ShipCore 2.0: A LitRPG Adventure, page 14
The Major had ordered a small sandwich with meatballs and some type of red sauce that smelled amazing, and Alex did her best to not eye it jealously.
“In the meeting, you asked why they couldn’t attempt to communicate with the Rexxors.”
Alex nodded. “I’m still not convinced about the Fauna thing. It bothers me, to be dropping weapons on them without even attempting a dialogue. Honestly, it didn’t seem they were completely convinced by their own reasoning, either.”
“What do you know about the Octanis Accords?”
Alex looked at him stared at him for a moment without comprehension. “Nothing?”
Thraker nodded, “I’m not surprised. They were signed fifty years ago after a particularly violent incident in the Octanis system in the northern quadrant. To compress a decade of conflict: events lead to an uprising in the Draconis Sector and a succession war between the Republic, Drakar and Imperium. It boiled over nastily, effecting the Solarians and Corpos as well. Part of the peace treaty involved all four major powers signing a concordat that prohibits the subjugation of native alien species.”
Thraker leaned back as the server arrived and took away their plates and left a chit for their bill. Alex reached down and tapped it with a finger, and a chime in her ear deducted the credit cost. A second message repeated on her HUD printed a message on the bill in small print.
|Credits: -334 SE|
|It is not customary to pay a tip to the waitstaff at Ristro’s, all employees are compensated fairly, and charges are built into the price of meals. |
That seemed entirely more reasonable than relying on tips.
“Are you saying they are purposefully covering up Rexxor intelligence in order to not violate some interstellar treaty?” Alex’s words hung in the air for a moment.
“It is possible the experts see what they need to see for their own safety. If it turned out the Rexxor are sapient, and the treaty partners felt it was in their best interests… the colony could very well be ‘decommissioned’ and the colonists forcibly removed to other worlds.”
Alex frowned, her brow furrowed. “So they just came here and planned to take the planet from the natives because it was convenient?”
“I’m not sure many came here with plans at all. I imagine they all had their reasons to enlist to join a frontier world, whether it was to rid themselves of debts, avoid prison sentences, or just to start fresh somewhere new. The real crux is that Dedia is not a new colony world. It’s been developing for decades.”
Alex blinked. “And because the Rexxors and colonists haven’t been in conflict like this before, it just went unnoticed? I find it hard to believe the Solarian government wouldn’t have been thorough in vetting the colonization effort, and they have been throwing even more people here recently.”
Thraker shook his head. “I wouldn’t ascribe malice to any of the governments. Although I find the Corpos and Solarians to be distasteful, they are many times better than the chaos that they replaced during the collapse. Recent actions by Captain Walker seem quite… untoward. I suspect he understood exactly what he was doing. I just don’t know why the Solarians would do such a thing. It threatens their own interests here.”
“Could it have been greed? The Governor said that he kept all the supplies meant for the colonists.”
“Doubtful, while those supplies might be worth a billion or two credits, his admiralty will not be pleased. The Solarian Military can be quite… punishing to its members in a way that would prescribe an attempt something like this done for personal gain.”
Alex noticed the time on her HUD. “Major, I have another meeting with the Governor scheduled for in fifteen minutes. I would like to continue this conversation, though. It’s given me some problematic things to think about. Things are going to be busy, but if there is time, I’d like to have lunch again.”
Thraker nodded, but his next words froze Alex in place as she stood up.
“You’re not a Federation Captain.”
Alex’s heart thrummed in her chest, and the only thing that stopped her from breaking into a sweat was her nanites going into action to prevent it.
“I have a Federation ship.” Alex hedged.
“You’re certainly the Captain of a Federation Ship. I am not sure about your Master Sergeant. She seemed to fit as a marine, at least.”
Alex swallowed, her pulse calming as she sat back down. Denying it seemed pointless, and she wanted to know where she had erred. “Why are you bringing this up? How did you find out?”
“My dear, I am neither the smartest nor the most experienced man you will meet. I have met and interacted with many people over my career, and I have known real Federation Captains from before the collapse.”
Thraker stroked his beard while examining her as he paused, but then shook his head.
“Before our first meeting, I thought you were indeed a Federation Captain, and just looked young because of the rejuv treatments. Yet it was very clear, after our first meeting that you were not. I believe you are exactly as your age appears to be. I know you have had considerable training in starship operations. Were you an officer cadet or midshipman on your ship?”
Alex squeezed her knee. “I don’t have to answer that. The ship is mine, and I’m proficient as its commander.”
“No, you don’t; and yes, you are. I did not bring this up to challenge your authority of your vessel, Captain, nor to pry it from you. However, if I’ve figured this out, others will be able to as well. There is also the issue of your crew. Are there only three of you?”
Just how much had he figured out? Nameless had been quiet, and he would have warned her if the ship was in trouble. She didn’t think that Thraker was trying to provoke her, but the worrying thought that if he had figured those two secrets… did he know the real one?
Should she kill him? Just to be safe? She could use any of a multitude of her abilities to do so, and then escape to the safe confines of the Tears’s metal shell with Nameless’s help.
Alex discarded the idea almost as soon as it came.
“You’ve been spying on us.”
“I’m sure everyone who has the ability has been spying on you. My men put the suggestion together after we arrived in Dedia. You’ve not had any crew come off the ship except yourself and your marine. The amount of food ordered by your ship is likewise quite low. Enough for a half-dozen people, maybe.”
Alex’s cheeks wanted to burn. She did not eat THAT much. Elis helped eat a lot of it, too!
“My ship is quite capable. It is not impossible that we can provide our own food production and stores. Not impossible for operational security to require that we keep a tight ship, either.”
Thraker nodded, “One other glaring issue: The Captain of a military warship without escort on a non-military base? Unless it is necessary, the captain does not normally leave the ship. You especially should not be out without an escort, but you’ve had to send your escort dirt side to manage your ground operations.”
A prickle of annoyance bit at Alex. “What is your point? I assume you have one, revealing that you know all this?”
“You need to be more careful. There are those who will want what you have and take it from you if they think they can. Just as there are those who will destroy it if they find they can’t possess it. My offer still stands to join the IHMC if you decide you need help.”
Alex’s wrist comm beeped. She was going to be late for her meeting with the Governor. Did she still even want to go? With everything she had learned, she wasn’t sure if setting up a base on the planet was a good idea anymore.
“Captain-Major, I’m sorry, but I’m going to be late for my meeting. We can discuss more later.”
CHAPTER 16
FIRESTORM ONE
USD: Sometime in the morning
Location: Nu Crateris, Dedia IV, Tifara, Elis’s Apartment
Elis disentangled herself from underneath an arm before sliding out from under the bedsheet, escaping into the bathroom to pee. As she came out, she bent down to snag her panties and slide them back on. A quick check of the time told her what she already knew: she had overslept and missed her morning sitrep with Alex.
That was sloppy.
It was not the first time she’d gone to bed with a soldier. It was something she had done regularly, even with her squad mates. The service had been very lax in allowing relationships between members of cryo-teams like hers and did not care at all who they shagged during the time they were awake.
So why did she feel a knot of pain in her chest as she considered what to do with the lump still in her bed?
She knew the answer almost immediately. It was because he reminded her of him.
Not personality wise. She didn’t even know the man in her bed’s name. It was the shape of his face, the color and cut of his hair, that he was younger than her and handsome.
She had even, for a short time during the night, been able to pretend that he was him. When they had both exhausted themselves, she had even fallen asleep with him plastered against her back and arm around her.
And it had been wonderful. That was why it hurt.
Pulling a tank-top and pair of shorts on, she put her guest out of her mind and began to read the updates on her datapad.
It took her only two lines before she felt like she had been kicked.
|AMCN strike authorized for tomorrow. |
|Call me as soon as you can. |
That was not good. She changed her mind, wanting to have some privacy while calling Alex. She was sure she was going to have some kind of work to do.
Elis looked back at her guest, raising her voice at the lump still under the sheets. “Hey, wake up.”
He grumbled and rolled over, but that was the end of his response.
She stood up and walked over to try again. “Hey, wake up, time to go.”
He rolled over and looked up at her with a confused look on his face. “What?”
“Time to go.” She repeated. This always felt so awkward with strangers. Thankfully, he got up, stumbling towards the bathroom. When he came out, she tossed his clothes at him.
He took them, then looked at her. “Do I have time to put them on?”
She wanted to laugh and tell him it would be funny to send him out in his skivvies, but she only managed to nod and say, “Yes.”
She watched as he pulled his outfit back on piece by piece. “Sorry. Just… I have stuff to do.”
“I understand. It’s no problem. It was great spending time with you.”
Her cheeks heated slightly. Now she felt like a bitch for kicking him out. Why did he have to be polite and understanding?
He headed for the door, but she swallowed and spoke, “Wait.”
He turned around with a confused expression.
“Elis, Elis Myers. What’s your name?”
“Daniel Ashburn.”
Elis stepped forward and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks, Daniel. I enjoyed our time, too. Sorry for kicking you out like this.”
“No problem. I probably would have been late to report back if I had slept in longer.”
He disappeared and the door clicked shut. Elis leaned back against the wall, fighting against all the different emotions overwhelming her.
It felt like a long time before she pulled herself together and got out her datapad.
“Call Alex.”
USD: The next day
Location: Nu Crateris, Dedia IV Low Orbit, Above Shorrishia’s Hive
Alex watched the high zoom optical feed on the main monitor. The railguns had been firing non-stop for almost ten minutes, and hundreds of the kinetic rounds had turned the landscape near the front line into a hellscape of fire and devastation.
Lasers hit targets closer to the bastions of the fortified Dedian army, drawing red lines in the terrain that temporarily stalled the Rexxor advance. The orders had already gone out for everyone to shelter in place if they hadn’t made it to their planned secure locations. There had been no need for secrecy, and word had spread incredibly fast that the military intended to deploy an AMCN missile.
There had been objections, but those had quickly fallen silent. The alternatives available sucked. Alex certainly couldn’t think of any other way to save the battle. Not with only a few days, anyway.
She worried about the long-term repercussions of deploying the weapon would be almost as bad as the army and escaping colonists being wiped out completely. It was the lightest missile in her arsenal, but it was still much more destructive than the kinetic bombardment.
Inside the city walls, a massive buildup had been completed. Armor, APCs, and tens of thousands of troops waited to storm out and clear the way for the entire army to retreat in a single movement.
“Firestorm-Alpha Actual to Blue-Star. This is a nuclear strike order. Targeting telemetry has been transmitted. Authorization code: Alpha-Alpha-Delta-Niner-Five.”
Alex watched the UI of the program the Dedians had sent her. The first line turned green, but the authorization required a second confirming one before she was supposed to fire. Not that anyone but Nameless was capable of launching any of their missiles, even the one that MilTech had bought.
It seemed a bit silly, but she supposed if she was running a real military vessel and not a ship being controlled by Nameless, it would probably be worthwhile.
“Blue-Star to Firestorm-Alpha, confirming nuclear strike order. Authorization code accepted.”
“Blue-Star this is Governor Tyler. I am confirming the nuclear strike order. Authorization code: Delta-Seven-Seven-Alpha-India-Six-Five.”
Alex watched as the letters and numbers slid into place on the screen. The bar turned green and the confirmation system blipped a confirmation tone.
“Blue-Star, confirming nuclear strike order authorization.”
Alex pressed a key on the console to mute her radio so she could talk to Nameless.
“Nameless, give me a planet-wide override on all military and civilian frequencies. I want to make sure no one gets caught unaware.”
[Notice: Communication system override: Military access key, accepted. Note: Offline devices are impossible to activate with this level of access/capability.]
“Yes, that’s fine.”
Alex reached down and unmuted her mic. Taking a deep breath, she addressed everyone they could reach on the planet.
“This is Tears of Fire, confirming nuclear strike package authorized by Brigadier Taverson and Governor Johnson. Ground Strike Coordinates: 3.37’4 -18.34’1. AMCN Estimated Yield: 200 Megatons. All personnel should take shelter within concrete buildings immediately. All anti-rad medication should be taken at this point in time. T minus 5 minutes until detonation.”
She turned off the comms.
“Nameless, as per the colony’s firing telemetry, launch one AMCN warhead at designated coordinates. Maximum ground penetration.”
[Notice: AMCN Light missile is incapable of ground penetration. A ground burst should apply destructive effects several kilometers under the surface.]
“That’s fine. Just put it as low as possible to contain the gamma-ray burst distance. We don’t want to fry everyone not hidden by the planetary curve.”
[Affirmative: AMCN missile launching now.]
USD: A short time later
Location: Planet Dedia, Central Continent, somewhere underground east of Tifara
Szizsielia had pulled her nestlings into the hive for long enough that they had begun to consume each other. She hated it, but it was necessary to remain out of reach of her rampaging mother’s clutch.
The screams of her mother had continued unabated. They had grown louder until even Szizsielia’s sisters from far away were responding in annoyance. Those sisters had far larger broods than Szizsielia. They had moved far from their mother’s influence, while she had remained close.
Her mother did not truly care for any of her daughters, but as long as she was not challenged, she did not bother to harm Szizsielia directly. So, she had learned to keep her nest small and covert.
Now it felt like a mistake as the unceasing shrieks of pain and rage vibrated through the air and into her scaled carapace.
Szizsielia had been contemplating moving her hive in a great migration to the east or west, even if that meant she would likely have to fight one of her sisters or their own progeny there. Living near the conflict was quickly becoming more and more hazardous.
There was only one benefit to being so close to her mother and the horrible noise that wracked all the Rexxor hives.
She was close enough that she could piece together the events that had begun the rampage in clearer detail than her sisters. Her smallest, craftiest nestlings had finally reached the location of the battle between her mother’s horde and the soft-skins.
But the soft-skins did not fight with their weak bodies. Instead, they had cloaked themselves between mountains they had built themselves; they prowled the land inside metal carapaces that let them challenge even a triumvi.
Their spitters could fire small spikes through the air for miles, that would land and cause concussive fire and death. Nestlings and guardfangs had no chance to survive if they were near them.
Then had come the sky fire. Even one of her favored with the keenest eyes could not make out the metal sky carapace in the heavens that had spit the fiery rods from the heavens. She knew it was there, though. She had memories passed on to her of such things.
Once, long ago, her mother’s nest had been brought to the world by the sky gods as a reward for the nest’s service. The soft-skins waged war in the same way the sky-gods had.
Szizsielia didn’t dare consider the soft-skins the same as the sky-gods, but they were powerful. If her mother’s wound and the poison that harmed her had stopped, Szizsielia was sure she would have abated and not continued to stir them to war.
Now the soft-skins had begun to rain down their sky fire once again. It was a vicious, nightmarish scene. She wondered how long until the soft-skins would come out of their crafted mountain and strike.
It was only for a small second that her scout nestlings observed the starfire blossom erupt. Then her connection to them was severed painfully by a sudden overload of death. Her mother’s cry suddenly went silent.
“In the meeting, you asked why they couldn’t attempt to communicate with the Rexxors.”
Alex nodded. “I’m still not convinced about the Fauna thing. It bothers me, to be dropping weapons on them without even attempting a dialogue. Honestly, it didn’t seem they were completely convinced by their own reasoning, either.”
“What do you know about the Octanis Accords?”
Alex looked at him stared at him for a moment without comprehension. “Nothing?”
Thraker nodded, “I’m not surprised. They were signed fifty years ago after a particularly violent incident in the Octanis system in the northern quadrant. To compress a decade of conflict: events lead to an uprising in the Draconis Sector and a succession war between the Republic, Drakar and Imperium. It boiled over nastily, effecting the Solarians and Corpos as well. Part of the peace treaty involved all four major powers signing a concordat that prohibits the subjugation of native alien species.”
Thraker leaned back as the server arrived and took away their plates and left a chit for their bill. Alex reached down and tapped it with a finger, and a chime in her ear deducted the credit cost. A second message repeated on her HUD printed a message on the bill in small print.
|Credits: -334 SE|
|It is not customary to pay a tip to the waitstaff at Ristro’s, all employees are compensated fairly, and charges are built into the price of meals. |
That seemed entirely more reasonable than relying on tips.
“Are you saying they are purposefully covering up Rexxor intelligence in order to not violate some interstellar treaty?” Alex’s words hung in the air for a moment.
“It is possible the experts see what they need to see for their own safety. If it turned out the Rexxor are sapient, and the treaty partners felt it was in their best interests… the colony could very well be ‘decommissioned’ and the colonists forcibly removed to other worlds.”
Alex frowned, her brow furrowed. “So they just came here and planned to take the planet from the natives because it was convenient?”
“I’m not sure many came here with plans at all. I imagine they all had their reasons to enlist to join a frontier world, whether it was to rid themselves of debts, avoid prison sentences, or just to start fresh somewhere new. The real crux is that Dedia is not a new colony world. It’s been developing for decades.”
Alex blinked. “And because the Rexxors and colonists haven’t been in conflict like this before, it just went unnoticed? I find it hard to believe the Solarian government wouldn’t have been thorough in vetting the colonization effort, and they have been throwing even more people here recently.”
Thraker shook his head. “I wouldn’t ascribe malice to any of the governments. Although I find the Corpos and Solarians to be distasteful, they are many times better than the chaos that they replaced during the collapse. Recent actions by Captain Walker seem quite… untoward. I suspect he understood exactly what he was doing. I just don’t know why the Solarians would do such a thing. It threatens their own interests here.”
“Could it have been greed? The Governor said that he kept all the supplies meant for the colonists.”
“Doubtful, while those supplies might be worth a billion or two credits, his admiralty will not be pleased. The Solarian Military can be quite… punishing to its members in a way that would prescribe an attempt something like this done for personal gain.”
Alex noticed the time on her HUD. “Major, I have another meeting with the Governor scheduled for in fifteen minutes. I would like to continue this conversation, though. It’s given me some problematic things to think about. Things are going to be busy, but if there is time, I’d like to have lunch again.”
Thraker nodded, but his next words froze Alex in place as she stood up.
“You’re not a Federation Captain.”
Alex’s heart thrummed in her chest, and the only thing that stopped her from breaking into a sweat was her nanites going into action to prevent it.
“I have a Federation ship.” Alex hedged.
“You’re certainly the Captain of a Federation Ship. I am not sure about your Master Sergeant. She seemed to fit as a marine, at least.”
Alex swallowed, her pulse calming as she sat back down. Denying it seemed pointless, and she wanted to know where she had erred. “Why are you bringing this up? How did you find out?”
“My dear, I am neither the smartest nor the most experienced man you will meet. I have met and interacted with many people over my career, and I have known real Federation Captains from before the collapse.”
Thraker stroked his beard while examining her as he paused, but then shook his head.
“Before our first meeting, I thought you were indeed a Federation Captain, and just looked young because of the rejuv treatments. Yet it was very clear, after our first meeting that you were not. I believe you are exactly as your age appears to be. I know you have had considerable training in starship operations. Were you an officer cadet or midshipman on your ship?”
Alex squeezed her knee. “I don’t have to answer that. The ship is mine, and I’m proficient as its commander.”
“No, you don’t; and yes, you are. I did not bring this up to challenge your authority of your vessel, Captain, nor to pry it from you. However, if I’ve figured this out, others will be able to as well. There is also the issue of your crew. Are there only three of you?”
Just how much had he figured out? Nameless had been quiet, and he would have warned her if the ship was in trouble. She didn’t think that Thraker was trying to provoke her, but the worrying thought that if he had figured those two secrets… did he know the real one?
Should she kill him? Just to be safe? She could use any of a multitude of her abilities to do so, and then escape to the safe confines of the Tears’s metal shell with Nameless’s help.
Alex discarded the idea almost as soon as it came.
“You’ve been spying on us.”
“I’m sure everyone who has the ability has been spying on you. My men put the suggestion together after we arrived in Dedia. You’ve not had any crew come off the ship except yourself and your marine. The amount of food ordered by your ship is likewise quite low. Enough for a half-dozen people, maybe.”
Alex’s cheeks wanted to burn. She did not eat THAT much. Elis helped eat a lot of it, too!
“My ship is quite capable. It is not impossible that we can provide our own food production and stores. Not impossible for operational security to require that we keep a tight ship, either.”
Thraker nodded, “One other glaring issue: The Captain of a military warship without escort on a non-military base? Unless it is necessary, the captain does not normally leave the ship. You especially should not be out without an escort, but you’ve had to send your escort dirt side to manage your ground operations.”
A prickle of annoyance bit at Alex. “What is your point? I assume you have one, revealing that you know all this?”
“You need to be more careful. There are those who will want what you have and take it from you if they think they can. Just as there are those who will destroy it if they find they can’t possess it. My offer still stands to join the IHMC if you decide you need help.”
Alex’s wrist comm beeped. She was going to be late for her meeting with the Governor. Did she still even want to go? With everything she had learned, she wasn’t sure if setting up a base on the planet was a good idea anymore.
“Captain-Major, I’m sorry, but I’m going to be late for my meeting. We can discuss more later.”
CHAPTER 16
FIRESTORM ONE
USD: Sometime in the morning
Location: Nu Crateris, Dedia IV, Tifara, Elis’s Apartment
Elis disentangled herself from underneath an arm before sliding out from under the bedsheet, escaping into the bathroom to pee. As she came out, she bent down to snag her panties and slide them back on. A quick check of the time told her what she already knew: she had overslept and missed her morning sitrep with Alex.
That was sloppy.
It was not the first time she’d gone to bed with a soldier. It was something she had done regularly, even with her squad mates. The service had been very lax in allowing relationships between members of cryo-teams like hers and did not care at all who they shagged during the time they were awake.
So why did she feel a knot of pain in her chest as she considered what to do with the lump still in her bed?
She knew the answer almost immediately. It was because he reminded her of him.
Not personality wise. She didn’t even know the man in her bed’s name. It was the shape of his face, the color and cut of his hair, that he was younger than her and handsome.
She had even, for a short time during the night, been able to pretend that he was him. When they had both exhausted themselves, she had even fallen asleep with him plastered against her back and arm around her.
And it had been wonderful. That was why it hurt.
Pulling a tank-top and pair of shorts on, she put her guest out of her mind and began to read the updates on her datapad.
It took her only two lines before she felt like she had been kicked.
|AMCN strike authorized for tomorrow. |
|Call me as soon as you can. |
That was not good. She changed her mind, wanting to have some privacy while calling Alex. She was sure she was going to have some kind of work to do.
Elis looked back at her guest, raising her voice at the lump still under the sheets. “Hey, wake up.”
He grumbled and rolled over, but that was the end of his response.
She stood up and walked over to try again. “Hey, wake up, time to go.”
He rolled over and looked up at her with a confused look on his face. “What?”
“Time to go.” She repeated. This always felt so awkward with strangers. Thankfully, he got up, stumbling towards the bathroom. When he came out, she tossed his clothes at him.
He took them, then looked at her. “Do I have time to put them on?”
She wanted to laugh and tell him it would be funny to send him out in his skivvies, but she only managed to nod and say, “Yes.”
She watched as he pulled his outfit back on piece by piece. “Sorry. Just… I have stuff to do.”
“I understand. It’s no problem. It was great spending time with you.”
Her cheeks heated slightly. Now she felt like a bitch for kicking him out. Why did he have to be polite and understanding?
He headed for the door, but she swallowed and spoke, “Wait.”
He turned around with a confused expression.
“Elis, Elis Myers. What’s your name?”
“Daniel Ashburn.”
Elis stepped forward and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks, Daniel. I enjoyed our time, too. Sorry for kicking you out like this.”
“No problem. I probably would have been late to report back if I had slept in longer.”
He disappeared and the door clicked shut. Elis leaned back against the wall, fighting against all the different emotions overwhelming her.
It felt like a long time before she pulled herself together and got out her datapad.
“Call Alex.”
USD: The next day
Location: Nu Crateris, Dedia IV Low Orbit, Above Shorrishia’s Hive
Alex watched the high zoom optical feed on the main monitor. The railguns had been firing non-stop for almost ten minutes, and hundreds of the kinetic rounds had turned the landscape near the front line into a hellscape of fire and devastation.
Lasers hit targets closer to the bastions of the fortified Dedian army, drawing red lines in the terrain that temporarily stalled the Rexxor advance. The orders had already gone out for everyone to shelter in place if they hadn’t made it to their planned secure locations. There had been no need for secrecy, and word had spread incredibly fast that the military intended to deploy an AMCN missile.
There had been objections, but those had quickly fallen silent. The alternatives available sucked. Alex certainly couldn’t think of any other way to save the battle. Not with only a few days, anyway.
She worried about the long-term repercussions of deploying the weapon would be almost as bad as the army and escaping colonists being wiped out completely. It was the lightest missile in her arsenal, but it was still much more destructive than the kinetic bombardment.
Inside the city walls, a massive buildup had been completed. Armor, APCs, and tens of thousands of troops waited to storm out and clear the way for the entire army to retreat in a single movement.
“Firestorm-Alpha Actual to Blue-Star. This is a nuclear strike order. Targeting telemetry has been transmitted. Authorization code: Alpha-Alpha-Delta-Niner-Five.”
Alex watched the UI of the program the Dedians had sent her. The first line turned green, but the authorization required a second confirming one before she was supposed to fire. Not that anyone but Nameless was capable of launching any of their missiles, even the one that MilTech had bought.
It seemed a bit silly, but she supposed if she was running a real military vessel and not a ship being controlled by Nameless, it would probably be worthwhile.
“Blue-Star to Firestorm-Alpha, confirming nuclear strike order. Authorization code accepted.”
“Blue-Star this is Governor Tyler. I am confirming the nuclear strike order. Authorization code: Delta-Seven-Seven-Alpha-India-Six-Five.”
Alex watched as the letters and numbers slid into place on the screen. The bar turned green and the confirmation system blipped a confirmation tone.
“Blue-Star, confirming nuclear strike order authorization.”
Alex pressed a key on the console to mute her radio so she could talk to Nameless.
“Nameless, give me a planet-wide override on all military and civilian frequencies. I want to make sure no one gets caught unaware.”
[Notice: Communication system override: Military access key, accepted. Note: Offline devices are impossible to activate with this level of access/capability.]
“Yes, that’s fine.”
Alex reached down and unmuted her mic. Taking a deep breath, she addressed everyone they could reach on the planet.
“This is Tears of Fire, confirming nuclear strike package authorized by Brigadier Taverson and Governor Johnson. Ground Strike Coordinates: 3.37’4 -18.34’1. AMCN Estimated Yield: 200 Megatons. All personnel should take shelter within concrete buildings immediately. All anti-rad medication should be taken at this point in time. T minus 5 minutes until detonation.”
She turned off the comms.
“Nameless, as per the colony’s firing telemetry, launch one AMCN warhead at designated coordinates. Maximum ground penetration.”
[Notice: AMCN Light missile is incapable of ground penetration. A ground burst should apply destructive effects several kilometers under the surface.]
“That’s fine. Just put it as low as possible to contain the gamma-ray burst distance. We don’t want to fry everyone not hidden by the planetary curve.”
[Affirmative: AMCN missile launching now.]
USD: A short time later
Location: Planet Dedia, Central Continent, somewhere underground east of Tifara
Szizsielia had pulled her nestlings into the hive for long enough that they had begun to consume each other. She hated it, but it was necessary to remain out of reach of her rampaging mother’s clutch.
The screams of her mother had continued unabated. They had grown louder until even Szizsielia’s sisters from far away were responding in annoyance. Those sisters had far larger broods than Szizsielia. They had moved far from their mother’s influence, while she had remained close.
Her mother did not truly care for any of her daughters, but as long as she was not challenged, she did not bother to harm Szizsielia directly. So, she had learned to keep her nest small and covert.
Now it felt like a mistake as the unceasing shrieks of pain and rage vibrated through the air and into her scaled carapace.
Szizsielia had been contemplating moving her hive in a great migration to the east or west, even if that meant she would likely have to fight one of her sisters or their own progeny there. Living near the conflict was quickly becoming more and more hazardous.
There was only one benefit to being so close to her mother and the horrible noise that wracked all the Rexxor hives.
She was close enough that she could piece together the events that had begun the rampage in clearer detail than her sisters. Her smallest, craftiest nestlings had finally reached the location of the battle between her mother’s horde and the soft-skins.
But the soft-skins did not fight with their weak bodies. Instead, they had cloaked themselves between mountains they had built themselves; they prowled the land inside metal carapaces that let them challenge even a triumvi.
Their spitters could fire small spikes through the air for miles, that would land and cause concussive fire and death. Nestlings and guardfangs had no chance to survive if they were near them.
Then had come the sky fire. Even one of her favored with the keenest eyes could not make out the metal sky carapace in the heavens that had spit the fiery rods from the heavens. She knew it was there, though. She had memories passed on to her of such things.
Once, long ago, her mother’s nest had been brought to the world by the sky gods as a reward for the nest’s service. The soft-skins waged war in the same way the sky-gods had.
Szizsielia didn’t dare consider the soft-skins the same as the sky-gods, but they were powerful. If her mother’s wound and the poison that harmed her had stopped, Szizsielia was sure she would have abated and not continued to stir them to war.
Now the soft-skins had begun to rain down their sky fire once again. It was a vicious, nightmarish scene. She wondered how long until the soft-skins would come out of their crafted mountain and strike.
It was only for a small second that her scout nestlings observed the starfire blossom erupt. Then her connection to them was severed painfully by a sudden overload of death. Her mother’s cry suddenly went silent.
