“Mamoru”-To Defend and Protect                                                               

 A high velocity distortion missile shrieked in over the horizon assaulting my aural senses like fingernails being dragged across a blackboard. After six months of this unrelenting war I was glad to still be alive, so many fallen countrymen and friends lay dead as we made our strategic withdrawal towards New Negasaki. The BVRAMM’s (beyond visual range anti missile missile) had been effective in destroying most of the enemy’s incoming missiles but an occasional one slipped through. Cringing at that sound, I instinctively ducked locking my helmets visor into place but I knew as long as I heard it I was safe. I sat motionless holding my breath waiting for it to explode, time stood still after the missile went silent just before impact. Everyone understood that the missile was travelling faster than sound so the tell tale noise of its passage through the air was nothing but a ghost of where it had once been.

I'd been lucky so far kept secure from the effects of the invaders bombardment weapon cocooned in my personal nullifier field. Protected for as long as my charge pack held up or a missile didn’t land right on top of me. It was times like this that the Emperors last words to me before I left New Hiroshoma to take command of this division come back to haunt me. General Minamoto Yoshitsune, like your ancestors before you, on a great commander depends the lives of the people and the existence of the state, as if I didn’t know.

Our OWP's (orbiting weapons platforms) had managed to maintain the status quo in space. The invaders underestimated our ability to defend our prime population centres to their expense. They ignored our century ships positioned in the LaGrange point’s between the two moons mistaken them for ordinary old asteroids instead of the orbiting battle station and fighter base’s that we had converted them into.  Half of their fleet including a dozen what we would class as Yamamoto battleships were destroyed in their first strike. Mind you for the loss of most of our cruisers, three OWP's, two hundred fighters, our only carrier and the twenty thousand men and women who manned and piloted them.

Three centuries of exploration and development after our century ship’s established orbit around the fourth planet out from the companion star to Bootes Delta and no previous indication of any other race in this region of space. No radio emissions, stray probes, nothing, Seti turned out to be a total waste of time, everyone back on Earth had come to the same conclusion that we were the only intelligent race in the Galaxy. Even in the two centuries after we had settled on Mars no one had developed a way of travelling faster than light. So our Japanese ancestors fed up with the over population financed the construction of the .9c Century Ship’s and launched them ten years apart for their 120-year journey to this star. Even in the time since no faster the light ship has arrived from Earth and our only other visitor has been another century ship heading further out.

So now we know after all that time thinking we were isolated and alone in this sector of space how wrong they all were. Attacked without warning just six months ago the enemy fleet emerging in system from god only knows where or how. Our planetary observation probes didn’t detect them until they had passed the outer gas giants destroying the forward OWP’s and the orbiting gas processing plants in the process. We had no idea what there intentions were so we sent out three cruisers and our only carrier to intercept them but their unprovoked destruction confirmed what we had already guessed.

After the enemies initial losses their fleet retreated outside the range of our fighters taking up position in orbit on the far side of the planet over the unpopulated landmass we called Toshogu.  Without carrier support our fighters couldn’t operate at that range and without them it would have been unwise to send our remaining cruisers and battleship in pursuit. Their huge troop carriers descended and landed two thousand kilometres to the East of the three megalopolises of New Hiroshima, New Negasaki, and New Kiyoto that make up New Nippon. These cities situated north south along the banks of the Toyota River each have a population of around four million.

 Eight of their million tonne troop carriers the biggest things apart from our century ship’s we have ever seen in space made it through the initial battle. Possessing the ability of being able to land on planet, we know based on observational data from the cloaked FORSATs (forward observation reconnaissance satellites) they disgorged about fifty thousand troops each and three of them carried the supporting mobile and air support units.

 Fortunately for us we had reduced the size of their invasion force by at least half. Although militarily we were still outnumbered nearly five to one we had an advantage of a population base of about fifteen million from which to draw replacement troops and the industrial infrastructure to manufacture ammunitions and weapons. We thought their supplies were finite unless this fleet was only an advance invasion force and therefore would have given us the advantage however recently the FORSATs picked up what appear to be a number of processing plants already under construction. During the initial battles we weren’t prepared for the advanced weapons they used and the size and power of the armoured and air support units.

 We have managed to reduce the size of their land force considerable during the preceding battles at a huge loss of men and equipment and now we where down to one division blocking the only pass through the Sensei Mountains leading into New Hiroshima . The bulk of our land force had taken up position on the high ground outside the main farming town of Toshi. Toshi being situated three hundred kilometres to the North East of the city on the banks of the Sago River, population thirty thousand. We have been lucky so far in that the enemy had not made any serious push against our lines either they were waiting on replacement equipment or needed a rest like us. So far we had spent the last month repelling skirmishes against our lines and endured a consistent long-range bombardment.

 My heart raced after my ears pricked from the deadened whoomph of detonation. “Missed again”, I sighed releasing my breathe. I still felt remorse for the unprotected soul’s who would be caught in the weapons two kilometre umbrella their organs scrambled and their life essence sucked out leaving nothing but a lifeless husk. More so for those poor bastards caught within the range of the sub ammunitions. The lucky ones were caught in the twenty-metre blast radius of the primary at least they would be killed instantly.

 We tried to clear out all the civilians from this sector as we could with the available transports, however there where those who still refused to be budged determined to die defending their homes and the others we had jammed in to the available bunkers in ignorance. It wasn't until some time after the bombardment started that we got reports back from the bunkers that people were running amok killing each other. We found out at their expense that the invaders weapon had a two fold effect, it carried sub ammunitions that expelled something we didn’t know what that could penetrate at least to the depth of the bunkers and caused the weak minded to go homicidally insane. They would kill everyone they could with whatever weapon they had at hand. We assume it’s a biological weapon of some form as no one in lock down mode is affected.

 “General Yoshitsune”, the young communications officer lifted his head from the com-sat viewer and bowed from the waist.

 “Yes Sagi what is it.”

 “Report from Sector Six two, Whisky Alpha Sir!”

 Fortunately the invaders had not detected the cloaked relay satellites in orbit so our lines of communication had remained open. I was surprised that Captain Osaki who is commanding a company of two hundred men on our left flank twenty k's from here was contacting me outside his scheduled time.

 “Patch me in for holo, Sagi, Domo.”

 The twenty millimetre high image of Captain Osaki formed on my visor a hundred millimetres in front of my right eye. He bowed deeply his left arm across his breast in ceremonial salute his right gloved hand affixed to the tuska of his modified shinken. A weapon that personifies and sanctifies over two thousand years of warrior tradition. This young one wore his family name proudly painted in traditional hiragana across his helmet. Likewise a similar image of me seated in the command bunker was displayed on his visor. The remote holo camera’s hovering over us recording and transmitting the images to the visor projectors.

 “What is it Jommy”, I asked pleased at this unexpected call having spent the last three hours scanning the holo projections of the surrounding terrain and troop deployments while running SATBAT (simulated all terrain battle tactics) algorithms without much joy.

 I made it a habit of knowing all my officers by their first names as it makes them feel more at ease. This continual bombardment, harassment and the lack of food and rest over the last month had put us all on edge. Personally I would be glad to get out of this armour as the sanitary packages can only do so much. I'm sure the microbes they use to kill the odours have decided to rebel and something was growing in here with me. HQ's promised a portamist on the next airdrop so maybe then I might be able to get a shower in if things quieten down. Even the air filters can't block out the residual smell from the suit’s excreta processors. Luckily for me I had not eaten enough in the last week to put them to much use.

 “Sorry General, but it appears they’re making a move on our position the long-range scanners indicate at least battalion strength, range twelve kilometres and moving in fast. I sent in a URAS (unmanned remote aerial surveillance) but it got shot down before it could transmit back any useful data. What are my orders, Sir.”

 Jommy’s eyes didn’t waiver he knew he was out numbered ten to one, a brave one he is, Memgel note that for my next dispatch to HQ. The symbiotic implant responded recording my thoughts on request for future recall. It was there to enhance my memory not act as a spy for the Shogunate it recorded all of what I saw but only those thoughts I wished it too and only then within a second of request otherwise it couldn’t trace the synaptic impulses. This was the second attempt in the last week by the enemy to over run Jommy’s position the previous attack force being considerably smaller and most likely was just a raiding party as they withdraw quickly after taking a few causalities. This was probably the reason behind this renewed shelling.

 We hadn’t been able to determine exactly what the enemy looks like, we knew they used exo-skeletal armour like us but no sector had taken a prisoner or collected any identifiable remains. Once one of them went down either they would be vaporised by their own men or their armour self destructs burning what's left inside right down to their skeleton and anything else within a metre range. It appeared either they didn’t have the infrastructure to support the wounded or they didn’t want the added burden on their resources or they wanted to make sure we knew nothing about them. We assume they are at least humanoid as their charred skeletal remains we have examined have two arms and legs both somewhat longer than ours and what appears to be a tailbone but longer again.

 Nor do they take prisoners we appear to be of no interest to them in any shape or form. So far all the sectors we’ve retaken have been littered with the bodies of our dead, stripped dismembered and pinned to stakes their armour piled up around them. It was because of this that the order had gone out to all company commanders to fight in death ground if they had no other choice.

 “Hold at all cost Jommy we can’t allow them to get across the river and flank us. I’ll send up three RAILGAT’s to give you some support, ETA ten minutes. I know it’s not much but this could just be the start of something bigger.”

 Jommy’s eyes widened at this news his chest armour bulged as if the world had been lifted from his shoulders. With the RAILGAT’s he thought he could hold off a battalion. Three thousand rounds a minute of twenty-five millimetre shells fired from a twenty tonne antigrav tank was an awesome site. That many projectiles travelling at the 11 kilometres a second produced by the gattling rail gun tore through normal body armour and APV’s like a hot knife through butter. A shell that small travelling that fast produced nearly the same kinetic energy as a 155mm howister shell. So far we had found it an effective weapon in keeping the enemy’s ground troops at bay but if they had air support and those super tanks of theirs, Jommy couldn’t hold his position. There would be no way I could move the Retaliator’s up in time to give Jommy anti air cover nevertheless the Railgat had been known to take down an enemy fighter.

 It seemed ridiculous that after six months we still didn’t have any idea what to call the enemy. We had no idea how they communicated which each other. Any transmissions we intercepted were nothing but white noise totally indistinguishable or translatable into a language. None of the armour we recovered had any insignia or markings on them. Our xenologists and intelligence units surmised that they were probably partially telepathic.

 As to weaponry the invaders use anti personnel weapons we had never thought of and humans believe they have the monopoly on ways of killing each other. After what I've seen of the their weapons I’d class us as rank amateurs compared to them. We are still coming to terms trying to work out the best defences against them.  The nullifier field has so far held up against the effects of their long-range bombardment weapon but apart from the units the military use there are so few left to protect the civilian bunkers with.

 Slither bombs, Slashers, Light bombs, Nano-fusers, Pressure bombs, are just a few of the names that we use to describe there anti personnel weapons. Interesting devices like the Pressure Bomb, which causes a vacuum around the victim. By far the worst is the bio-mechanical Slither bomb were thousands of nano-microbes enter the pores of your skin and eat you from inside out turning to ash upon reaching the surface where sunlight would destroys them.

 At least there basic infantry and mobile unit weapons are much the same as our kinetic and plasma weapons. We’ve found that our modified bushido shinken’s which can cut through twenty-millimetre steel an effective weapon for killing them in hand to hand combat. It would appear that their force field is designed to absorb high speed kinetic and plasma weapons and can take considerable punishment before over loading. Now that nearly all the front line troops have been issued with the SCEBEA (self-contained environment body enhancement armour) suits to protect them from the anti personnel weapons we are holding our own.

 The Railgats are good but it still took a lot of hits to stop an armoured soldier let alone one of the invaders APV’s or heavy tanks. They each carried two three thousand round magazines so they would have to use the ammo sparingly and to effect to take out the infantry let alone a tank, which could chew up nearly a full mag before being put out of action.

 Jommy crouched nervously waiting for the first wave to come into range, his long-range oculars scanning the field below his position. He had placed his men in lines of thirty zigzagging up the crest of a hill overlooking the bridge crossing the Sago River their trenches fifty metres apart. The mortar teams positioned at the base of the hill along with two 7.6mm Vulcan cannon squads situated on this side of the bridge. His command bunker positioned towards the top, as would be the Railgats. Although not the best of positions he had a commanding view over the paddy fields the enemy would need to cross to reach the bridge as well as a line of fire covering the road into Toshi. One saving grace was that the paddy fields would slow the enemy down.

 "Shit, there must be over two thousand of them down there", adjusting the focuser for a better few he could just make out the distorted shimmering shadow of what appeared to be cloaked tanks.

Shit! Shit! The scanners didn't pick those up how am I expected to hold against them."

 Although somewhat demoralised by the size of the advancing force he remembered his instructors words when he’d been running battle simulations similar to this in college, in war numbers alone confer no advantage he who advances relying on sheer military power does so at his own risk.

 "Weng pass the word along to the platoon Sargent’s for everyone to be on their toes and make sure their rifles are fully charged, also see that the mortar teams are ready and check the AIMIS’s (anti personnel missile)."

 "Yes Jommy", came the acknowledgment from the company’s senior Lieutenant.

 Jommy visualised Weng saluting with that impish smile on his face as he patched in the commlink to the Railgat Commander’s.

 "Echo, Tango, Charlie concentrate fire on the grid references I’m feeding to your viewers now.”

 High altitude GPS remote’s positioned above his position had vectored the battlefield the oculars locking in the grid references from Jommys previous scan and then transmitting it to the tank commanders.

 “I know your sensors can't pick up anything there but I tell you there's cloaked tanks and APV's leading them in, go to visuals look for large shadows that shouldn’t be there and hit the APV's first. When they’re in range fire for effect, don't waste it."

 Within a few seconds the Railgat’s opened up, he held his breathe waiting to see how effective the first nine hundred round salvo would be which at this range took only the blink of an eye for the shells to reach their targets.

 Jommy yelled, "Missed, missed, adjust your range twenty metres you're coming in two far out, fire."

 The second salvo was on target and managed to score one of the tanks plus and a couple of the APV's. An APV, which had been taking up the rear, exploded like a small atomic bomb shaking the ground where Jommy stood. So far the enemy had avoided the use of atomics our ancestors had been the first humans to feel the effects of the atomic bomb and were dead set against using them even now. We have the ability to protect a city from all forms of radiation but not against a direct hit from a SBM.

 "What the hell was that", standing back up after he’d been knocked down by the shock wave he trained his oculars through the slit on his command bunker towards the point of the explosion. A large crater surrounded by about a hundred or so bodies was all he could see nothing remained of the APV.

 "Echo, Tango, Charlie concentrate on the remaining tanks and APV's, fire at "

 He never finished the sentence instinctively diving for cover as two fighters streaked in at hypersonic speed a barrage of HV(high velocity) plasma missiles rocketed in taking out the lead Railgat vaporising it and a squad of his men.

 "Romeo One, this is Whisky Alpha, we under attack, fighters coming in we need air support. I repeat fighters, give me air support we’ve lost one of the Railgat’s."

 I could tell from the sound of Jommy’s voice that he was scared although outwardly he hadn’t shown it. This was to be expected as it was only his second fire fight since taking a command a little under a month ago.

 "Jommy hold for ten minutes I'll get two Retaliators up there to give you anti air cover. Use one of the remaining Railgat's to concentrate on the fighters. Its sensors should be able to track them no problems. I know they can't elevate past sixty degrees but it should put out enough flak to put them off. That’s the best I can do at the moment we’ve detected a large force approaching on our position."

 Fighters that’s all he needed they could do a hell of a lot of damage in such a short time. The Retaliators fired HV ground to air missiles that had been effective in taking out the enemy’s aircraft up to a range of ten kilometres. Each Retaliator carried a rotating multiple launcher, as it usually required several 120mm missiles to be fired at the one target to make a kill.

 "Yes Sir!” came his reply and I knew that he would do his best.

 Jommy scanned the field again, the enemy had picked up pace and their range was now down to six kilometres at their current speed they would reach Jommys position in thirty minutes. Another pair of fighters strafed his position but their missiles went wide and only managed to kill a cow grazing at the base of the hill. A burst from the remaining Railgats taking out one of the fighters as it turned to make a strafing run with its plasma gun.

 “Weng, Firefly."

 Weng pushed the remote at the code word to activate the AIMIS not knowing how effective they would be against the enemy's force field and armour. A hundred 50mm missiles fanned out across the battlefield their in build sensors positioning them towards the middle of the oncoming infantry. As they exploded ten thousand 5-millimetre thick razor sharp titanium disks erupted at sub sonic speed into the enemy ripping apart anything that was within range. 

 Cheers and whistles went up from his men as they saw the effect of the AIMIS. About a hundred of the enemy force had been cut down by the tiny ultra hard projectiles, proving to be far more effective than anticipated. So far the Railgats and the AIMIS had wiped out a third of the advancing infantry, two tanks plus nearly all the APV. However there were still four tanks left and approximately nine hundred infantry advancing towards his position. Jommy focused his oculars again adjusting for the range he blinked a few times and smiled to himself when he noticed the shimmer of their body armour fields was no longer present no wonder the AIMIS was so effective. The APV we took out must had been providing power to their exo-skeletal armours force field.

 One thing the enemy didn't have was a cloak-able fighter, they were fast but too small to carry the electronics and power plant needed to put out ECM and visual distortion fields. The heavy APV's and super tanks which we assessed amassed 50 and 100 tonnes respectively could. We couldn't put our ECM gear in anything that small but fortunately during the day we could pick them out as they still cast a shadow although somewhat distorted. Night attacks were the worst and this was when we generally suffered the heaviest losses.

 “Weng, how’s everyone holding up, so far it’s been easy but keep them on their toes. The hard parts yet to come. Also double check the mortars and make sure the anti tank squads are ready. Yeah I’ve seen their shields have come back up already so they’ve got power back.”

 It would be harder to kill them now and I wasn’t sure how effective the mortars would be as they only fired an untested HE shell. Suddenly this high pitch screaming noise pierced my eardrums and I wobbled at the knees.

 “Jommy, we’ve been hit ten men dead and I’ve got another several seriously wounded and a dozen more only slightly by plasma burns.”

 The cries of pain from the wounded echoed in the background plasma bolts could vaporise flesh right to the bone without cauterising the wound. I tried blocking out the screams, their wails of agony sending a shiver up my spine.

 “Weng, I’ll get the Hoverpods to evacuate the wounded back to the Mash unit, what’s been done to help them and tell me how it happened.”

 “We’ve given the serious ones sedative ampules so they should be under shortly and the medic’s applying the coagulator packs at this moment. From what I’ve so far got out of the others this large barrel-shaped object just hovered into their position from out of no where. Then it started to rapidly rotate letting out this high pitch deafening sound disorientating everyone then these blue high energy plasma bolts shot out in all directions cutting down whatever was in their path.”

 “Ok! Weng pass the word along for the men to keep their eyes open and if anyone else sees one of those things there to take it down, you got that. Are the mortar teams ready to fire on my command.”

 “Yes Captain, no problems there ready.”

 “Good, you make sure those wounded get out safe and sound, tell the men to turn off their earphone receptors and go to comlink also pass it along to the other commanders to get their men into Lock Down mode. No point in taking any chances.”

 Each thirty man platoon had a Lieutenant that could comlink into Weng or the Captain, they intern linked to the platoon Sargent and so on down the line and vice versa. Each platoon was designated a call sign so that if the command structure was knocked out the men could join another platoon with ease. Both Jommy and Weng had command links that could override the other com channels that way either of them could give an order to the company as a whole without having to waste time.

 Jommy left the bunker to get a better view of the field of fire walking over to a position where thirty men had dug in on the right of the bunker in the lea of one of the remaining Railgat’s. The fact that they hadn’t heard him coming was testimony to them following orders about their earphones. The earphones were designed to aid and enhance normal hearing so they could be helpful in battle but also at times a hindrance. As he dropped into the foxhole the men sensing the vibration turned towards him recognising his insignia stood to attention and saluted.

 “At ease men, just take it easy, make sure you have eaten, keep your heads down and stay alert and wait for further orders.”

 Jommy looked at his chronograph, ten minutes to mortar range the enemy’s tanks had commenced firing high-energy plasma bolts striking the mounds of earth fusing the sand to glass. HE missiles streaked in blasting craters in the side of the hill. The Railgat’s now taking on the role of anti missile platforms, as their ammunition was now too low to waste against the tanks.

 The Retaliators which had arrived a few minutes before had embedded themselves on top of the hill covering the three possible directions the enemy’s fighters could attack from.  The Commanders reporting to Jommy that they had full magazines and their long-range scanners were activated. As he was looking up the hill he remember back to his training days and his strategy instructor’s words, Ground that each can transverse with ease is called accessible terrain, in such an area the one that takes the high ground open to supply routes has the advantage. Looking down at the attacking force covering the plain below he still had his doubts.

 “Whisky Alpha to Romeo One, General Sir, we’ve managed to make a dent but they’re still advancing so far we’ve lost thirty men with a similar number of wounded, they’re not in rifle range yet is there any chance of replacements or reinforcements.”

 Jommy flattened himself on the floor of the trench as another barrage struck his position the enemy pounding the hill relentlessly making it difficult to talk. He pushed himself up off the floor into a crouching position and turned in the direction of the command bunker. Before moving he turned back to take one last look at the men. The sight that greeted him made him hesitate, the young Corporal whom he’d been next to was on his back his head severed by a plasma bolt the blood gushing from the wound pooling on the rich clay soil.

 Nauseated from the sight but unable to vomit in the confines of his armour he made a mad dash for the command bunker flinging himself through the opening as HE missile hit the ground near him. He struck the floor rolling rebounding into a fighting crouch the many years of karate and judo training had instilled in him.

 “Shit that was close, Captain Osaki.”

 He turned to see the armoured figure of the company’s Ideologist and Chief Medic crouched in the bunker with him.

 “Kioto hows it going my friend, your going to be very busy shortly.”

 “That’s why I’m here Jommy we going to need to set up more bunks in here for the wounded, no way will the hoverpod’s get in here to evacuate anyone when the shit hits the fan.”

 Kioto had a dual role not only could he mend the wounded but he also could give last rites in all the worlds religions. He took of his helmet and lit up a cigarette the smoke swirling in the rays of light piercing the dusty air of the bunker. Jommy leapt for him knocking the cigarette flying but it was too late Kioto’s eyes bulged as he realised his mistake.

 Jommy opened the command COM channel, “Lock Down, I repeat Lock Down.”

 Giving the order over the comlink signalling for his men to go over to their self-contained air supply as he watched his friend succumb to the effects of a slither bomb. Fortunately he and the other unit officers had been operating in this mode since the offensive started but he had only a few moments before instructed Weng to tell the other commanders to pass the order along. He pulled out his 15mm Musashi pistol and shot Kioto in the head ending his misery quickly. As yet they hadn’t been able to detect or counter the effects of the Slither bomb. Grabbing his dead friend by the lift harness and ignoring the enemy fire he dragged the lifeless armoured body out into the daylight as tears of anguish rolled down his cheeks. It was now apparent that the enemy had included their devastating biological weapon in the last salvo.

 “Jommy, this is Weng bad news I’ve got reports coming in from all over, looks like we’ve lost another sixteen men. I’m sorry I didn’t get the order out quick enough.”

 “Kioto’s gone.”

 Weng detecting the sorry in his voice preyed on his sense of duty.

 “Sorry to hear that Sir, but there’s not much we can do about it now, we’ve got to keep the others alive. I’ve got the bastards in my oculars there in mortar range, shall I give the order to fire.”

 Jommy hesitated for a second rallying his senses before giving Weng the go ahead. A salvo of twenty HE sub-atomic 150mm-mortar shells rained down on the advancing front of the attacking force. These untried beauties had been a recent addition to their arsenal having nearly the same energy output as a one-kiloton atomic shell without the devastating radiation. Although as yet they hadn’t been modified to fire from a tank or artillery piece. The earth shook as the shells exploded ripping apart anything caught in their blast radius, the tiny mushroom clouds littering the terrain. Jommy lifted his oculars to scan the field below breathing deeply as he waited for the debris to settle and the clouds to clear. His jaw dropped as he saw the effect of that first salvo, the hulks of the two tanks and at least fifty bodies littered the field.

 Jommy half smiled to himself and gave the order to the mortar teams, “Fire at will, let them have it” whispering to himself, this ones for you Kioto.

 As the third round of mortar shells left the base of the hill, he noticed that the Retaliators had commenced firing HV missiles. The two metre long missiles erupting from their launch tubes aimed at yet an unseen enemy. Within seconds the first missile exploded followed shortly after by the others, a huge fireball erupting at the limit of their range. Training his oculars on the spot he zoomed picking up a tailing enemy fighter just as it was firing its missiles. He tried not ducking this time as the fighter screamed overhead just before the missiles struck their target. Jommy was knocked off his feet by the blast as one of the incoming missiles hit a mortar pit at the base of the hill. Rising to his feet Jommy looked down the hill to where three of the mortar teams had been located nothing remained but a one hundred-metre wide crater.

 The other two teams that had temporarily been knocked out of action by the blast where just getting back on their feet. Fanning his oculars across the field below he was pleased to see that the mortar salvos had inflicted considerable damage to the enemy’s ranks. Of the nine hundred that had been advancing a few moments before only about half remained and not a sign of any tank’s. All the APV’s were destroyed except the one’s that were staying out of range. These were probably the ones supplying power for the infantry’s force fields. However in the last twenty minutes Jommy had lost a third of his men and one of his closest friends.

 The hoverpod’s that had been kept back because of the fighters and APV’s could now be brought into battle against the enemy. Their single mounted plasma cannon was effective against infantry, as were the twin ten, air to ground missile pods each carried. Although they were vulnerable to PAAM’s (portable anti air missiles) because of their lack of shields and relatively slow speed.

 “Whisky Alpha, this is Romeo One what is your situation.”

 “General, Sir the new mortar shell has been very effective but I need more shells and reinforcements. The Railgat’s have run out of ammo and are no use to me any more so I’m sending them back down the line. I’ve lost Kioto to a Slither and over a third of my men so far. We’ve managed to take out all their heavy armour but about five hundred infantry are still advancing and should reach the bridge within the next ten minutes.”

 “Sorry Jommy to hear about Kioto. About the reinforcements no can do just now. As I suspected the attack on your position was part of a major push. Two divisions are now advancing on our positions. You’ll have to do your best with what you’ve got for the moment. Be on your toes they’ll be in jump range when they hit the bridge.”

 One thing the enemy body armour had which ours didn’t was a jump booster. It gave them the ability to land right on top of a position from one kilometre out, although at the same time making them vulnerable to PAAM’s because of the heat signature the booster put out.

 “Yes Sir, Oh! Sir one request, just in case I don’t make it, tell Nikki I didn’t let Kioto die in pain.”

 “Will do Captain Osaki, god speed son.”

 Jommy scanned the field once more and then gave the order for the hoverpod’s to attack. The six twin bladed turbojet crafts lifted from their camouflaged pits to their ceiling within a minute carrying a little surprise for the enemy. Each held a suicide squad that would be dropped in behind the advancing enemy to harass them and slow their advance as much as possible. The enemy would be in range of rifle plasma fire at the two-k mark and so would his men anything that would slow their advance and give them more time had to be tried.

 Jommy watched the hoverpod’s as they sped off towards the assigned drop zones at over 500 kilometres an hour. Once overhead the enemy troops opened fire in an attempt to knock them down but the pod’s armour was strong enough to absorb the enemy plasma fire. The hoverpods fired missiles and plasma bolts into the advancing ranks without mercy. Even armoured and shielded their defences were no match for missiles designed to take out tanks. The Retaliators missile plumes once more scarred the sky as they rocketed in for a kill. Suddenly a hoverpod erupted in mid air as an air-air missile fired by an enemy fighter took it out Jommy swore to himself again as a heavy laser fired from one of the APV’s that remained in the rear. The lead hoverpod stopped dead in mid air as if the wind had been knocked out of it. Slowly it turned onto its back the rotors disintegrating as it dropped finally bursting into flames killing all on board in the inferno. Air to ground missiles erupted from the other hoverpod’s obliterating the APV that had fired and the Retaliator’s scored another enemy fighter.

 Things were looking up Jommy now had twenty men in a flanking position and the hoverpod’s had killed at least another sixty enemy troops and the last remaining APV’s including the one that supplied power to the enemy shields. Also a further fifty had broken off from the lines and were retreating to intercept his suicide squads. Now the enemy had under four hundred unshielded troops to throw against the remaining 120 men on the hill.

 As the enemy came within range he gave the command order to open fire. Plasma bolts buffeted the enemy but at the limit of their range the effect was minimal like mosquitos against bare skin. Returning fire as they advanced towards the bridge the enemy took increasing losses as they drew near but they did not falter the tailgaters only slowing long enough to ensure no fallen comrade remained alive. For every two killed Jommy was losing one of his own. Although unshielded the enemy’s exo-skeletal armour proved far superior to theirs and could take more hits before being breached. Just before they reached the jump point the Vulcan cannons opened fire tearing apart the leading ranks. Three thousand rounds of armour piercing shells churned up the line mowing down a further fifty before running out of ammo. The Vulcan crews making a valiant dash for the trenches as the enemy boosters ignited launching them the last kilometre to the hill. As they reached the apex of their trajectory PAAMs were fired taking down a few but there were not enough of them to be a serious threat to the enemy.

 Plasma fire intensified as the two armies met head on neither side giving. Jommy and his men knew their fate if the enemy succeeded in taking the hill. As two hundred of the enemy landed around the first trenches were the mortar terms had been Jommy com linked a command order.

 “Withdraw, I repeat, retreat to the top of the hill, form up around the Retaliators.”

 Firing into the enemy as they went the remaining men retreated towards the top of the hill. Those cut off when the enemy jumped into their positions attacked like men possessed to aid their retreat.

 Switching com channels as he ran, “Weng blow the bridge, blow it now”

 Weng who had been cut off activated the remote to detonate the ton of tri-octanitrocubane magnetically strapped to the bridge tresses. As it exploded demolishing the bridge a huge shock wave careened into the ranks of the advancing enemy knocking many off their feet. The force of the explosion rained debris down into their ranks with devastating effect.

 The enemy disorientated by the explosion gave Jommy and his men time to make it to the top. As they gathered around him taking up positions for the final onslaught he prayed for a miracle. Albeit the battle had only raged for the last forty minutes but it had been the longest in his life. Looking through the visors of the helmeted men near him he saw only desperate scared eyes. Eyes looking for a way out of this mess so they could return to there loved ones alive. Alas he had nothing to offer them but hope and an honourable death. Scanning the helmeted insignia’s he noticed Weng wasn’t amongst them.

 They had only moments before being over run his suicide squads and hoverpod’s were still fighting their own battle. Over the command link he gave what may be his last order.

 “Men you have all fought bravely today and the Emperor and your countrymen would be proud of you. Unfortunately we’ve reached the end of the line most us have used up our charge packs and ammo.  The standing order will hold, fight in death ground. The more we kill of these monsters the less our friends will face. If you have a God prey to him now.”

 “Captain, quick look at this.”

 Jommy looked over the rim of the trench and saw Weng racing up the hill towards the enemy with two mortar shells under his arms and a detonator in his hand.

 He shouted but knew it would be on deaf ears, “No! Weng.”

 “For God and country Jommy”, came Wengs response through the com link

 As he reached the enemy ranks the shells exploded. As the shock wave passed Jommy looked down the hill again, Weng had been vaporised. His mad suicide dash killing over half of the advancing enemy the resultant explosion disorientating them again. Seising the opportunity Jommy got to his feet and drew his Shinken. The remaining officers followed suit their men doing the same forming a line along the rim of the trench with swords, plasma rifles and pistols at the ready.

 “This one is for you Weng.”

 Turning to his men and smiling he raised the sword over his head and yelled.

 “Bonzai!!.”

 

 

 

 "Grand Theft Starship"

Part 1

Jane’s breath formed a misty cloud in the cold air as she fidgeted impatiently waiting while Phil worked the lock. She stared at Phil in the dim light pondering, ’what are we doing this is stupid. What am I doing here, Mum will die when she finds out’ she thought negatively. ‘We are going to get caught and they’ll blame me just like they always do’

 “Hey” she said. “Hey, Phil, we, we can’t do this its all wrong” she blurted anxiously looking nervously over her shoulder, as if someone would catch them out.

“Whys that?” asked Phil casually, as he deftly worked the hatch access device. Unlike Jane, Phil seemed calm, unconcerned as if this was all a game for his amusement.  But then, thought Jane, he always seemed that way to her. A hull breach could occur next to him and he wouldn’t be ruffled.

Pete, who was keeping watch, turned on her annoyed “Yeah, why, smarty? He’s got the brains. Look how he confused the Sentinel droids; no one will know we’re nicking it”, he said moving from foot to foot trying to keep warm in the frigid night air. He was cold even though he had more body mass than the rest combined.

Despite adjusting the thermostat on her suit to its highest setting, Jane was still cold in the minus twenty-degree night air. “Cause, cause….” she replied her teeth chattering uncontrollably.

“Cause what, scaredy pants,” Pete rebuked loudly.

“Well it’s against the law and the MP’s won’t like it, that’s cause. Besides, I didn’t know you were planning to steal a Federation ship, especially a fighter”, she said more forcefully trying to keep calm while stating her point of view. She’d reluctantly gone along with the idea of stealing a space ship but didn’t realise Phil intended to steal a military corvette!

The corvette was a thousand tonnes of latest Federation high-speed light attack support craft. Just over a hundred metres in length it was as fast as a cruiser, with the added advantage of redundant plasma cores but not as heavily armed. It was one of the few vessels in the Federation’s fleet that could land on a planet. It had been undergoing an impulse engine refit in Phil’s dad’s engineering workshop when Phil first found out about it and planned to steal it. 

“What difference does it make, if it’s private or military? Are you going to tell on us?” Pete asked menacingly lightly grabbing her jacket sleeve as he gave her the look, his face taking on an evil appearance under the dim red light of his headlamp.

Hurt by his accusation, she pulled away, placing her hands on her hips replying loudly with bravado “Keep your paws off me, asshole. It’s just that we might get caught, that’s what, and the penalty for this is death now that we are at war. That’s the difference. At least, with a private one, we’d only go to jail, if they caught us.”

“Cut it out you two stop acting like children” said Phil, trying to keep his cool. “Jane, keep that torch still”

“Dead or jail? I’d rather be dead than stay here any longer, besides a private one wouldn’t be fast and I like fast.” Pete was a quick thinker at times but no Einstein he could fix almost anything mechanical especially when it came to motors.  Having been born and raised on Charima, a Jupiter sized planet with a highly radioactive atmosphere, his body had been geneered to cope with its extremes but for his size and temper he would have a natural for engine bay duty on a star ship.

Agitated, Phil gestured them to shut up “Be quiet if you can’t talk softly. We won’t get caught, not if I can help it. And you two quit arguing. I’ve got an inhibitor shield up, so they won’t detect us.”  Just as he finished speaking the outer hatch popped open with a hiss letting the air within the airlock escape.

“Won’t they detect the shield and know something’s wrong?” Jane whispered, pushing past him into the warmth of the airlock.

“Nah! Not a chance! It’s projecting a false image, so a tricorder or scan will only return metal and it’s masking our heat signatures. So they’ll still think it’s here even after we’ve gone, except if they’re watching this area from space when we take off, but I’ve set up a little surprise if that happens,” Phil replied confidently.

The proximity alarm beeped, Phil halted looking around instinctively. They all looked at their wrist monitors, hearts pounding nervously, breathing a sigh of relief as the screens showed an image of a rat passing by one of the detectors they’d laid out before moving in to steal the corvette. They were lucky the engineering workshop was on the outskirts of the city in an area that was unfrequented at night. They all froze as it beeped again, relaxing once more when Trovan’s marker tab lit up.

Trovan, the fourth member of their party had set the sensors while acting as their main lookout. An adopted Sirian, tall, lean and dark skinned he was an adept at stealth, born on a dark frigid world that gave him the ability when naked, to virtually disappear into the surroundings at night. With a body temperature near zero he didn’t register on any infrared scan.

Phil taking his place by the inner hatch lock continued, “It’s a corvette that could get us killed, I know but think of the money we’d get for it on the black market. Once we’ve breached all the security locks we are out of here, then we’ll live like Kings as far away from this backwater planet as we can get, isn’t that what you wanted Jane?” while removing his pack.

Jane, a pretty petite blonde haired girl, had a thing for Phil, relying on his smarts ever since they met on the ship from Earth to Regulus V. She wasn’t stupid but at fourteen was easily led by Phil, who was two years older than her. “I suppose anything to get away from here. Are you sure though, I mean won’t they be able to track us?”

“Up to a point but once we go to warp, with what I’ve got programmed on this chip,” proudly he showed her a shiny terra-byte chip he had in his pocket and what I’ve got in here”, he patted his pack, “they’ll never be able to find us, it’ll be goodbye forever”

“That’s it isn’t it” said Pete interrupting. “We weren’t asked if we wanted to come here. Didn’t get a choice our parents just up and moved us, saying they’d been transferred and that was that. Three years on this crappy planet with all these MECH nerds and Federation types. If it wasn’t for you guys, I’d have gone mad. I’ll be glad to get out of here.” Pete had hated living here from day one, forced to leave his girlfriend back on Charima. With a year between messages, the last one he received was the killer, she’d hooked up with another guy. Now at eighteen, this was his only chance of getting off the planet now that he had been rejected by the Academy.

Phil unscrewed the plate covering the inner door lock mechanism, then attached the Nanopac he designed to counter the security devices. He’d memorised the schematics of the corvette that he’d downloaded from his dad’s computer eight weeks ago. Four people could operate the thousand tonne ship at a pinch, although it was designed for a crew of twenty. He had a couple of devices in his pack that would help them along. They waited quietly while Phil looked at his watch, counting down the three minutes for the nanobots to do their job.

Phil’s tri-corder beeped twice, “That’s it, let’s go,” he said while signalling Trovan to come back as the inner air-lock door slid aside. “Leave Trovan’s enviro suite and goggles by the hatch. Jane,” he ordered. The suite maintained Trovan’s body temperature at a cool five degrees Celsius while the goggles protected his eyes from any bright light.

By the beam of his headlamp, Phil guided them to the turbo-lift that would take them to the control deck. Once they reached the bridge Phil quickly located the main computer and activated the auxiliary lighting. He then sent Pete aft to bring the plasma cores up to full power. Jane sat quietly; swinging the Commander’s chair from side to side as she watched Phil unload his pack, then remove the front cover of the communication console housing.

“What’s that for?” she asked as Phil moved a dark multi-ribbed box onto the panel.

“Oh this, it will alter our voices,” he replied attaching it with a couple of alligator clips to the internal wiring.

“Why do we need to do that?” she asked.

Phil grimaced, Jane was always asking questions at the most inopportune times. He felt like a teacher. “Show you later, go see if Trovan’s back and make sure the hatches are closed and the canopy’s brought in, then stow the other gear in the crew quarters” he replied curtly.

With a huff, Jane got out of her seat. Phil turned, watching her as she left the control room. “Well now she’s out of my hair, I can finish in peace. This is taking longer than I planned,” he thought. A minute later, the control counsels lit up like an Xmas tree as the main lights came on. As he was about to place the chip he made into the navigation computer the lift door hissed open and the others strolled out single file behind Pete who was as wide as the lift door. Jane, hidden by his bulk, was making rude gestures behind his back. They had a mutual disrespect for each other, she was jealous of his brawn and fearlessness, he of her closeness to Phil.

Phil laughed, seeing what she was doing, “Ready Phil? What’s so funny?” Pete asked looking around confused, wondering why Phil was laughing.

“Oh nothing,” Phil replied. At the sight of Trovan, he gave thumbs up for a job well done, before he sat in the Commander’s chair. “Ok everyone we’re ready to go, take your places”, he ordered.

Pete sat at the engineering console the chair springs creaking under his prodigious weight. Trovan took his place at weapons console and Jane, who felt as if she was out of her depth, looked tiny with her feet dangling under the communications console. Phil took one last look around before activating the gravity compensators. As the ship lifted skyward the roof covering the docking bay folded back automatically, sounding an alarm as it did. The ship reacted slowly gradually accelerating as the compensator coils built up their negative charge. When the ship was ten kilometres above the workshop Phil engaged the impulse engines. They were pushed back in their seats as the ship accelerated away from the planet at half impulse speed.

They all stared in awe as the ship cleared the atmosphere, greeted by a view of the Sun rising above the planets rim. It was only the second time any of them had been in space. The others cheered as Phil piloted the ship, patting each other on their backs. Phil although happy remarked sternly, “We are not clear yet, so don’t get too excited,” which prompted them to return to their stations.

A few moments later, Jane jumped as an icon suddenly blinked on the coms panel. “Phil, I think someone’s hailing us,” Jane said meekly, nervously moving to press the switch. “Hold on Ja…” Phil replied too late as she switched the com on. A stern authoritive voice broke the silence, “USS Munroe, this is Sahara, please cut your engines, we have no authorised flight logged for you at this time. Who’s in command, respond or we’ll be forced to take you in tow.”

“What do we do now?” Jane pleaded, knowing that the Sahara was one of several orbiting battle stations positioned at the Le Grange Points capable of locking a tractor beam on them.

Phil smiled he’d been expecting some thing to happen it had all be too easy so far. “Take it easy Jane, You wanted to know why we needed that box, now you’ll find out. Open up a channel for me and keep quite all of you.”

 “Sahara, this is Commander Lefroy. Sorry about that, we were scheduled to leave tomorrow and we just couldn’t wait till then! You know how it is being cooped up on that planet for two months R & R, might be good for some but we couldn’t take any more.” As Phil spoke, the watch officer on the Sahara heard the voice of Commander Lefroy, the officer in charge of the Corvette. Jane giggled as the disguised voice echoed over the com Phil gave her stern look prompting her to shut up. Phil had been introduced to Lefroy one weekend while he was helping his Dad at the workshop. He’d come in with a couple of other Officers to see how the refit was going and Phil secretly recorded their voices.

“Hi Commander, long time no hear. I know what you mean about being landside. I suppose you’ll be glad to rejoin the fleet. I’ll still need you to transmit your current authorisation code. Thanks.”

Phil, his eyes wide, signalled for Jane to cut the com link. “That blows it. I don’t know the new authorisation code. All I have is the one from yesterday’s test flight,” he blurted looking at the others for an answer. He’d thought he’d been smart up to now.

Trovan who wasn’t one for saying much spoke softly in broken Standish, “Zphil, try that’ss delays cause gives more time, we warp.”

Phil nodded thinking it was worth a try so he signalled Jane to reopen the link, “Sahara, authorisation code Alpha Whiskey Tango 2312113. Confirm”. It would give them a minute or two to prepare for warp and set another little surprise for anyone that followed.

“Pete, activate the warp nacelles, will ya. Trovan as soon as we’re at warp jettison that canister next to the disposal chute. Everyone, strap yourselves in, we’re in for a bumpy ride,” he ordered.

“Commander Lefroy, why are your warp engines on line? Commander, this is yesterday’s code. Please stand down. Commander, please, otherwise I’ll be forced to take action.” The watch officer on the Sahara didn’t know what to do. The code was a valid code although out of date and he knew the sound of the Commanders voice.

Phil signalled Pete ordering, “Engage, Warp factor seven.”

As soon as they entered hyperspace Trovan jettisoned Phil’s canister. The canister would project ghost warp trails so whoever followed would be totally confused trying to figure out what direction they took until they did a thorough check.

The watch officer on the Sahara pushed the panic button as the Munroe warped. Moments later, a slightly ruffled Lieutenant entered the room buttoning his tunic, “What’s up Smitty?”

“Sir, there’s been an unauthorised warp transit by the Munroe. Strange thing is I recognised the Commander’s voice, but they sent yesterday’s code,” Smitty replied.

“Check planet side, Smitty, and dispatch the Valliant after them,” the Lieutenant ordered yawning. “Let me know when you get a response from either. I’ll be getting a coffee.” As he left the room he thought, ”Another star ship jockey breaking regs in a hurry to get back in action, I’ll bet”

“Phil, what’s the ship doing? It’s like we are kangaroo hopping,” Jane asked holding onto her seat as the ship stopped then took off again. In two minutes they had made six different warp jumps. The ship changing direction every twenty seconds added to the warp trail confusion left behind.

Phil replied, “Remember that chip I showed you? Well it went into the auto pilot-navigation controller. Now that’s over we are on our way to Epsilon, then Orion, then finally Omicron, all of which don’t belong to the Federation. We should make Omicron in twelve days, all going well. There we’ll find a buyer for this ship, buy another one and disappear for good.”

Pete got up and walked to the lift asking, “Hey, I don’t know about you lot but I’m hungry. Anyone want anything?” Pete was always hungry at two fifty kilo’s he needed a lot of food. Jane rose, wobbling as she did. She didn’t feel too good. She felt like she’d been in a washing machine. “No thanks, I’m going to lie down for a while all this hopping around given me a queasy stomach.”

Pete frowned he was wondering if it had been worth bringing her along “Sure Jane” he replied, “I’ll join you Pete. Can’t do much now until we reach Omicron. Trovan, you want to come along?” Phil asked.

“Noss meess not hungries, me stay, keeps watch”, Trovan replied, not being one for the bland taste of human food. When he was hungry he would see what he could do about the ships food replicator so it would produce something to his taste. As they left the room Trovan asked the computer to dim the lights, then he sat quietly staring at the stars as they zoomed by. Within a minute he nodded off to sleep. What seemed like a moment later he was awoken by the smell of something burning? Not knowing what to do, as nothing was obviously wrong, he raced to the galley, but halfway there he was slammed against a bulkhead and knocked unconscious as the ship lurched madly.

In the galley Pete and Phil grabbed the edge of the table as the ship lurched, food and drinks flying. Phil grimaced, straining to stay put while Pete took it in his stride un-phased. “Shit”, Phil yelled as he slipped off the seat, bumping his head on the table’s edge.

Jane, who’d been resting in the Captain’s cabin, was flung off the bed and tossed across the cabin. Pete heard her scream but he couldn’t move, he held his ground as long as he could but eventually blacked out, overcome by the forces being exerted on the ship

Bruised and dazed, Jane stood and staggered out of the cabin towards the bridge. She felt a strong arm from behind grab her around the waist helping to support her. “You all right?” Pete asked concerned, noticing the big lump on her forehead.  Jane looked up and saw Pete was supporting Phil in his other arm.

“Fine, fine, I think. What happened? What hit us? How long have I been out,” she asked confused.

“Don’t know what happened. It’s been a few hours I think,” Pete replied. “Maybe Trovan can tell us we left him on the bridge”

As they entered the bridge Phil let go while Pete put Jane in a seat. Phil rushed over to Trovan, who was still unconscious on the floor feeling for a pulse he sensed the faint smell of burnt wiring.

“Pete, come and look after Trovan, take him to a cabin.” Pete lumbered over picking up Trovan like a limp rag, carrying him off. While he was gone Phil traced the source of the smell to the navigation/autopilot chip that he’d installed. It had fused itself to the circuit panel and was now nothing more than an indistinguishable blob of melted plastic.

‘Warning, warning, plasma core meltdown emanate. Warp speed unsustainable’, the computer broadcast in a soft female voice.

As it continued to broadcast the warning Pete rushed back in pushing past Phil straight to the engineering console. He ranted, “Didn’t anyone notice the warp gauge is off the screen? Look,” pointing out the view port where the star field appeared as a blur. Pete cut the warp drive and the ship came to an abrupt halt, the star field returning to normal.

“Ok Phil find out where we are, I’m going to check the cores” he turned to leave, “God only knows what speed we’ve been cruising at and for how long. Phil find out what happened while I’m gone,” he ordered taking charge.

“Sure, no problem,” Phil replied, trying not to sound worried. It had been his fault but he didn’t want to let on. Something must have gone wrong when he built the chip, causing the short. He preyed that what he was thinking hadn’t happened to them.

Jane, who’d been sitting quietly until then gathering her senses screeched, “What’s going on? I told you something would go wrong, I knew we shouldn’t have stolen this ship. Do you know where we are, why’s Pete checking the engines?”

“Shut up Jane and let me find out. Computer, where are we?” he asked.

Jane broke down and started to cry. It had all been too much for her. Trovan who had just come back stared at her as he took his seat, puzzled by her actions, not used to human emotions nor knowing how to react towards them.

‘Uncharted territory’, the computer replied.

“What’s that mean?” Phil asked concerned.

‘Uncharted territory refers to a sector of space that has not been charted by Federation survey.’ it responded

“I know that. But can we get back on course to Omicron from here?”

‘No’

“Are you saying we’re lost?”

‘Yes’

At this, Jane cried louder, she’d been against it from the start, now her worst fears had come true. Phil started to pace. Trovan couldn’t have cared less looked on unconcerned. Pete rejoined them, noticing Phil’s glum expression asked.

“What’s up?”

“We’re lost” Jane sobbed.

Reassuringly he remarked smiling “Well that fixes one problem they definitely won’t find us now, will they. Lost or Omicron I don’t care. I’m where I want to be, on a great ship with plenty of food, good friends and away from Regulus. We’ll find our way back you wait and see”, throwing his hands wide “even if we don’t there’s a whole galaxy out there to explore and we’re young enough to do it”