in the atmosphere
.

20

Admiral Sleak Maeris was more furious than usual after the event
s leading up to and after the various incidents concerning Vaelos-1.

When Naero returned to
The
Hippolyta
, Mike Marshall, the captain of
The
Condor
and
her fleet second, promptly placed her under arrest and in restraints, backed up by a full squad of Marines.

Mike’s
face was grim. “Sorry, N. Admiral Maeris’ strict orders.” That’s all he would say.

All of this was just t
emporary, Naero hoped.

Leftenant Hayden
and his Marines were ordered to help escort her immediately to the conference room, on board
The
Pearl
Harbor
.

An informal tribunal of Aunt Sleak, Nathan Joshua, and Nevano Kinmal awaited her
there on a panel set high above them, also with grim faces.

At least Naero hoped this was an informal tribunal
, with three Alliance admirals.

The
trio conferred with each other, apparently on the rapidly evolving situation on Vaelos-1.

Admiral Nathan Joshua
, of Joshua Tech spoke to her first.

“Captain Maeris. We are pleased that you could take time out of your busy schedule to join us
.”

Okay, start with a joke
, maybe; perhaps things weren’t so bad.

Naero gestured with her flex cuffs. “Me too
, sir.”

All th
ree heads snapped up. Faces harsh and set.

Very well. No jokes then. Haisha…tough crowd
.

Shalaen’s father spoke next.
He knitted his fingers slowly in front of him and smiled, speaking calmly. But his eyes looked right through her.

“Captain, we realize that there is a maturity gap at work here, what with you still being under your coming of age and all. Perhaps you were given a fleet command too soon, despite your clear strategic and tactical gifts.
We want to take this moment to impress upon you the seriousness of these matters and our concerns.”

Naero opened her mouth to speak in her defense
.

Aunt Sleak shot to her feet, and splintered the nano-table with one fist where she struck it. The other two admirals couldn’t help flinching
.

“What in the bloody, flaming hell we’re you thinking, Naero?
Here we were, driving hard on Helapine-3, major battles on fire across the entire front. And like some idiot, you disappear off the grid and run away to nearly get yourself and Admiral Kinmal’s daughter killed—or captured—by enemy terrorists, on some nameless rock?”

Don’t scream, don’t yell back. Keep your
temper. Breathe.

Naero
lowered her chin on to her chest and focused on the floor.

“Admirals Maeris, Joshua, and Kinmal. My deepest apologies.
There we’re vital reasons that I acted as I did. Not excuses–but there were good reasons. I’m sorry–”

Admiral Sleak shattered another section of the table, causing the other two admirals to jump
yet again.

“You’re damn right you’re sorry! We need every fleet. Every ship. Not only are we hamstrung by dealing with all of the defectors and smugglers–riddled with terrorists and e
nemy agents–just itching to cause havoc in our rear areas. But every time we even try to approach Helapine-3, we get heavily ambushed by major enemy support from Kysarra-5, just waiting to crawl up our backsides and shoot the hell out of us!”

Leftenant Hayden tried to speak up in Naero’s defense
.

“Admirals–
forgive me, but you may not have been informed yet–Captain Maeris and Commander Kinmal have worked out an important new sweeping agreement with the defectors that they think will–”

Aunt Sleak shot Hayden a withering glance that shut him up in his jump boots
.

“Enough,
Marine. You do not have permission to speak here. Captain Maeris doesn’t require your help in these matters. We are well aware of the proposed agreement and its future…possibilities and ramifications.”

“Nevertheless,” Nathan Joshua said, calmly
folding his arms in front of himself. “Direct orders and the chain-of-command must be upheld and respected–by all. No exceptions. Do you fully understand the gravity of that, Captain Maeris?”

Naero bowed her head again, as contritely as she could manage. “I do
, sir.”

Shut up.
Very important not to say anything more.

No explanations
.

No excuses
.

“By rights and fleet regs,” Admiral Kinmal added, “You should be stripped of your command and face a full court martial
.”

Naero nodded. She
squared her stance and lifted her head high. “I take full and sole responsibility for my egregious actions. I respectfully request that none of this should reflect upon or impact any of my junior officers, and the other ship captains under my command in any way. I accept the decisions of my superiors, and will comply with any punishments.”

Aunt Sleak studied her intently
.

Tense seconds passed
.

“You’re still not as good an actress as you mother, but I suppose your little act is
sufficient. Naero, the worst punishment we can devise is to keep you fighting for us on the front lines. Stuffing you in a cell somewhere to sulk out this war would only help our enemies.”

Admiral Joshua smiled slightly. “Even at your age, you have few equals in battle, Captain. But you still have much to learn about obeying orders and being a true leader. Everything isn’t fighting. That’s the key.
We want you to fully grasp and understand that.”

“Fight the enemy, not us,” Admiral Kinmal advised
.

Naero bowed her head again. “
Again, my apologies, admirals. I will strive to do better in the future.”

Her aunt struck the splintered nanotable a third and final time
.

Sleak’s compatriots still flinched
.

“You’re damn right you will. Sparring match. Mandatory. Just you and me. Tomorrow morning, five bells!
”

Naero knew what that meant
.

Good. She might endure a beating, but she was getting better
on her own too, from constant practice with all the new fighters in her fleet.

She had a few tricks planned for her aunt.

Shalaen and many of Naero’s other friends and officers from her fleet suddenly burst into the conference room, with Zalvano trying to hold them back.

“Father!” Shalaen insisted. “Before you and the other Admirals pass
judgment on Captain Maeris, you must hear us out!”

Kinmal held up his hands. “You are too late,
my daughter. You are all too late. Sentence has been passed. Captain Maeris has been severely reprimanded and punished. But your show of loyalty is…still moving. Fortunately, for all of us, Captain Maeris will be serving her punishment while she is still on duty, and still acting as your fleet Captain.”

Admiral Maeris spoke plainly. “She fully understands now, that any further acts of insubordination will be dealt with
…swiftly, and severely.”

“Permission to speak,” Naero said
.

Aunt Sleak nodded. “Granted
.”

Naero held her arms out wide. “A
dmirals, as long as we have everyone gathered together here already, can we please discuss the secret agreement that we now have with Admiral Sandusky? This is an urgent matter that I think can help us greatly in the future.”

All of three admirals leaned
forward eagerly, having read the initial reports.

“Very well. Proceed,” Nathan Joshua said
.

“Sandusky claims–with evidence–to be in direct contact with a secret network of thousands of Triaxian ship captains and officers through back channels, who see the inevitable outcome. Triax will fall. And they see no reason why they and their crews should perish, simply to delay that outcome
, for a few bloody weeks or months.”

Even Aunt Sleak nodded. “Sounds reasonable. More defections mean fewer ships for us to chew through. Initial responses from Admiral Klyne and Spacer Intel say that they would be willing to
discuss these matters further and assist in any way that we can.”

“Good,” Naero said. “Because that’s exactly what they and we are going to need. Help with making sure the Triaxian defectors aren’t blown up when they make their
defection runs. Coordination with their homeworlds, so that we infiltrate, capture, and pacify those worlds beforehand, so that the zealots don’t punish and murder their populations with genocide devices and mass destruction.”

Nevano Kinmal shook his head
.

“
After Heaven-7, we all know what Triax is capable of,” he said. “But we still cannot guarantee that any of that will not repeat itself in the future. Triax is controlling these genocide devices and their use, not us.”

Naero jumped in.
“But we can still do all that is possible to prevent as much death and destruction that can be avoided, for the good of all.”

“
One major problem with that. It can’t work,” Aunt Sleak said, looking down at her data pad and shaking her head.

Everyone stared at her
.

S
leak looked up at them. “Look at the raw math–the logistics. We’d need so many ships, crews, Intel agents, boots on the ground. Hundreds of liberated worlds to pacify and cleanse already. Hundreds more coming online. Billions, trillions to protect. To accomplish all that, would bring the war to a whimpering halt, and that cannot be. Above all else, Triax must fall.”

Shalaen glanc
ed at Naero.

They held hands for a moment, looke
d into each other’s eyes, and then nodded to one another.

“There is still another way,” Naero said
.

“Impossible,” Admiral Joshua said. “
Admiral Sleak is correct. You would need another force–almost the size of the Alliance itself. There is no such force in existence.”

Naero placed her hands on her hips
.

“
Wrong. There is such a force. We already control hundreds of billions–trillions of Triaxian prisoners and populations. And tens of thousands of captured Corps fleet ships, military and private. Even among the Alliance, we can’t train crews fast enough to refit and re-launch those ships in time to be used for the war effort. So why not let the defection teams use them as is? They’ll work just fine for that.”

“What are you saying?” Nevano Kinmal stated
.

“Recruit the Triaxian naval prisoners. Put Admiral Sandusky and his network in charge of the defection process, on a scale we could never
hope to organize. Let the peoples of these liberated worlds pursue the zealots and terrorists directly harming them–as only truly free people can.”

Aunt Sleak nodded, staring down at her
shifting calculations again, adding the new parameters.

“
That…could work. But there will be infiltrators, turncoats.”

Naero held up her hands. “Then they will be put down, with extreme prejudice.
What do we have to lose? No system or effort is going to be perfect during wartime. Yet this will still save many more lives than if we do nothing, and simply prosecute the war to its end. And this way, the liberated worlds will taste their own freedom and responsibility for the first time, and join the Alliance in these ways, protecting their own worlds and populations against what they see now as their true enemies.”

The three admirals conferred and came to a quick agreement
.

“We will need to discuss these matters in great detail with Admiral Sandusky, and Spacer Intel,” Aunt Sleak noted
.

Very grudgingly, her aunt added briefly. “Good work
, captain. This has the potential to be a major breakthrough that we weren’t even looking for.

Naero smiled, and let out a great sigh
.

“Of course,” she said.
“Thank you, sir.” Naero saluted.

And she meant it.