Allied enemies, p.26
Allied Enemies, page 26
“I’ve messed up and endangered many Radags,” Imphastid said.
“How is that possible?” Pregfert asked dubiously.
“Because my lover is an enclave male,” Imphastid replied.
Pregfert’s hand flew to her mouth.
Imphastid thought her sibling would think she’d trespassed against the family. Instead, as Pregfert dropped her hand, she saw a grin.
“Tell me about him,” Pregfert urged.
“There isn’t time,” Imphastid said. “I’ve put the entire enclave and their defenders in danger. They’re having some sort of event tomorrow, and the commanders scared me into telling them about it.”
Despite being seven annuals younger than Imphastid, Pregfert was probably the more level-headed of the two. “You’ve come to my room. What is it you want me to do?”
“I wrote my warning on a clear sheet,” Imphastid said, handing it to her sibling.
“Smart,” Pregfert responded. “If I’m caught with it, I can easily erase the message before I’m searched. However, you can’t expect me to go to the enclave.”
“No, not there,” Imphastid said hurriedly. For a brief moment, she considered abandoning the idea of asking her sibling to warn the enclave. Then she dismissed the notion.
“Where?” Pregfert pressed.
“You must find one of the defenders, one of the females who look similar,” Imphastid said.
“A sister, you mean,” Pregfert corrected.
“How do you know that?” Imphastid asked in surprise.
“Easy. I talk to them,” Pregfert replied glibly. “I can tell you that the giants are digital sentients called SADEs. Those in suits are biologicals called humans. Their shuttles are called travelers. Somehow, the conclave has learned how to harness gravitational forces to power their travelers.”
Imphastid stared at her sibling with her muzzle open.
Pregfert chortled at Imphastid’s amazement. She jumped up, hurriedly dressed, and snatched the clear sheet from her sibling’s hand. “As soon as I’m away from the house, you should return to your room.” Then she was out the window, onto the roof, and jumping to the ground.
As Imphastid watched Pregfert disappear into the dark, she considered that she’d never really known her sibling.
It was the middle of the night, and Pregfert knew she couldn’t approach the enclave. Warriors were always watching the gates, where the sisters stood guard. Crouching among some bushes, she considered her options.
A decision made, Pregfert ran toward the landing pad that wasn’t far from her house. At the pad’s edge, she turned on her light that she always carried when she snuck out after dark. Then she pointed it upward and gently swung it in odd motions.
Nebulon’s traveler was headed to the enclave after observing a section of the planet for armory activity. The erratic motion of a light caught her attention. That infrared showed it was swung about by a Radag youngling made her curious.
As the traveler dropped close to the pad, a sister with Nebulon sent,
Nebulon dropped the traveler to the deck and signaled the hatch open. As a precaution, she didn’t deploy the landing gear.
The other sister was through the hatch in an instant and swiftly returned with Pregfert in her arms.
“Apologies for the abduction, Pregfert,” Nebulon sent, as the traveler was sent high above the surface. “We must be careful of ambushes.”
“Not a problem,” Pregfert replied, dropping into a seat and grinning when the nanites moved under her. “If only I could tell my friends that I rode in one of your travelers,” she added wistfully.
“You appeared to have wanted our attention,” the other sister pointed out.
Pregfert pulled out the clear sheet and activated it. However, when she read the message she frowned.
“Problem?”’ Nebulon queried.
“My sibling, Imphastid, is ruled more by her heart than her head,” Pregfert replied. “It’s best if I translate her message. She’s been seeing a lover in the enclave.”
“We’ve observed a young Radag occasionally leave the enclave to meet with another,” the other sister said. “It seemed innocent enough.”
“It was, until my patriarch followed my matriarch and discovered Imphastid meeting with her lover,” Pregfert responded.
“Is Imphastid okay?” Nebulon asked.
“That’s just it. She’s not hurt,” Pregfert replied. “My patriarch told some commanders about her meetings. They scared her tonight, and she gave up the information about your event tomorrow.”
Nebulon informed the protectors and sisters, while the suits slept. The sisters had some reservations about continuing the picnic, but the protectors were of a different opinion.
Many sisters posited the idea that dealing early with the weapon-mounted vehicles, which would be sure to show at the meadow, would demonstrate to the commanders their vulnerability to conclave technology.
Escher had a comm app that notified him when there were many conclave transmissions. It woke him, and he’d listened to the discussions. When Julien didn’t receive a comment, he felt compelled to respond.
Ceda crawled out of bed and made her way to the refresher. Escher stared hungrily after her, and he heard her laughter.
Escher and Ceda roused every suited figure and warned them about what had transpired.
Meanwhile, the protectors and the sisters borrowed nearly every traveler from the Freedom and the Trident squadron, leaving a single shuttle on each ship.
The manufactured bombs were loaded on two travelers and flown to the enclave.
Other travelers fanned out to monitor the meadow’s surrounding area to watch for movements of vehicles and warriors.
As Darmian’s star lit the planet’s face, the travelers rose much higher to limit ground visibility.
Z and Miranda met with the entire enclave’s adults. They told of the discovery of the event by Radag commanders.
“Then it won’t take place,” a concerned matriarch assumed.
“That’s up to each individual,” Miranda replied. “If we have a sufficient number, we’ll continue the event.”
“Why?” a patriarch inquired.
“When we started protecting and escorting you to markets, where did you expect our activities to lead?” Z asked.
“We hoped the progress would be slow,” a matriarch replied.
“The Radag teams are trapped on home worlds,” Miranda pointed out. “What happens when they return an annual or more from now and discover what’s been done?”
“They’ll be incensed,” Ogdurg replied.
“And they’ll ignite the populace,” Fygthurn replied.
“Then what’s the answer?” a patriarch queried.
“Before those teams arrive, the citizenry must have accepted the changes the conclave has begun,” Ogdurg replied.
“There’s no time like the present to teach a harsher lesson to the commanders and warriors,” Fygthurn advised.
“Can you protect the enclave and the event at the same time?” a patriarch inquired.
“We’d have preferred to deal with the warriors at a single site,” Z replied. “However, if they attack both sites, then we must defend you and this location.”
“There will be deaths,” a matriarch lamented.
“Yes,” Miranda responded. “But it will be the warriors who pay the price.”
“Isn’t there another way?” a patriarch questioned.
“Of course, there’s a different path for the conclave,” Fygthurn said angrily. “It can isolate our system until our baser instincts prevail and we turn on one another.”
“The Krackus spent centuries and unaccountable credits to entice our warrior clans to develop more terrible genetic types and attitudes,” Ogdurg said. “The conclave is trying to help us turn from this ugly path. Its representatives, the protectors, have chosen us as Darmian’s future. Do we choose the conclave?”
Fygthurn and Ogdurg had made their arguments, and the protectors waited for the adults to decide. When their intense discussion broke up, a patriarch announced, “The great majority wants to attend the event. The few who were opposed don’t want to be left behind. So, they’ll attend too.”
“We’ll be loading on the rooftops,” Miranda said, and she gave them a local time to be ready.
“We’ll protect the enclave, but leave no one behind,” Z warned.
Nebulon, who was above the event site, connected in the open.
Nebulon protested.
The conference net was inundated with human laughter and the SADEs’ sounds.
Nebulon acknowledged Escher’s compliment. On the conference net, she sent,
The question hadn’t been put too delicately. Now, the defenders had to choose how to respond to the warriors’ attack.
The negotiator families boarded the travelers on the enclave’s roofs. Those who had flown previously noted that every seat had been removed.
Sisters and suits stood near the front of the main cabins, and they greeted the families. Behind them were supplies for the picnic. Behind those were crates of bombs, less powerful versions of the original minelettes.
Between the conclave ships overhead, there was an even mix of cargo and passenger travelers. As the cargo versions gave the defenders a broader attack platform, they were designated as the primary defenders.
Miranda ordered a few more passenger travelers at the event site. She wanted to ensure that an evacuation of the families could be swift.
When the sisters who were on guard at the enclave’s four gates saw the last of the travelers lift, they stepped inside, closed the gates, and barred them. Then they took up positions along the top of the walls. To warn the warriors away, they stood erect. However, crates of mini-minelettes lay at their feet.
The travelers were barely out of sight when the commanders and warriors erupted from their hiding places.
The sisters weren’t caught by surprise. The tracks in the dust had allowed them to map the Radag positions, and they’d already divided up the attackers.
Following Miranda’s directive, each sister hefted a bomb. The spherical design fit nicely into a hand. A link activated the impact sensor. When the weapon struck the ground, an object, or an individual, it would explode.
Judging the distances, the sisters expertly launched their bombs. The first ones tossed landed about ten meters in front of the rushing warriors and vehicles.
Not much more than dirt and small bits of rock showered the Radags, which did nothing to halt their advance.
The sisters obeyed the escalating directive and threw their bombs at the vehicles, which couldn’t be allowed to close on the enclave.
One vehicle after another was struck. If bombs landed in the vehicles’ rears, the explosions sent the gunners flying. The wrecked beam weapons added stronger detonations, which destroyed the vehicles. Some bombs struck the front shields, killing the drivers and sending the vehicles on errant courses.
Still the warriors rushed on.
Some warriors slipped grappling gear off their shoulders to scale the walls. Other warriors targeted the sisters with beam shots. This forced the sisters to stay low.
Four travelers were positioned above each side of the enclave’s walls. Via links with the ship’s controllers, the sisters could see where the grappling hooks were prepared to be thrown.
Few warriors made it more than a third of the way up the tall walls before their lines were snapped. The grappling hooks remained with the sisters.
As the warriors hit the hard walkway, the sisters heard their growls, hisses, and yips.
There came a point when the vast majority of vehicles had been destroyed, and the warriors found they were without grappling hooks.
Their next attempt was to attack the gates with their energy weapons. At first this proved effective. Chunks of metal and ceramic exploded from the gates.
Left with no choice, the sisters hefted more bombs, activated them, and tossed them over the wall. From the travelers’ viewpoints, the sisters could see the injured and dead warriors lying around the gates.
Citizens rushed from their homes to help the injured warriors and carry away the dead. When they saw the sisters, their eyes burned like hot coals.
Miranda had controlled the travelers headed for the event location. Her intention was to let the strike on the enclave take place first.
Every conclave member was able to witness the relentless attack.
Then each new suit was partnered with protectors and veteran suits.
Ceda regarded Lita, who nodded determinedly and closed her mask-helmet.
The sisters with the families landed their craft in a wide circle with the bows pointing outward.
As the families disembarked, they couldn’t help glancing nervously toward the dense forest that ringed the broad expanse of meadow. Although, they’d been told repeatedly not to draw attention to the danger they knew lurked in the trees.
The conclave members needn’t have worried. The commanders and warriors were anxious for revenge, and they failed to notice where heads turned or eyes focused hundreds of meters away.
Above the event, the cargo travelers formed a second circle. As opposed to those on the ground, their aft ends pointed toward the woods. Four individuals stood abreast of one another on each lowered ramp. Behind them, stood four more conclave members with bombs in their hands and crates nearby.
As defenders, the sisters and the suits were evenly matched. Implants and kernels could define targets, and avatars and suits could deliver the bombs accurately.
