Field General Tokuno, commander of the 3rd Expeditionary Corps, Commonwealth Space Army, entered his command post. Located in the center of the primary continent of Bedrock it had the virtue of anonymity among the forests. He suspected his Axis counterpart had something very similar, or else was ensconced in a bunker that could be anywhere on the planet. To minimize the use of power, and thus reduce the chance of detection, no hologram projectors were used. Huge laminated topographical maps hung on genuine corkboards, taken from the recreational centers of a troop transport, and were marked with equally dated grease pencils. Right now Tokuno was reviewing these maps, ranging from the strategic to regional. It has been a month since the CSF entered the Bedrock system and landed over 500,000 troops on the planet. Some were veteran divisions from the liberation of Hamthen, and battalions from Citadel and Borehole were present as well. All were involved in searching for Axis ground troops. Unlike previous invasions, the enemy has declined combat and only fought when stumbled upon. And, as always, the civilian population was acquiescent – for now.
Oddly, the Axis governor hadn’t gone into hiding like his army counterpart. He was in plain sight and acting completely cordial while being as minimally helpful as possible. It was a front that Tokuno found particularly disquieting, the governor clearly knew something that allowed him to act that way and in turn kept the populous in check. A counter-attack from the Axis fleet would fit the bill, but with the mass of construction ships building bases from prefabricated parts for the Gravel Pit warp point, not to mention the growing number of deployed automated weapons and ships, such an attack would have be an overwhelming one.
Of the units deployed on Bedrock the anthropological team, lead by the Tzelan Dr. Ghon Huu, had the unenviable job of keeping a close watch on the Comensal population. Specifically, Huu was looking for those minute social cues that had appeared before the populations on Citadel, Blood Pride, and Borehole broke out in open resistance. One indicator was the increase use of cylindrical carrying cases. Ostensibly they were used to carry ‘clubs’ for a game called ‘golf’, but they were the right size to hold a pipe rifle, its grip and ammunition. Being the most populated Axis planet encountered so far, Bedrock had plenty of ‘golf courses’ for which to serve as a pretext to be carrying golf club bags. Given the coverage and obvious fondness the populous has for the game it was a fair assumption that at any given moment there were millions of Comensal that were walking around armed.
A spurt of radio noise diverted Tokuno’s attention. One of the staffers on-duty spoke into the mic he wore, listening attentively to the reply. He then marked a regional map with a grease pen, anointing it with symbols that designated the contact report as that of a skirmish with a company of Axis infantry. From ambush positions the enemy inflicted serious casualties before falling to an intensive counterattack. Tokuno regarded the red circle used to represent combat losses with trepidation. In the weeks to come he was certain all the maps will be well-filled with those red circles.
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A week after the 2nd Field Fleet entered Bedrock another allied effort was launched. The Royal Valhallan Fleet, under the direct command of King Russen, left its guard position for the Citadel/Chrome warp point and proceeded to Kerama Retto, leaving Citadel’s defense to the steadily recovering TGs 111 and 112. Acting deliberately, the King sent six pinnaces to probe the far side of the Chrome/Kerama Retto warp point. What they found was a small shell of weapon buoys being guarded by two squadrons of Axis Hatchet fighters. Though they charged and were amongst the pinnaces the Hatchets failed to activate their weapons. Being transit-addled the pinnaces couldn’t engage the fighters but were able to pick at the buoys, knocking out one. All six transited back safely. With the number of squadrons involved in the CAP it was decided that the guard force was either small or was hiding beyond the limited range of the pinnaces scanners. After waiting two days Russen sent in his assault force, hedging that it was the former.
First to come through was a Valhallan-crewed Avami assault carrier, followed by five Cram minesweepers equipped with engine tuners. Finding no enemy ships within 5 LS of the warp point the Avami fired its external load of mine-clearance rounds into a suspected minefield patch and was rewarded with the destruction of three patterns, while two of its point-defense systems engaged a buoy and missed. As before both Hatchet squadrons dove in and again were unable to arm weapons. As for the attending buoys, all 89 of them, they remained silent as the crew of the control ship frantically raced to battle stations. The five Crams fired their mine-clearance rounds as well at the now-confirmed minefield patch, taking out six more patterns. Saving most of their point defense in case of distant missile units the ships didn’t nab a single buoy.
Six Paramount cruisers formed the second wave, and joining them were the 11 pinnaces launched from the first wave ships. Long range and tactical scanners showed a standard deployment of 300 mine patterns around the warp point, sans the 9 already destroyed. The Avami launched its ten squadrons of F1 Sharks; two went after the two F0 Hatchet CAP squadrons and the other eight focused on the buoys. The sensor plot showed contacts 5.5 LS out. Five light cruisers and a heavy cruiser were there, along with six F0 Hatchet squadrons, crashed-launched moments earlier and holding station with the ships. The Hatchets already at the warp point found their datalinks jammed by the Crams, but they attacked anyway. Only one managed to fire before all twelve were blotted from space like a spider under a paper towel.
The Command Detonator cruiser achieved action stations and fired all 89 buoys before they could be ravaged by abom fighters and ships alike. All the buoys were armed with cut-down energy beams, even taking the ECM employed by the first wave into account they scored numerous hits. Four Crams lost their shields, and the one that was hit from close attack missiles fired from a Hatchet had to use one of its overload dampeners in burnout mode to prevent internal damage. Three BCs lost their shields but thankfully had no internal damage. Eleven more mine patterns were wiped out with clearance charges from the BCs external racks and internal launchers. 68 of the now-expended buoys were slapped down by point defense and fighter guns alike.
The Axis ships were now 7 LS out when the third wave came in, comprising three Oknib DNs and three Sovereign BCs. One pinnace returned to Chrome to inform Russen of what was happening. Recovered from transit effects the Paramounts targeted the Axis CA and fired capital missiles. For such light salvos half managed to lock on, with four knocked out, one distracted by an EDM, and one hit that took out two-thirds of the shields. The rest of the buoys were shot down, leading the Sharks free now to engage the retreating Axis ships and their fighters, now numbering 7 squadrons. The Crams launched their EDMs in preparation to enter the minefield.
Six Reliant CLs arrived in the fourth wave. With the Axis ships at 7.75 LS range the RVSN ships with capital launchers had to use SBM missiles. The CA took another hit, losing shields and having some armor scoured. The Oknibs and Sovereigns fired on a CL that didn’t launch fighters, strongly suspecting it of being an escort cruiser. Their SBMs had lasing warheads, and five hits were achieved, ripping armor and external racks alike. Meanwhile the Crams entered the depleted minefield patch, each one ready for the onslaught. Set to double rate fire, and despite EDMs and ECM, each sweeper suffered some armor damage. What mines remained in the last pattern was wiped away by a HET laser in wide-angle mode.
Six more Reliants came in the fifth wave as the Paramounts, Sovereigns, Oknibs and fourth wave Reliants moved at full speed from the warp point, setting their sights on the Axis ships. Finally wising up to the reality that faced him the Axis commander had those ships that could detune their engines. This left a CLE on its own, three minutes into the battle and still hadn’t achieved battle stations. SBM-Lts reached for this ship and lased two-thirds of its armor. Perhaps due to this damage the crew was motivated enough to bring their engines to full power and then some, detuning them as their very lives were dependent on it.
The rest of the Valhallan fleet continued to enter the system, but at a reduced rate. The tardy Axis CLE was given its due as laser warheads reached into its vitals and destroyed half of its engine rooms. The Oknibs fired on this ship again as the rest were now out of the DNs’ range due to their engine detuning. With the fifth wave Reliants joining in the fate of the CLE was sealed. As for the other CLE it joined its squadronmate very quickly. It was a repeat as three engine rooms were smashed, and since it couldn’t escape it was left to the Oknibs to finish it off. The BCs then focused their fire on the CA before it was out of their range. Air streamed from the ship as its armor was breached, but kept moving for its engines were untouched. Given that the loaded-down Sharks will need twelve minutes to catch up to the Axis ships the pursuing Valhallan ships detuned their engines as well, knowing that the Axis would eventually have to stop detuning at some point so that they could employ erratic maneuvering to confuse the Sharks’ fire control systems.
Six minutes later the 42 Hatchets broke from their ships and closed on the 60 Sharks. Just before intercept 30 Sharks broke to port and the other 30 to starboard, all engaging some engine modulation and completed a circle that allowed the halves to cover their mutual blind spots. The Hatchets likewise divided their numbers and attacked. These pilots, however, were green, and combined with the defensive maneuvers of the Sharks the proximity-fused short range attack missiles were notably less accurate. 11 Sharks were shot down in exchange for 34 Hatchets. The circling combat circus continued for one more circuit, and the last intact Hatchet squadron bagged a like number of Sharks. Once the last eight Hatchets were knocked down the Valhallan fighters resumed their pursuit of the Axis ships. From the strength of the explosions from the Sharks it was clear that they carried a FRAM each in addition to their gun and laser packs.
Nothing changed until the Sharks reached one light-second distance from the Axis ships. Thanks to detuned engines the ECM potential for the targeted CA was nil, and having been significantly damaged earlier it was the perfect target for the Sharks’ lasers. With four engine rooms crushed the Command Detonator fell out of formation. It stopped detuning and allowed the Sharks to pass it, eager to take some of them down. The trailing Valhallan ships, informed of what had happened, stopped detuning so that their fire-control could lock-up on the cruiser as it fell into SBM range. In defense of itself the cruiser had to use both of its point defense mounts, but it could and did fire its force beam at the Sharks, taking down one. Laser fire tore into one CVS, inflicting crippling damage as half of its engines were reduced to slag.
On cue the remaining Axis ships stopped detuning and engaged ECM-augmented erratic maneuvering. They maneuvered so that their point defense and CAMs could engage Sharks in the blind spots of their partners. Only four fighters were splashed in return for the destruction of all three CVSs and the CA, ending the first battle for Kerama Retto. Using the travel log data secured from an Axis ship during the battle of Chrome the Royal Fleet made for the system’s third warp point. Scouts were dispatch to broadcast the all-clear message for the survey group that was trapped during the ill-fated Axis offensive months earlier. As for the Axis carriers and fast minesweepers that escaped the battle of Chrome they clearly had moved on, perhaps even as far as Battlement. If there were any Axis scouts still in Kerama Retto they were either out of sensor range or had powered down. Either way they had no idea of the fleet’s true size. At the halfway point a contingent of prefab transports and mobile construction ships broke from the fleet and began the process of assembling six bases. In turn these bases would form an anchorage that would supply the Royal Fleet with replacement armed pinnaces and fighters and provide repair and upgrade facilities.
While captured Axis data showed what comprised the Battlement system it only mentioned the transit data and distances of the warp points in the Shunt and Electrical systems used by the Axis ships. If there were other warp points along the way they’ll have to be found by surveying, and only if they were open ones. A survey squadron was detached in each system past Kerama Retto. In the Shunt system, a yellow/red dwarf binary, only a 300 pattern minefield and two Axis scouts were on hand to greet the sweepers. With rotating flight groups to keep the scouts from getting definite drive field readings the fleet pressed on to the warp point for the Electrical system. There was no chain of communication buoys and no scanner buoys within definitive detection range of the fleet, leading Russen to believe the Axis had picked them up to save them from destruction. At the Electrical system warp point there were no mines and buoys at all, as if the attending control ship had picked them up and moved on. So it was that after four weeks of trekking across three systems the Royal Fleet reached the warp point leading to the Battlement system.
Even before the fleet reached the Electrical/Battlement warp point Russen dispatched a Chaq pinnace tender to probe the warp point. The King knew there would be fortifications on the far side, and was proven right as the fifth pinnace returned. Again there was no way to determine the number of mines, but as for the buoys ringing the warp point their number was 540. No doubt some of those were lifted from the Shunt and Electrical systems. Six squadrons of F0 Hatchets formed the CAP, and sixteen undersized corvettes orbited the warp point at a range of 1.25 LS. Also at 1.25 LS distant were two BS5s and three BS3s collected in one group. Exactly at 5 LS range was a pair of asteroid forts, tonnage unknown. All the bases and forts were on the same bearing and given the arbitrary designation of north. If there were additional bases and ships then they were beyond the limited range of the pinnace’s sensors. After hearing the opinions of his staff Russen made his decision. Given his prestige the crews were eager to attack, even when learning the specifics of the plan. The attack went in the next day.
As far as the defenders of Battlement were concerned they wished they weren’t so relatively isolated. More importantly, and privately, they wished the AFC had been more thoughtful about sending reinforcements to defend their system. The force sent to secure Chrome and eventually recapture Citadel had ended in failure. Only the carriers, their escorts, and the fast minesweepers (all built in Battlement’s orbital yards) returned. Initially held to defend in what the allies called Kerama Retto, the ships were pulled back to Battlement to get refitted and new flightgroups of F1 Hatchets. Had more bases been built then their concerns would’ve been lessened. However, reinforcements from Bandstand had been destroyed by the noisesome Hokum in the Nonstop system. Other ships were coming, but via a circuitous route. It was just a matter of time.
Time, however, ran out as the first wave of Valhallan ships entered the system. The Avami class carrier Incorrigible came first, accompanied by 108 Whale armed pinnaces. Interpenetration took out 16 of the armed small craft, and 10 more were lost as they barreled into and out of the minefield, heading for the BS3s and BS5s. Another SD and four DN-hulled ships followed, eventually divided evenly facing arbitrary northeast and southeast. The Grenadier corvettes were still there, orbiting the warp point clock-wise at 1.25 LS range and 0.75 LS from the BS3 & 5s. The Incorrigible fired first, its 15 antimatter-armed CAMs and HET laser stabbing at one of the BS5s, nearly bringing down all of its shields and pocking the armor. Return fire from the other BS5 brought down the shields of the assault carrier, and primary beams took out a whole engine room among other things. The other SD was hit by 8 HET lasers, stripping it of its nuke-armed CAMs. None of the other close-in bases became active in this opening exchange, and the first BS5 was robbed of its passive defenses and 20% of its weapons from the CAMs of the other first-wave ships. Save for the Incorrigible none of the other ships fired their internal weapons so as to retain a level of anonymity.
The Whale armed pinnaces only lost two of their number from the active BS5. Despite transit-addled fire control it was through sheer numbers that all the close-in bases were wiped out, leaving 21 Whales still equipped with FRAMs. One asteroid fort became active and crash-launched its brood of 36 F0 Hatchet fighters and fired its spinal force beams, hitting the second SD with three of them. One BS5 proved to be a fighter base, crash-launching 14 squadrons of F1 Hatchets. These fighters formed up with the crash-launched F0s to create a strikeforce 20 squadrons strong. Despite the poor showing of the bases and Grenadiers five of the six CAP F0 Hatchet squadrons fired their FRAMs, this being the first instance the Axis used the weapon in combat. With fire spread out all the ships had lost their shields, leaving the one active BS2 controller at 8 LS distance to prime and fire 90 IDEW-e buoys. The Incorrigible burnt out both overload dampeners and lost another of its engine rooms and the rest of its datalink point defense systems. For the other SD it was a Gravity Well refitted with 10 dampers, and it had to burn out five of them to prevent internal damage. The two Salyf assault carriers lacked dampers and sustained terrible damage, but the hanger bays were safe. As for the last two ships, one Luttfomi and Singularity, they burned out their dampeners with the Singularity taking damage from the overflow as 14 of the 15 buoys achieved hits.
Coming in the second wave was a simultaneous transit of 12 Damage Sinks and 12 Magnets, with 4 of the former and 4 of the latter interpenetrating and exploding spectacularly. Transiting normally behind them were the five Cram minesweepers used in the Kerama Retto assault a month earlier, armor damage still unrepaired due to the pace of operations. The three assault carriers launched their 24 Shark squadrons and continued their laborious turns to their exit vectors. Four regular pinnaces were launched from the first wave ships with one transiting back to the Electrical system to apprise King Russen of what had happened so far. One Shark squadron lined up on the remaining Hatchet CAP squadron, hoping to nail it before it could fire. A trick maneuver by the Hatchets threw off the Sharks and permitted a clean shot at the Incorrigible. The ship shrugged off the hits, though it only had less than a third of its armor left.
Coming about, the Whales moved on the Grenadiers and pounced on them with laser packs and the remaining FRAMs. Distant fire from the asteroid forts and a BS5R at the 6 LS mark punished the assault carriers. The capital missiles from the BS5R had antimatter as well, and thankfully still in datalink with the Gravity Well the hits on the Incorrigible were minimized. A scanner buoy had peered into the shield-denuded ships, and armed with that information the Axis units sought to inflict decisive damage with buoy fire. Plasma packets from those activated Grenadiers also heaped on the carnage, and before the Sharks could start picking off buoys and downing the retreating 30 F0 Hatchets the two distant BS2s activated and fired 160 IDEW-ls. Only two of the Damage Sinks were destroyed though not enough harm was inflicted to further slow down the turning carriers. Since the laser buoys reveled themselves the Sharks went after those in three designated buoy parks that hadn’t fired, bringing down 96. The six remaining Shark squadrons only bagged 19 F0 Hatchets, leaving the other 17 free to return to the fighter base.
Wave three was comprised of six more Magnets, seeing two very badly off Damage Sinks transit out in lieu of a pinnace. Acting together, the two asteroid forts split their fire between the Incorrigible and the two Salyfs. Spinal force beams pummeled the SDV while the small DNVs had 16 external CMs each. All three ships hung on by the skin of their paint, but the active BS5R finished them off. The second BS5R still was trying to reach battle stations, leaving the two BS2s to active and fire the remaining IDEW-e and f buoys before they were shot down by the Sharks and Whales. One Damage Sink and a Magnet were claimed, the rest spared as they burned out their dampeners to further save their interiors from energy beam damage. For their part fighters and small craft destroyed those remaining laser buoys that hadn’t fired and even knocked out those that already had, clearing the airspace of enemy weapons if only to make tactical plots a little less crowded. The last two Grenadiers were disposed of by the HET lasers of the Crams.
A pinnace went back to Electrical while two Nikazu-Vs and three of the new Resolute BBs transited in, followed by a Damage Sink. Spinal force beams and the missile fire from one of the BS5Rs failed to knock out the shields of one Resolute, though a badly-off Damage Sink was sunk. The other BS5R finally became active and fired on the targeted Resolute, but thanks to a pair of deployed EDMs only one missile achieve a hit, its antimatter warhead brining down the rest of the shields and lightly damaged the armor. The Sharks had gathered around the ships at the warp point, and the Whales orbited the minefield. In the upcoming furball with the 20-squadron strong Hatchet strike, now just 2 LS out, the armed pinnaces could only lend their laser packs and point defense for they were prohibited to traverse the minefields for the time being.
Both Nikazu-V carriers launched their Sharks and transited out. While this preserved them for future use they missed out on the battle over the warp point. Especially since King Russen was in the fifth wave aboard the Vanguard, one of three new SDs making their first appearance on the battlefield. Along with three Falogren DDs these new ships braced themselves as the Hatchets fell upon them. Jammers activated on all five Crams as well as the Singularity, Luttfomi and Gravity Well. Ignoring the newcomers the Axis fighters mobbed the Crams, fatally crippling three of the minesweepers and harming a fourth despite the severe losses inflicted by the Sharks. Two of the sweepers were finished off by long-range hits from spinal force beams. A third was the recipient of the full external loads and internal launchers of the BS5V and both BS5Rs. Still datalinked with its partner this ship, which had burned out one damper a month earlier, took what got through, losing five point defense mounts and two engine rooms. What few Hatchets remained were downed by the relatively distant fire of the Whales. Mine clearance charges from the Vanguards and Resolutes had reduced the targeted minefield patch to 72 patterns.
With the Hatchet strike gone the initial batch of Sharks, each armed with two gun packs and a FRAM, moved on to the asteroid forts, trailing behind the Sharks launched by the Nikazu-Vs. The Whales, each one having a laser pack, also followed. Three Oknibs and three Damage sinks arrived in time to see a Cram and Resolute pummeled by the forts and bases. Each new wave had minefield clearance rounds on their external racks, and combined with internal launchers the targeted minefield patch was down to 48 patterns.
The seventh wave had three more Vanguards, and combined with the other three made a full representation of all such ships currently in RVSN service. Joining them were the last three Magnets that accompanied the Royal Fleet. One crippled Cram and a Resolute transited out, denying the Axis the chance to destroy them. With the charge into the minefield just moments away the spotlight was on the 10 Shark squadrons attacking the two asteroid forts. It was found that the Axis had datalink jammers now, and used them on the Sharks. Only four fighters were destroyed for the use of 6 capital energy beams and 10 point defense mounts. The BS5s spared what they could, but their counter-missiles failed to take down one fighter. Both forts wilted under the hail of antimatter fists until the damage reached the heavily protected magazines and detonated the handful of FRAMs they still contained. Everyone on the Royal ships cheered at the sight, a well-earned victory over an implacable foe.
With just 25 mine patterns left, and no further mine clearance rounds in the offering, those ships in position and at maximum ECM entered the once formidable barrier. The three DDs stayed behind, for they were not as expendable nor as well-defended enough to use in this operation. Six Paramount BCs transited in time to see the spectacle of nearly 750 mines accelerating and diving like banshees on the 25 RVNS ships. As expected the previously hit Damage Sinks and Magnets exploded from the assault. Russen’s mind was eased only a little that just skeleton crews were aboard those small ships to operate the engines. Only 10 patterns plus change remained, and those would be dealt with tractor and beam weapons in wide angle mode.
16 Sharks from the Nikazu-Vs still had ordnance. They closed on the BS5R that had the slightly heavier salvos. There was no jamming, and one squadron cut loose and scored 17 hits of the 18 FRAMs fired. Half the armor was gone along with all the shields. Only four Sharks were shot down, and in retaliation a third Cram was destroyed with a fourth taking internal damage that wiped away a whole level of point defense mounts. The second BS5R had its shields and armor smoted by the other 6 Sharks, with long-range missile fire from the Vanguards, Oknibs and Resolutes took two-thirds of the shields on the fighter base. All ships continued at a crawl of 0.016c as Axis fire control was degraded when firing at anything smaller than a SD.
With doom upon them the three BS5s still fought to the end. Again they fired on the fourth Cram. Antimatter warheads made all the difference between a crippled ship and a dead one, thus another one was claimed. The trio also used point defense to attack the Sharks, bagging five. Only twelve squadrons had to fire their FRAMs to finish the bases, and along with them were the 17 Hatchets still being rearmed in the bays of the BS5V. The way into Battlement had been cleared.
King Russen, in the CIC of the Vanguard, listened as the staff operations officer read off reports. “SAR teams have been deployed, my Lord,” said the officer. “Given the length of the battle it’s likely a large number of personnel survived the destruction of their ships. The scanner buoys that ringed the warp point have been destroyed, so the enemy won’t know how many regular carriers we have for the time being.”
Russen tugged at his grey-laced beard. He was in the uniform of an admiral of the fleet; only the shoulderboards bearing the crossed ax and hammer, the royal coat of arms, gave proof to his sovereignty. “No doubt my detractors back home will waste no time engaging in armchair admiral talk about how I conducted the battle. I needed to distract those warp point bases so that the Whales had their chance.”
“We’re just thankful that only one of the close-in bases got active, my Lord. The losses would’ve been more substantial. However, those ‘armchair admirals’ will grouse about the loss of the assault carriers. We sustained very light fighter losses, yet most of the assault squadrons will have to be abandoned for the lack of hanger space.”
Peering into the holotank, Russen’s eye fixated on a trio of ship icons. “We can save the pilots, no doubt, but why not the fighters? Correct me if I’m wrong, but can fighters be stored in shuttle bays?”
“Stored is the word, my Lord. While they can certainly land in a shuttle bay a fighter cannot be launched from one. Using cargo handling tractors they can be removed, but both ships will have to have both shields and drive fields down. Lord, are you suggesting…”
“Yes. With the Whale losses we sustained there’s more than enough space for the 24 Shark squadrons to be taken aboard the pinnace tenders. We’ll have them land first on the other carriers so that they can off-load their FRAMs. There’s also the benefit of not having to break into the crated stores of our support ships to refresh our regular carriers’ strike groups.”
“An excellent idea, my Lord. It will very likely come to that in this campaign.” The officer changed the holo image to that of the Battlement system. It was an orange star with a family of six planets and an asteroid belt stuck in the figurative middle. The Comensal colonized world was the first one, orbiting 4 light-minutes from the primary. “Using the Bedrock system defenses as a guide, we can expect at the very least to find fighter bases in the asteroid belt. The first of the scouts we dispatched will arrive at the belt in 50 hours. Pinnaces are now laying out the sensor net to cover the inner system as well as the other two warp points.”
“We’ll hold off mining those other warp points for now,” said Russen. “We don’t have enough mobile units to guard them until we’re significantly reinforced. It’s more important that we neutralize Battlement Prime’s ability to construct new units and fighters.” His eyes drifted over to the icon representing a gas giant that was 36 LMs from the primary. “We’ll detach a small force to investigate the moons of the second gas giant. If fighter bases are detected they’ll be destroyed as well as any waystations that connect them to the asteroid belt.”
The operations officer brought up the fleet composition list on the datapad he carried with him. “A sound strategy, My Lord. Isolating the outer bases will allow us to concentrate on breaking into the inner system without interference.”
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Grand Fork, a medium-sized industrial city on Elotoshani Prime, was nondescript as far as the Comensal occupiers were concerned. Most of the universities in this metropolis were vocational, not academic, and as such had few of the ‘big brains’ that kept the ASP (Anti-Abomination Security Police) busy. However that was going to change quite soon, and even structural engineers, rarely bothered by ASP, would get to know interrogation methods that their academic brethren experienced all too well.
Blex, part of the upper management of a steel processing plant, had a guest paying a visit. They meet on the work floor, noisily and smelly as always despite all that advanced technology had to offer. After showing how the various processes worked Blex took his guest to a cramped floor office. Glad to get off her four feet, the guest waited as her host closed the blinds and turned on the ventilation fan.
“We can talk now,” said Blex. “The boneskins can’t hear or see us in here.”
“But we’re going to see and hear a lot more from them,” said the guest. “The Committee has received word regarding the prime phase of Operation Untwine. The first operational reports from the boneskins regarding the new ‘gadgets’ have been received. Before the week is out you can expect ASP agents and their quislings to be paying a visit. At the very least you will be… questioned.”
Blex’s four stalked eyes focused down to the top of his desk as if he spotted an interesting scribble on the plaspaper calendar. “I see. Will my family…”
“There’s a safe house in the countryside, Blex. The Committee will do what it can for you and others that have volunteered for the cause.”
The ‘gagdets’ the guest spoke of were two inventions made by Eloto scientists made in secret, then carefully introduced to the Comensal. One had the involvement of Blex, for his plant not only made starship-grade steel alloys but also did structural research. His engineers had found a way to combined shuttle bays so that were more efficient in the utilization of work space. Redundant support structures were removed and those that remained were given new bracing. In this way five large shuttle bays would end up with the capacity to hold six bays worth of small craft. The other invention was a true brainstorm, and when it was presented to the Comensal Science Development Bureau the reaction was like a drug addict that found a supposedly lost secret stash.
“We all know what questioning from the ASP will entail,” said Blex in a resigned tone. “Especially if Untwine is as successful as the Committee hopes. Do I have an option?”
“If you want it.” The guest reached with her left back hand and pulled something from a pocket of her back left leg. It looked like an aspirin, but that’s where the similarities end. “Take this just before the ASP and their quislings arrive at the plant. It’s a new poison that only reacts to truth serum the boneskins use, and death occurs in 30 seconds. The poison only remains viable for three days, but given the paranoid nature of the boneskins they may as well inject you as so as you are in the car.”
Blex took the innocent-looking pill and safety placed it in the inner pocket of his vest. “Thank you. If my family hears about this please let them know I did it to deny the boneheads the satisfaction of beating me up before killing me.”
“I’m sure they will understand, Blex. They will recognize your sacrifice as being a small yet contributing effort towards the defeat of the Comensal and their fascist empire.”
