Prince ventar of trun, p.15
Prince Ventar of Trun, page 15
The fear disappeared from Coffer’s face. ‘Yes, let’s do it! Here, take this.’ He handed his pistol to Saffrin and, rising together, they charged at the Vercetians, mustering the loudest battle cry they could.
The next few seconds appeared to pass by in slow motion for the young soldier.
He saw a beam of light heading for him. It would have been travelling lightning quick, but he had time to see it coming even though there was no chance of getting out of its way. Is this what it’s like to die? They say everything slows down at the point of death. He closed his eyes, not wanting to see it hit him, but nothing happened. His eyes opened to see the beam bending around him, heading away. His mind was back in real time. I’m not dead!
A Vercetian directly in front of them fired, amazed at the reaction of the laser beam. She tried again then let her weapon fall to the floor, the hatred draining from her; a recognition of the absurdity of their actions. Fifty feet away, another Vercetian soldier took careful aim at a Trun. As he squeezed the trigger, his comrade bumped into him, deflecting his aim. The soldier in front of Saffrin was blown forward as the friendly fire tore into her back, straight into the young soldier’s arms. He dropped to his knees still holding the dying female and turned to Coffer. The horror on the old man’s face mirrored his own.
The effect of the Penumbra became apparent as the shields began failing, with laser beams avoiding their intended targets and booby-trapped weapons shutting down before they could detonate. It took three hours for the two sides to conclude they were unable to harm each other. The final attempts at hand to hand combat were downright embarrassing. Zander made his way to the bewildered Trun Commander. He put his hands on his shoulders and shook him. ‘Handra, Handra, it’s me, Zander. Stop this. Call a full retreat.’
Zander, his holographic enhancements disabled, was recognisable to all the soldiers who had previously served him. He walked among them telling them to calm themselves, assuring them that this was over and that the Vercetians were not the enemy. The message spread like wildfire through the ranks of soldiers. Their leader was back.
At the very first opportunity, he radioed to Ventar. ‘We have lost the war here, Prince. It has been carnage. Nearly everyone on both sides is dead. How could this have happened?’
Kam Major overheard the coded message to the Prince, desperately hoping the media would play their part.
The TC Class battle cruiser was first out of the hangar door of the Trun Space Station, opening fire on Mancer and Rapha’s vessel. Following behind and in rapid succession came the Bifighters, each heading off in different directions.
‘All 3W Fighters,’ instructed Rapha, his manner unflappable, ‘pick a Bi-fighter and stay close. Await further instructions. Sin brothers, launch and sit back, but feel free to improvise.’
‘Understood,’ replied Drango.
Twenty small, glowing, red globes appeared from along the length of the space station battle cruiser, the tell-tale green tails forming behind them. The cannon banks discharged again and a third time, these red globes with unusual orange and fluorescent yellow tails, and not following the first volley. It was ominously different to what the brothers expected. In response, Rapha’s cruiser replied with a barrage of three rows of globes, all red and perfectly aligned.
‘What do you make of that?’ Drango asked Karl.
‘Some enhancement?’ he replied.
It soon became clear. The globes formed a distinct spearhead, directed at the cruiser’s Ion Drive. The pedestrian speed at which they appeared to travel on the brothers' screen, belied the spectacular colour show that ensued when the forward red ones reached the cruiser – streaks of red and green lightning forks shooting in all directions, briefly displaying the full expanse of the protective shielding around the ship. The second salvo of orange-tailed globes was more intense with the streaks of lightning forks far more target focused. This local weakening of the ship’s shield left an area that the final volley of yellow-tailed globes could easily exploit. They pushed their way through and destroyed the left side Ion Drive module. The cruiser was crippled.
‘How the hell did they do that?’ shouted Karl. ‘We need to attack.’
‘Missile deployed,’ said Drango, ‘though I’m not sure what it will do.’
The tiny onboard supercomputer kicked in as soon as the target was sighted. An accompanying message appeared on the computer screen:
Threat level High, enable shield penetration and weapons disability.
Multiple T14 conventional weapon deployments.
Use Operator Override to permit increased damage capability.
‘This sounds much more interesting than the attack on the asteroid,’ said Karl.
The missile approached the cruiser, and eased itself through the invisible barrier, by a means not understood by the brothers. It was stationary with twenty small projectiles released from the warhead, each targeting a cannon bank. A series of tiny explosions took out each cannon, disabling with the minimum amount of damage. This cruiser was weapon-less.
‘Impressive,’ said Drango, ‘Let’s get the Bifighters.’
‘Thank you, both,’ the voice of Rapha said over their comms. ‘Can you do the same to the Bi-fighters?’
‘Our plan exactly, Captain,’ he replied, ‘interception course locked in.’
‘Show me some proper flying, brother,’ he said to Karl.
‘You bet,’ the young Trun replied.
The Cracks fighter sped into action, with Karl instinctively following the two Bifighters heading directly down towards Trun Rizontella. They had a start, but the brothers were catching fast.
‘They are both deploying, Karl,’ shouted Drango. ‘Get as close as you can to the first and when I’ve fired go straight to the second.’
Karl swooped in, and Drango fired a missile. They hardly had time to read the deployment message.
Threat level Extremely High, enable weapons disability and missile impairment.
Primary missile disability focus. Impairment drone direct command initiated.
Full Operator Override available.
The second missile and the Bifighter were commandeered by the drone locking system. The computer calculated the location to first and performed no further action. It was out of range.
In an instant, the brothers were on the second Bi-fighter, with smart missile deployed. The Bi-fighter had fired three projectiles. The intelligent weapon could disable the ship and one of them; the other two would hit their target. The Sin brothers were in the lower atmosphere over Trun and could see the destruction occurring to Tilian East and Tilian Major. Their eyes met, the horror of the devastation below hitting home.
‘Go!’ shouted Drango.
His brother stoically set himself and swung the fighter through one hundred eighty degrees, and raced over the Garin Sea towards the Wastelands of Bala Verceti.
The fighter rapidly caught the second two Bifighters, but they were already over East Lee and Grant Foodick, and had already deployed three missiles each. They fired two smart rockets in quick succession and hoped for the best. Within seconds, they were aware of more drone deployment, all chasing their respective targets. The Bifighters were disabled and three of the six missiles destroyed, but the plumes of smoke rising from both cities were clear to see.
At midnight of Day Two, Carffekk pulled up his chart to assess the day’s progress.
Sixty thousand Vercetians had fought nearly two hundred thousand Trun north of Verbala. All had gone to plan. Conservative estimated death toll, two hundred and fifty thousand.
Smaller forces had clashed at Ceti with the same results. Estimated death toll, one hundred and forty thousand.
The assault from space was disappointing, only four of the seven cities attacked. Birjjikk would have stern words with Henkk. He would need an excellent excuse to get out of this one. But the damage wasn’t too detrimental to the Game plan. Figures should still be in the region of one million, judging by the damage done. The shortage of half a million could easily be clawed back by the natural disaster campaign, starting tomorrow. Anyway, these numbers were blanket deaths and not seen as vitally important when betting began.
He noted the figures on his chart.
Estimated Total for Day Two = 1,390,000
Estimated Total for Campaign = 1,440,500
Tomorrow would be most important, setting the agenda for the remaining seven days.
High above in deep space, the Assessor finished his computations for Day Two.
With his sophisticated surveillance equipment, he could see a pattern forming. He suspected this world was getting help, what kind he wasn’t sure of, and frankly, he didn’t care. He would give this campaign one more day before making a decision.
He viewed the total number of deaths that had occurred that day and deducted those attributed to natural causes and other non-war related events.
He noted the figure on his chart.
Total Deaths for Day Two = 1
Total for Campaign = 1
Chapter 29 - The Ten-Day War
The Ten-Day War
Day Three
* * *
THE CAST:
Arneld Simmer, Brender Formatt, Kam Major, Domantry Zander, Cascan Ofier, Dori Mancer, Prince Ventar, High Elder Tauriar, Carffekk, Henkk, Birjjikk
* * *
Midnight, and the start of a new day – Day Three of the Game.
Henkk had arrived at the Space Station earlier, to find out what had occurred the previous day, and why the attacks on the cities had been cut short. The Bi-fighters and the battle cruiser were back in the hangar. He was in his native form, the epidermis of High Commander Hallot discarded for good.
In his initial rage, he had killed all five crew of one of the Bi-fighters, and another five from the Battle Cruiser. He needed to fulfil his desire to murder, but still wanted to get three of the fighters back out there. The maintenance droids were hard at work on the weapons systems, with the rest of the Trun cowering in the dark shadows of the hangar. He was reviewing the data from each of the vessels.
At the same time, CRNN news presenter Arneld Simmer was sitting with his Trun counterpart, ABK’s Brender Formatt. In an unprecedented broadcast, they had commandeered all of the world’s TV channels. Brender introduced the special guests around the oval table.
‘First, representing Bala Verceti, we have High Council Elder Tauriar, Cascan Ofier – Leader of the Civil Council, and High Commander Kam Major. Representing Trun Rizontella, we have Supreme Commander Domantry Zander, Commander Dori Mancer, and the Vercetian Prince Ventar.’ The camera panned between them.
Arneld Simmer said, ‘Fellow Preenasettians, we have been at war – a statement of fact. But until recently, not between the Trun and Vercetians – with the Zerot. Over the last twenty years, they have taken over the leadership of Trun and using advanced technology, have escalated the war between our two great nations. As they have entered the endgame of their conquest of our planet, those addressing you tonight around this table have fought back, together shoulder to shoulder, Trun and Vercetian. Tonight we gather to address this infestation head on and say, “No more, leave this place. You cannot win”.’
Brender Formatt took over.
‘The last two days have been the start of the Zerot’s war – a game they are playing with our world. We have announced to you the atrocities carried out, the bombing of innocent civilians, the deaths of thousands of soldiers forced to fight hand to hand, and of the bombing of both Trun and Vercetian northern cities. But let me tell you this, there have been no casualties. We have turned the tables on our common enemy, and it is the time to tell them – as Arneld said – leave our world, you cannot win.’
The camera panned to Grace.
‘On our travels of the galaxy, we have encountered different races that have helped us, given us the technology to use against the Zerot. I have fought one on a planet called Earth, and I know how deadly they are. I would have been killed by it if it hadn’t been for the assistance of my little brother.’ She rested her hand on his shoulder. ‘We can beat this deadly foe, providing we continue working together – Trun and Vercetian, side by side.’
Next was Mancer.
‘I was sent to Earth to capture the then Princess Tauriar, but the true reason was to get me out of the way and to isolate the Supreme Commander.’ The camera panned briefly to Zander. ‘There was a plan in place to assassinate him, but as you can see, it failed. But the Zerot did get one of their own into the top job – Hallot.’
Cascan Ofier said, ‘The Vercetian governments were in disarray following the assassination of our High Council – which we know was orchestrated by the Zerot – but the arrival of Elder Tauriar and Prince Ventar gave us the knowledge that there were other forces at work in this conflict, and gave us hope.’
Kam Major added more detail.
‘Over the last few months, I have been working closely with the Supreme Commander. His Resistance movement was aware of a hidden enemy, but couldn’t get close enough to expose them. With the arrival of the two Royals and the information they possessed, we found common ground, and united to tackle this common enemy. There have been heroic deeds, and there will be more to come in the next few days. To my forces defending Lower Lee and Garin Isle, I beg of you this – open your hearts to the Trun heading your way and put your arms around them as you would your brothers and sisters.’
Zander maintained the momentum.
‘As of now, I take back the role of Supreme Commander that was wrongfully taken from me, and reinstate Commander Mancer and Major Tang as my seconds in command. To the forces approaching Lower Lee and Garin Isle I command – no, I request – you hold back. The war between Trun and Verceti is over.’ He took a moment to compose himself, showing a human side to him that many had never seen. ‘We wouldn’t be here if not for this young Trun.’ He put an unrehearsed arm around the Prince and hugged him tightly. ‘And, yes he is a Trun. He is the architect of the defence of our planet, and in his scheme, this open show of defiance to the Zerot is next. The Elder Tauriar always tells us all how special he is. And all around this table agree.’
Finally, Ventar.
‘Thank you, Supreme Commander, and thank you all. To the citizens of Preenasette, I ask you to come together as one nation in this last push against the Zerot. We believe there are only three of them Hallot, Premier Gor, and their leader Salvia Kiy. But they are mighty and have had control of many of our leaders, both Trun and Verceti. But with help, we have isolated them, taken away the control they had over their suicide bombers.’ Scenes from around the two countries flashed up on display. ‘You are seeing pictures of the troops embracing their so-called enemy, and Trun troops – thousands of them – being rescued from the Garin Sea, by both Vercetian and Trun vessels. The devastation you see in the Trun and Vercetian northern cities is real, but following the complete evacuation of all citizens, no one has died. The Preenasettians are safe – we can rebuild the cities.’ The camera panned back to him. ‘We will survive this war, and come out of it a stronger and united world.’
The two TV presenters finished by thanking everyone in the studio and added their planetary call to arms. The recording was then played again, on a continuous loop for the rest of the day.
Henkk’s assessment of the damage to the Bi-fighters suggested advanced weaponry used against them. The strikes on the cannons were clinically efficient, targeting the power cells only. The weapons of this world could not bypass the ship’s shielding and be so accurate. The drones might be able to effect repairs, but it would be touch and go whether another attack was achievable before the destruction of the moon, scheduled within the plan to happen today.
He contacted Carffekk. ‘There has been advanced weaponry used on our strike force. We are out of time to effect repairs and should move on to the next phase.’
‘And she will accept that?’ the master planner replied.
‘She will have to; it’s the truth. Review the data yourself.’
‘It does appear a clinical attack,’ replied Carffekk. ‘Prepare for the next phase. The quicker we initiate the destruction of the moon, the more time we have to reap the benefits. I will contact her.’
‘Preparing,’ Henkk said.
Birjjikk hijacked their conversation. ‘Have you seen the TV transmissions? They have duped us.’ The intensity in her voice lacked the erratic emotion she was prone to. Henkk and Carffekk accessed the TV announcement and instantly downloaded the entire content, digesting it within a few seconds.
‘They have deceived us,’ muttered Carffekk through clenched teeth. ‘How have they done this?’
‘Tens of thousands of troops in the Garin Sea; death would have been instantaneous at that depth and temperature. How could they have survived?’
‘Only one way I’m aware of,’ said Birjjikk, ‘Penumbra!’
‘Yes. But how would they be aware of that realm?’ Carffekk said. ‘Henkk says they used advanced weaponry during the space battle.’
‘And they have guessed our every move. Or have known our every move. Maybe stolen our Game plan?’ questioned Henkk.
‘Precisely,’ answered Birjjikk. ‘Henkk. Detonate the moon. I have a feeling very little will happen.
There was a pause. Henkk finally said, ‘Nothing. I can see the moon from here. Our explosives have been disabled. The drones have been monitoring the moon’s surface throughout.’
‘Advanced technology again,’ said Birjjikk. ‘We can save this situation, but we must move quickly. The Assessor will probably call a halt to the Game by close of play today. We must invoke Third Party Interference before he does, and have proof that the third party is highly advanced. We have fifteen hours, and then we must leave. Henkk, find me proof of the advanced craft they are using. Carffekk, are you at the Council House?’
