Havok Bringer

Revolutionary – Book 2 of the Havok Bringer series

Chapter 3 - Cowards

“Okay, okay, hang on! I need to grab a couple of fresh vapes from the fabricator!” Cj said as he rushed back toward the galley.

“CJ, we need to be wheels up, like right now!” I shouted toward him as he ran down the hall.

“Is everyone else ready? We will have the Pup, but I have a feeling things are going to get very kinetic once we hit the surface.” I said, looking around to the rest of the crew.

We were getting better, but honestly, most of us had no military background or training. Situational readiness wasn’t exactly our strong point. Case in Point, CJ rushing back into the galley to get a few extra vapes so he wouldn’t run out while we were down on the surface.

Jax and Matty were pros. Those guys had their packs ready, and weapons secured before the rest of us were even on the Pup. Elvis was ready as well; of course, he was only bringing his axe. He wore a modified Bloodhound uniform; the sleeves were removed, and he had a sling for his axe fabricated so he could carry it on his back. His blonde hair was braided in tight lines, and the sides of his head were shaved. He also took some grease from one of the maintenance stations and smeared it across his face to look like claw marks. In all fairness, he looked pretty badass.

Kaj sat down beside me, his large wings drawn in tightly to his back.

“Captain, there is honor in bringing aid to your people,” he slapped his hand on his chest, “I am pleased that I can help you with this mission.”

“Thanks, Kaj; I don’t know what we're walking into, but it won't be easy,” I said.

Truthfully, I didn’t know for sure. There was a large Lacertine presence on the surface of my home world. They were concentrated in North America, Europe, and Asia and had taken root in the military strongholds of pre-drop Earth.

The largest concentration in North America was located on Fort Bragg, in the state of North Carolina. The lacertine loved to repurpose existing military bases to house and support their occupation efforts. The location didn’t really matter since the Lacetines had access to drop ships that could get them to any location on the planet within the span of a couple of hours. The importance of Fort Bragg is that it was the largest military base on Earth and allowed the Lacertine army to have housing and support facilities immediately.

As for the drop ships, at this point the use of them was limited. After three years they were falling into a state of disrepair due to the interruptions in interstellar supply lines. The home fleet had ordered them to use the drop ships sparingly until they could receive parts to repair and refit them.

Natasha had put together a pretty impressive reconnaissance report for us. 67% of the lacertine drop ships were grounded or limited in some capacity. All of the drop ships from outlying FOBs had been recalled to support the demands of the bases with larger populations.

That was Bullshit; the commanding officers knew that if things went south, they would need a quick way off the planet. They didn’t care about the grunts, and they were making that clear.

What the lacertine force had plenty of was firepower. They used plasma rifles primarily and had an endless supply of rounds.

How? You might ask did they have endless ammo? Well, to understand that I had to ask Tiff, so don’t feel bad.

“Tiff, I see on Natasha’s recon report that it shows unlimited as available ammo for the Lacertines. How is that possible.” I asked as she entered the Pup and sat down across from me.

“You understand how plasma rifles work, right?” she asked.

“Let’s assume I don’t…” I said, shrugging slowly and holding my hands up, “I know we have plasma rifles, and I kind of understand how they work, but I never researched how the rounds are formed.”

“You realize that you lead all of us, right?” she said, shaking her head sarcastically.

“Yes, Tiff, I understand. Gimme a break. I’m new to this whole Captain thing.” I responded.

“Or maybe you’ve been spending too much time playing games in the simulator?” she said, shrugging back at me sarcastically.

Okay, so a few weeks ago, Elvis showed me and CJ that we could use the VCR for more than just combat training. He created a few custom programs for us so we could take our minds off of the pressing issue of the interstellar war that was currently ravaging our galaxy.

It seems childish, but you have to understand we lived in a tin can 24 hours a day, and everyone needed some time to decompress. Also, if you must know, he completely recreated the game Elden Ring for us, and since you use swords in that game, I could count that as training, so it was a win-win as far as I was concerned.

Elvis loved the game as well; he had begged me and CJ to play every day. How could I turn him down? After all, it is important for a captain to engage in team-building activities with his crew, right?

Tiff leaned forward and showed me a plasma rifle schematic on her tablet, “Plasma rifles use micro-fusion cells as their power supply. These cells tap into the cell, essentially a miniature fusion reactor, to produce a plasma round that is ejected down a superconductor barrel,” she said, pointing at the schematic as she spoke.

“Right,” I said, “I knew that, but how is the round produced?”

“The plasma rifle has intake vents running down the barrel; the air around the barrel is vented in, super-heated, and converted to plasma by the fusion cell. The plasma is then magnetically charged and propelled down the barrel toward the target. If there is a significant power source, then the Lacertines can continually recharge their weapons. Therefore, they have unlimited ammo,” she said as she sat back and strapped into her chair.

“Well according to her reports, they have a healthy supply of bio generators. They have stationary generators at the large bases, and smaller mobile units that can be transported and used at the various FOBs,” I said.

“That is correct. The large bases generators are primarily used for power. The mobile units can be used to recharge weapons in the field. If you are thinking that the generators are the key to disarming them, then you are mistaken. There are thousands of mobile generators deployed across the planet. Finding them and disabling them would take way too much time,” she shook her head and frowned.

“No, I don’t think we have time for that, and we definitely don’t have the resources, but it is good to know,” I said.

“Are the generators in good shape?” I asked, “If they are having trouble getting parts, then wouldn’t the generators start to fail as well?”

“The generators are a simple design. They are made to operate for long periods of time without replacement parts. As long as they can cycle and update their production parameters, they will work for decades,” she said.

“What do you mean Cycle and update their production parameters?” I asked, perking up.

“It’s a process meant to increase the output. They are Bio-generators, so they utilize bio waste or local flora and fauna to produce power. The input is minimal, but the output is tremendous in combination with the solar fusion panels. The units do need to be updated regularly to optimize production, though. Periodic software updates happen over the Lacertine military network. Before you ask, I am sure that it is highly encrypted and would be a nightmare to break their cyber defenses. They probably have a localized AI running all of their networks globally,” she said.

“Captain Andrew, would it make you happy if I could break those defenses?” Natasha asked in my earpiece.

I turned toward Elvis, who was sitting near the loading door, threatening to leave CJ behind,” Hey, Elvis. Is it possible for Natasha to break into the Lacertine defense network?”

“Natasha was created by Elvis, and Elvis is one of the most advanced AI in the universe. Her abilities are near limitless. Of course, she cannot hold an axe and feel the life fade from her enemy as they die beneath my boots…” he trailed off as he stared at his axe.

“Well, I will take that as a yes then,” I said, reflecting on how disturbing Elvis was sometimes.

“Natasha, we will owe you big time if you can break into that network. How long do you think it will take?” I asked.

“I will work as fast as I can, Captain Andrew. It will be exciting to make this AI my bitch!” she giggled excitedly.

“Tiff, Natasha thinks she can break through their cyber security. If she can take those generators offline or even interrupt their update cycle, that could be a huge blow to the Lacertine force,” I said.

“Can she do that?” Tiff arched her eyebrow.

“She assures me that she can. She seems to think that she can make that AI her bitch,” I laughed.

Matty was in the pilot’s chair. Elvis had ensured that the controls were simplified and user-friendly enough for him to attempt to pilot the Pup. Matty and Jax had been running some simulations for the last couple of weeks to prepare to start piloting the Pup since we would be using it a lot down on the surface.

“Everyone strapped in and ready for orbital insertion?” Matty asked through our earpieces as he flipped switches and did his safety checks.

“All good back here; just get us there in one piece,” I replied as the rear bay door hissed to a close.

The Pup roared to life as it lifted off the deck of the docking bay; music started playing through the Pup’s loudspeakers.

The Boys are back in town.

The Boys are back in town.

Elvis was bellowing the words along with the song by Thin Lizzy as the Pup lifted off the deck, and we shot out toward the glowing blue planet I called home.

************************************************************************************************

General Slidrian was in a state of panic. The only two defense platforms he had in orbit had been destroyed without warning, and now all communication lines to the home fleet were severed.

It was bad enough that supply lines had been constantly interrupted over the last 12 months; now, there was no way to contact the home fleet and input requests for more supplies or troop rotations. Not that those requests would have been fulfilled anyway, but the General kept trying.

The last communication he had received from the home fleet stated that a Council representative was en route to investigate the high-value human prisoner known as Michael Dawes.

Council presence was not something the General was looking forward to, especially since the Lacertine Empire had technically never received the right to harvest the planet, but it couldn’t be helped now. The Council representative would be on the planet within a month, and General Slidrian would be expected to facilitate the prisoner transfer.

The loss of his two battle cruisers was alarming; the loss of his only two ways off the planet was the biggest source of his current panicked state, though. General Slidrian knew that the political scales in the universe were tipping. The Lacertine empire would likely not secure one of the vacated Council seats unless the wars turned drastically in their favor. The Lacertine Empire was on the verge of bankruptcy, and that would lead to the emperor tying his allegiance to a seat-holding Council member in exchange for beneficial future contracts.

If the Empire was near bankruptcy, they wouldn’t be able to continue to fund the illegitimate reaping of Earth. To save face, they would probably declare the force on Earth had acted independently and with disregard to Council rules. The forces currently on Earth would be left on the planet to fend for themselves, and the Empire would cut ties with the occupation force completely.

The General could see the writing on the wall; all signs pointed to this happening sooner rather than later. For all he knew, the Empire could have ordered the home fleet to send a squadron of destroyers out to eliminate those battle cruisers and be done with the whole thing.

Now, the General was left in charge of more than 50,000 troops who were running low on supplies and whose morale was in the tank. There was no positive way to spin this.

The General’s last hope was to appeal to the Council representative to give him safe passage off the planet; the grunts would be left to their own devices.

“General, what should we tell the troops?” a frazzled communications aid asked.

“Tell them nothing. Good troops don’t ask questions; they wait for orders and follow them at all costs.” Slidrian hissed.

“The only communication to be sent out will be to let the troops know that any civil unrest will be met with a swift and aggressive response. Have the special force select three low-ranking troops and make an example of them. Hang their bodies on the parade grounds and stamp their chests with the word coward. That will quiet the rumblings for a while.”

**********************************************************************************

Michael looked out the small window in the cell he had been transported to after his interrogation. He watched as several large Lacertine troops dressed in all black uniforms with a red stripe on the left sleeve assaulted three smaller infantry troops.

The large troops were beating the hell out of the smaller troops as the screamed and a small crowd watched. As one of the smaller troops wailed the larger one grabbed his bottom jaw and ripped it clean off his head, blood shot from the wound as the lacertine fell over gurgling and died.

The other two infantry troops met similar ends before they were hung upside down, there uniform tops ripped off and some strange word was written on their chest.

“It means Coward,” a voice in the next cell over said.

“What kind of army does that?” Michael asked.

“The Kind that is almost out of time, and nearly out of hope.” The voice said.

“My name is Michael Dawes by the way,” Michael said.

“Michael Dawes…. Brother of Andrew Dawes?” The voice said.

“How do you know that? Michael asked.

“My name is Finthrogor, brother of Anthragor who was slain by Andrew Dawes. I came to this planet to rid the universe of Captain Andrew Dawes Bloodline. I have been looking for you.”