Probe Predators (17 page)

“Yes.”

“And you went there to attack that ship?”

Jinx hesitated and said, “It has been determined by our Senior Leaders that if we reveal our offensive capabilities in this first encounter before we learn their capabilities, there is a real risk of losing this war.”

“Is that why you were recalled, Sir?”

Jinx stared at the woman and after a moment said, “I suspect my wingman and I were recalled because our Commanders felt that we might take action against our orders. In all honesty, they were probably right. I don’t know that I could have stood by and watched the annihilation of innocent civilians.”

“You would have thrown away your career, Sir.”

Jinx lowered his gaze and said, “Pray you’re not faced with having to make that choice, Admiral. At one level I’m thankful that choice has been removed.”

“And the other, Sir?”

“I want to kill the scum that would do it.”

There was a moment of silence and the woman said, “Thank you for answering my questions, Sir.”

Jinx looked around the classroom and finally stopped his gaze on Katy. He said, “We’re all in this together. It is those of you in this room who are going to determine whether or not we survive this coming invasion. Our citizens deserve the very best we have to offer and in the final analysis, it may be our lives that will make the difference. Make it count for something.” Jinx saw Katy nod and he looked at Kyle, “Admiral, I am at your disposal whenever you need me.” Jinx looked back at the students, “I will be coming to your fleets to determine your progress and I expect you to have your sailors ready. Is that clear?”

“YES SIR!!”

Kyle said, “Class, Attenshun!” They rose to attention and Jinx exited the room. Katy watched him go and found her courage. She no longer lived to die; she lived to make her death worthwhile. She found the inner strength to see it to the end.

• • •

Dee arrived back in Drey’s office to watch Jinx’s presentation to the class. She saw him direct his final remarks to Katy and she saw their impact on the young woman. Drey sighed, “I wondered if putting them together was a good idea; I shouldn’t have doubted you.”

“Don’t feel bad; I wasn’t sure about this either.”

“What!”

“I just know that love will answer many issues when nothing else can.”

“But he doesn’t love her anymore.”

Dee looked up at the monitor, “Someone needs to tell our Admiral Tollervar then. I suspect he’s got his own demon to face.”

K
aty arrived at her fleet’s headquarters and ordered an assembly of all her sailors. The pilots were in the front ranks and the support forces were in ranks behind them. She introduced herself and told them what was coming. She demanded their best effort and then dismissed everyone but the Pilots. She gave the support groups time to exit and she thought about the seventy thousand pilots standing at ease in front of her. They had been put in her fleet because they demonstrated extreme recklessness during the Fleet Competition that was beyond any normal behavior. She knew they did not have any interest in following this new Admiral. She could see it in their faces. Once the support groups had exited the huge field, Katy looked out at them and spoke from the podium in an amplified voice that rang out where they all could hear.

“How many of you standing here want to die?” No one moved or said a word. Her question had shocked them. Katy waited a moment and said, “Don’t be shy; be honest with yourself about this.”

A pilot in the second rank raised his hand, “I do, Sir.”

“Please step out of ranks and move forward.” Everyone watched the Pilot move forward and come to attention in front of their lines. The young pilot showed no fear for his response. Katy stepped off the podium and walked forward and faced the pilot. The silence was deafening. Katy pulled her blaster out of her holster and extended it to the pilot, “Take this and do it now.”

The pilot was shocked by her statement and said, “I am not going to waste my life. If I’m going to die, it’s going to be at the hands of that Invader. I intend to take some of them with me.”

“Why?”

“I don’t deserve them but my family deserves it from me, Sir.”

Katy said, “Move over to the right of our formations.” She holstered her blaster and looked back out at the pilots, “Is there anyone else that shares this pilot’s view?”

Another pilot in the rear of the formation yelled, “I do, Sir.”

Katy said, “Step forward and join him.” The pilot left the ranks and moved to stand beside the first pilot. “Is there anyone else?” Soon hands were going up throughout the ranks and Katy waited. After fifteen minutes Katy yelled, “WE ALL WANT TO DIE! Can’t you see that now?” The pilots looked at each other and started nodding.

“How do you think I won the competition? I didn’t care if I died and took risks that no sane Pilot would ever take. All of you did the same thing; that’s why you’re here with me. All of you have your reasons for wanting to die and I don’t want to know your reasons; they are yours to keep to yourself. I am not going to share my reason with you. You just need to know that all of you were sent to me because Fleet knows I don’t care if I die; truth be told, I’d welcome it. They also know you feel exactly like me.” She glared at her pilots and they were stunned by her candor. This was not the usual ‘good to meet you’ kind of speech.

“We have been brought together to give all of us an opportunity to make our deaths count for something. If I’m going to die, I am going to take some of those invaders with me. I really hope all of you feel the same way. But here’s the most important thing; I refuse to just throw your lives away and not get something in return. It is my intention to show all the other Union fleets that nothing can come close to accomplishing what someone with no fear of dying can accomplish. You are very dangerous warriors and I will not waste you on trivial things. Now you have to decide; is your life worth making a difference and will you follow me in making that happen?”

No one moved or said a word until the first pilot who stepped out of ranks yelled, “I’m your man!” The second yelled, “Count me in.” Then the yells deafened Katy. The Pilots became hers in that moment and they found a commonality among themselves that they had been missing. They all shared the same goal.

Katy held up her hands and after a few moments the assembly grew quiet. “You will defend each other to the bitter end; do you know why you’re going to do that?”

A voice from the rear yelled, “To make sure we get the most destruction out of every bloody one of us before we go out in a burst of glory.” The laughter rang out and Katy yelled, “That’s exactly right. We are going to learn the best way to kill those Orange Ships and then we’re going to go out and do it on a scale that the survivors will tell their scum children what horror they had to face. We are going to be the best of the best and dare anyone to better our kill count. I only have two rules; do not embarrass your comrades by selling your life too cheaply and devote the remainder of your life into becoming a real warrior. When we’re dead and gone, the Union will remember the Strikers and know that no one will ever match what we accomplished!”

The pilots rushed forward and lifted Katy on their shoulders. Something was born in that moment and it started with Katy’s broken heart. The two pilots who stepped forward were promoted to be Katy’s two Space Group Commanders and the pilots accepted them immediately; they had the courage to step forward when no one else did. The Strikers were born, now they had to learn how to walk. They picked it up at an incredible speed. They were going to teach the Union how to fight the new enemy.

• • •

The Orange Ship suddenly exploded into a bright white light as its force field activated and moved to full power. It appeared ripples were flashing over the force field’s surface and as they moved around the huge Warship, they grew brighter.

• • •

The Union Probe watched the force field activate and had its passive scanners set to record anything that happened across the electro-magnetic spectrum. Right behind the force fields, the hundreds of ship blasters on its hull began traversing in their mounts and their long tube barrels began emitting a high intensity glow.

• • •

The Command Claw looked over his shell, “Are the landers powered?”

“They are and they are also crewed,”

“The missile crews are slow in getting their racks in the belts.”

“They’ll be at full capacity momentarily.”

“I do not think we’ll be discovered until ground operations are on the way. Make sure the Lander Leaders fill their bays and get out fast.”

“Do you anticipate trouble?”

“This galaxy is huge; we really don’t know the level of civilizations that inhabit it or their scanning capabilities. Notify all sections to be on alert for intruders.”

• • •

“Sovereign, the Thresher Ship is powering up its weapons and defenses. I’ll notify you as soon as we get a coordinate on its target.”

“I have my ships organized to jump in.”

Angela paused, “Are you going to hit them with your new penetrators?”

“I’m going to use everything else first. I’m hoping we can delay showing that particular weapon.”

“My computer tells me the passive scans taken as they powered up their systems reveal they have a multilayered force field. The layers appear to merge into each other like a laminate and are different from any we’ve seen in the past. I don’t think one hit will do any damage. It may require continuous fire to breech it.”

“My Commander knows how to fight his ships; I really hope we can handle just one ship.”

“I’ll have one of my advanced probes doing an active scan during the confrontation and I’ll send you what we record.”

“That would be good.” The Sovereign paused, “I wonder if you’ll tell me why you’re really not participating in this initial battle?”

“I think you know the answer to that.”

The Sovereign swelled with a breath and then deflated, “I suspect you’re right. The only way to get everyone’s undivided attention is to see where we are at handling our own issues.”

“We can’t do it all. We need a willing partner.”

“I really hope this doesn’t cost us a planet; but if it does, it may save billions of others later.”

“Don’t send in every ship initially; allow us time to do an active scan and send you the initial findings. It won’t take but several moments.”

“I’ll let my Commander know.”

• • •

“Moe.”

“I’m on it; I have the probe tracking their jump tracks and will start scanning the moment that ship opens fire.”

“Get it to the Sovereign’s Commander before you send it to us.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

• • •

“Command Claw, all systems are at optimum; I’m leaving for the selected target.”

“Get in and get out.”

“I’ve issued the appropriate orders for that to happen.”

“Keep my Second informed of your progress.”

“I will do as you order.” The display went dark and the Claw looked at his Sensor Leader, “Make the move.”

The Orange Giant disappeared.

• • •

“Your Majesty, we’ve lost the Orange Ship that jumped!”

“How did that Happen!?!”

“We didn’t see them when they jumped in; evidently, their drive systems don’t leave a jump track.”

“Notify the Sovereign what’s going on and tell him to monitor all bands for a distress call.”

• • •

“I don’t care how much confusion it causes; clear all frequencies and have every civilization listening for a distress call! Now get on it!”

• • •

The Orange Ship appeared above a planet that did not have space travel. The invader moved around the planet and stunned the inhabitants of every city and community. It returned to the planet’s largest city and used a blue beam to stun every inhabitant again. The number of vehicles crashing into buildings, and each other, skyrocketed. Fires started but there was no one conscious to put them out. Right behind the firing of the stun beam, two hundred large shuttles exited the giant Orange Ship and dropped on the city. Two hours later, a research station on the planet’s South Pole sent out a cry for help.

• • •

“They’ve attacked the Jekel. Those scum attacked the most peaceful planet in our galaxy. Get your Response Fleet moving and initiate an immediate attack.”

“We’re on the way.”

• • •

“Moe, the Sovereign just sent me the coordinates of the Thresher’s attack. Get an advanced probe there as quickly as possible and start active scanning.”

“Fleet will launch a probe momentarily.”

“That’s not fast enough; I want it done yesterday!”

“It’s been launched, Your Majesty; it will arrive on the scene in a moment.”

• • •

The Ship’s Claw smiled. Selecting a planet without advanced technology was an excellent decision. Half of the shuttles were back on board and the other half would be arriving right behind them. Suddenly, his giant ship was rocked by a massive explosion on the force field. More than two thousand warships had jumped in and opened fire on them. He jerked his head around, “Weapons; status of force field?”

“We’re holding; however, more ships are arriving and I don’t know how much longer we can take this pounding. Something is going to break if this keeps up!”

“Open fire on the attackers! Keep them away from us for just a few more moments. We still have sixty shuttles in transit from the planet.” The Claw was thrown from his command chair and saw the force field status bar on his panel was approaching red. He saw thousands of more ships jumping in and he gripped the arms of his chair so hard that one of them broke. “GET THOSE SHUTTLES ON BOARD!! NOW!!!”

• • •

The large green battleship fired six penetrators at the giant Thresher Warship and was amazed they were stopped by the invader’s force field. That was his last thought as a bright blue beam vaporized his ship. Thousands of M87 Ships were being blasted into dust but thousands more were jumping in.

Twenty Grey Warships jumped in close to the Thresher Warship and ripple fired fifty heavy penetrators at the Orange Ship before they could be hit. The twenty warships were vaporized and a third of the penetrators with them but thirty three hit the giant Orange Vessel and it rocked violently as it was turned end over end. One third of the vessel was no longer protected by a force field. The Claw hit the override button on his panel and jumped his ship away before it could be hit in the exposed lower hull.