Eric Olafson Fleet Cadet Vol 3 Chapter 34 Interlude Boneyard
- 3 years ago
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Swybar lounged in the comfortable chair behind the conference table aboard the Red Dragon. Soon the requested supplies would arrive and make him a very dangerous man.
The table was laid out with a light dinner. Both of his associates had joined him and both of them had been very respectful and lauded his genius. Swybar loved it when others realized just how smart and resourceful he was. Even the disguised Kermac treated him like an equal, as it was proper.
He was no fool however and knew his associates were just as resourceful and the Kermac went through all these troubles to get something from Koken. If a civilization as mighty as the Kermac went through all this to get whatever it was, then it was something very valuable. Valuable things meant power and something an entire Civilization wanted must be very valuable. He wanted revenge and his main target was this cursed Admiral Elligott, this self-righteous immortal who had no right to be in charge or even still alive.
The Kermac agent interrupted his day dreaming. “How long do you think before the supplies you ordered arrive?”
He wiped his lips with a napkin. “The secret of success in logistics is to play the system. The form is properly filled and no one will raise any alarm bells and you get your hands on Quasimodos, Loki Torpedoes and even Cerberus robots, but the system cannot be rushed if you want to operate under the scanners. I expect the first transport to be here in three days.”
The Kermac could not believe his luck. What legions of spies had not accomplished he would gain in one sweep and one mission. He would return with a marvelous ship filled with Union secrets and the very manual how to service and make Translocator cannons. Such a success would secure him the seat of the Supreme Wizard. The bumbling fool occupying the seat now would be swept aside.”
He smiled at the human ex Admiral without saying a word, but as soon as the supplies arrived he was no longer needed and he would show this human what Kermac did to those that outlived their usefulness.
He cared less about the secrets the First Wizard wanted secured.
The real secret was not in believing in ancient prophecies and living in the past, but do it like the Terrans and embrace the future. He was certain that this was the true key to success. With the Terran weapon secrets exposed and duplicated, they could not keep that huge area controlled and pacified, chaos would reign and the Kermac would rise under his rule. The old wizard clung to the old phantasy that the Y’All would come again, but they had been defeated before and if they ever came they would be defeated again. No this was not the way. Waking the Kermac out of their lethargic state and take control themselves, lead the vassal civilizations with an iron fist and control the Galaxy, that was the goal and with the things he gained here, he would lay the foundation.
The other man remained quiet, even though the others thought he was an agent of the worm, he was really working for the First Son of the Dark Church. His mission was to get his hands on whatever the Kermac wanted to find on Koken. He had orders to dispose both of them as soon as their usefulness ended. The First Church of Darkness never left any open ends.
The Kermac leaned forward. “Why not use your connections and get us perhaps a few spare parts for Translocator Cannons?”
“Sorry about that, but it would rise to many flags. Especially since such a request needs two command level signatures verified by Nelson.”
“I thought you can fake the signatures of a dozen high level officers?”
“I can, but Officer Signatures are complex and no fake will make it past Nelson. Be satisfied with what you get. Translocators have to wait.”
--””--
DEMONS
In all my anger about my situation I could not help but pity the pirates. I wondered how they could have survived out here, being so amateurish. Stoo turned out to be some sort of semi sentient pet lizard of 3 meters length and five pairs of legs. It had bright red and yellow scaled skin and an ugly looking head with at least 4 pairs of eyes, maybe more. It posed no threat as it was in a cage on the small bridge of the cruiser. The only time I seen as much filth and garbage was in the basement of my old friend. The air was reeking of organic, slightly sweet and sour odors that made me gag. There was damp laundry hung from hooks and ropes strung across the narrow main corridor. The engine compartment looked like an n exploded hardware store. The main power coupling had been repaired with everything but the right parts. Someone had actually used a sledgehammer to fit, what looked like an old Ult shield coil into the housing of a Kartanian shield generator, the sledgehammer was still there and the coil looked bend, and deformed at one end, but for some strange reason it not only worked, these old but very powerful Ult Coils boosted the Kartanian shield to more than six times their original output. A Shiss made Control unit hooked into a Nul Graviton, connected to a piece of alien hardware I could not identify, partially glued and welded to the floor. Either the last engineer was the greatest genius or simply mad and very lucky but this wild mix of technologies and systems seemed to work just fine.
The weapon energy lines and the weapons itself were meticulously maintained however and the power levels of the ships FTL cannons were quite impressive for a flying garbage dump like this.
To my surprise, there was no Command chair but an actual leather sofa, with a wooden back, glued with Stick and Fix to the floor. The leather was worn down and there were smudgy looking pillows. While the original Kartanian design was not too different from Union bridge layouts, most of the consoles were dark, or torn apart to salvage parts. The ship was operated from three Consoles still intact.
The Computronic had no objections to take my commands and it turned out the old security codes and safety measures had been disabled, making me think that the last owner did not buy this ship but took it from someone else.
The scanners, to my surprise were Union made GE brand, High Efficiency with special filter software to compensate for the dense micro matter soup out there. It took me at least an hour but I finally figured out the main layout. I found the rescue pod with the former captain of this vessel and also saw the other two pirate ships.
Even though the vessel had better sensors for these conditions than I had, their efficiency was reduced, and I didn’t have all too much sensor operation experience, it took me another 12 minutes to find the energy signature I believed belonged to the Scooper vessels that took the Commander.
I didn’t want to stick around much longer; it looked like the other pirates had found the rescue pod and sooner than later, the captain would be able to tell his story to them, besides I had to rescue the Commander.
Just as I accelerated, one of the Energy signatures exploded in scale and the visual sensors captured a violent explosion. One of the Scooper vessels just exploded. A cold fist cramped around my stomach and I opened all hailing frequencies, disregarding my initial plan to sneak up on them.
“Here is Midshipman Olafson; I am hailing the scooper vessels. You have captured a Union Officer, if you are under attack send me coordinates and situation so I can assist. Be assured I will fight you to the last ship if you harmed the Commander in any way.”
There was no response.
--””--
GWEN
In order to flee their doomed Universe the Coven opened a gate to another dimension, another reality known by the ancients as the Netherworlds. Almost all sentient civilizations had legends about creatures of evil nature dwelling in a fiery dark place full of unspeakable horrors. The humans of Earth once believed in a place called Hell, the Saresii called it Natkah, the Ult knew it as Huhun and the Klack called it Akth’tjak. Dr. Isah the most brilliant scientist Earthers ever knew once released a paper about a dimension he called Under-Verse, a condition of space separate from the regular Omniverse. The Coven fled into that Nether Space and did escape the destruction of their own reality, but at a prize. They had to become creatures of the Netherworld, loose much of their original identity and knowledge, but even in their adapted forms they were only unwanted guests and had leave.
Gwen did not know much of the details and understood little of what occurred, as it happened long before her essence was restored, but like all of the Coven she was as much a creature of that world as she was now a life form in this Universe. She loved and hated her true form with equal intensity. Freed of the fragile human form she was a creature of power, able to roam space without the aid of a space ship, feeding on energies but she was also deprived of sensations of smell and touch. So simple these sensations seemed, so much did she miss them when she no longer had them. The ability to feel cold and heat, to feel moisture and release emotions with a few tears were treasures humans took for granted. No she would return to her human form, she would mourn for that human that was so brave and then she had to face the anger of the Coven and perhaps even the anger of the Narth for being instrumental in his demise.
There, the pirate vessel came into the reach of her senses. They too would face her anger. She had to be careful though, she remembered that they used Gravitational weapons, these weapons were quite capable of hurting her, or even destroying her essence. To be flung back into the netherworlds without essence was a fate worse than death.
The Vessel used Tachyon Radio, she could pick up the emissions, maybe she could scare them telling her what they did to Eric.
At first she could not believe it but it was Eric’s Voice. He somehow managed to take over the vessel and was searching for her. Against all odds he still remembered his promise to her. She needed to change back; she needed her human form because only then could she laugh. What a poor creature she was now, she had the power to fight starships, travel faster than light with a mere thought and yet she could not laugh. But in her rage she had destroyed her rescue pod and with it her suit.
Eric would be frightened and in panic if he would see her that way.”
Then she heard the voice of the Coven.” Do not hide. Let him see your true form. His reaction will determine his fate and our decision.”
“The human is brave and he fought for me. You know how mortals react if they see us in our true form. I care much for this man and I care for the Union. “Oh little sister, don’t throw away your home and heritage so easily. What affection would it be if you have to lie to him for the rest of his existence? She, who loves the warrior, has shown him her true form and he has not changed his mind.”
Whatever argument Gwen wanted to say was no longer valid as the vessel was within optical sensor reach.
--””--
ERIC
I expected anything but that. The visual sensor displayed drifting debris of two or three space ships and in the midst a glowing thing. My mind raced to find something to compare it with, but failed. It was a creature, something that lived I was certain. It was about sixty or seventy meters long, it had elements of what a dragon might have looked like, but it had also humanoid elements, leathery wings that seemed to be on fire. Fire with flames were impossible in the vacuum of space, yet there was one creature in my cultures mythical lore that would have looked much like whatever it was that floated out there, Sutr, the Fire Giant. The all-powerful Giant and enemy of Thor and Odin.”
As much as I believed in science and rationality, I was raised in a society that still worshiped gods and believed in supernatural beings, for all I knew I was facing a real Demon.”
At first I felt fear, and I wanted to turn the ship and flee, maybe come back with a fleet of Battle ships but that was no option. Maybe Gwen was still alive, against all odds. She could still be in her Escape Pod and just not visible to my scanners yet, even if she was dead. No matter the form of the creature, this was a first contact situation and I wanted to be a fleet officer. Running was no real option, no matter what. Maybe the thing could be hailed. Attempting to make contact was the first step.
I opened the program bank of the Computronic and asked if it had First Contact Protocols loaded. Of course it had not. What would a Pirate ship need first Contact protocols anyway?
So far the creature did nothing. It was just floating there. There was no telling if it could sense me or not, but I was certain that a being that could survive in space had some means of sensor input adapted to this environment. Would it be able to receive Tachyon radio?
I opened all available channels and tried the direct approach, if it was able to receive the transmission maybe it was able to determine that I was not hostile. The being however looked everything but friendly, every aspect of the creature spelled death and destruction.
“This is Midshipman Eric Olafson, representing the United Stars of the Galaxy. I am on a rescue mission and seeking a being much like me; if you are able to understand me I am open for dialog.”
--””--
GWEN
There was pride in the telepathic voice of the creature that was Gwen.” He acts just like a Union Fleet Officer should. He tries first Contact procedures.”
“He is in a starship with weapons that mask his fear.”
“Of course he fears me I am so much bigger and more powerful than he is, in the fact that he overcomes this fear lies his and the humans strength. He is still half a child even in his society, he is not even fully trained and despite all the obstacles he came through.”
“You speak like an advocate for the humans.”
“I am an advocate in my human form, and I realize just how much human I have become. I am born of the Coven but I shall end it in human form whenever my time has come and my allegiance is with the Union.”
“You are the second sister of the Coven that makes such decisions. Proceed as we had planned and bring him here. We must learn more. We are curious what he will do if he learns what you truly are.”
--””--
ERIC
It was a long shot after all, the creature did not respond. What other options did I have, to make contact? Maybe contact was not possible, maybe the creature was not sentient. I doubted my own suggestion; somehow I knew the thing was sentient. I needed to go on and find Gwen or find out what had happened to her and then I had to return to Union space.
Just then the Computronic signaled an incoming transmission.” Eric, don’t be alarmed I mean you no harm. Please let me come aboard and let me explain.”
That the voice of the creature sounded like crackling fire was something I actually expected, but not what the creature was saying.” Well I am sure glad that you don’t mean any harm but I this ship isn’t big enough for you.”
“I will reduce my size, Eric you know me. I am Gwen”
That response caught me completely off guard. Was this some sort of holographic projection? Was this a life from that perhaps mimicked or copied the personality or voice of the victims it killed or perhaps ate? Why could things not stay easy and normal around me? It seemed there was always another door opening revealing something completely knew, always when I thought I had something figured out. I opened the response channel.
“Alright let us assume for the moment that I believe you and you are Gwen. Did you eat her and now use her memories to trick me into something? On the other hand if I judge the situation correctly it was you who tore those ships apart and you somehow being Gwen is the reason I am not shredded to bits.”
I was sure there were other options and my captured junk pile was well armed, including a few of those Ult Gravo Mines. I was contemplating releasing two of them and thus trap or even destroy that creature. However beginning hostilities with a new life form was clearly not what a Union Officer was supposed to do.
“I am Gwen. I am Commander Brown, Eric. I have more than one shape and this is my true form.”
“I am opening the cargo bay door. Not that I am very comfortable doing so, but I doubt we have all too much time. If the previous owner of this ship explained his buddies what happened we might have a few pirates on our tail soon.”
In vain did I try to find a remote control to open the Cargo door and the ships Computronic was no help, claiming to have no circuits to do so for me.
What weapon should I take to meet the demon like creature? Thor fought Sutr with his hammer and Odin had his mighty sword. Somehow I wished I had Mjördaren with me, as the TKU blaster felt inadequate.
The Pirate’s ship small arms collection was impressive but nothing really better than a TKU, at least from the stuff I could identify. So I went down the damp smelling corridor and into the small cargo hold.
After I had cycled the air out and pressed the door opening controls, I pressed my teeth together and hoped I did make the right decision.
The thing looked even more frightening. It was not so much how it looked, I had seen renderings of Demons at Hasvik, but the fact that it actually existed. That it emitted flames in an environment where there should be no flames and that it had parts of its body that looked like sections of fresh slaughtered beings. It had horn like extensions much like the Nogoll but much bigger and twisted. Bright white energy like fog wafted out of a horrifying maw like breath from a raging Fangsnapper in a cold Longnight winter. It had four arms with razor sharp claws, but quite distinctively formed like a human hand complete with four fingers and a thumb.
Communication was impossible as the emergency space suit function of my uniform did not include a tachyon radio.
As it came closer it did shrink steadily and I noticed the large wings and was certain this creature could survive in space but was not at home there. Appendixes of any kind were pretty useless and I was certain that even in the densest part of the matter cloud there was not enough for wings to be of any use.
It now was only about twice the size of a man as it passed the door halves. I closed the doors and that started the air cycle as well. The creature kept shrinking and changing as well. It shifted and shimmered into a naked woman that looked exactly like Gwen.
I folded my helmet back into the collar and we stared at each other then she said. “Permission to come aboard?”
“Permission granted.”
She wrapped her hands around her firm looking small breasts and looked cold and miserable.” I will explain it all to you, but can I find myself something to wear? It is very cold.”
“And that’s from a being that just came from deep space and looked as hot as an active volcano.”
She sighed. “It is more than a shape shift, Eric. I am now one hundred percent human female and we do tend to get cold easily.”
It actually took us almost an hour to find something for her to wear, that was reasonably clean and somewhat suitable, but a trunk stored in the stuffed mess hall was filled with pre packed mechanic coveralls and one fit her reasonably well.
As she was done putting it on she wanted to say something when the ship jerked violently. I ran back to the bridge, almost certain knowing the reason.
I didn’t bother to check; I manually raised the shields to max and accelerated in the first best direction. I needed a few moments to orient myself and hoped to gain enough time that way.
Now I took the time to sit down in the Helm position and checked the scanners. As I expected the two other pirate ships had found us. My randomly chosen course was taking us straight for the matter expanse and whatever botch job the engineer of this ship did to the engines was quite impressive, that Kartanian rust bucket accelerated almost as good as the brand new Sturgeon I had lost and took us out of their weapon range for the moment.
Of course I could not maintain this kind of acceleration even with the reinforced shields of this ship, the matter was getting denser and the shields were getting strained.
I leaned over to the Tactical controls and with the tips of my fingers I released the two Gravo mines, with a 2 second delay. I hoped they would pull a big ball of matter behind us, completely masking us from their sensors.
Gwen appeared and said.” Let me take Helm, I know this place and the secret path.”
There would be time later, at least I hoped to ask what she meant, but now I simply let her do what she wanted to, got up and placed myself behind the other console.
My plan had worked, the Gravo mines created a dense matter ball, but as amateurish the pirates were in trying to capture me, as good they seemed in piloting ships in this soup. One of them was just coming around the outer fringes of the dense cloud I had created behind us. Whoever piloted that ship was very good, skimming the fringes of the Gravo mine effect envelope with virtually nothing to spare, but that put him in a very bad spot, because I executed part two of my escape plan and fired the FTL into the dense matter ball. Volatile gases and matter pulled by dense gravity didn’t need much to ignite. My shot had created an intense fire ball behind me and a new temporary micro star. The other pirate was too close, his shields already strained. The pursuing ship disappeared in the blinding light. What ever happened to the other I could not say but if they were around their sensors would be completely blind towards us.
I turned my attention to what Gwen was doing and noticed she flew the ship in a complicated course through a nearly invisible path of less dense matter deeper into the nebula.
INTERLUDE: NELSON OMNITRONIC
Nelson was more than a giant Computronic. It had been built by SII Intelli-Systems and an army of the finest X101 Cybertronic engineers. It was designed by Mother Machine herself and it was without question the most advanced artificial intelligence system in the known Universe second only to Mother Machine herself. It was built inside Phobos, one of the moons of Mars. It was one of seven such systems, networked to each other, but Nelson was the core system.
It lacked true self-awareness, something the system engineers carefully avoided and prevented. The Nelson Operation and Management (NOAM) team consisted of the finest cybernetic talent.
He remembered the last moments of his life quite vividly. They had led him up to the scaffold, after they had removed all his rank insignia. Commander Stone before him actually collapsed and the marines had to drag him to his spot on the scaffold. It took all his will power not to do the same and set one foot before the other. The solemn beat of the drums stopped and the Executioner asked him if he had any last words. He had none, the night before he had written a letter to his son Swybin and...
Swybar stood in the cargo bay of the Red Dragon and watched as a gang of S10 robots stowed away containers with real Loki torpedoes. His Kermac associate stood next to him with an almost feverish stare in his eyes. It would not take much and he would actually drool. The Agent of the worm was nowhere to be seen, but he expected him to be around. The Kermac pointed at a large cylindrical object that an Octobot had just lifted into the bay.” Is that really what I think it is?” “Yes this is a...
Green Eden appeared to be a beautiful green, white and blue sphere. From space it looked as inviting as any garden world. The transport descended through moderate clouds and approached a heavy forested land mass. We landed on a simple dirt field that had been cleared in the jungle. At the edge of the dirt field I saw a collection of primitive looking buildings made of wood. There were no machines, no robots, no ships or vehicles and no one waiting for us. Someone from the flight deck...
The Commander still stared at the torn off rank insignia of the former Midshipman as his Desk, Then hisCom flashed with the top urgent icon. He touched the screen and a Holo transmission from Fleet headquarters solidified. It was the Old man himself, Admiral of the Fleet McElligott. “Where is Midshipman Olafson?” “Sir, the Ex Midshipman is just transferred to the brig. That subject has been dealt with swift and harsh. I doubt he is conscious. Thirty five lashes and off to Brisbane...
Wulf activated his cloak and put the suit in flight mode. Like a human missile he flew towards the ware house. Another energy beam emitted from the alien craft and slammed into the ground, where he had been a second ago. “Rusty, activate weapons and open remote control. He slaved the ships weapon control to his suit and a pair of green crosshairs appeared before his eyes. As soon as he lined up the cross hairs he pressed with his thumb on a small contact on the side of his index finger and a...
I was still as tired as a Tyranno during Longnight when the lights came on and a voice barked via the PA system: “0400 hours Cadets rise and shine. 0430 is Breakfast. At 0500 you will receive your first class in the Elbhard Auditorium.” And we found ourselves in said Auditorium at that time an hour later. Clean, fed and still tired. Again I tried to find a place in the back, so I could perhaps close my eyes for few moments. The Pan Saran Officer was already there. “Good Morning Class.” We...
I kept my own promise and went to Hasvik and lit a torch for Astrid, Elena did the same and we didn’t talk much on our flight back. I didn’t know Astrid as well as she did, but she was a friend and she saved our lives, paying with hers. I still feel stuffed from breakfast even though it was close to five as we returned to the Burg. Midril had prepared what must have been the most calories laden and without question the biggest breakfast of Nilfeheim history. Rodney turned out to be the very...
There were few new buildings on Earth and obtaining a new construction permit was very difficult. Usually only something that could not be renovated or preserved was rePlaced. Ever since the Second Exodus, Earth population was kept steady at about two billion beings and great effort was taken to preserve cities and historical buildings. Annapolis Tower in San Francisco was one of the few super modern Arcologies on Earth. At over 2500 meter height it was also the largest building of the...
The Space bus came out of FTL and approached the blue and white sapphire sphere that was Nilfeheim. I had 6 month before I had to return to the Academy. This was my home world and I was longing to take a long deep dive and feel the fresh cold water all around me, it was of course still Longnight. That I had left Nilfeheim just a little over a year ago was something I could hardly believe. So much has happened since then; it felt I had been gone for much longer. “I wonder how Nilfeheim is...
The Herald was back in a holding cell aboard the same space station he had been freed not so long ago. This time he was not in a stasis field but from his head down in a clear plastic material suit with a metallic collar. No matter what he had tried, the material not only slowed down his every move, it resisted his diamond hard needle sharp claws. Right now the suit had bonded with the wall and he could not move even a few centimeters. He decided to research this more once he was free again....
Peter Baker had neither slept nor eaten much in the last days. Everything had gone wrong ever since he captured the Y’All herald and brought the being to Fornax Hub. He told them to keep the being in Stasis until fleet could arrive. He had barely left the security lock up facility aboard the stations when all lights went out and the station was boarded by Y’All and Kermac. What was odd that these Kermac fought, they weren’t the same cowardly white skinned Kermac he knew about, and still these...
Egill terminated the connection and leaned back. Algear glanced at his friend.”You love that boy and you told me so many times and yet you criticized him and snarled at him during the entire call, I do not understand.” “It is my way to show him, I care. He understands.” Algear sighed and said in complete unison with the Narth.” Humans.” Egill padded Algear on the shoulder. “ I explain it to you one of these days.” To the Narth he said.” Now can you explain to me why Eric is on the Assembly...
Istee Da Notham was out of breath as he stormed into the back office of the Dark Temple. Mitzitrone the Head priest sat behind his desk reading something and was quite startled at the undignified and unannounced entrance of his Right hand man and fellow Priest.” What in Darkum’s name? Has someone put a Stickle-Incher under your robe?” Notham pointed his arm to the door. “I saw him and I felt him. The Dark One is here and he is here now. I could feel more power than I ever felt. More power...
The memorial service for Rodney Barack and Deadan took place almost immediately after our return to the Academy. It was a solemn affair and it brought home to me just how serious the affair on Archilerb really was. I was certain the affair was far from over as far as it concerned the fleet, the Yokuta and the level of hostilities between Union and the Galactic Council. I shot two of the Kermac bastards but I knew there had to be more. The Yokuta I fought were still under psionic control...
Peter had put his ship down on the leveled landing field of Annapurna Port. There was a small collection of stone and wood buildings. The energy signature came from the largest building in the little town, the local exchange. He checked his gun, a copy of Wulf’s Tri Blast and made sure his shield belt was fully charged and operational and then left the ship. As soon as he left, his shield locked and activated the purple shimmering Para Dim Shield. It was about thousand meters to the town...
His new aide alsdo a Commander came into the office of the Admiral and said. “I am unable to raise the Commander or the Midshipman. The local police found the Laboratory empty, but found the flier of the Xenobiologist 3 miles away near the mountains. No sign of the two. There is a piece of ground burned by TKU before a cave entrance.” The Admiral leaned back and pointed at the file he was reading.” I was reading up on the Big Bone Mystery and I wonder why we never put more efforts in this to...
We watched him leave and as we left the training hall, Narth asked. “Lying can be polite sometimes, is that so?” I was thinking for a moment what he meant and then said. “We humans always say we prefer the truth, but in certain cases we rather not want to hear or tell the truth. Especially when dealing with others. Why do you ask?” “You said to La Lupe that you are a ruffian at best, and yet you are the best fencer and I am not certain our instructor is much ahead of your skill level, but I...
The orange haired woman took the mirror thing from her face as I left the Admirals office and she leaned forward over her desk. “There is a washroom right over there.” I gave her a thankful smile. After I had freshened up I asked her.” How did you know I needed to go?” She smiled.” I am Cheeka and I come from Phantas. “She said that as if it would explain everything. Her purple eyes sparkled amused and she added. “Phantas is an old Terran Colony, much like Nilfeheim and we all have Psionic...
The Kermac High Circle of Wizards listened to the report of their spy. He had shown them a recording of the Assembly proceedings as well. Vorneun the Intelligence wizard looked perplexed.” Can someone tell me what is going on here? I never even heard of the Fornax Cluster, what were they talking about Kermac in Y’All ships?” He addressed Nachacht the Military Wizard as he expected him to have done something in secret, but Nachacht looked as surprised but the Grand Wizard clenched his little...
Technically she was a coach operator and so it was noted on her pay slip from Red Triangle Lines Corporation, and the ship she flew was only a D 180 Long Range Shuttle, but she called it ship and despite the fact that she was the entire crew of the ship, she considered herself a star ship captain. Out here in the Fornax satellite it was not necessary to operate full size Leyland or the truly big MB Space Buses. She never had more than ten passengers and her shuttle had room for 180...
Richard stood by the view port in his office aboard the Devastator. The Ship was still on its way back to the LMC. The Narth were certain that the next Y’All invasion would come from this direction. He had seen the Narth Sphere during the last Y’All invasion and now that the Narth Supreme had personally told him that the Narth would be on the Union Side and hinted he would share some Narth technology with the Union he was far less concerned as he was before. He smiled at his own reflection,...
Stahl’s suit shield had collapsed twice, and the scorch marks on his armor showed that he came awful close to making his ideas of retiring quite mute, but the Steel Gauntlet had managed to secure the alien ship, and the grey skinned Kermac Captain still struggled in his augmented suit fist. Stahl had grabbed him, before he could activate the self destruct. Sergeant Black Horse, a genuine Terran Apache shouldered his monstrous boarding axe and said.” Ship Secure, Big Chief.” None of the men in...
Swybar was the first out of the D 60 Long Distance shuttle; the two men that accompanied him followed down the ramp and looked around. One of them was a disguised Kermac, that much he knew but he had no idea who the other was, but he expected him to be an agent of the worm. All three of them were disguised as humanoids wearing heavy insulated and heated suits and cold masks. Patches on their suits identified them as civilian contractors. All his life Swybar thought it was impossible to forge...
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Carl Kerry leaned on his staff and let his gaze wander over the peaks of the mountains and the alpine meadows before him then he looked over his flock of goats grazing on the herbs and grasses. The orange sun in the sky migt eventually be fixed by Wurgus engineers, but there was no hurry. The local star would last a many hundred million years before it begun to expand, reach the next stage in a suns life and become a red M Class star. In the process of this development swallow the Planet...
The communications officer of the Devastator reported to Stahl. “Sir we have no contact to Fornax Hub. The last message we received was a distress call and now it is silent on all channels.” The old Admiral wished the huge ship could go any faster and glanced over to captain Harris, knowing full well that the ship was already pushing its engines close to the red line. He did not want to push them any further. The mighty Devastator would be of no help if she arrived at a crisis with damaged...
The five potato shaped space ships immediately attacked. Their weapons were consistent with Y’All technology and so were their shields. Stahl looked over the scanner results and was convinced it was exactly the same as 1500 years ago. The Chief Science officer confirmed it.”Sir, these are defiantly Y’All ships. Even the power output and everything is exactly the same as it was 1500 years ago. It looks like they made no improvement at all.” If this was the case, the Admiral thought, then this...
Everyone thought it would get easier after we got used to the stress and workload, but it did not, our instructors pushed us even harder. I was sent for 24 hours into the no light lock up for having a bad shave after returning from a 75 kilometer force march through the Jungle in just my underwear and a combat knife. The instructor argued that the knife was perfectly usable to perform a shave before reporting back. Narth did not fare much better and was send washing dishes by hand for the...
Lt. Harrison liked logistics. He never wanted to do anything else really. It fitted his meticulous character and string sense of order, to be responsible for material flows and acquisitions. He liked proper filled acquisition forms and hated the ones filled out partially or incorrectly. He expected that the fields not needed were marked with n/a for not applicable. How easy was it for the requestor to fill out these Computronic forms, why could they not pay attention to the little details,...
The Devastator had made it. No one aboard knew very much about the old Celtest engines, except Centron the Ships AI that was also not a product of Union Tech but the ships original AI, utmost loyal to Stahl. Centron warned that the old engines would need serious servicing before they could be used again at these speeds. That would mean the way home would take much longer, unless the Chief Engineer could figure out how to service the alien engines. However this was a problem, they would face...
In all these years it was the first Stahl ran to reach the bridge of the Devi, he had barely made it back aboard and was still wearing his battered combat suit as he stomped with augmented muscles and eight tons of Terran battle gear on the bridge. Harris just informed him that another wave of Y’All ships was approaching. His mighty ship shuddered and he heard the Harris ordering all attack wings to be deployed. He reached the bridge. Harris had disappeared inside his command chair now in...
The Call has been made and the Herald was about to complete the first part of the mission. He had been sent in advance to gauge the strength of this union and to secure the secret of the weapon that was able to defeat the Y’All. He had not been sent alone, but with him he had 300 mighty Y’All ships crewed not only by a new generation of Y’All warriors, but also by a large number of cloned beings, called the Kermac. It was decided that the Y’All should be led this time by an intelligent...
Somewhere in the Mongolian desert, January 2097 Lt. Richard Stahl ducked behind the remnant of a wall, to reload his gun and to check on the others. “Smithers when are those Cobras coming? We need them now or we’re going to be toast.” The Chinese tanks crawled over the ridge. Stahl spit into the sand and cursed.”Never fight a land war against China and what are we doing here?”J ones his SAW man grinned weakly. “Fighting a land war with China and it isn’t looking all too good, Sir.” “Where...
I did not feel like celebrating but I sat down with the others at the big table and was asked to tell them about my time at the academy. I gave them a very rough and condensed version and I did not even finish part of it as there was too much to explain and I could tell I had lost them as I told about the formal dinner, so I recalled the events around the duel and that was well received. I also told father that I would not be here for long and that a ship was on its way to pick me up. Elena...
Hans and Mao had received UWASPS. That stood for ‘urban warfare protective security suits’. Not the Quasimodo super bulky frontal assault battle armor but a sleek body shaped suit with a vast array of sensors, very smart weapon systems and advanced stealth and camouflage capabilities, normally only used by NAVINT Counter Intelligence and Elite Special forces. Much of the suits capabilities were highly classified and a source of professional pride to those considered good enough to wear...
The next day he did as he promised and took me with is rugged freight bed flier to the southmost tip of Bifrost island a deserted dark pebble beach. Most of the rocks where about fist sized but there many much bigger and a few almost house sized. “These are carried by the glaciers from the mountains and after every Longnight they go a little further till they end in the sea.” He explained, “Eventually carrying our small mountain range away to the sea.” He took the metal box with him, handed...
Midshipman Suppor or actually Namamir of the Suppor Clan was not at all pleased with the development so far. All the things he had done and all the preparation to be her at this event, had not lead to the result he had hoped for. The famous Diamond Ball was nearly over and many of the VIP’s had already left. Emperor Soron, the Fifth was still here and so were other important members of the ruling noble houses of the Thauran Empire, but he had no idea how much longer they would remain. He...
5009, OTT The days after her death were like a haze. I woke in the Union Clinic. It was the first time I could remember being away from the Burg. When I first regained consciousness I was floating in some kind of gooey liquid, whatever I tried I could not move and through the liquid I could see people moving. I was certain one of the shapes was father. When I woke again, I was no longer in the liquid but in the same room. All was gleaming white and clean. A man with a broad smile greeted...
The weeks to summer break went by faster than I liked. Mr. Walters came into class this morning and said after we greeted him. “Tomorrow will be your last day of school and you have three month to prepare for the next year. Everyone in class will advance. While your grades and results have much room for improvement, they are satisfactory. Today I want to ask if you know why we keep time the way we do?” He pointed his finger at Yngve.” You will not speak.” Since Mr. Walters gave positive...
Two days later, the Elders placed Ragnarsson flags and a shield with the Falcon symbol in a ritualistic ceremony into the Caves of Extinct clans and had the alcove bricked shut. An Elder smashed my Grandfathers signet ring with a hammer on an anvil and tossed it into the ocean. The Ragnarsson clan was no more. After the Ceremony Hogun took me downtown again, he explained that a lawyer had come to open my grandfather’s will. The building where Hogun landed the floater had three floors and...
Prelude Part 6: Naming Day A new egg-shaped stone cut from a single two-ton boulder marked the grave of the little girl. The stone had been dug out from underneath the snow; a stonemason had chiseled the name Freya Olafson and the date into the stone and then it was carried to the cemetery behind the community roundhouse. There, also under a thick layer of snow, were the rock mounds and rock markers of the graves of the most revered. On a planet with so little land, the dead usually...
I found the Halls of Hasvik easily enough as they could not be missed. Next to the huge doors ;which were as I could see now, were made of dark wood with large Ultronit bands holding large timbers together; was a smaller metal door and I knocked there. It did not take long and another man opened, he too was dressed like the other one but he was the stark opposite of the Old man I met the day before. He was fat, Midril would have appeared like a weightless Elf compared to this man. His woven...
Elfi had not been dismissed and waited for the Captain to do so as she watched Eric leave. She too wondered about the Captain. A man she had only seen on visuals stepped into the light. He must have been there the entire time sitting on a visitor’s sofa outside the light cone of the Captain’s desk lamp. Harris first looked at the princess and then at the Admiral. “Even if he doesn’t do anything he ends up in the middle of things. Tell me. In all my years in this Navy I have never, I mean...
Stahl got up and Alycia said. “Are you leaving?” He smiled at her. “Not just yet, I thought now that most of the big wigs are gone and the band plays nice old Earth tunes I know, I decided to get up and ask you for a dance.” She got up just a little too fast to appear dignified and with a deep smile. “You truly are a master tactician, old man. A simple offer and all my defenses are obliterated.” They joined a few other couples already dancing, almost all of them humans knowing the old...
Non Union ships wanting to do business in Union space have to stop at one of these Checkpoints that dot the imaginary border between Union and Free space to get Customs clearance and a transponder code. While civilian ships could freely enter Union space, they could only land on Union Worlds with the proper Customs documents. Detected warships of other civilizations would result in a border alert and cause an immediate response from the fleet. Checkpoint 96 was a small ice planet with a...
The Devastator was an enormous ship and the outer corridor of Deck 54 circled the ship at the horizontal equator of the main hull. It was almost seventy clicks long. There were IST (Inter ship transport) stations in regular intervals, every 20 meters was a security door, open during normal operations that could be closed in an eye blink and reinforced with force field curtains. Dividing the entire ship in millions of individual sealed compartements.All Union military ships had the same...
Lothar’s beam burned through my chest. It felt as if my entire torso was on fire, but I was alive. I did not faint or pass out instead fulled by burning rage I ran towards him, his face was pure horror he still held the small weapon he did not fire a third time. I reached him in mere seconds, buried my knee in his groin and smashed the palm of my hand against his nose with the hope I would shove his nose bone up his brain. Something completely impossible f course, but I was furious and kept...
The image of Ardalf’s face as the sword slipped into his body would not leave me and I dreaded going to sleep even more than before. When I finally was so tiered I had to sleep I would dream and see the scene all over. One particular dream was especially disturbing as I saw my mother standing by the dead boy and shaking her head. Father was busy integrating the Steiner clan and he left me completely alone, even when I was at the burg and he was there. I spend most of my time at Uncle Hogun’s...
The last thing I remembered was the stinging prick into my neck and then a nauseating spinning sensation that dragged me into nothingness. I was supposed to perform an Orbital assault jump as part of the final challenge and to win the Reagan trophy for the Devastator. My friends and I equipped with heavy battle suits had boarded a Drop ship. Strapped into the drop rack, my suit malfunctioned and nothing worked. At first I believed I was dead, but I felt still nauseas and I opened my eyes....
Even though I had little medical knowledge, my time serving in the Devi’s sick bay and getting basic med training at the Academy I was helping with the triage of wounded and somehow remembered Dr. Dwyer my old Nilfeheim doctor as I derma-patched an eleven year old’s scrape wounds he had suffered falling while running and hiding inside an service crawl. The Casualty numbers were depressing. “943 dead among them many civilians and 1532 wounded of which more than 500 were very critical. Over...
Har-Hi and I returned to our dorm and Mao greeted us.” Have you two decided to kill each other at a later time?” “Yes we decided to postpone that.” Har-Hi answered. “That is good. Because we are complete now and I am tired to be behind in everything.” I said.” We are complete in what and where are you behind?” “First things first.” Mao replied.” You got to meet the rest, just in case so you don’t bust furniture across someone else’s back.” Mao stepped into the middle of the dorm room.”...
“I think it is safe to say, the Nul took the bait and there is a security leak as NAVINT expected.” Captain Harris said looking at the massive Nul fleet of no less than eighty carriers and sixty Nul Battle ships entering the Algeri System, already releasing their fighters. Stahl standing next to him, grunted.” Yes information about the convoy was sent to the Nul and the culprits have been identified, but the Nul responding with the largest strike force I have seen them dispatch since the...
The ‘American Spirit’ was nothing I expected a space ship to look from the inside. It was more like a luxurious villa, complete with garden, swimming pool and green lawn. We stepped through a glass sliding door under a blue sky with a single yellow sun and on the green plant surface he called grass, was a table with umbrella and a few garden chairs. Rolling hills with forests in the distance. “All simulated of course,” Alex explained. “The walls are actually only 30 meters from us, but I...
The Bowels It could have been any Maltyrian but I was certain it was Galmy. At the same as I said her name I realized she would not recognize me. She still had these inhuman big eyes and that translucent complexion. Her hair was the same midnight black as I remembered. She said. “You know me, Captain... ?” Her eyes scanned over my uniform blouse looking for my name tag. “Captain Olafson?” She was out of uniform so I could not see what rank she had attained since I seen her last. “Yes I...
The best day in my life was when I turned seven and I could go to Union school being away from the Burg and away from my father was like breathing lighter air. Everyone had to go to Union school. That was Union Law and it superseded local law. Union school was such a long part of our society that it too became an Old Tradition and therefore was good. At school I learned that Nilfeheim was a Water-World and that we all originally came from a Planet named Earth and settled here long time...
It was the last hour of our last school day. Mr. Walters handed out the final grades and said.” This is the last time I am doing this for you. When you return next year, a new teacher will try to pound some knowledge into your thick skulls. I am going to be transferred to another school, still on Nilfeheim but they thought I be best suited to try my hand on the even wilder Neo Vikings of the South Pole.” He then shook everyone’s hand and said a few words to everyone. When he reached me he...
We entered the outmost orbit of the Dover System ten hours before the deadline. Har-Hi who stood next to me sighed. “I wished it would have taken longer. This is what I am born for, to be aboard a ship and roam the stars’”. I felt the same way and agreed with him, saying. “Me too.” The doors opened and Wetmouth stepped through, taking her seat behind the small science station at the rear of the bridge. I observed Har Hi who acted as the OPS officer of our little crew dedicating sensors...
I went down the narrow stair case to find out if there was a God living in the Old Man’s basement. Now I had reached the bottom of the narrow stair case and it expanded into a large natural grotto. The old man had a very large, and from the looks of it a natural Sub Pen under his rock. It was cold and moist and without my light it would have been pitch dark. There was no god and no mystery down here. At least there wasn’t any more garbage either. I did for a moment see a movement in the water...