Birthright: Battle for the Confederation- Reprisal Page 14

  The Commander was reading through a report regarding Senator Dennix and Ples Damar on Delos. It originated with Representative Terir, and considering the importance of the subject, he felt the report too bland for his tastes; he punched in a few commands and in seconds Terir’s holographic form appeared in miniature above the projector plate on the top of his desk.

  “Commander Velk,” Terir began when the connection was verified, “it is an honor. How can I serve?”

  Velk suppressed a grin, for he knew Terir was no ally of his. In Priman politics, it was not unforgivable to admit distaste for the current ruling family. It was of course understood, however, that those feelings would be set aside to conduct one’s job properly. Velk harbored suspicions that Terir would consider a more active role in acting out against his family if the opportunity and rewards aligned. The man was an opportunist, more at home among the political system of this galaxy than that of his own people. Decorum and good tactical judgment compelled Velk to take the high road. For now.

  “Representative Terir, I am calling to hear your own account of the chase than resulted in the deaths of two of the Confederation operatives assigned to help extract the Senator. The cold hard numbers never truly convey the essence of what happened. I was hoping you could add your own commentary.”

  Tash and Dag put down their own work to concentrate fully on the conversation.

  “Of course, Commander,” Terir replied primly. “As you know, Ples Damar has been keeping us informed on the team sent to rescue the Senator. Earlier today, our forces attempted to capture two of them on recon around the Senator’s studio. A chase ensued that covered much of the commercial district they were in. Unfortunately, our efforts were foiled as the Confederation operatives were not captured alive.”

  “Yes, I see from the report.” Velk indicated a small personal data pad he was holding in his hand. “And these two pages of soldiers’ names were the ones involved in the attempted apprehension?”

  “No sir,” Terir said with some unease, “those are the soldiers killed or wounded in the attempt.”

  Velk’s silence hung in the air, nobody daring to speak while their commander brooded over the facts. Two lone operatives were responsible for twenty casualties among his soldiers. “This either speaks very highly of the Confederation’s training methods, or very poorly of our garrisoned troops there. Have you an opinion which?”

  “Some of both, I would dare say, Commander. Our troops are trained to attack and defeat an entrenched enemy- they are not police or occupation forces. However, the Confed soldiers were themselves very formidable adversaries, and shouldn’t be underestimated either. The Senator claims that there are troops such as these that are somehow artificially augmented, but autopsies showed nothing unusual about them.”

  “Yes. Our troops are not intended as peacekeepers.” Velk was quiet again for a few seconds, then stood up and walked over to the floor-to-ceiling glass windows covering the outer wall of his office. He took just a second to marvel at the late afternoon sky, which always turned a burnt orange and cast a deep yellowish glow over everything. Such sights were still new to many Primans, who spent most of their time within the confines of the great motherships that had floated just outside of the civilized galaxy.

  Not so dramatic that he would talk to the wall, he turned to face his subordinates. “Our research indicates the Confederation Navy should attempt an assault on Delos within a handful of days to conduct a retrieval operation of the Senator. Reports from the Senator, our agent Ples Damar, and the Senator’s would-be rescuers confirm this. We’re not sure exactly how many ships they will devote to this effort, but we will be ready for it. I hope to lure them deep into the system and then attack from all sides. It will be a great day for us, and will finally end this occupation that wears our troops down.”

  He addressed Terir directly this time. “You will be happy to know that our occupation of Delos will likely end shortly after the attack. If we defeat the Confed Navy, there will be no more point in using Delos as a lure. If we are for some reason pushed back, I do not intend to lose forces attempting to hold the planet. Our mission here will be accomplished; we will do battle with the Confederation Navy, and we still retain possession of their leadership, as well as a great amount of information we were able to retrieve from their government computers. I do intend to strike a blow against their Naval Headquarters before we leave, however. That particular entity needs to be not just bottled up, but destroyed. That is all for now, Representative Terir, thank you.”

  Terir nodded as Velk leaned over his desk and severed the connection.

  Velk returned to his chair, settling his large frame in and listening to the chair groan in protest. He looked at his advisors and spoke his mind.

  “So, Representative Tash, you are the newest to our plans for the Delos System. Do you have anything to add?”

  Velk realized that such broad leeway would, in most cultures- especially the reviled Enkarrans’- simply be an opportunity for the subordinate to tell the commander what a good decision he had made and heap the requisite praise on his leader. The Primans were different. Velk expected honest criticism if Tash had something to say. Such honesty in leadership was why the Primans would win, he was confident of that.

  “Commander, I think either it will work exactly as expected or it will fragment the individual worlds and make them that much harder to control from afar.”

  “Explain,” Velk said as he reclined in his chair a bit. Letting his subordinates raise and argue issues was relaxing for him, and it allowed him to see how his people thought, as well.

  Tash stood up, as he tended to pace a bit when his mind was really going in overdrive. “Well, Commander, we’ve captured the planetary representatives from all the worlds of the Confederation. We’ve cut the head off their central government. No Senators to argue for bills and laws, no Presidential Committee to vote and enact those laws. I still don’t see how they run such vast territory by committee instead of having one leader, but that is not the debate in front of us. So, their central government is crippled. One of two things can happen.

  “Number one, we step in and rebuild their central government, assuming power and eventually transferring all authority to our central leadership, using their governmental framework to rule.” Tash was actively moving about now, not really pacing but walking around behind his chair, over to the wall displays, and generally displaying the nervous energy that to Velk indicated the man felt passionately about what he was saying.

  “Number two, the individual worlds pull back and each one becomes a unique and distinct entity to conquer. Without the central government, some of those worlds will most likely revert to self-rule, form their own executive branches, navies, etcetera. We may fragment the Confederation into hundreds of individual kingdoms that will each need to be pacified in turn.”

  Velk did smile for real this time. This was one of the first major arguments Velk’s ruling family had when deciding how to attack this galaxy and by extension, their first major adversaries. Tash would not have been privy to that information, so the fact that he came up with it on his own spoke of his reasoning ability.

  “You are correct, Representative. In fact, we have concluded your option number two is the most likely course that events will take.”

  Tash was taken by surprise, but recovered quickly. He nodded and sat back down, yielding the floor to Velk.

  “We have gone so far as to rank the planets of the Confederation by their willingness to comply peacefully or if nothing else, our ability to pacify them quickly if they cannot count on the aid of the Confederation Navy. We have already taken some of those planets on the list in order from easiest to hardest. We have plans in place to simply lay siege to the most difficult targets and let them wither under blockade rather than have us get bogged down trying to conquer every planet in the Confederation. We believe that by denying them the central government, we will weaken their ability to support each other, and the bl
ockade will keep those trouble planets bottled up until such time as we are ready to devote our attention to them.

  “Excellent analysis, Representative.” Velk complimented Tash in closing.

  Velk turned to Dag and continued. “And what of our settling of the Enkarran Empire?”

  Dag took his turn to stand, a gesture that he must have picked up from Tash, Velk thought.

  “I have the latest information here, Commander. As of today, we have completely emptied two motherships and begun the decommissioning process on them. We had intended to disembark our people according to the list compiled before we entered the galaxy, but we had to move up one other ship ahead of schedule into the first wave as all major systems were in a state of failure. The inhabitants have settled on the Enkarran world of Ziris.”

  “Excellent,” Velk responded, suddenly reenergized. “Our people have been confined in our ships for too long. For generations, only a select few have even seen the sun from the surface of a planet, felt the wind against their skin. And even these moments were all too brief, on desolate, harsh worlds that even criminals didn’t see fit to occupy. Dead planets without even stars in the sky, they were so far away from civilization. In our great efforts to remain hidden, we sacrificed many things that we used to take for granted. No longer, however! From now on, every day more of our people will return to a new world and will know the beauty and freedom of a life on the surface. Keep me informed of this situation, Representative, it is most important to me.”

  Velk wondered how the long exile had affected the Priman culture, however. Thousands of years of hiding beyond the edge of the galaxy on massive ships had changed his people, he knew. Nobody collected anything more than what they could fit in their cramped cabins. Of course there was still art, and science, and literature, but his people didn’t go around collecting their favorite works or trapping themselves with possessions. He suspected his people would initially go through some growing pains and attempt to collect with a vengeance, filling their new living spaces with everything they could get their hands on and reveling in the sudden ability to have whatever they wanted. He hoped it didn’t change their drive to take this galaxy back, because the battle was in fact only beginning.

  Chapter 6

  Senator Dennix was getting worried, and his nervous behavior was beginning to grate on Ples Damar. It was long past dark, and still Adan and Shadra had not returned. The other two SAR operatives, Mithus and Von, both Drisk men in their thirties, had resolutely proclaimed their fellows to either be captured, dead, or on the run.

  “What?” The Senator blurted out.

  “If they’re not back yet,” Mithus started, “they won’t be coming back tonight. It’s protocol. If they think their cover is blown, they won’t come back ever, though they’d try to send us a message.”

  “How would they do that?” Asked Ples, hoping for some information on the technology and practices of the Confed special ops soldiers.

  “It’s not important for you to know how, just that they haven’t tried to contact us. That can mean only that they’ve been captured, killed, or are otherwise unavailable. Either way, we have to assume they won’t be back. We’re still on schedule for extraction, but in the meantime we will step up security.”

  Ples was troubled by what that might mean. He needed to get out regularly and report to his superiors on the Confederation’s plans for the Senator.

  “Until the extraction…” Mithus started, before he was interrupted by Damar.

  “Which will be when?”

  Mithus simply glared at Damar. “Soon. May I continue?”

  Damar just looked at Mithus and waited. He realized he was very close to making Mithus suspicious of him and elected to back off.

  “Until the extraction,” Mithus began again, “there will be no more broadcasts from this studio. We’ll stay inside and either myself or Von will stand guard at all times. Do not contact anyone or leave the building.”

  Now it was the Senator’s turn to object. “The people of the Confederation need me!” he proclaimed. “I can offer them hope, guidance, a voice for their fears and concerns!”

  Mithus, unlike Adan and Shadra’s basic sympathy for Dennix, felt nothing for the Senator or the man’s profession. He imagined rendering him unconscious and locking him in a closet for the duration of their stay. The fantasy quickly passed, and he decided he’d try to reason with him in the only context he’d understand- his future as a powerful man.

  “Senator, what if the Primans are tracing your broadcasts? Not even to this building, necessarily, but to this neighborhood or even this part of the communications grid? How will you lead these people if you’ve been captured or killed? Our job is to get you out of here safely, and that is our primary concern.”

  He could see the Senator was still not mollified by his speech, but Von spoke up to seal the deal.

  “Senator, perhaps you might tape a message or two for release upon your extraction from Delos? You could have something ready to go the instant we are back among Confederation forces.”

  The Senator light up, and his excitement was obvious.

  “You’re right,” he said eagerly. “Ples, let’s go work on a few talking points about the rescue and our return to our brothers and sisters of the Confederation.”

  Mithus watched them go, then turned to Von.

  “Smooth, I have to give you that. You sure you don’t have a career in politics in your future?”

  “Never,” replied Von with a grin. “You know what to do if I try something like that.”

  “I remember. Still, it would be a shame to have to kill you. Maybe just maiming you would do the trick?”

  Damar glanced around the darkened broadcast studio one more time, small beads of sweat gathering on his forehead and trickling down his face as he sent out the transmission. It was a simple text message to a nondescript communication service that supposedly belonged to a relative of his. Of course, it was in reality simply a way to dead-drop information to his handlers. The message was concise and direct: Extraction still on in a few days. Two Confed soldiers still here, increasing security, will be my last transmission as they’re locking up all comms.

  Damar couldn’t wait until this was all over and he could stop being the senator’s minion and go back to being himself again.

  The C3 room aboard the Sabre class heavy carrier Gallant was packed. Admiral Illam’s flagship, from which he commanded the Ninth Fleet, was the scene of a massive pre-assault briefing for the upcoming attack on the Delos System. Only a few people really knew all the details, but it was a simultaneous operation that involved an attack on the Delos System by the Third and parts of the Tenth and Eleventh Fleets, a breakout from Confed Navy HQ in the outer system, and two missions for the Ninth Fleet: a rescue op for Senator Zek Dennix and the possible destruction of a planetside Confed Navy research facility if the system couldn’t be taken back from the Primans.

  The room itself was cavernous- two full decks tall, with raised platforms, balconies around the periphery, and a Combat Control area in the middle of it all that had access to just about every bit of information the Confederation had. Being the flagship of the fleet, the briefing room was a departure from standard Sabre class design. Where traditionally there were separate C3 and briefing areas, Illam’s flagship had been refitted by gutting the old C3, two briefing rooms, and a data processing section and combining it all into one huge space.

  Loren was there now with Captain Elco, serving as both the XO of the Avenger and CAG of the Air Wing. This particular area of C3 was dominated by a monstrous oval shaped obsidian stone table, ringed by a dark, reddish colored and highly polished wood that also seamlessly formed legs at six points around the periphery. Being the Captain of one of the ships in the fleet, Elco sat at the table proper, while Loren sat behind Elco in the second of three full rings of chairs. Loren’s first thought was not about the grandeur or craftsmanship of the beautifully constructed table, but the fact that it was bi
g enough he was pretty sure he could park his Talon on top of it.

  Admiral Illam was standing at the head of the table at the moment, going over the major points of the assault himself instead of delegating it to a staff member.

  “The concerns most relevant to us are the Centurion Battle Stations orbiting the planet. We know that the Primans had bottled them up and intended to board and capture, but we have no way of identifying whether they’ve accomplished that goal. Our arrival in-system will take us past no fewer than two of them, and if they’ve been turned against us, it will make our job measurably harder.” He waved a hand at the holographic image floating around in the middle of the large table, and the tiny battle scene began to play out. The thirty ships of the Ninth Fleet split off from the large mass of Confederation ships that had entered the system as one large formation. The Ninth swung away from the rest of the fleet and began maneuvering towards one of the stations in particular.

  “Our plan is not to waste time trying to knock out the battle stations, but rather to get our rescue forces to the surface and back. To that end, we will split our fleet into three elements. One will consist of three battleships who will escort our landing ships into the upper atmosphere. The battleships will roll their keels towards the battle stations and act as shields to our dropships and fighters, who will be covered from fire by the battleships that will be between them and the battle stations. We’re not having the Marine Assault Ships land the troops as would normally be the case because we’re hoping to sneak the dropships in, being a much smaller target. Also, we hope it will keep the Primans confused about where our forces are and what they’re up to. Another element will consist of the bulk of the remaining fleet and will stand by to engage the stations if necessary to keep them occupied and draw fire. If that is not necessary, some of those ships will move closer to the main battle area and attempt to engage targets of opportunity. The third element will be the Marine Assault Ships and a covering force. They will launch their dropships for the battleships to escort into the atmosphere as I just mentioned, then will stand off from the fighting, but will be in place to fire on the surface if called upon for the Senator’s rescue. The Assault ships will circle back with their escort to complete the extraction of the Senator, and will also retrieve the ground troops if the battle turns against them on the surface. As you can imagine, the timing will we tight, and we’ll be forced early on to decide whether to pursue surface action or just grab the Senator and withdraw.”