Allison stood in front of the briefing room of short list candidates for her AI squadron. It was two hours until full fleet deployment at the staging area just outside the target system. Half were human and half were from various races from the League of Sentient races. All fifteen pilots were looking up at her. Legend was standing beside her and so was Commander Holiday. Allison was giving this briefing herself because she thought she owed it to them. The AI’s were all on holo-screens listening as well.
“I know you’re all eagerly awaiting to find out which ten of you will be selected for this mission. I want to first off say your instructors and testers have expressed how much they admired your skill and dedication during this testing and training. The ten selected today are not necessarily the best overall, but they are the best for these mission parameters. The rest of you will be assigned Athena fighters and will join the main bulk of our forces. I wish I could be out there with you myself but apparently, I need to be in a stuffy command and control room. The contents of this briefing are strictly classified and any discussion of these details with anyone outside this room or the AI’s is forbidden and will be met with the harshest punishment I can levy. Operational secrecy is paramount to our success. We’re fighting for the survival of all our species here.”
Allison brought up the holo-intro page for the mission.
“Before I begin and give assignments, I will give you an out and I will not think any less of you. This is a volunteer assignment only. If you find the details of this mission are contrary to your personal morals and ethics you may leave, but I remind you, you are still bound by your military oath and the laws regarding privileged information. No one outside of this group needs to know the parameters of this mission. There will be no record of your actions during this mission, this is a black op. If you are accused of being involved in this mission and deploying the munitions we are going to deploy, the System’s Alliance, League and I will deny all knowledge of this mission. This mission is going to break the laws of the League of Sentient Races and System’s Alliance as well as infringe on the basic sentient rights of the Sal’nash. We will be breaking the almost universal conventions on the use of certain weapons of mass destruction. By staying here any further into this briefing, even if you refuse to take part you will be making yourself morally and ethically complicit in the actions I am about to order. Uty, Gart, you may go now you know your assignments. Vector, Rotty please leave, you’ll be provided with your squadron assignments. Thank you for being with us this far.”
Two of the human pilots stood up, along with the lone Synthlin. Two of the AI’s ended their transmission. Allison nodded to the pilots, and they left. Two other pilots, one Silwrath, one human got up and left.
“Anyone else before I seal the room?
Everyone shook their head. Allison engaged the locks and brought up the main mission directives.
“Dagger 1 and Dagger 2 are our scouts. They will be the two AI’s that have refused to carry the munitions. Pilots of Dagger 1 and Dagger 2 will be Commander Holiday and Legend. You are the most skilled and have the most combat experience. You are the fleets eyes and ears until we proceed with the main attack. Once you are in position at the edge of the dark sector surrounding the black dwarf the fleet will piggyback from your sensors and will launch an initial attack with long range conventional missiles. This will act as a cover for Broadsword’s one through ten who will be the main attack vector for this action.”
A hologram of the AI fighters appeared on the screen and showed the torpedo bays with the special torpedoes and warheads.
“Each of the fighters in Broadsword squadron has been equipped with two torpedoes containing nanotech warheads that have been keyed to Sal’nash DNA. Our latest intelligence indicates there are eight super hives. These are your targets. The last scouting report indicates that they are at the core of the fleet and the Sal’nash fleet position has not changed over the last twenty-four hours. There is a good chance they are still going to be in the same position as they were. The fleet’s initial missile volley will alert the Sal’nash. They will open their bays to launch fighter drones to intercept the incoming missiles. That is when you will launch your torpedoes. While they will eventually eat through the hull, landing an interior shot will be far more effective in disabling the Queens. If you can land your hits on the interior wall that divides the main port and starboard hangars you can use your particle beams to punch through if you need to lose pursuers it will be weak enough. It is imperative you land your torpedoes on the super hives. If even one Queen survives this attack almost half of our fleet will not be able to engage the Sal’nash. You are the tip of the spear. The fleet is depending on you to complete this mission. There are twenty torpedoes we do not have more. That gives us two for each super hive and four to spare. Due to the time dilation caused by close proximity to the black dwarf we will be out of communication. If you confirm at least one hit on each super hive you may proceed to use the rest of the nanotech ordinance on normal hive ships. You are to use all of the torpedoes if you are unable to do so, you are to do everything in your power to make sure the payload is destroyed. There can be no evidence of this mission. Officially you are acting as targeting relays for the fleet and nothing more.”
She sighed.
“I just need to make this clear. When this is over it is never discussed again, this never happened and if anyone asks how you took out the super hives, you’re going to say lucky shot. So long as there is no evidence none of us can be charged with these actions once the System’s Alliance and League decide they don’t need us anymore and this becomes inconvenient information. If I could take this all on myself and launch all of these weapons, I would. I cannot. The galaxy may never know what you did, nor will your fellow soldiers in the fleet, but if you do this right, we can reduce our casualties by a factor of a thousand and assure our victory. There is a human quote I like to remind myself of when I’m asked to take part in a black op like this, it is from Scotland, of course: ‘We fight not for glory, nor for wealth, nor honors; but only and alone we fight for freedom, which no good man surrenders but with his life.’ I would not ask this of you if I did not think it was absolutely vital to our victory. Can I count on all of you?”
The remaining Silwrath pilots all stood up suddenly and gave her a salute. The humans followed their example, only with the more standard human salute. Allison unsealed the room.
“Use the time you have left to familiarize yourself with the alternate timeline Synthlin torpedo specs. They are different than your standard munitions. Good luck and may the Dark Mother watch over you.”
Everyone but Commander Holiday left. She stopped and looked at Allison.
“I would have happily launched those torpedoes.”
Allison nodded.
“I know, you and Legend would have. You are the best of the best and I need you both to maintain your position at the dark sector boundary. You are both going to be beacons to the Sal’nash and you are the only windows I have into what is happening in there until the main fleet enters the battle.”
She nodded.
“I think the saying is: Fortune favors the bold.”
Allison sighed heavily.
“Let’s just hope it also favors the foolish. Good luck and stay safe, I do not want to tell your daughter you died in the line of duty. I’ve already had to do enough of that for one lifetime.”
The commander smiled.
“She’s thirteen, she knows the score but if I do go out, she has no one else, so look out for her for me, please?”
Allison nodded.
“Like she’s my little sister.”
Commander Holiday smiled.
“Keep your chin up, Battlelord. You’re in the right place at the right time. God help us if old iron skirt was in charge.”
The commander walked off. Allison went back to her quarters and pulled on her armor and weapons. She was damned if she was going to be caught out again in the middle of a fight. School uniforms are fine, but they don’t offer much in the way of protection. She pulled her duty uniform overtop of her skintight Atlantean armor. Then activated the armor’s integrated holo-web to make it look like she wasn’t wearing armor underneath. She looked in the mirror and pulled her hair into a braid. She pulled her hat off its shelf and dusted it off then headed to the transporter room of the Ark Royal the newly minted transporter officer of the ship who was a woman of small stature and likely only four months out of the space academy saluted her.
“Ma’am.”
Allison saluted her back.
“No need to salute on a ship, ensign. Please send me to the Agamemnon.”
The ensign nodded.
“Aye ma’am.”
The girl who was probably four years Allison’s senior looked at the teenage Battlelord.
“Ma’am, can we win this battle?”
Allison smiled.
“Yes, ensign, if we couldn’t, I wouldn’t ask anyone to fight it.”
The ensign nodded and looked relieved. Before Allison could get on the transporter pad, Captain Seng rushed in.
“We need to talk about the AI fighters.”
Allison frowned, took her hat off and moved closer to the captain. She looked at the ensign.
“Give us the room, please.”
The ensign rushed out. Captain Seng looked up at Allison with frustration in her eyes.
“Why is their hanger sealed? Why can’t my technicians get in there? What are you hiding on my ship? I have overlooked you borrowing a highly classified stealth transport. I have overlooked you transporting cargo you refused to let us scan onto my ship but if I am expected to command this carrier effectively, I need to know what is going on under my nose. You are up to something, and I need to know what it is if I am party to it, deleted mission briefings, deleted flight logs… reassigning my CAG to a squadron I can’t even get the name of that is hosted by my ship. You need to explain yourself.”
Allison frowned.
“Captain Seng, I am sorry for the confusion. Commander Holiday is in Dagger Squadron. They are going to be providing targeting data to the fleet and providing real time sensor readings from the dark sector. The remainder of the AI Squadron is designated Broadsword. They are taking part in an attack on the Super Hives with classified prototype torpedoes from a corporation I cannot name. They agreed to let us have them under the condition no scans were carried out and under no circumstances could we allow general personal access to them. So as part of this non-disclosure agreement, all logs and briefings that contain information on these weapons had to be erased.”
Allison continued.
“I can tell you they are not a danger to your ship and crew until they are armed, and they will not be armed until the squadron is in the target area. It is my hope that these weapons can disable the Queen’s signal so the bulk of the System’s Alliance fleet can take part in the battle without risking them being disabled.”
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Captain Seng looked up at Allison listening to her patiently now that Allison was sharing at least something.
“I know we have had our differences but please do not be insulted when I say this, you have your orders, follow them. Once this is over you can treat me like the lowly Lieutenant I actually am and question everything I do but until the state of war is concluded I am your superior officer. Please act like it, ma’am. I don’t have time for my orders to be questioned, we have less than two hours before the attack commences. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go talk to the press unless you would rather do it for me because it is a duty I would love to delegate.”
Captain Seng looked up at Allison.
“We do not see eye to eye because you are an unconventional officer. I used to think you took the risks you do because you wanted the spotlight. That you wanted to live up to your birth family’s legacy. I have watched you lead. I have seen you bleed with your troops in the trenches. I have seen you near death in my med bay far too many times. You do what you do because you see victory where others see only defeat. Sometimes a situation requires an unconventional officer.”
The short Asian woman paused as if gathering herself.
“I object to children being in the military. You are too young for this responsibility. You are too young to be bleeding out on some godforsaken battlefield. My twins are your age. I could not imagine them in command of two hundred thousand people and a fleet of this size. You do not deserve this responsibility. But you do deserve our respect. None of these means I do not think you are the best person for this job. I just feel sorry for you because you have lost your innocence. Battlelord, it is a common courtesy to include the captain of the ship in the loop when it comes to their ship and their crew.”
Allison saw something in the captain’s eyes she had always missed before, concern and empathy.
“Ma’am, I cannot tell you more than I have. You have trusted me so far. Please trust me now when I say if I have kept you and your crew out of the loop it is for your own protection. If you do not know what we are doing, then you are not complicit in the act. When this is over and there is no longer a threat the politicians are going to use every advantage, they have to get ahead of their competition even if that means what we do today is put under a fine tooth comb. I could care less if the Primarch is ousted. My Aunt Maria would be happy if someone replaced her. My concern is and always will be the wellbeing of the people I protect and the people under my command. You are under my command and so are your crew. I do not want you to be pawns in some politician’s game ten years down the road. If someone is going to get blamed, I want it to be me. I have protection.”
Captain Seng looked up at Allison with a new admiration.
“I was wrong, you are ready for this responsibility. I am sorry I misjudged you.”
The captain came to attention and saluted Allison.
“It is my honor to serve under you, ma’am.”
Captain Seng stood there at attention. Allison caught on.
“Dismissed, Captain, please send the ensign back in.”
Allison straightened her captain’s cap and got on the transporter pad. The ensign came in and Allison nodded to her. A few seconds later Allison was in the Command and Control room of the Agammemnon. It was far larger than her temporary one on the Phoenix. There were at least twenty officers here manning various stations. Coordinating an armada of over two hundred ships was not easy. Nutina was already there, so was old Iron Skirt herself. The last time Allison and the acting Fleet Admiral had spoken was in a similar room on her babu’s ship. Everyone came to attention as she entered, and she waved her hand.
“At ease.”
Nutina looked at Allison.
“Are the preparations complete on the Ark Royal?”
Allison nodded.
“Yes, how about the shield remodulation upgrades to the Agammemnon, I need her on the front lines.”
The Fleet Admiral did not look happy, she was especially not happy taking orders from a seventeen year old girl. Not that the hundred and eighty year old woman ever looked happy.
“This ship is not ready for combat. It is barely out of dry dock.”
Allison looked at the fleet admiral who had been a thorn in her side since the Agammemnon had arrived. As the head of System’s Alliance Space operations, she was also in charge of the System’s Alliance portion of the Armada.
“Fleet Admiral, you have…”
Allison looked at her wrist where her holo-phone’s band displayed a digital countdown to the attack.
“One hour and thirty six minutes to make her ready. I don’t care what engineering teams you have to beg, borrow or steal; This ship will be at the tip of the spear. If that is too close to the action for you, I’m sure the League has a non-combatant Synthlin medical ship with a comm relay you can birth on. If you don’t like it, feel free to make my life miserable after this is all over. But for right now, do as your ordered.”
The Fleet Admiral glared at Allison and moved off. The Grand Eminence had entered with one of his staff officers as Allison was dressing down the Fleet Admiral. He looked at Allison.
“Battlelord, she does not like you very much.”
Allison shook her head.
“She doesn’t like anyone; The only difference today is that I outrank her… for now and that I don’t care if she hates me, I just care that she follows my orders. Is the LSR Fleet ready?”
He nodded.
“Yes, Battlelord.”
Allison sighed and leaned down on the C&C main battle map table. Her eyes scanned the last scan of the Sal’nash fleet.
“I am sorry, we only have twenty-five System’s Alliance ships equipped with the modified shield frequency upgrades the installations were far more complicated on the older ships. That is over half our fleet useless until those Queens are dealt with.”
The Grand Eminence looked at the Sal’nash fleet with his eyes narrowed.
“Our fleet is prepared to deal with the Super Hive Ships.”
Allison stood up.
“If Broadsword does not work, you will lose a lot of ships and people. We are not committed yet, we can still retreat, come back in six months once the whole SA fleet is upgraded.”
He chuckled.
“And by then we have lost how many worlds and ships, how many Sal’nash Hives will it be? A hundred? Two hundred? The last time I was up against a Sal’nash fleet this size we had three times the ships. We still had our claws. I was an ensign and still I knew we would lose. But here, now, we are going to win.”
Allison shook her head.
“And what is so different this time?”
He grinned a toothy grin.
“We have you Battlelord. They fear you. Even the mad bugs fear your wrath.”
Allison sighed.
“I should be out there. That is where I can make a difference. Where people can see me and be inspired. You have more command experience then I do sixty lifetimes over.”
He wrapped his wing and arm around Allison affectionately.
“I know that moment will come today. If you want to inspire people now is the time, you are due to address the troops, and the press are you not? Nutina and I can continue preparations on your behalf. We have your battleplan, we will execute it as you have laid out.”
Allison pulled on her captain’s hat.
“If I knew having to be the face of this war was part of the job description, I would’ve told them to get stuffed.”
She turned to leave but Nutina called out.
“Battlelord, erm, the Phoenix is not in the Armada…”
Allison sighed.
“Sorry, last minute change of plans. The Toronto is a cruiser with modified shields and light fighter compliment. Substitute it in for the Phoenix, captain has already been briefed.”
Nutina looked concerned.
“Where is the Phoenix?”
“On special assignment. Never engage in a battle that you do not already know the outcome of. If you do, always have a backup plan.”
The Grand Eminence looked at her.
“You humans and your quotes, is that also from that Art of War?”
Allison shook her head.
“No, if you want to quote it, say it’s from Battlelord Allison Wanjala, The Eve of Battle.”
Allison moved quickly to the large hangar that usually housed the Agammemnon’s fleet of tactical escorts. The ship was so big it carried its own escort ships. Each was basically a bunch of weapons strapped to an FTL drive with some shields glued on, they couldn’t even use fusion cores because the weapon power draw was too much. The tactical escorts were already deployed for the attack. With no escorts here it was the largest room ever constructed on a human ship. She had an audience of several thousand crew members in attendance and various commanding officers along with a bunch of press. She sighed and approached the lectern that had been set up when the public relations officer introduced her. She didn’t have any notes on a physical tablet. She’d had Bit craft her speech, so she was reading it off of her AR HUD. She took her captain’s hat off and placed it down on the lectern and straightened her hair.
“Hello everyone. Welcome to the Agammemnon. It is the System’s Alliance’s largest, and most advanced ship of the line. It is the first of its class. A super-dreadnought. It is barely out of dry dock. It should be doing trial runs right now, not leading the charge in a battle. She and her tactical escorts and fighter wing of one thousand Athena class fighters, her dedicated crew of six thousand officers and enlisted members are here because of how important to our survival this battle is.
Exactly one hour from now we will undertake the single most important step in our lifetimes. For the first time in the history of our nations we have allied ourselves with another galactic power in defense of our species. This fleet is made up of people from thousands of worlds and thousands of different backgrounds. Yet we are here with a unified purpose. Never before has the League of Sentient races been able to take the offensive on a Sal’nash swarm. Never before have we been in the position to win.
When I spoke to our respective leaders to make this armada possible, I made them a promise. I promised that in seventy-two hours the Sal’nash fleet would be space debris. I promised then we would hunt down their sleeping Hives and slaughter them in their sleep. I am making you this promise as well.
This victory will not be without cost. We will lose people, and we will lose ships. That is the inevitable price of freedom. You are all here because you have accepted those risks, as am I. We do this not for glory, we do this because we must. We must protect those who cannot protect themselves. When history remembers this day, it will remember that we fought bravely, we fought justly, and we fought for good.
There is a darkness in this universe. A darkness that we cannot let spread. Today the darkness has taken the form of the Sal’nash. I do not know what darkness the future will bring but I will stand beside you and fight as I do in this battle.
You call me Battlelord. You call me hero. You call me Swarmslayer. You look to me to inspire you. To lead you to victory. I will do these things, but I would also ask you to look to your left and to your right. To your brothers and sisters in arms. They are heroes too. Lift each other up when you fall down. Give encouragement to your brothers and sisters when things are at their darkest. No matter what our species, no matter what our government affiliation we are brothers and sisters in arms.
We will wipe this plague from our midst, or we will die trying. We will never give up. I have never lost a battle, and I will not be starting my losing streak today. We will never surrender, and we will hold the line here.”
The soldiers stood up and started chanting Battlelord. Allison let them calm down before she spoke again.
“Now that you got that out of your systems, please get back to your ships and your stations. We have a war to win. While I answer some questions.”
Allison hated the press. She wished she could have done her speech for just the troops. She would have asked Bit to make it more personal. As it was she had the public to impress too. She answered several questions while avoiding others and outright refusing to answer others based on operational secrecy. She was getting near the cut off when she was going to let the Primarch and Maria take over. One of the Silwrath reporters stood up.
“Battlelord, High Counciler Rysta’na has been quoted as saying you are a megalomaniacal warmonger with no conscience and no concept of morality. How do you respond to that?”
Allison wanted to pop that particular overgrown amoeba; Bit helped her with a good response, so she took it.
“It is slanderous at best. The words of a traitor at worst. I do not know why the High Counciler’s sympathies lie with the Sal’nash. What I do know is such statements about a military leader on the eve of battle are damaging to morale and sabotage our chances at victory. Perhaps someone should ask him why he wants us to lose against the Sal’nash?
I will state firmly, I have no desire for conquest. I do not relish war. The High Counciler strikes me as a man who does not understand the meaning of sacrifice. He looks at people like myself, and the Grand Eminence and he sees individuals who take their responsibility to defend their fellow sentient seriously and somehow that makes us warmongers. I know war. It is blood and dirt, loss and pain. We are soldiers we fight and we die that is our sacrifice.
I’d also love to ask High Counciler Rysta’na, what have you done to protect the League of Sentient Races? What have you sacrificed?”
Allison pondered if the Primarch was rubbing her claws together with joy at this moment. Rysta’na was her only real competition when it came to leading the high council. The public relations officer addressed the press.
“We have time for one more question then the Battlelord must return to her command.”
Another League reporter managed to get his question asked.
“Battlelord, High Counciler Rysta’na has accused you of sending SA forces to commit an act of piracy, specifically attacking two Synthlin owned medical transports and stealing nanites. Is there any truth to these accusations?”
Allison sighed and leaned on Bit’s political savvy once again as the AI fed her an answer.
“I thought I was going to be answering questions about the battle to come, not fending off unfounded allegations from a politician who seems to have nothing better to do then foster discontent. I hope someone investigates him for treason. I will give you a direct answer, lest I be accused of dancing around the question again. No. System’s Alliance forces have not and will not ever commit an act of piracy in League sovereign territory. It would be an act of war. Why would I need to have my people steal nanites? We have a ready supply of medical nanites here as part of our preparations for the upcoming battle. Perhaps if the High Counciler in question had not voted to reduce military spending to unsustainable levels he would not have to find someone else to blame for piracy on Synthlin ships. Thank you. Please have a safe trip back to your ships.”