The Inception: The Augmented Human Rebellion - Book 1 (3 page)

Colonel Kax is already on the comm to Captain Nemo, reaming him for
relocating without permission. Captain Nemo responds, that it was a
decision made in the ‘heat of battle’ - which precluded using the normal ‘chain
of command’ decision making processes. The Colonel just rails on, and
doesn’t exit the conversation, until Captain Nemo requests more troops,
weaponry, and air support - the Colonel then gives Captain Nemo no assurance,
and disconnects abruptly.

In the meantime, the aerial assault is raging outside of the cave.
Company K is still expanding the perimeter, while fighting the enemy ground
troops and airborne attack ships. The overall battle strategy is for the
humans to control the mountain-top, down to the tree line. That would
leave a no-man’s-land, between where the trees end, and where the rocky
mountain terrain begins. That area would provide a ‘killing zone’,
against swarming ground assaults.

***

“First Squad has been cut off,” reports Lt. Guilles. ‘We are
surrounded, and under heavy fire from ground troops.”

“Hold on,” says the Captain. “We’ll be there.”

He is looking at the overhead view of the battlefield.
Unfortunately, extrucian troop-landers have dropped a large number of ground
troops into the ‘no man’s land’, before the heavy defensive weapons can be set
up.

“Lieutenant Kanes - are the heavy weapons in position, and are you able
to kill anyone who enters the ‘no man’s land’?” asks the Captain.

“Almost ready Captain. We are installing the last 2 laser cannons,
as we speak. Estimated completion time is 15 minutes.”

“First Squad is surrounded in section two,” says the Captain. “Can you
cover the open ground near that area, so that no more enemies can enter?”

“Not yet Captain. That canon is not up yet,” replies the
lieutenant.

“Hurry,” says the Captain, as he changes comm channels. “Squads 7
and 8 - you are with me. Now! Follow me into section 2, so that we can
relieve the pressure on First Squad.”

Then Captain Nemo is out the door – flechette rifle in hand - and is
headed down the rocky mountain top, in leaps and bounds – in what is a textbook
example of the fighting capabilities, of an augmented human in combat
armor.

He is bounding from boulder to boulder, and firing as he goes. His
computer augmented brain identifies enemy combatants, as soon as they enter his
field-of-vision, and with his implanted weapons system set to automatic, his
brain’s tracking system aims the rifle, and controls his trigger finger – he is
a fast moving ‘killing machine’.

Extrucian soldier ants are fearless and fierce fighters. They are
able to communicate with each other verbally, and also through some kind of
‘groupthink’ which allows them to feel the movement of the swarm. Their
strength is in overwhelming their opponents in hand-to-hand combat.

Hand-to-hand combat is the very thing that Captain Nemo wanted to
avoid. But there is nothing to do now but slug it out, until the
large laser and plasma canons come online. Those will effectively cut off
the resupply of extrucian ground forces and equipment.

The swarm of extrucian soldiers is confused, by the sudden appearance of
human soldiers attacking the rear of their position. They quickly turn to
face the new threat, and use their shields to deflect the laser and projectile
fire, from the Darinx soldiers - the humans are well armored, but so are the
‘ant soldiers’.

Captain Nemo plunges headlong into the melee, at the battlefront.
Squads 7 and 8 are close behind, and hit the swarm of soldier ants, at a run.

Captain Nemo is using the inertia from his headlong charge, to
push the frontline soldier ants backward, into the second and third rows.
As the rest of the attacking humans follow their Captain, the front three rows
of soldier ants are pushed back, and fall to the ground. When the soldier
ants are on the ground, their only effective defense is to cover themselves
with their body length shields. The soldier ants who are still standing
are facing First Squad, and have their backs to Captain Nemo’s
reinforcements. The human reinforcements fire their rifles into the
unshielded backs of the standing soldier ants, while at the same time,
attacking the fallen ants with boots and pistols.

The swarm of ants splits apart, in the section that is under attack,
opening an avenue of escape for First Squad. First Squad makes a quick
exit through the temporary breach, with Lt. Guilles being the last to
exit. The formation of humans then falls back, from the swarm of soldier
ants, in order to establish a new and more defensible perimeter line.
They will need to hold the swarming soldier ants at bay, until the heavy laser
canons are up and running. After that, no new reinforcements will be able
to cross the ‘killing field’, and the remaining ants can be eliminated, one at
a time.

The battle with the extrucian swarm cost three lives from First Squad,
one life from Seventh Squad, and about a dozen wounded – a couple of them
seriously.

In due time, Lt. Hanes notifies the Captain that the heavy laser canons
are all ‘up and running’. They have been programmed to kill anyone in the
killing field. Lt. Hanes must ask for the Captains permission to turn
them to automatic, because he needs to be certain that no humans will be in the
targeted area - Captain Nemo tells him to turn the defensive system ON.

As soon as the Defensive System switch is turned to AUTOMATIC, the canons
begin pouring laser and plasma energy into the killing zone, targeting any
moving object. That weapons fire kills the enemy combatants who are
inside of the open area, and also discourages any new reinforcements from
moving up the hill. Now the human soldiers begin the task of ‘mopping up’
the remaining soldier ants, on the top of the mountain.

***

Captain Nemo turns his attention to consolidating control of the mountain
top. There are sheer cliffs on the back side of the mountain, which can
be defended by a small force positioned in caves which connect to the
headquarters cave. That information came from Intelligence Officer, Lt.
Whu. He obtained the information by interviewing the small group of
extrucian natives, who reside in the main cave. Captain Nemo dispatches
Seventh Squad to secure and defend the rear cave entrances. Ninth Squad
is dispatched to search and secure the other caves.

Captain Nemo then contacts Lt. Whu, via their brain implants, and asks
for a more thorough briefing. The Intelligence Officer reports that the
extrucian natives are very cooperative, because they are outcasts, who will be
killed if the ‘colony extrucians’ find them. These outcasts are
requesting ‘political asylum’, under the Darinx Empires’ Conventions of
War. Their crime was to object to the extrucian world allying itself with
the Verm Empire.

The ‘Verm Empire’ is the collective of civilizations that is trying to
destroy the planets and civilizations of the Darinx Empire. The Darinx
Empire is inclusive - welcoming cooperative trade and espousing individual
equality. The Verm Empire is a dictatorship, which demands absolute
obedience and seeks to destroy everyone, who will not submit to their
authority.

The Verm are a warrior species, with whom peaceful coexistence is not
possible. There is no word, in the Verm language for ‘peace’, and the
Verm will not even consider the possibility. Hence, the war against the
Verm Empire is a battle for survival. If the collective of civilizations
in the Darinx Empire want to be free, they must destroy the Verm and shatter
that dictatorship.

From his discussions with the extrucian outcasts, Lt. Whu learns that
Verm Warships approached Parin, the home planet of the extrucian species,
approximately 2 solar revolutions ago, and demanded unconditional surrender and
absolute obedience. The representatives of the 16 largest extrucian
colonies met with the Verm representatives, and attempted to negotiate.
The Verm killed those extrucian representatives, and then destroyed Parin’s
five largest colonies, as a show of strength.

“Sounds about right for the Verm,” comments the Captain. “How were
these outcasts proposing to defend the extrucian planets from the Verm?”

“They were going to ally themselves with the Darinx Empire, in exchange
for protection,” answers Lt. Whu. “The Darinx representatives had already
contacted the extrucians, and the Darinx Empire had made that offer.”

“Tell our outcasts that I will do my best to protect them, but that I
don’t have the authority to grant them ‘political asylum’. That will need
to wait until this base is established, and Darinx representatives can consider
their case. In the meantime, get as much information as you can about
this system of caves, and about any Verm forces in the vicinity of this
planet.”

“Yes, sir,” replies the Lieutenant.

The Captain closes that channel of communications and opens another.

***

“Hi baby,” he says, to Lieutenant Sandra Guilles. “Are you OK?”

“Hi Cade. I’m a little shaken, but I’m OK. Thank you, for the
rescue. I didn’t see how you were going to be able to save us.
Being inside of one of those swarms is really overwhelming. There is not
only the physical noise and danger. There is also some king of mental
noise as well. Maybe our implants are picking up their ‘groupthink’
communications.”

“Maybe. Mention that to Danion. He was probably recording
during that time. Ask him to go over the record of the skirmish, and to
look for any unusual ‘thought noise’. I’ll break for food in about an
hour,” he continues. “Think you will have time to eat with me?”

“Yes, I think so,” she answers. “Let’s plan on it, if nothing
interferes.”

“Good. See you then. Love you, Bye.”

“Love you, too, Bye,” she finishes, as they reluctantly disconnect.

***

“Coronel Kax, we have established a beachhead, with a secure defensive
perimeter against ground or air assault. The extrucian forces have fallen
back to regroup and rethink,” Captain Nemo says.

“What are we supposed to do with a beachhead on the top of a mountain?”
replies the Colonel.

Captain Nemo responds: “From this point, we have control of the air
and ground, in a 360 degree perimeter, and the caves protect us from artillery
or bomb assaults. The extrucian troop-landers and aerial assault ships
are now sitting ducks for the augmented human forces. Heavy weapons
systems have been installed, so that the defensive systems are computer controlled
and automatic. It is ideal, for defending the base, and for facilitating
an expansion of the base. We can begin, to expand the perimeter, as soon
as you send reinforcements, Colonel,” continues the Captain. “Also, we
need resupply of ammunition and food.”

“I’ll let you know when I am ready to send you something. Kax out.”

“Well,” thinks the Captain, “that didn’t go well. There is
something really wrong with this whole situation.”

Captain Nemo needs to find out why they are establishing a beachhead
on this planet. There doesn’t seem to be any logical reason for this
strategy. True, it is not a soldier’s job ‘to reason why’, but Captain
Nemo’s relationship with Colonel Kax has made him wary, about orders that don’t
make sense. The Captain and Company K have been ‘hung out to dry’ more
than once.

Captain Nemo calls the AI: “Danion.”

“Here, sir,” replies the AI

“What’s going on upstairs, Danion? What do your associates
say?”
(Those ‘associates’ are the
other Artificial Intelligences in the brigade. It would be a violation of
security for the AIs to divulge classified information, but they can deduce a
lot, by looking at unclassified information. For example – the AIs can
know where Colonel Kax is going to be, by following the travel plans for his
favorite drug (hypernance). The Colonel is never without it.)

A signal from the AI flashes across the Captain’s ‘internal view
screen’. It says “Secure Comm Level 4”, which usually implies that Danion
is about to pass on information that he shouldn’t know. The Captain and
Danion switch their conversation to the super-encrypted ‘Comm Level 4’.

Danion responds: “There are no preparations being made for reinforcements
or resupply. It’s looking like we are on a suicide mission.”

“Begin making contingency plans, in case we are left to fend for
ourselves. Look for places where we could hide on the planet, and on one
of the moons,” orders the Captain. “And, identify food and fuel
sources. We may need to be self-sufficient for a long time.”

“Yes sir,” responds the AI.

***

Intelligence Officer Whu reports back to the Captain, regarding his
question about the frequency of Verm Navy visits. The extrucian civilians
report that the Verm make landfall on Parin every few months, in order to
collect their quota of materials and extrucian youth. The extrucians are
being ‘bled’ of their young, and their resources. If the required
allotment of new soldiers and supplies are not ready, the Verm destroy a
colony, and increase the quota.

Captain Nemo needs to relay this information to Colonel Kax, but the
Colonel is not responding to his comm calls.

“Captain,” interjects Danion.

“Yes,” responds the Captain.

“The Verm have entered the system, and are advancing toward this planet
at full speed. My associates report 2 warships, of the light cruiser
class.”

“Maybe that’s what the Colonel is waiting for. He plans on fleeing
the Verm, and abandoning us to a certain death. Has there been any word
from the Colonel?” asks the Captain.

“Yes. He has ordered that the ship be prepared to leave orbit
immediately,” reports the AI.

“But nothing about us?” asks the Captain.

“Nothing, sir.”

“Prepare to leave this position, Danion. What did you conclude
about places to hide?” asks the Captain.