(Olympia Mons Planetary Defense Center, Mars, Sol System)
Human inhabitation of Mars was an interesting history. None
of that mattered to most people with the war going on, of course, but the story
of the first explorations, starting with primitive drones and then later manned
expeditions that paved the way for the first surface colonies was inspiring, to
be sure. These days, most people on Mars (calling them Marvin was a good way to
start a fight) lived comfortably in underground cities, as the atmosphere
outside was still too thin for people to walk around without breathers, and it
was damn cold at night.
This might have made sociologists upset, since humans go a
bit crazy if they’re inside too long, and it certainly made the city planners
go a bit nuts as they had to design parks and other greenspaces in what was
essentially an underground vault of city size. However, for General Farrakhan,
those were secondary concerns to how defensible the cities were. And having a
bunch of rock over their heads made him happy if it came to orbital
bombardment. Much better than a transparent dome, like the few surface cities
had. No telling how many might die before they could get to safety gear if one
of those bubbles was shattered by an energy blast.
And that was a very real threat, with the civil war on, and
going against the Emperor’s faction ever since those ‘ghost ships’ had entered
the fray. The fact that they announced their presence by striking at Sol itself
spoke of someone who was wanting to make a statement. Probably one of those
Nomads. It was the kind of thing they’d do.
Farrakhan was in a unique position to know this, of course,
since, unlike most officers in the Imperial Army, he’d managed to catch one of
those Nomads doing something they ought not to be. A simple smuggling charge,
but because the cargo included Imperial Army goods, he was able to write it up
as theft of war materiel, which let him enslave the Nomad, and keep her as his
attendant.
He’d done it just to say that he had one of the arrogant
Nomads as his personal slave. The fact that she was very attractive and a very
enthusiastic (once she’d been fitted with the Stepford chip) lover were only
bonuses to the prestige of having caught one of the deathless beings. When he
found out that Nomads had their own communications networks, he began using her
to keep apprised of what was going on outside of Sol System. Reports through
official channels can be ‘sanitized’, so any good commander cultivated outside
sources.
Which is why he’d learned long before the other members of
the Army about the dangers of the Emperor and his little cult. Fortunately, he
was just one of the generals in charge of the ground defense of Mars, and the
cult was focusing on the Navy first. So long as he didn’t make waves, he could
keep doing what he was doing. But knowing the danger, and seeing which way the
wind was blowing, he decided to start making contingency plans.
He was in the middle of another ‘planning’ session with his
slave, when the communicator sounded. He answered in voice only, “Report!”
“General, fleet reports a large number of ships have just
exited hyperspace inside Sol space. It looks like the Princess’s faction has
come. Both sides have deployed tarpit traps, to limit mobility within the
system.”
“Very well. Assemble all staff, and have a tactical brief
ready in the conference room in thirty minutes. Farrakhan out.”
With that, he turned back to the woman who had a loving
expression on her face, except for the eyes which screamed bloody murder at
him. “Well, we’ll have to hurry and finish up, my pet. Looks like the
contingency plans may be needed after all.”
Thirty minutes later, the general walked into the conference
room dressed in his uniform, his slave-attendant dutifully following in the professional-looking
dress she always wore when she was ‘on duty’, looking very much the proper
secretary. Looking at his command staff, he nodded, seeing everyone was here.
“Report!”
“Sir! At least three enemy battle groups in system, one approaching
Mars, and two headed for Earth. There is also a report from the Ceres Shipyard
that they are being attacked by forces unknown. The Fleet has deployed jammers
to prevent enemy forces from using hyperspace locally, but somehow the enemy is
also jamming the fleet. We are unsure if this is localized or system-wide. It
seems that somehow they had prepositioned jammers seeded throughout the
system.”
Somehow? Farrakhan smirked. That wasn’t too hard to figure
out. “The ‘ghost fleet’ and their mysterious Nomad commodore, no doubt. So, the
local forces are cut off from reinforcement from other parts of the system.
They’ve stranded a third of our forces out in the outer planets. All right,
forget the rest of the battlefield for now. Show me the local situation.”
The ‘local situation’ was bad, but not as bad as it could
have been. In the two months since Alpha Centauri had fallen to the Empress’s
faction, the forces in Sol had been expecting an attack, and had been
reinforced from the border fleets. Still, it was clear that Merida, too, had
gotten reinforcements. Otherwise she would not have been able to attack both
Earth and Mars at the same time, with what looked to be at least four fleets
worth of ships.
As he watched, one of the Emperor’s superdreadnoughts
disappeared from the screen, though there were no enemy ships near it. None
that they could see, at any rate. The infamous ‘ghost fleet’ had announced
their presence in a way sure to cause a stir amongst the fleet officers. Worse,
that ship, the Kil’jadeen’s Fist, had
been the flagship for the local defenders, which threw the rest of the ships
into disarray temporarily.
Ten minutes later, when the next command ship fell to the
unseen guns of the ghost fleet, General Farrakhan had to give some respect to
the other side. The command structure of the fleet was in complete disarray
now, and with none of the senior captains stepping forward (for fear of putting
their own necks on the chopping block, no doubt), the situation was fast
turning against the defense.
“General, we just received word from General Markez. The
Governor and senior staff will be gathering here at the Planetary Defense
Center, to oversee the fighting.”
“Very well. Have the steward prepare rooms for the Governor
and the other generals.” He looked to the others, and said, “Continue
monitoring the situation. Let me know if there is a breakthrough. We may need
to respond to attempts at planetary bombardment. I want everyone ready to
defend the PDC.”
“Yes sir!”
Nodding to his subordinates, Farrakhan pulled out his own
commlink, and quietly entered a few commands that he had prepared, just in
case. It was time to implement his contingency plans.
While he was waiting for confirmation of his plans being
executed, his subordinate listening in on the fleet communications said, “Sir,
intercepting a transmission from the enemy fleet!”
“Let’s hear it.”
“This is Admiral
Jeffery Sinclair, aboard the INS Babylon,
of the Tenth Fleet, loyal to the true Empress, Merida Vaughn. Lay down your
weapons and surrender. Those who do will be treated fairly. Those who resist
will be brought down, so that the Usurper and his AI master will not be able to
corrupt the Empire further with his lunacy.”
“General! The transport carrying the Governor and his senior
staff, along with Generals Markez and Raman, has exploded! His staff are
checking, but there appears to be no survivors in the wreckage.”
It took an effort of will, but General Farrakhan hid the
smile that wanted to burst across his face. Instead, he nodded grimly, and
said, “Very well. Commander, make a note in the official logs. As of this
moment, I am assuming command of Mars and her defenses, as the senior military
officer in a war zone while under threat of military attack.”
The officers saluted to him, and he nodded to them. “What is
the status of the fleet?”
“The smaller vessels have mostly surrendered or been
destroyed. The Evangelion is still
fighting, however…” the officer cut off as something changed on screen. “I’m
sorry, sir, but the Evangelion is
gone, taken out by those ghost ships, it seems. With Captain Ikari’s death, I’m
afraid the rest of the ships have now surrendered to the invaders. We are on
our own.”
“General, we’re receiving a message from Babylon. They want to speak to the
Governor.”
“I understand. Put me on.” When he confirmed that the
channel was live, he said, “Admiral Sinclair, this is General Lois Farrakhan,
acting Governor of Mars. The Governor was killed in an accident, I’m afraid,
leaving me in command of Mars and her defenses. What is it you wish to speak
about?”
The Admiral chuckled, and said, “Accident, hmm? No doubt. At any rate, I’m calling to order your
surrender. You will stand down the defenses of Mars so that our fleet can be
put to better use, ridding the Empire of Travis and his filth. And you are to
prepare twenty slaves from your personal funds, not including the Nomad behind
you, as tribute to the Empress, and the Nomad is to be gifted to the leader of
the Black Star Company, as payment for his ships leaving Mars without pillaging
for loot.”
Farrakhan’s face twitched at those terms. The twenty slaves
part wasn’t an issue, but giving up his bedwarmer and information source? That
was a bitter pill to swallow. But what was one slave against coming out ahead
in this? He would need to find a new way to keep tabs on the Nomad
communications, but other than that, it was still a cheap price, especially if
he kept power afterwards. And the Empress would need someone to keep control of
the planet while she rooted out Travis’s supporters…
With a showy sigh, Farrakhan nodded. “Of course. It is a
shame to lose such a talented attendant, but we all do as we must, for the good
of the Empire.”
“Very good. Once you
have ordered the surrender, the Empress would like you to come aboard the Babylon, so you can witness the end of the battle
against the Usurper, Governor. You may bring the Nomad and the twenty slaves at
the same time, so we may present them to the Empress when we rejoin the fleet.”
That was another piece of unwelcome news, but he had already
decided on what horse to back, and now that he was in the middle of it, there
was nothing to do but ride the tiger and hope he didn’t fall off. “I
understand. It would be my honor to accompany the fleet into the final battle
of this unfortunate war. Please, allow me one hour to arrange the stand down
and locate suitable offerings as my tribute to the Empress before we depart.”
“One hour, a shuttle
will pick you up at the PDC you’re currently stationed at. Sinclair out.”
When the transmission died, Farrakhan made a show of sighing
to the observing officers, and said, “Order all forces to stand down,
Lieutenant, on authority of the acting Governor. There is no point risking
civilian lives at this point. Either the Emperor wins, and it is only my life that
is taken for this failure, or the Empress will emerge victorious, in which case
all the civilians we swore to protect will be safe.”
“Puppet, come, we must get ready for the journey, and you
must prepare to meet your new master.”
“Of course, Master. It saddens me to leave your side, but if
that is your will, I will comply.” Well, that’s what the slave’s voice said.
Her eyes, however, clearly stated that she was more than pleased to be getting
away from him, though she might regret not having had a chance to kill him. He
was a little sad that he hadn’t been able to break her spirit, despite all the
things he’d done, but she would be this mercenary leader’s problem now.
Of course, this meant that he’d need to find a new
attendant. Perhaps he could pick one up while he was buying the tributes for
the Empress? The leggy redhead of a Nomad was nice, but perhaps something
different this time? It had been a while since he had a nice Italian…
Meanwhile, as General Farrakhan made his plans for the
future, a certain Nomad was communicating with her new Master.
Ruby: It is done. He
suspects nothing.
M.Mollen: Very good.
You remember your bargain?
Ruby: Yes, I submit to
your experiment and work for the company without attempting to escape or
subvert orders, and you turn off the Stepford protocols on my chip, and I get
to kill that bastard however I like.
M.Mollen: Then I’ll be
seeing you both when the battle is done.
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Be sure to read my published works!
Frozen Soul series (Sci-Fi Supervillain story):
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Tales of the Void Traveler https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZ52G37
Rules-Free VRMMO Life (Dark Fantasy GameLit):
Volume 1 - Tutorial https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071VPRNDB
Omnibus 1 - Volumes 1-4 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0774T354X
Into the Black (Sci-Fi GameLit):
Book I - Game Start https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071LT5WGL
Omnibus I - Books 1-4 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077X2KR7Y
City of Champions Online (Superhero GameLit):
Issue I - Origin Stories https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075SHXQS1
Lewd Dungeon (Dungeon Core GameLit):
Book 1 - Welcome to the Apocalypse https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BB34DHF
The Kalipshae Affair (A First Contact Short Story): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0739V6R6T
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