Harvester 7 (4 page)

***

Harvester 7
dropped below light speed exactly as plotted and within moments was
drifting in a high orbit of Watuma, immediately they began running
a false diagnostics routine ready for the inevitable scans that
would follow when the Watu had scrambled their planetary defence
forces. The fake diagnostic would show that the computers were
searching for an FTL Drive error which would back up their
communicated explanation when pressed for a reason why they were
floating in Watu territory.

"Here they
come." signalled Relik.

"Doesn't look
like they were sleeping." replied Maulik ensuring his thoughts
reached the Colonel.

"we're being
scanned."

"We have no
argument with you," replied Maulik to the hostile communication
from the lead ship in Watuma's planetary defence squadron, "All we
want to do is fix our drive in peace and then be back on our
way."

A delay of
static followed.

"They finished
scanning us." signalled Relik.

"You have one
hour." the Watu replied before acquiring a weapons lock on 7.

"Hey, hold
your fire," replied Maulik with some urgency, "We don't want any
trouble, just give us that hour and we’ll be out of your space...
OK?"

"One hour and
counting." replied the Watu and released the weapons threat.

"Posturing."
announced Maulik with a sigh of relief as the alarms on his console
blinked out. "OK Colonel, you've got one hour," he signalled Balak,
"Make it count, these guys are really aggressive today."

***

Hold 32 was a
hive of activity as the marines raced to their respective
transports squad by squad, and drones fired their engines preparing
to form an automated escort down to the surface. In a temporary
command centre tech officers established remote links with the
drones, live video from the auto fighters streamed directly into
their minds, these were cutting edge weapons, devastating, powerful
and controlled by thought alone, each remote pilot knew his duty,
each was experienced and each knew that his remote fighter was not
expendable, losing a drone was a punishable offence.

Colonel Balak
placed his two fingers on his command console and instantly the
fresh updates flooded his mind, and with incredible mental agility
he sorted the priority from the routine, updates flashed behind his
mirror membranes and he began the countdown to launch.

"Stealth." he
commanded and watched his small fleet shimmer and fade to
invisibility, with a satisfied nod he looked around the now
seemingly empty hold.

"Drone
Squadron 1, maintain a defensive perimeter around Harvester 7,
Squadrons 2, 3 and 4, escort the transports, Squadron 5 maintain
low orbit and prepare to act as rear guard."

Confirmation
flashes entered his mind as the drones relayed their
understanding.

"Operation
Reaper is a go," he announced, "And may the Gods go with you."

***

Maulik and his
bridge crew never saw the invasion fleet depart, only the military
had sensors tuned to the narrow frequency that cycled constantly to
avoid detection, Balak watched the departure with a sense of pride,
they were his finest, he just hoped he wasn't throwing their lives
away, his only consolation, a security in the knowledge that the
cloning facilities were on standby to duplicate any of his lost
officers, true it would be many years before the clones had grown
sufficiently to resume active duty but it was a comfort to know
they would not be lost forever. Go'an waited nervously, baring his
teeth and gripping his bone staff tight, he had so much riding on
the outcome of the assault, within an hour he would either be the
new undisputed Chancellor of the Watu High Council, or a hunted
traitor.

He let his mind wander, planning, plotting, there would be
changes after he had seized power, his opponents on the council
would regret their staunch support of Chancellor Lu'ta, senile
creatures, only secure under the protection of their supreme
benefactor, his majority, the weak minded who followed only policy
and the old ways. Oh yes, he would make some dramatic changes, his
would be a decisive and militarised reign. He was tired of
following the elderly head of state, his ideas were ancient and
timid, he refused to recognise the Reaper threat preferring to
believe the priests.
These are invaders,
not Gods
, Go'an for one was not going to
open his arms to them and meekly submit to annihilation, he had
plans, he would build a federation, a league of allies, the
Territes were on-board, other races would join as the threat became
revealed.

A Galactic Empire
. He began to
salivate at the prospect and shrouded his thoughts still
further,
Emperor Go'an
, it sounded good in his ear, his calculating mind continued
to plot and dream, he was secure, none of the Territes standing so
close to him even began to approach the level of telepathic ability
to broach his mental shielding, he envisioned his new empire, all
races subservient to his will.

Within one
hour his dreams would begin to flourish, or be dashed into
oblivion, the bone staff felt heavy in his hand as he studied the
carved reptilian boss, the red jewelled eyes burned with the same
passion he felt in his heart, the "Watuma Viper," an apt name that
he would take upon himself, cold, calculating and deadly.

***

"All
transports in position, just awaiting your final go Sir."

"Now for the
moment of truth." sighed Balak as he nodded and flashed the
authorisation, "This is the point of no return." he admitted to
himself and said a silent prayer to the Gods.

***

Major Karn was
to lead the first team into the Watu High Council, his orders;
silence the Chancellor at all costs. He didn't relish doing the
Vice Chancellors dirty work but who was he to question orders.

This feels like a suicide mission,
he admitted to himself not allowing his dark thoughts to
spread through his eager squad, it had been taken as an honour by
most of his troops when they had been ordered to download their
memories for storage, so few of them had added together the
evidence and reached the same total as himself, they were being
preserved because command didn't seriously expect them to return.
His continuation should have been a comfort but Karn quite liked
his current life and didn't relish the thought of the intense
growing pains experienced by all hatchlings.

"Better than
total elimination." he sighed as the transport ramp dropped and he
led his squad out of the invisible craft and into the choking
Watamu atmosphere.

"It stinks
like piss." voiced a marine at his rear.

"Silence," he
snapped, "Mask your mind marine, you know the drill." Secretly he
agreed, the atmosphere was rank with the stench of the Watu.
Suddenly the ground at his feet sizzled and churned violently as a
plasma pulse discharged, a rapid un-aimed shot from the steps
leading up to the citadel where the High Council were
assembled.

"Execute." he
snapped, and his squad leaped into action. All around him the whir
of pulse rifles cycling and charging, the quiet discharge split
seconds before the devastating explosion as bolts of stored plasma
energy flared inside their targets vaporising the impact area
completely and tearing apart the structure of the surrounding
tissue, these were weapons designed to kill only, there would be no
survivors, no wounded when his squad attacked.

Quickly Karn
and his team secured the main steps but found the Citadel doors
sealed.

"We lost the
element of surprise," he signalled back to command, "Things are
going to get very hot here, very soon. Requesting missile strike on
these coordinates." he rushed forward and slapped a small beacon on
the sealed entrance before signalling the location.

"Heads down
boys." he shouted above the babble of conversation in his head.

"Strike
authorised in 3... 2...1." the countdown gave him just enough time
to duck behind a solid pillar as the sleek warhead tracked down
onto his beacon, with a blinding flash the locked doors evaporated
leaving a gaping void in the Citadel's grand façade.

"Do me proud
boys." he screamed as he raced through the gaping hole his team
pressing hard behind. This is what the years of training had been
for, Karn had years of combat experience but most of his team were
young, highly trained but lacking in experience. He connected with
them as he continued to run, giving words of encouragement to those
who needed, laughing with his more seasoned troops, issuing his
orders whilst simultaneously picking his targets.

Resistance was
stiff and with a feeling of intense pain he felt three of his
troops blink suddenly from his mind, their deaths violently
severing his connections.

"This is
taking too long," he signalled, "Spread out and draw their fire,
I'm targeting the Chancellor." a jolt of pain told him his first
lieutenant had just dropped and with a wild fury building inside he
charged up another set of narrower steps and fired his rifle at
point blank range into the chest of the Watu security officer that
blocked his path into the High Council Chamber, the flashback from
the energy discharge scorched his skin but he ignored the pain and
burst inside, his weapon at high port seeking his intended
victim.

But the
chamber was empty.

***

"Incoming."
called the gunnery sergeant aboard Harvester 7.

"Acknowledged." signalled Maulik and authorised defensive counter
measures, "Take down anything that slips past the drones, but don't
waste our energy firing wildly, I want to keep plenty of juice in
reserve for the drives."

He had a thin
line to walk, even with the reactor pushed beyond optimal
efficiency Maulik was mindful of the fine balance between defence
and retreat. 7 wasn't a battle cruiser and her weapons were
designed to ward off skirmishers and pirates, 7 could easily handle
a small scale attack of three or four fighters in deep space but
planetary defence forces were another game altogether, he couldn't
risk depleting his energy reserves in a prolonged battle.

"I will not
risk my ship Colonel," he called over the background chatter that
he was allowing into his mind, "When my reserves hit 70% we jump...
and that's not open to discussion."

"You’ll jump
when I say jump." snapped back Balak, Maulik fired back a reply
that made the Colonels membranes vibrate but he was too distracted
to be drawn into a debate over ultimate authority, his invasion was
not going well and he had just received some very disturbing news
from Major Karn.

"Where can he
be Go'an?" he turned to face the Vice Chancellor and saw the shock
clearly written across the brown and wrinkled face.

"Silence."
Go'an ordered as he extended his mind and probed the Citadel,
"Where are you hiding my old friend?" he questioned as he searched
for the Chancellors unique signature.

The deck
beneath his feet shuddered as a warhead exploded against the
ventral shields but he was not distracted from his search, his
efforts were concentrated solely on locating the Chancellor, the
ship shuddered again more violently with a second missile strike,
the harvester appeared to be weakening he understood, but concern
never entered his mind, if he couldn't locate his target death on a
doomed Terrillian ship was preferable to the fate that awaited all
traitors.

***

"Reserves at
91%," confirmed Relik, "Suggest we consider jumping at 80%," he
added, "This fire is too heavy, better we leave a little bit in
reserve, we could take several more hits like that last one before
we can accelerate out of missile range."

"Agreed," replied Maulik as he studied the data. His shields
were eating ten times the amount of energy with each impact than
his banks of pulse cannons were. "Gunnery Sergeant, fire at will."
he signalled, "Stop those missiles getting through." A combined
volley rocked the ship gently as Gunnery Sergeant Te'al flexed 7's
defensive muscles and several incoming missiles blinked off the
view screen.

"Good shooting Te'al." signalled Maulik with a grin. He
remembered his old days stood beside his charged weapons feeling
that his hands were tied by the officers in command, "Let him do
his job." he decided as he kept a watchful eye on the energy
reserves, now
down to 89%.

"Give me some
good news Colonel!" he reached out to Balak but found a mind in
confusion.

"Not now."
came a hurried reply, and Maulik sensed the despair in Balak’s
words. He glanced again at his console, 87%, dropping to 86% as his
cannons discharged again erasing another two missile
signatures.

"Get ready
with that course." he nodded to Relik before noticing a steady
finger hovering over the drive console.

"Only on my
mark." he warned, again the harvester rocked gently; 85%.

"Hold your
station." barked Go'an as he cut through all other conversation and
pierced Maulik's mind, "I know what you are thinking but we are not
leaving until this is finished."

Maulik
struggled to cut the connection, but the Watu proved too strong. "I
will not risk my ship and crew, we jump at 80%." he replied
defiantly.

"You will not
move until I say." shot back the reply with such force that Maulik
dropped to his knees clutching his head, "I warned you before that
I could tear your feeble mind to pieces... don't make me prove
it."

"83%." warned
Relik as a star-fighter slipped through the depleted squadron of
drones and strafed the bridge shields with bright green lasers
generating a multicoloured ripple effect across the normally
invisible barrier.