Free Fleet #03 No Rest for the Wicked (2 page)

            “I could get you a thousand rounds for the PRC's,” he said as his gaze returned to Salchar.

            “For every fifty thousand rounds for other weapons I want a hundred rounds for the PRC's,” Salchar said as Felix made a note.

            “Now Min Hae does it look like they've noticed our field?” Salchar asked, talking about the minefield that was now surrounding the approaching Syndicate Fleet.

            Monk had been thorough in his creating defenses for Parnmal. The main defense was made of PRC's not only on the station but on thruster stabilized asteroids. A secondary tier of defense were hollowed out asteroids moved by pressurized gas, so as to not be detected as they released their stored stealthed mines.

            The station itself had planetary grade shield generators as well as ablative armor covering areas not protected by the massive Asteroids thick natural armor. While Parnmal was massive, at over a hundred forty kilometers diameter, not including the off shoots. The syndicate and the Free Fleet had only dug into the asteroid about five percent of that. Min Hae was still piecing together what had happened to Parnmal, but whoever had done it had the power to crack planets, which was a scary thought indeed.

            “They are in place as you wanted. Though I had something interesting happen, an incoming transmission.”

Min Hae had changed from the man that was grasping at straws trying to get information from the Syndicate from Resilient's armories. He had garnered an air which made him seem unflappable as he talked about anything from the food you liked to how he could make a reactor blow up with a simple piece of code in a ships terminal.

            He truly was becoming the director of the Intelligence department. He was cold and as ruthless as the information he found. He dealt in facts and could pull information from thin air, and he was deeply involved with figuring out how the combined information of all the societies the Free Fleet protected and the Union could be used to protect them. He reminded Monk of Henry for his drive and the way he treated his subordinates, but without the air of relaxed competence. Instead, Min Hae had the deadly calm of a serpent pointed at anyone that would dare hurt its family.

Monk had seen Min Hae in interview rooms. The cold efficient way in which he got subjects to talk had made him infamous amongst the Syndicate personnel. He had gained the nickname of Merchertevak, a bird native to Drvntrni that fired small poisonous needles at its prey, remaining unseen until the victim was paralyzed and it could begin its feast.

Well. He never hurt them, but everything else was free game. Monk had seen many of the files on most of the garbage that was mining and providing labour for the Free Fleet. Little if any of them deserved any kind of mercy, but Monk and the rest of the Free Fleet treated them fairly.

“Really? What was this transmission about?” Salchar asked, the other heads in the room focusing on Min Hae.

Min Hae was always finding useful tidbits of information and anything he had to say was valuable and possibly lifesaving.

“There's a person by the name of Gogs who wants to defect,” Min Hae said.

“Are we sure that he's telling the truth?” Henry asked, not trying to hide the unhappy look at trusting this unknown creature.

“That's what he's saying,” Min Hae paused in thought before continuing. “He's also the one that was able to find our little virus and for now has stopped it from spreading. He says that he hasn't told anyone, and if we grant him asylum he'll allow the virus to spread,”

“Does he know who we are?” Salchar said, his face not revealing his true feelings.

“He and the fleet he's with still aren't sure. Though they do know that Orvunut is out of the picture. Kelu is debating whether to send a Corvette to scout or not,” Min Hae said.

“But again Henry is right to be unhappy with this development for security reasons, I haven't shared anything or pushed for specifics in a way that would betray our actions and identity.”

He looked around the table, everyone trusted him implicitly and you could see it on their faces.

“There is one other thing he said of importance.” Min Hae said, pausing as if he was trying to figure out how to best say it.

“Just spit it out or we might be waiting an age.” Salchar said in a joking tone.

“Very well,” Min Hae's own tone serious, making a few people shift in their seats to see what was bothering the Intelligence department's commander. “The Corvette Kelu sent was to gather more reinforcements as we thought, though not from the nearest people. He sent the Corvette to report directly to Lady Fairgate. So whatever's coming will be a large force indeed,”

“How long will it take that force to get here?” Salchar asked, the joking tone from seconds ago had evaporated into the steely tones of someone that didn't want to hear more, but duty held him to continue listening.

“About eight months,” Min Hae said. “The Syndicate is slow and they will stop in every system they can, to pillage, trade and suck up as much free time as possible.

“How was Kelu on us so quickly then?” Henry asked.

“Kelu is this sector's enforcer. He must be connected into the FTL relay's that Lady Fairgate took over when she took the Union. He must be out of that range to send a Corvette to her. ” Min Hae replied.

“Now the question is how we get them to attack before they get those reinforcements.” Salchar said, silence only cut by Salchar's fingers tapping the table in thought.

“Hit them with cannons?” Henry suggested as Salchar shook his head, a small smile on his lips.

“While that will do quite a bit of damage to them,” Salchar said, the short lived humor dying on his lips. “They’ll just run out of range again. We need to make them think that we're weak,” Salchar said, his tone business-like in contrast to Henry's.

“Why don't we use the mines? Push them towards us,” Monk said.

“That was going to be my final resort, but I want them to come in guns blazing so we can have the element of surprise when they get to Parnmal thinking they have the upper hand,”

“Riot?” Min Hae said, as eyes turned to him with questioning looks. “We make a show of some stuff blowing up. Then we have someone send a panicked message to Kelu saying that the ones going against Jorsht need his assistance,”

“For what reason would they attack Jorsht?” Monk asked. Everyone was thinking the same thing.

“Took their ships and there's a reward for his head,” Min Hae said. It made sense for the Syndicates.

“Make the preparations, in one week we'll lure them in, or pull them in,” Salchar said.

“We're going to lose the PRC's that they saw already. To sell this we're going to have to prove that the PRC's are out of order. We'll have to give up a few not facing the syndicate as well.” Monk had learnt that when Min Hae said something it was always true. In the world of lies and treachery, he had never lied to Monk or the command team.

I guess dealing with possibilities all the time would make the truth more valuable than gold,
Monk thought as the others grimaced in the room.

“Line it all out for me. We might just have to bite the bullet on this one,” Salchar said.

“Henry, how are our Commandos?” Monk knew Salchar was up to date on the Commando's situation, but the others in the room might be interested in the information.

“They're all fighting fit. I've made mixed companies with veteran leadership throughout. We've got thirty two thousand Commandos fully trained. Thankfully the next rotation of trainees weren't slated to be here for another two weeks meaning there's no new boots around.”

He threw something into the centre of the table, which turned into a model of Parnmal. A rainbow of colors highlighted the map.

“Each squad has been assigned primary, secondary and tertiary areas throughout the station, creating defences as they each felt fit. They've turned it into a true killing ground,” Henry beamed with pride, a small grin on his tired features.

“I've had them conducting drills on every site, making it so they can switch between multiple areas depending on where the Syndicate comes from. There's companies ready to board any ship that connects to our airlocks. Airlocks have been blocked off in certain areas, so that there are fewer entry points and bottlenecking for the enemy when they come.”

Henry's calm demeanour changed to an unsure tone.

“The one thing I have an issue with is the Syndicate prisoners.” Henry finally said, looking to the others in the room. Identical grim looks came back from around the conference table.

“If I may,” Monk said as he raised his hand. Salchar waved for him to take the floor,

“We will be securing them in the new barracks. They're being made for the new trainees. They're like the current barracks, with isolating squad pods which have their own air supply, food and such, in case the station becomes open to vacuum. They however do not have any electronics in them currently. Everything is manual, and the doors leading in can be fitted to only open from the outside. It's actually better than the hangar we're keeping them in now,” Monk finished.

“Is that satisfactory?” Salchar asked the others, seeing clearly that it wasn't. “Very well take it up with Monk afterwards. I do not want to be worrying about fighting a battle on two sides.” That got a few grim faces.

“Any other issues?” Salchar asked, but no one looked to have anything.

“Alright, let's get some grub then. That includes you too Min Hae,” Salchar said as the man was about to make an excuse. Min Hae cracked a grin, Monk smiled at the sight. The man put himself under a lot of stress, and when he'd gotten the message about Orvunut too late he'd buried himself in work. Monk had told Salchar, who'd had a talk with Min Hae, getting him to lighten up a little. Now Monk had to see if he could mutter a few words into Salchar's ear in an attempt to get him to at least rest before this all kicked off. The battle was coming no matter what, and there was no reason for the commander of the whole thing to be at his limit when it kicked off.

Chapter - Holding Back Is Harder Than Rushing in Sometimes

Rick looked over his systems.
Nothing different
, he surmised, as he shifted uncomfortably in James’, no Salchar's, chair.

There was something about James that changed when he walked onto the Bridge, the way he sat in the very seat Rick was sitting in. He was cold and ruthless, yet there was a care for not only his crew but the fleet underneath that metal. He didn't fight battles. He orchestrated them like some kind of conductor. His music was life and death, a melody of rail cannons, missiles shields, and ships. He sent orders and the creatures of the fleet reacted as if they were Salchar's own body. It was as awesome as it was terrifying.

Rick spent his time in battle keeping everything flowing. He had the pulses of every ship under his finger. He was merely a relay to Salchar, who took everything in, from whose weapons were in the best condition to the shield levels of every ship, which was summarised by Rick and squirted directly into his command console. Rick and Salchar hardly ever needed to converse now, as Rick constantly updated his commanders’ plot with information he knew he'd find useful.

Yet now Rick was missing his other half in battle. It was as if he didn't have half of his cannons.’ He was spending every waking minute—and sleeping thanks to the sleep training programs—working on his skills as a fleet commander. It was terrifying the lives he was directly responsible for. When he was second in command his responsibility was compacting and relaying information, working at such a furious pace he didn’t have time to think about the lives that he held in his hands until afterwards. Then there was nothing but regrets that he hadn't been able to do more in order to help those that had been lost.

Now as a Fleet commander he saw how the erratic pacing of leading a fleet allowed one time to think, time to doubt themselves and reflect on the lives lost. Every decision they made was wrought with the cost of lives it might take.

How the hell does he do it? Sitting there like some statue as he dives into enemy formations, nothing but the certainty that he will win the battle no matter what.

Rick knew that wasn't true, he'd spoken to Salchar about all that was lost before. But thinking know he couldn’t help it, that was what he felt.

James just makes it look so easy, as if he has the easiest job, when in fact it's the hardest. How the hell am I going to come up with any tactics like his?
Rick thought as he finished watching a sped up tactical view of a Kalu-Union battle.

Annoyed he stood.

“Aleya, take over for me,” he said to his second in command, a lithe Avarian female who crossed to his seat.

“Taking control,” she said, the natural way she moved speaking of someone that could do a lot of damage with only their hands. Instead of just following in the footsteps of many Avarians, she trained to be a tactical commander. Since there were few spots she'd been slotted as third shift second in command. She spent most of her time around the Tactical area of the bridge, but her time as a commander with the Commanders made her the right choice to fill the second in command slot for the third shift as well.