Entry 017: A Complicated Little War
Day 77
They had little choice but attack now if they were going to strike at all. Otherwise, reinforcements would gather and we could easily lose, and lose a lot of men.
I walked with Yila to my beastly Fighter. It was quite a somber little walk. When we reached the ugly thing, we both spoke at once. “Go ahead,” I told her.
She tugged her mouth aside in a rather Nijal-like way. “I… well… be safe. Be very safe, my… wingman. And I mean that!” After her rather hot outburst, she stroked my cheek, adding in a tender voice, “No more near-death, please.”
I knew we were taking up time with this goodbye, as the whole mission waited on my departure, but I lingered as our eyes shared secret passions and fears. I murmured to her, “You be safe too, and message me if you have any trouble.”
“Yila!” someone called, waving to us.
She muttered something, seeming to gather herself, and grabbed me about the neck in a tight hug, whispering, “Return to me… my one.”
I gave her a kiss on the cheek, hugging her back as hard, saying to her, “I promise, my darling, precious angel.”
Just as they were shouting again, she groaned and pushed out of my arms, muttering, “Go, get this overwith so we… ohh, be brave and true.” I wanted to hear more, wanted to say more, but the clock was ticking. I watched her run off and forced myself to enter Space Beast, my stomach in knots.
Daderme-Gek spread out in front of me, an Unknown G Class System infested with Raiders. I wondered if there were any of the rightful inhabitants still living there in fear of capture, lurking in remote areas. If there were, I prayed that none were in the base.
Of the four worlds in the system, the one which concerned me was the second, Nytanu-Gek, a pleasant verdant world, and a name I was determined to edit with extreme prejudice. I pulsed to it, a trip which was over a bit too soon for me. I was shocked when I broke out of pulse drive to hear a number of Gek distress calls. Sure enough, near the Space Station and poised over the planet were a number of Freighters being swarmed by Fighters, streaks of weapon fire spraying into the void. A battle was already raging? What the hell was going on! Could it possibly be the indigenous people trying to defend themselves? I decided to hail a Freighter, calling, “This is Traveler Fox, Nigel Fox. Please identify and give your status.”
“Interloper?” My next surprise was that it was Vy’keen. “I am Commander Tersgh’ah of the Second Battle Group of the Fifth Fleet of Admiral Yaigh’nekh. If you would lend your blade, it would be best used on the cursed Gek fortress on Nytanu. Do you need coordinates?”
I performed a quick scan and found the base indicator just over the horizon of the world below. “No, I’ve got it, thanks. I’ll join your blades shortly.” And then a thought struck me, and I added, “Commander, I have something else to report. I just came from the Amdontin system where another Gek base was located. I joined a battle group and we captured it. It’s in our hands now.”
He gave out a big gasp of shock. “You are…!” I sensed that he had almost called me a liar. “You speak the truth?”
“Yes, it’s true.” This must be the conflict that Vy’keen had gone to Isvelda to ask about. It was too much of a coincidence, which meant a separate battle group was heading for Amdontin. Thank God I had the presence of mind to mention it.
He still looked amazed in my display. “I will inform the other battle groups of this. Now our forces will be less divided. We still welcome your support.”
I wondered how welcoming he would be of my Oshazi friends. “I have one last item to report. I am in command of a fighting force, and we were coming to defeat the Gek ourselves. I request permission to join in the attack.”
“Force?” He gave me a puzzled, dubious look. “What kind of force? Vy’keen? Korvax?”
I steeled myself for his reaction. “Oshazi. They are great warriors.”
Now he really looked puzzled. “What in the name of Hirk is that?” He then shook his head at me. “No matter. If they are… others, tell your force to stay out, go back. Joining with others is trouble.”
I was afraid of that, and said evasively, “I will… take that under advisement. May you succeed with great glory. Nigel Fox, out.” Great, great, just great…
“Nijal, report in.” It was Amek. I had a feeling he wouldn’t care for my news.
“Nijal here. Listen, this world is currently under attack by—”
“Already?” He was understandably incredulous. There were plenty of surprises to go around today.
“Yes, by Vy’keen. Why don’t you recall your forces and secure the base at Tumussid, let us deal with the forces at Nytanu?”
He puffed a sour breath at me. “The hell we will. Our battle group is about to join you.”
This was almost worse than taking the Gek on ourselves. While it would seem that joining forces would help insure victory, I had no idea how the Vy’keen would react to an army of outsiders joining in battle like this, especially a race they had never seen before, and in defiance of a direct order. I also hadn’t thought through what joining forces entailed. Without rigorous training first, joint combat was a bad idea. And if they attacked my friends, even by mistake, I would have to defend them. “I copy,” I replied soberly. “But listen, a Vy’keen battle group may show up at Tumussid soon. If they do, contact them immediately because they think they still have a Gek base to invade. I told my Vy’keen chums about you, so hopefully there won’t be any confusion.”
“Understood. Tenari bless your victory,” he said to me and signed off. Tenari would definitely need to bless this mess.
When the Oshazi jumped in, they gave voice to their amazement at the incredible battle raging in the distance. They had never witnessed such a sight, as nothing like it had occurred for thousands of years. This was a first for me as well, sure that I had never lead an invasion group before. “Commander Nijal, your orders.” It was Milos, and I was glad to hear his voice.
“How is your eye?”
There was a hint of pleasure in his voice. “Like new, thanks to you. Eye owe you.” I just caught the pun, laughing, but he cut me off. “Now, to the battle… your orders.”
“Follow me in,” I told him. “And listen, Vy’keen are people devoted to war, so for Tenari’s sake stay away from them. I doubt they will like our interference.”
“Our interference?” he scoffed. “This is our battle! But I will pass down your directive.”
I guided my flotilla far away from the fight raging around Commander Tersgh’ah’s ships, and thankfully no Gek seemed to notice. I couldn’t count on that forever. I took my own battle group in high until we were close enough to see the Gek base in the distance, and it was big, at least twice as large as the one on Tumussid, smoke rising from it. Then I brought us in low and a distance off from it, approaching at hilltop level, and set down in an open area near a forest about two kilometers away. As the flight made to land, the many fauna ran for their lives toward the surrounding forest. It would be a short hike, but I wanted a decent buffer zone between me and any combatants on either side. I would have to rely on my hopefully keen negotiating skills to navigate through any tricky dialog with the Vy’keen commanders, and I wasn’t looking forward to their reaction. I radioed to Yila, “Set your two squadrons down next to the group, and be ready in case we need fire support. And be aware that the Vy’keen pilots may not yield to you. Don’t fight for airspace with them.”
“You’re serious?” she asked in dismay, grumbling, “Of all the ridiculous… ohh… understood.” Surely there would be no problems between two headstrong people…
As I set my ship down and disembarked, there were a series of booms off in the distance, and the sky above the trees was grimed with smoke. I was glad that it was a sunny morning here, so most of the battles should be easier to conduct. When the commanders sorted the troops into their companies and platoons, I said with a wave, “All right, guys, let’s move out.”
The forest ringing the base would be good for shade and concealment. I cradled Yila’s heart in mine as I led the force of Oshazi through the woods, growing tense as the sounds of battle drew near. Then I heard something that had my whole body clench; a voice, a stern one. “Hold… you stop!”
I put up my hands, my rifle in my right and aimed skyward, hissing behind me, “Halt, everyone, and stand at ready.” It wasn’t a Gek, nor Vy’keen… was it one of the natives? Thank God they knew Lingo, at least some. I peered into the wood but only saw a hint of bodily forms here and there.
The voice muttered uncertainly, “What… are you? Machine, or living?”
My helmet concealed my face in the dimness of the wood, so they wouldn’t know. They seemed more cautious than aggressive, so I decided to trust them. I slowly put my rifle away and undid my helmet, revealing my face. “I am Fox, Nijal Fox, a Human. I’ve come to fight the Gek for you… we all have.” Behind me, Commander Milos gave an unsure grunt. “Could you show me who you are?”
There was a tense moment of inaction until one of them emerged, training a Gek weapon on me. He was a tall, stocky, well muscled reptile with markings of gray and brown in natural camoflage. A crest of thin blackish feathers or hair ran down the center of his head and neck, and he wore scant clothes. He looked a bit like a Raptor, but intelligent and fully humanoid. “I am—”
“A lizard!” someone shouted, and there was quite a commotion behind me at the sight of the strange alien.
He didn’t like it, snarling with bared fangs, “You… fur balls!” followed by language with lots of sibilants. A number of the same beings emerged from cover, looking no less displeased, armed with Gek weapons as well as more primitive things, but all looking deadly. Both sides were on edge, growling out what had to be rude language.
I had to get control of this and quick, positioning myself between them. “Hold on! Wait! We have a common enemy! The Gek! We have to fight them. They hunt my friends too.”
They both quieted down, but there was a lot of tension in the intervening silence. Finally, he lowered his weapon, as did the ones behind. “Be nice with your words!” he grumbled sternly. Race relations had clearly suffered over the last few thousand years, and I was stuck playing diplomat. What would dealing with the Vy’keen be like?
This would have to be quick, daylight was burning. I motioned for Milos to join me, saying, “Let’s talk. I promise, nice words.”
As I figured, he was the leader of one group of his people, a male named S’ndelek. They were Shlaadi, and for a decade or so the Gek had control of their planet. They were a bit primitive, lacking in technical know-how after surviving The Evil which ravaged their world, and trade between systems came to an end, so the Gek faced only token opposition. Many were captured, no doubt enslaved and sold off. With the sounds of battle today, they came to see what the situation was, and if they could help fight. We explained our side briefly, letting Milos do much of the talking since it was his force at risk, but I took up at the end to explain about the invaders. “They are called Vy’keen, and they are fierce warriors who don’t like people getting into their fights. We need to stay out of their way. They may fight us too, and we can’t let that happen because I am also friends with them.”
“Then make them hear you,” S’ndelek told me pointedly. Oh, if only I could, and I explained that they probably wouldn’t hear me, so it was best to back off and let them fight unless they asked for help, which I doubted very much. He mulled this over with an aid, a female and perhaps his mate, and nodded at last. “We will take up your words. Our folk will be a shadow close by.” He clearly meant to fight with us.
I looked the group over. The ones who didn’t have Gek weapons were armed with spears, bows, slings and clubs. I couldn’t believe they would be anything but a sacrificial distraction, and I hoped to dissuade them. Particularly with those makeshift weapons, what use would they be? “I wish you would stay out of the fight.”
One of them scowled at me, thrusting a spear my way. “These make bad pain,” he told me, and rather than a spearhead of wood or stone, it was a mean looking Gek blade. Their arrows must be similar.
“Right, right,” I murmured with a nod, then said to S’ndelek, “Let’s go then, and thank you for the shadow. This will probably be a hard fight.”
As he moved off with the others, he replied, “Hard fights are the most worth.” That was true enough, but would they be up to it?
We continued on, our Shlaadi shadow off to our left, a force which seemed equally male and female, so there was no chauvinism with them, perhaps from necessity. While they all looked quite strong, they had no body armor among them so they were much more vulnerable. I didn’t need this new responsibility, but I was stuck with it.
The Gek base was being pounded good, and the boom of explosions grew louder and more jarring. Finally we saw the high wall encircling the base, and abruptly the treeline stopped as the Gek had cleared a wide space around their fort. There was a massive gate with a stout door lowered over the entrance, as I expected, and began to get out for a better look at the gun emplacements when S’ndelek pulled me back, pointing at the top of the wall in front of us where two big gun turrets were occasionally shooting at Vy’keen ships. “Those are sure death.”
“So are we,” Milos retorted, looking to me. “Attack now?”
“Take 'em out,” I replied. He ordered a quad of missileers forward, who took up position behind sturdy trees, aimed and fired. Four missiles streaked to their targets, and with satisfying bangs the turrets were taken down. I ran out into the open, counting on no turret fire, and when there was none I motioned everyone forward. It was quite a motley crew of Oshazi and Shlaad which dashed across the open land. I ran up to the side of the doors where a panel was and said to my Suit, “Hack away, darling.” She dutifully set on the task, and in short order the gate began its ponderous opening routine. Now the sounds of combat rang out even louder.
Milos was disappointed. “I would liked to have blasted that to scrap.”
“Let’s only break what we have to,” I reminded him, hoping for less salvage and repair work at the end of this. “Now keep your missile men forward—”
“No need to say the obvious,” he said over me, and motioned his men to advance.
Now we were approaching the thick of battle, with Vy’keen ships swooping in to attack through a hail of defensive fire. The layout of the base was almost identical to the one on Tumussid, with outlying buildings leading to ever taller, more sturdy structures, with a large open area in the center fronting a tall main tower, and likely spacecraft hangars beyond. There was the racket of Photon Cannon and other weapons, with the Gek forces returning fire. They had yet to land any troops of their own, working to soften the target area up first. I scanned around to make sure we weren’t near any Gek, and cautioned everyone to stay behind me as we advanced through a maze of buildings. As brave a front as the Shlaad put up, they were clearly intimidated by the unnerving ferocity of this mortal combat. I hoped they took the threat of death seriously.
I tried to hail a Vy’keen pilot, and one responded. “Who is this!” he demanded of the stranger on his channel.
“Traveler Fox, Nigel Fox,” I replied. “I have troops with me inside the Gek base.”
“You have… troops?” he asked in amazement.
“Yes, other races, and we can help take out ground targets for you so you can land your own troops sooner. I would appreciate it if you kept your fire focused on main targets, away from buildings unless they’re swarming with Gek. Do you see us on your scanners? We’re just inside the west gate.”
“We cannot, and we cannot swear on your safety, so you stay back from our strikes,” he warned me. “But I will tell the others.”
“Fair enough… out,” I replied, turning to the men huddled with me to state what should be obvious. “This fighting is deadly, so keep behind cover. Especially you Shlaad,” I warned them as earnestly as I could.
S’ndelek nodded. “I hear you, but if we see Gek close, we fight them.” I saw that there would be no negotiating that point.
There was a tremendous blast nearby that rattled us, and the sound of something crashing into a building. I looked, hoping to see a fallen mech but it was a Vy’keen Fighter, half embedded in the wall of a structure and a wing dug into the ground. It was burning, and the pilot was stuck in the cockpit. “Oh dear God - wait here!” I exclaimed, and bolted off for the wreck. I cringed as I heard footfalls accompanying me, and glanced back to see Milos and S’ndelek both running at my heels and giving each other looks. Just what I needed, rival heroes who wouldn’t obey orders. I ran up to the burning ship telling the pair with me, “Stay back, this could explode!” as I tried to get the canopy release to work, but it was stuck. I shouted to the scared looking pilot, “Cover up!” I crossed my arms over my helmet to demonstrate in case he couldn’t hear. As he did, I fired a hard Blaze Javelin shot through the canopy, which shattered away. I reached in to help him up but he was still strapped in. “Unbuckle!” I cried, beginning to assist but he managed, and I reached in to haul him out as flames began to lick around his legs. Even I could feel the heat, and I fought harder to free him. He could have baked alive in that hell.