Star Kitten (51 page)

And that begged the question. Was Earth about to learn a very
harsh lesson? Was Earth about to trample out an inferior foe? Or
was Earth about to land on a DEATH TRAP... a quagmire from which
the invaders could not possibly escape once fully engaged? As the
Earth fleet approached New Australia, news reports seemed to follow
their every move; announcing battle plans, strategies, tactics, and
military objectives for the campaign even before the fleet left.
And for weeks (the whole voyage would take a minimum of SIX WEEKS)
the press reported on Earth's progress toward their goal. It made
for great entertainment on the nightly news! The government's
approval ratings soared. But... all this information was also
broadcast
throughout
the galaxy. In other words everyone in the galaxy saw it; and
New Australia knew all about what was coming their way a full month
before their guests' arrival.

On New
Australia, they knew pretty much how many were coming; and how soon
the Earth fleet would be in the planet's orbit—just by watching the
news on their merchant ships’ computers which could pick up the IPN
broadcasts. Solomon put Kscheeech in charge of the Naustie merchant
fleet; and just as everyone expected, he put Vlad the Impaler in
charge of Naustie ground forces. First task was simple; and that
was to set the fleet loose to hover 'round New Australia until the
invaders were near enough to be detected as well as close enough to
detect all of New Australia's craft. Then the merchant fleet were
all to flee in every possible direction. Solomon's strategy was for
the Earth invaders to actually SEE them all scatter and create the
illusion that the former pirate base had now been abandoned by its
own fleet.

Next Solomon
instructed Vlad to establish several ambushes for the enemy and
cause as many casualties for the invaders as possible. "We will not
win this upcoming war by defeating the invader in one or even
several great battles. Our opponent is far too strong," he told
Vlad. His idea was to actually engage the enemy repeatedly;
throughout the planet, and slowly attrition their elite forces via
a steady slow bleeding of the enemy until they were gradually
exhausted and over-extended. As Solomon explained it, "Let them
land, let them assault our surface facilities, and let them drive
deep into our caverns and caves. Mount defenses where possible yes,
but never linger long enough to risk annihilation if an engagement
is hopeless. Retreat deeper into the planet. Make them struggle and
suffer terribly for every territory they capture. Circle back and
hit them again later. Attack their rear and isolate forward units.
Casualties are not an issue. Arm everyone capable of wielding a
weapon; and make the invader pay dearly for every mile they
capture."

Vlad got the
message. And he met with nearly every chieftain in nearly every
tribal territory personally to advise or encourage them in the
devising of their defenses. Each Chieftain donated an allotment of
troops to the New Australia Army; per the requirements handed down
by Tribal Confederation; and these were based on tribal population
as well as proximity to surface installations which were likely to
suffer attacks early on. Otherwise, Vlad left it up to each
chieftain to defend his own tribe's homeland with all his remaining
warriors. "When the enemy comes, you must fight," he told them with
fierce, cold, icy-blue eyes. "You must defend your homes. There can
be no retreat. If you run away, your families will perish Comrades;
and your homes will be destroyed. Our enemy is coming here to kill
us. Surrender and you will all die."

Vlad was absolutely
right. As an outlaw planet, not legally recognized by the IPA, they
had no real rights. They were like aboriginal natives on some 18th
century Pacific island about to be colonized. IPA was going to
stand aside and allow this too. This was obvious from what Naustie
computers were picking up from IPN News Broadcasts. No ally existed
and none would likely be forthcoming. The only real option was to
fight to the death.

To
a man like Vlad, a war like this was a true opportunity for
greatness. Defending a massive planet against an invader whom he
could dodge and elude then pounce on whenever the enemy was
vulnerable... that was perfect for Vlad. He was a shrewd general.
Because he had numbers on his side, technology mattered little to
him. In his mind, the darkness of the planet's mine shafts and
tunnels was his true advantage. Eventually he'd be able to make a
stand and stop them. That's what
he
believed.

It wouldn’t
take him long to find out if he was right, either. Earth forces did
finally arrive in New Australia orbit right about the date they'd
been projected by the Slarts to appear; and as the merchant fleet
followed orders and scattered in all directions, Nausties on the
surface braced themselves for the initial bombardment from enemy
missiles….

When it came it was
terrible and devastating—lasting for days and days—as Earth
torpedoes hit the planet and leveled all Naustie surface
facilities. The solar domed farm went up in a fireball; as did the
old main terminal. The surface hangar was blown sky high as well.
Earth warship commanders just let them have it with all they had,
destroying anything their sensors could detect on—and even
below—the surface. They fired surface penetrating missiles into the
loading bay too.

These “bunker
buster” missiles blew through the terminal loading bay canopy and
obliterated the massive elevator which lifted ships up to the
surface for launching into outer space. The resulting explosions
killed thousands of Naustie soldiers bracing themselves for the
expected ground assault; and it was a real eye-opener for the
surprised defenders. As a result of this disaster, Vlad then pulled
his army out of the loading bay region of the planet and scattered
them throughout the spider web-like service tunnel network hoping
to draw Earth ground troops into battles there.

However the
landings just never seemed to come—not for a long, long time
anyway. Earth space craft instead just circled the planet and used
sensors to detect life forms below the surface. Their bunker buster
missiles proved to be able to penetrate hundreds of feet below the
surface before detonating; and each time one exploded, hundreds
more Nausties would be vaporized. Eventually the surviving army and
thousands of terrified refugees fled deeper and deeper below the
planet surface.

To the Earth
invaders in orbit and especially those flying around the planet
from a few thousand feet, it really appeared like nothing much
could live on the planet after a week of this systematic bombarding
and demolition. From the air, the planet was beginning to look much
like the Earth’s moon—pockmarked with divots and craters
occasionally the size of cities, at least in some places. It was an
eradication of all life; and no targets were off limits. Frankly,
if a life form could be detected anywhere near the surface; a salvo
of missiles would get fired at them.

Worse, the
bombardment eventually destroyed and obliterated seven Naustie
homelands which had located up near or within the Service Tunnel
years before near the old prison food warehouse sites. Thousands
died and there was nothing anyone could do about it but simply flee
deeper below the planet surface… deeper within the planet core.
Refugees flowed into the homelands of former rivals or regions of
the planet most had never even seen before. But to their relief;
their fellow Nausties were often more than happy to take them in
and provide relief services. Morale was still very high, even after
the devastating bombardment. If anything it just made Nausties more
determined to face the eventual ground assault.

Now long ago,
Slartigifijian engineers devised remote independent electrical
generators—powered by energy crystals—to light and provide power to
tribal homelands in the event of any destruction or disruption of
service from the main power plant on the surface. Naturally the New
Australia power plant went up in the very first week of the
bombardment. But these independent generators, distributed
throughout the interior of the planet, could run for months with
little or no servicing required. They were so deep below the
surface of New Australia, fully half the planet’s original
population was able to continue harvesting and living their lives
relatively uninterrupted while above them it was carnage and
devastation.

But the consumption of time by the Earth fleet in bombarding
the surface,
did
give Vlad
and his war council an opportunity to plan and prepare. If the
Earthers intended to eventually land and try to burrow through the
core to hunt down its occupants then it was merely a matter of
predicting their paths and direction. Set ambushes along the way.
Draw them further and deeper into the core. Let them establish
forward bases and dig in, then raid them incessantly. When the
offensive resumed, Vlad’s army could fall back and repeat the
process for as long as he had troops to muster. To that end, Vlad
armed everyone he could. Females, miners, farmers, and even
shit-haulers… all of them were given a weapon and all were shown
how to fight.

Stealth and
surprise would be the key; but so would overwhelming
numbers.

“
They will
come eventually Comrades…” said Vlad to tribe after tribe. “And
when they do, you must hide. You must conceal yourselves in the
darkness. And you must then pounce on them like angry hornets. Kill
them before they kill you. Show them no mercy. They will give you
none, I can assure you. We must fight for our own survival or…
there will be nothing left of us when they’re done!”

Then again, Vlad did
still have forty thousand warriors under his direct command. He had
Solomon, who had moved his command center deep underground in
anticipation of the ground attack; and of course he had the
remarkable Felina traveling almost incessantly throughout the
planet rallying terrified Naustie villagers or securing new living
facilities and food for the now growing number of refugees. Entire
tribes had been obliterated no doubt, but Felina was unflappable in
her commitment to their cause—urging both females and males capable
of holding a weapon to join military units and fight the
invader.

Felina proved
to be a very, very good public speaker and motivator. “The invaders
are coming my friends," she'd warn them, "… and we shall fight them
like wild animals until they’re all defeated. You see, only when we
have won this war… only then will we have truly won our
independence. Fight them anyway you can comrades, and never yield.
They came a long way from Earth just to kill us. Let’s make them
regret their arrogance!” That’s what she’d often cry out to throngs
of terrified refugees, and thrust her paw into the air
triumphantly. They loved her so much… many heeded the call to arms
and just joined up with the army! And many others set to work
supporting the Naustie war effort in other ways.

There were several
ways they could help.

First off was the
increased production of breather units which included a small
air tube connected to a mouth piece. The other end connected to a
device which converted water to oxygen by separating hydrogen from
the water and left breathable air for the soldier to inhale,
keeping him alert. Electrical current merely passed through a small
tank of water strapped to the back of the warrior. It was a crude
system but it was light, it worked, and it was very easy to
mass-produce. It was certainly durable enough for miners to use
during an average work shift—so it could handle most of the rigors
of combat short of maybe its battery taking a bullet. A factory was
set up for creating hundreds of these a day—way down deep inside
the planet—and it soon employed over a thousand new workers from
among the refugees.

Next was the
production of weapons; and many of these were quite diabolical.
Nausties knew that airmobile infantry from Earth would be armed
with Electrical Impulse Cannons that could spray .30 caliber
projectiles in quick bursts. They had enough rounds in their
cartridges for an extended firefight; so the best solution was to
hit their flanks with incendiary acid bombs or perhaps draw them
into tunnels and detonate explosives to cause cave-ins to bury them
alive. Nausties certainly had plenty of explosives since they were
operating mines all over the planet.

Clay pots about the
size of a 12 ounce can were sufficient for this , in burning
enemies’ faces or hands but also in disrupting their breathing
systems which kept the enemy cooled and alert with fresh oxygen.
Enemy airmobile troops carried oxygen tanks on their backs too; and
these could be ruptured causing great mayhem in packs of attacking
soldiers. Darts, make of pig iron, could be fired at the enemy by
using a crossbow mechanism created originally by successful tribes
back during the Naustie Civil War years before. Slart engineers
merely standardized this concept and developed factories deep
inside the caverns below to mass produce them. These were excellent
for ambush attacks and practically anyone could operate them for at
least one salvo before fleeing the skirmish battle and running to
safety deep inside the intricate mine network.

However… Earth troops had absolutely no intention of facing
roaming bands of
fierce warriors with nothing but lightly armed
infantry….

Finally it came time for the ground attack, and the sky
suddenly filled with large space craft penetrating the atmosphere.
But a
s troop
landing craft finally set down upon the New Australia planet
surface, some even larger box-shaped craft planted down several
hundred yards away from the smoldering terminal dome. These ships
were three times the size of troop transports; and when their ionic
wind thrusters began making contact with the deserter surface from
one hundred feet in the air; they stirred up a cloud of dust the
size of a football stadium. Once landed and the dust began to
settle, their enormous cargo bays opened and from inside rolled out
monstrous tunneling machines that had been donated by mining
companies (and altered for combat application).