Galactic Empire Wars 2: Emergence (27 page)

“Yes, Sir,”
responded Wade. He had hoped to be given command.

“Major,”
General Mitchell spoke his face taking on a serious look. “Make sure this
mission is a success; a lot is riding on it.”

“I will, Sir,”
promised Wade as he stood up. He knew Marken would be ecstatic over the news
that the mission was a go.

-

President
Randle was having a meeting with the head of the Federated Assembly Council,
Ralph Steward, to discuss the concept of using clones to satisfy the shortfalls
in their military recruiting.

“Clones,”
Steward spoke, the word sounding distasteful as it came from his mouth. “A lot
of the assembly won’t like it.”

“I was
hesitant myself at first,” admitted Mason, knowing he had to sell the idea to
Steward. Even Mayor Silas had taken some convincing. “But by using the clones
to fill in for the shortfalls in our recruiting, it will alleviate the need for
a draft.”

“And these
clones will be real people?” Steward asked doubtfully. “How can that be if
they’re grown in canisters?”

“Not
canisters; growth chambers,” Mason responded. “The Kiveans will take DNA from
as many people as possible and then combine that DNA in various patterns to
make a new Human. With enough DNA samples, the combinations are nearly
infinite, so we won’t have hundreds or even thousands of clones that all look
alike. They will all be unique, and after maturity and training you won’t be
able to tell them apart from a naturally born Human.”

“How many of them
will there be?” Steward asked. He didn’t want true Humans to become a minority.

“Probably
around one hundred thousand initially,” Mason answered. “That will allow us to
expand our military to a size that will be able to adequately defend the Solar
System. We’ll then add ten to twenty thousand a year depending on what our
needs are. Don’t forget that there will also be regular Humans who'll volunteer
for military service. Our armed services will be a combination of Human clones
and people from the colonies and habitats.”

“And the
clones will be treated as real people?” asked Steward, feeling skeptical about
how true Humans would respond to the knowledge that some Humans were clones.

“Yes,” Mason
answered. “I want you to speak to the Federated Council and work up a new set
of laws that will protect the clones from discrimination. It should spell out
that clones have the same rights as all people. If you need any more
information, I will be glad to get Marken or his life mate, Harnett, to speak
with you or the council.”

“I think I can
handle this,” replied Steward, drawing in a sharp breath. “Just the promise
that a draft won’t be necessary should allow this measure to pass. I may need
to call upon Harnett to speak to the council to explain the cloning process in
more detail.”

“I’m sure she
will be happy to do that,” Mason answered.

-

After
finishing his meeting with Steward, Mason made his way to a small restaurant
where he was meeting Adrienne for lunch. Adrienne had just returned from the
Kivean’s asteroid where she had been meeting with Harnett over some of the
finer details concerning the clones Mason needed.

Sitting down
across from his wife, Mason allowed himself to smile. She was gorgeous and had
allowed her blonde hair to grow longer until it now lay upon her shoulders with
a gentle curl. He could get lost at times in her deep blue eyes.

“Harnett was
excited to see me,” Adrienne said as she looked at the menu in front of her.
Baked chicken breast sounded good to her. This particular restaurant made a
sauce she absolutely loved with chicken.

“I'll bet,” responded
Mason. He knew that Adrienne and Harnett were very close and talked about
nearly everything. “They got their way with the clones and the rescue mission
to Kivea is being set up.”

“Yes,” Adrienne
replied with an eye-catching smile. “She told me all about that. Did you know
that they’ve been building a new habitat and city in their asteroid for the
Kiveans they plan to rescue?”

“Yes,”
admitted Mason, recalling some of his conversations with Marken over the new
construction. “We had to help them with some of the raw materials they needed.
“Their new habitat is twenty kilometers in length and six kilometers wide, with
a height of four kilometers. Marken claims he can make it rain on a regular
basis inside the habitat when they’re finished with it.”

“Rain…”
Adrienne said her blue eyes getting a dreamy look in them. “I would love to
stand outside in a good soaking rain.”

“You may get
your wish,” Mason said with a laugh as he decided to try the Prime Rib.

“Do you think
he could do the same thing in our habitats?” asked Adrienne, wistfully.

“Possibly,”
Mason answered after thinking about it for a moment. “I’ll have to ask him.”

“What’s on
your schedule for this afternoon?”

“I have a
meeting with Sean Miller and Ethan Hall about the ships they need to update for
the Kivea mission. I doubt if they’re going to be happy about their work on the
next group of warships coming to a halt.”

“At least
they’ll have a large number of Kivean engineers and technicians to help them,”
Adrienne was quick to point out. “That should speed things up tremendously.”

“It should,”
Mason responded as a server came toward their table to take their orders. He
let out a heavy sigh; it was going to be a long day. He was just glad he could
take an hour out of his busy schedule to eat lunch with Adrienne.

-

Wade and Beth
were standing next to a small stream in the New Eden habitat. They had come out
for a picnic and to discuss the upcoming mission to Kivea. Over the last few
months, they'd become closer as Beth had gradually let her guard down.

“I can’t
believe that you and Marken were going to bribe General Mitchell with the ion
cannons,” Beth said, trying not to giggle. Knowing General Mitchell he could
have very easily thrown Wade into the brig.

“It wasn’t
necessary,” Wade said defensively as he looked out at the slow moving water.

The stream was
about ten meters across and he couldn’t quite see the bottom. He knew that Lori
Wright had stocked all the streams and lakes in the habitat with fish. He had
checked the water in the stream earlier and had found much to his surprise that
it was cold. That probably meant Lori had put several species of trout in this
particular stream. He could also hear a few birds calling in the distance, and
in the nearby trees he noticed several species of colorful butterflies.

“And they gave
you the Crimson Star,” Beth said, feeling relief they were taking the large
troop ship on this mission. It would allow them to bring some of the special
equipment along that Wade had helped to design with Marken’s help. The new gear
would give the marines on the ground some heavy firepower if it were needed.

“There will be
twenty-four assault ships going also,” Wade told her as he watched Beth begin
to unpack the picnic basket and lay the food out upon the blanket she had
spread out earlier. “We’ll have two platoons aboard each one so when you
include the marines on board the Crimson Star it gives us a fighting force of
over fifteen hundred.”

“I hope that’s
enough,” Beth replied, pursing her lips. “We used more than that on many of the
missions the Kleese sent us on.”

“I know,”
admitted Wade, trying not to think about those horrific days. “But the Kleese
won’t be expecting us to attack Kivea, and we’ll have a decisive advantage by
having some of our marines in the Type Three suits. Marken and I both agree
that the conscripts on Kivea will be mostly in Type Two suits, perhaps even in
the weaker Type Ones.”

Beth took the
lid off one of the large bowls she had laid out. It was full of fried chicken.
She had potato salad, baked beans, and homemade rolls that her mother had
helped her with.

“I hope you’re
hungry,” she said as she handed Wade a plate. “How’s Ryan doing at the military
academy?”

“Great,” Wade
answered with an all-knowing grin. “He really likes it and hopes to become a
fleet officer. I know that Mom and Dad are happy he’s attending and didn’t rush
right off to become a marine.”

“He’ll make a
great officer,” Beth responded. “If he’s anything like you, the Kleese had better
watch out.”

Wade laughed
and began filling his plate. He couldn’t wait to taste the chicken and other
food that Beth had brought. They were going to take it easy today, and then
tomorrow he was going to recall all of his marines back to Centerpoint to begin
training for the mission. Wade wasn’t sure what was going to be waiting for
them on Kivea, but he planned on being prepared.

-

Mason was in
the spacedock speaking with Sean and Ethan, explaining to them what they were
going to be doing for the next six weeks. Neither had been happy to have to
stop work on the next four battlecruisers considering the hulls had already
been laid.

“I guess we
have to do it,” grumbled Ethan, looking down at his hands as he thought about
what would be involved in upgrading the passenger liners. They would need a
more powerful fusion reactor, a military Fold Space Drive, as well as an energy
shield. At least they didn’t have to put weapons on them.

“How many
Kivean engineers and technicians are we going to have to assist us?” Sean asked
as he thought about the schedule he would need to set up to get everything done
in the time frame Mason had mentioned.

“Marken’s
sending over close to two hundred Kiveans,” answered Mason, seeing surprise on
Sean’s face at the large number of Kiveans he was going to have at his
disposal.

“That will
definitely help,” Ethan said as he looked over the large spacedock. There were
a number of cargo ships as well as some of the small prospecting ships
currently docked in the bay. “Sean, we’re going to need to get some of those
ships moved to make room for the passenger liners.”

“Yeah,” Sean
replied with a nod. “I’ll start moving them out of the bay this evening or
early in the morning. We can always park them in orbit if we need to.”

Mason paused
for a moment and looked around the spacedock. It was hard to imagine that only
a few short years ago he was planning to take the Phoenix on the first trip to
the stars. Now he was president in the midst of a galactic war, which the Human
race could very easily lose.

“We’ll get it
done,” promised Sean, looking over at Ethan who nodded back.

“I know you
will,” Mason replied. “Just keep me posted on your progress.”

After he
finished talking with the two men, Mason made his way back to the Smithfield habitat. He still had a long day ahead of him. It would be late in the evening
before he made it back home to Adrienne.

Admiral Rivers
studied the large tactical screen intently as the battlecruiser Independence and the rest of Fourth Fleet dropped out of Fold Space. They were at the
extreme edge of their target system in order to avoid unwanted detection.

“Sensors
coming online,” Lieutenant Hertz reported as she pressed several icons on the
three computer screens on her console. She was feeling apprehensive; they could
be in a combat situation shortly.

“If our
information is accurate, the fourth planet should be under Strell control,”
stated Colonel Greerman as he stepped over closer to the admiral.

Rivers nodded.
They'd just completed a full week of military drills in a nearby uninhabited
system. Colonel Andler had assured him his marines were ready to tackle their
first target. If there were no signs of Strell warships, then the assault ships
would hit the planet, attacking several of the major population centers or
preferably spaceports, depending on how many there were. Once the Strell
investigated, it would seem as if the Kleese had orchestrated the attack.

“Sensors are
online and data is coming in,” Hertz reported her eyes focused on the large sensor
screen above her. “It will take a few minutes to get a complete scan of the
system.”

“Light
cruisers have taken up screening positions,” Greerman informed Admiral Rivers.
“Assault ships are standing by to begin their attack and the entire fleet is at
Condition Two.”

Rivers waited
patiently for the sensors to get a full reading of the star system. From the
information they'd taken from the massive database on Centerpoint Station, the
fourth planet in this system was inhabited by an avian species called the
Orvions. They had short feathers over much of their bodies with wings growing
from their backs. Their heads were birdlike with powerful beaks and narrow
eyes. Two thin arms with delicate hands and fingers allowed the creatures to
manipulate equipment and maintain a civilized culture.

“No Strell
ships detected,” stated Lieutenant Hertz as her first scans were completed.
“There are only a few cargo ships moving about the system.”

Rivers nodded
and pressed a button on his command console, which would put him into contact
with Colonel Andler on the Fire Fox. Everything looked promising for the
attack.

“Mission is a
go,” Rivers said as Andler came on the com. “I’ll hold the battlecruisers and
the light cruisers here and maintain sensor scans. I won’t bring the fleet in
unless a Strell warship appears or you meet greater ground resistance than
expected.”

“I
understand,” Andler replied. “This shouldn’t take long. If things go as
planned, we should be in and out in less than six hours.”

“Good luck,”
Rivers said as he turned off the com. Six hours in which they would have to be
on watch for Strell warships. They had no way of knowing the patrol schedule
the Strell might be using in this section of the galaxy or what type of weapons
their ships might be equipped with.

“Go to
Condition One,” Rivers ordered as he leaned back and prepared to wait.

Colonel
Greerman stepped over to a console and pressed several buttons. Around him,
alarms sounded and red lights began to flash as Condition One was set.

-

Sixteen assault
ships broke off from the fleet and entered Fold Space followed by the heavily
armed Fire Fox. The large troop ship would stay at the back of the formation in
an attempt to avoid detection. The ships quickly accelerated to a speed far
above that of light and headed toward their unsuspecting target.

Forty minutes
later, the ships dropped out of Fold Space and went into high orbit around the
Orvion’s planet. As soon as they went into orbit, the Fire Fox began sending
out short-range jamming signals to prevent unwanted scans of the troop ship.

“Status!”
demanded Captain Stockwell as he looked around the Command Center.

“No warships
in orbit,” reported Ensign Eugene Bryan, the Fire Fox’s sensor operator.

“We’re
receiving a number of hails from the planet demanding to know what Kleese
assault ships are doing in the system,” Ensign Brill reported from
Communications.

“One of the
transmissions seems to be from the Strell.”

“Don’t reply
to the Strell,” Colonel Andler ordered grim faced. “Send a wide beam message toward
the planetary capital explaining that we don’t recognize the Strell claim to
this system and we’re taking it over in the name of the Kleese Empire. Also
find out where that Strell transmission is originating from.”

“That should
stir things up,” commented Captain Stockwell from his position on Andler’s
right side.

A few moments
later, Ensign Brill turned toward Colonel Andler. “Message sent. The Strell
representative is claiming that if we attack the planet it will be considered
an act of war. He is demanding that we turn around and leave immediately or he
will call in Strell warships. The transmission is being sent from the large
spaceport next to what appears to be the capital city.”

“Sounds
threatening,” Andler spoke with a wolfish grin, glancing over at Captain
Stockwell.

“We expected
that type of reaction,” commented Stockwell. “The Strell are bound to be highly
upset seeing what looks like a Kleese warfleet in orbit.”

“We’ve located
two large spaceports on the planet,” Ensign Bryan reported as more information
came in over the ship’s powerful sensors.

“Then we know
our targets,” Andler responded with a nod. By attacking the spaceports, it
should significantly reduce civilian casualties. “Order the assault ships to
begin their attack and make sure those Strell don’t survive.”

-

Captain Dylan
Winfrey was in one of the first drop ships to head toward the planet. There'd
been no resistance as they went into orbit, though Colonel Andler reported they
had received numerous transmissions from the planet demanding to know why
Kleese assault ships were in the system.

“Standby,”
ordered Winfrey, gesturing for his marines to check their suits and weapons one
last time. “Our target is the main spaceport just outside of the capital. It
seems to be where the Strell conscripts are garrisoned as well as the Strell
overseers. If we get into trouble we can call for railgun strikes from the Fire
Fox, though I don’t expect that to happen.”

The drop ship
shuddered violently for a moment as it entered the thicker air of the planet’s
atmosphere. “Five minutes to touchdown,” spoke the ship’s pilot over the com
system.

“Damn, this
ride's rough,” complained Private Turner as he checked his RG rifle one more
time, making sure both magazines were full. The rifle fired RG rounds as well
as explosive rounds.

“Stop
complaining,” demanded Private Morris, looking sharply at Turner. “They
should've just tossed your ass out of the assault ship and you could've floated
down to the planet.”

Several of the
other marines laughed at this. Turner and Morris were always going after one
another.

“Can the
chatter,” ordered Dylan, shaking his metal helmet at the two. “There will be
plenty of action for everyone shortly.”

The shuttle
continued to arrow down toward the surface, passing over a large city of
fifteen million inhabitants. It was composed of high towers that reached well
over one thousand meters into the air. Many of the city's inhabitants were
diving off buildings and flying away toward the countryside. Other drop ships
were close by as they descended to the large spaceport just north of the city.

The marines
stopped talking as the drop ship seemed to fall straight down, then came to a
sudden, jarring halt. The back hatch swung open and the exit ramp descended
until it touched the ground. They were on the planet!

“Let’s go!”
Captain Winfrey ordered as he checked his RG rifle one final time and headed
for the ramp. “Heavy explosive rounds are off limits unless I order them to be
used. Regular RG rounds, explosive rounds, and energy weapons are authorized.”
Approximately thirty percent of the marines would be carrying the deadly energy
weapons.

Reaching the
ground, Winfrey looked quickly around. There were four other drop ships nearby
containing the rest of the marine company. “Form a defensive perimeter,” he
ordered as the last of his marines came out of the drop ship, which quickly
blasted back up into the air and accelerated away. It would return when it was
time for them to be picked up.

“There goes
our ride,” muttered Private Turner as he watched the small ship leave.

“Just keep
your ass moving,” Private Morris suggested from his side. “There’s a stone wall
over there that will give us some cover until the captain decides on our next
move.”

“You need to
be an officer,” grumbled Turner. “You’re always telling us what to do.”

Morris moved
ahead of Turner in her ten-foot tall Type Three battle suit. She walked as if
the suit was a natural extension of her body. She was one of those rare marines
for whom the battle suits seemed to become like a second skin as easy to
manipulate as an arm or a leg.

Winfrey had
listened to the exchange and allowed himself to smile. Turner was right, at
some point in time Private Morris would need to be promoted. She just needed
some battle experience first. They all did.

“Perimeter
established,” he called out over the command channel on his suit com when he
saw that his marines were in their designated defensive positions. He heard the
other four platoon leaders reply the same.

“Let’s move
out then,” Captain Stevens ordered from his command suit. “Lieutenant Davies,
your platoon will take point. Lieutenant Taylor and Sergeant Hughes, your
platoons will be on the wings. Captain Winfrey’s platoon and mine will form a
second skirmish line behind the first three platoons as we advance. There are
already reports coming in that the other unit involved in this operation has
encountered resistance.” Another company of marines had landed on the far side
of the spaceport.

Captain
Winfrey looked at the terrain ahead. They were about two kilometers from the
outer edge of the spaceport. Large trees with strange looking yellowish-green
leaves were abundant as well as several buildings that looked as if they were
being used for storage.

“I have
several enemy combatants in battle suits approaching from the perimeter of the
spaceport,” reported Lieutenant Davies, excitedly. He was using the enhanced
vision of his suit helmet to zoom in on the approaching conscripts.

“Same here,”
Lieutenant Taylor added. “I have at least six conscripts in some type of battle
suit, though I can’t tell what type of weapons they’re carrying. They've just
exited the spaceport perimeter and are approaching slowly.”

“Stand by to
engage,” Stevens ordered as he used the HUD in his helmet to zoom in on the
approaching enemy.

He could see
them now. They were enclosed in bulky armor not quite as large as what his
marines had and definitely not as advanced. They were carrying some type of
assault rifle, though he couldn’t make out the size or if it had explosive rounds
like the RG rifles did. None seemed to be equipped with energy weapons. In the
distance, he could see more conscripts moving around the spaceport proper
preparing to defend it from attack. The conscripts moving toward them must be a
probe so the commander of the defending forces could determine what he was up
against.

“Hit them with
RG explosive rounds on my command. I want them taken out quickly; then we'll
charge the perimeter to begin our attack on the spaceport.”

“Ready,”
replied Lieutenants Davies and Taylor.

“Let them get
a little closer,” Stevens suggested as he continued to watch the approaching
enemy. Another minute passed and Mark knew the enemy were now within range of
the RG explosive rounds.

“Fire!” he
ordered, knowing he was about to kill the dozen or so conscripts using the
large trees for cover in their approach. But this was war and the conscripts in
the battle suits were part of the Strell Empire.

Grenade-like
explosions suddenly began going off several hundred meters in front of Stevens.
He held his breath as he saw the enemy begin to go down. First one and then
two, then in rapid succession all the others. In just a few moments, it was
over. The enemy had never even gotten a shot off! Mark felt a moment of
queasiness in the pit of his stomach at the swift death he had just dealt out.

“Advance!” he
yelled as he waved his marines forward. In moments, all one hundred marines
were moving at a half run. In battle suits that meant they were moving faster
than an Olympic sprinter.

“Enemy are massing
at the perimeter,” Sergeant Carrie Young reported as she saw numerous
conscripts in battle suits forming up in front of her. She was in Lieutenant
Davies’ platoon and second in command. “I can also see several heavy vehicles
moving out from a couple of hangers on the spaceport.”

“Watch those
vehicles,” Stevens warned with a hint of concern in his voice. “We may need to
target them with the heavier suit explosives if they turn out to be armed.” He
didn’t like the thought of having to tangle with armed vehicles.

Captain
Winfrey was listening to the various conversations over the com in his command
suit, knowing the combat situation was about to get much more intense. Using
the HUD in his suit, he scanned the vehicles Sergeant Young had mentioned. His
command suit had greater capabilities than a regular suit and it was easy for
him to spot weapons on the vehicles. Two were obviously a light tank of some
kind and the other was equipped with a rocket launcher. He hurriedly passed
that information on to Mark. The rocket launcher could be a big problem if it
was allowed to fire.

Several
explosive rounds suddenly hit the ground around the advancing marines,
showering them with dirt and rock as the tanks fired. The ground trembled from
the force of the twin blasts. At the same time, the opposing ground troops
opened up a heavy weapons fire from the assault rifles they were carrying.