Invasion of Kzarch (18 page)

“What?” he demanded.

“Captain Bloody Jack, we don’t… We don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“What are you talking about?” the pirate chieftain said ominously.

“We’ve… taken too many loses. Over a third of our crews by this point. The Kzarchians have proven a lot tougher than we thought. And if we attack their main base, which is undoubtedly
heavily
defended…”

There were nods of agreement from nearly everyone in the room, aside from Mad and Bloody Jack himself.

“You all are
refusing
to follow my orders?” Bloody Jack’s voice held a heavy warning of danger.

There was a moment of hesitation, before a different pirate captain said, “We’re not refusing to follow orders, we just think it’s too dangerous. There’s
got
to be a better way of doing things!”

Looking around, Bloody Jack saw nothing but agreement in the other pirates’ eyes, even Hamil; excepting Mad, who didn’t really count.

“…All right.” he finally growled, privately thinking,
Looks like they’ve finally learned a bit about real combat. And at just the wrong time too!

“We’ll try some other things. -
First
.” There was a bit of shuffling as he warned them he was still considering the plan, but no-one said anything.

“So then what’s the plan?” one of the pirate captains said brightly. “Are we going to try another ambush?”

“No. Our spy is dead, and in any case, they’ll be much more careful from now on.”

“Wait, the spy’s dead? Did they find him?”

“No, I killed him.” The pirate captain was taken aback for a second. Then she said smoothly, “I see. May I ask why…?”

“Because he was too dangerous to leave alive. Besides, I had
assumed
,” here his voice became withering. “-that you would manage to finish off the Kzarchians in the ambush, followed by rolling them up at their camp. But no, you’re all too
yellow
to.” Eyes glinted with sudden rage, hands reached instinctively for weapons and a few mouths opened to speak. Until they looked into Bloody Jack’s smile and smiling eyes.

Go ahead,
they said.
I’m looking
forward
to it.

Mouths were shut, and hands carefully withdrew from various weapons.

The pirate chief waited a few seconds just in case, then continued.

“At any rate, I didn’t really think we’d need him any longer.”

“But, ah, who
was
he?”

“Why, General Val’gor. Who else?”

Bloody Jack smiled with amusement at their expressions.

“Oh, yes, the
dear
general betrayed his own forces to us. Even helped us plan the ambush. Apparently he didn’t like having the Marines saving his planet, instead of
him
. So he’d help us to get rid of them, in exchange for us supposedly leaving afterwards. Fool.”

“How did you kill him?”

With a shrug, Bloody Jack said, “It was simple enough. I convinced him we wouldn’t be able to trust him if he wasn’t with us when the attack was going forward; otherwise he might’ve tried a back-stab. I assured him that I’d be there, so he wouldn’t have to worry
I
was planning a double-cross; especially since he would be allowed to carry weapons, and bombs powerful enough to destroy the gunboat. –And
that
, by the way, was why I couldn’t be around for the battle.” There had been quite a few pointed questions when the ambush had been planned, on why Bloody Jack wouldn’t be there.

“At any rate, he thought it would be safe enough, and so agreed. Once I saw the battle was going to be ours, or so I
thought
,” his tone became withering again. “I had him killed using Grinner’s window trick.”

“Window? What window trick?” asked one of the pirates who was not in the know.

“Used an interior tractor beam to flip him out the gunboat’s open window, then shot him with the gunboats ee-cees,” Bloody Jack explained.

“Oh. Heh… eh-heh-
heh
… ah-ha-
HA
!” The table rang out with laughter, as the pirates thought about it.

After waiting for the laughter to die, Bloody Jack noted, “At any rate, the Kzarchians are one general down.” There was another swell of chuckles.

Mad leaned forward, her lips still twitching, and urged, “Now they’ve lost their general and a lot of their men, we could really smash them! If we-”

“Even if they’ve lost their general, their camp’s defenses are still too strong!” a pirate captain argued back.

The table degenerated into an argument, although what was being argued about got quickly lost in the confusion.

Bloody Jack waited until he got bored -it didn’t take very long- then pulled out his flamer and sent a plume of fire cracking through the air over the table.

He gave an innocent look, as the pirates looked warily at him.

Holstering his weapon, he said, “Now that I have your attention, perhaps we can discuss what our next plan is. Assuming we can come up with one that you won’t shoot down for being too ‘dangerous’.”

“Actually,” a pirate captain leaned forward. “Why don’t we use the fact their general was a traitor. Do they know about that yet?”

Eyes narrowing thoughtfully, Bloody Jack said nothing for a moment.

“…Interesting point. No, they probably don’t.”

“They why don’t we tell them? In a… suitable way, of course. It’ll be a tremendous blow to their morale.”

“True…” The pirate chief was still looking thoughtful.

“I mean, it certainly won’t hurt
us
for them to find out we killed their traitor of a general. And now I think of it, with their head gone, maybe they’ll fall apart arguing over who gets to lead!”

There were murmurs of appreciation for the idea.

“But they probably won’t.” Eyes around the table turned to the head.

Smiling slightly, Bloody Jack continued.

“Oh, there will probably be
some
confusion. But they are
military
, not pirates. Whoever is next-in-command will likely simply step into the general’s boots. Even if there
isn’t
a second-in-command, the top officials will caucus and just select the next leader. Perhaps
if
we’re
really
lucky, it could happen. But I doubt it.”

There were some grumbles, but no-one could dispute his point.

“However, the idea does have…
possibilities
. It will certainly shake them up a bit. And if we combine
that
idea with
another
one…”

Of course the pirates wanted to hear his new plan. After hearing about it, and despite some grumbles, the pirates agreed to follow their chief’s plan.

***

Several hours later, Bloody Jack was sitting moodily in the governor’s office, tapping his finger against an overly ornate desk and thinking.

They just
had
to suddenly decide to grow some brains, didn’t they?

It was ridiculous. He finally had everything lined up; the pirates would kill off the guerrillas and the Marines, fulfilling the debt he needed them to pay for having hurt him, and most likely wiping out the pirates themselves.

But
no
. His men had finally learned caution. To his great regret.

Sighing, still tapping, Bloody Jack considered his new plan.

From his perspective, it wouldn’t do the job. At best, the Kzarchians would get killed, and so would some of the remaining pirates. Chances were though, that not enough pirates would be killed for
his
personal plans.

But he had to come up with
something
, and the plan had a few possibilities. Possibilities that he rather suspected the other pirates hadn’t thought of.

Now,
how
was he going to get the Kzarchians to do what he wanted them to do…?

Chapter Fourteen

“Where
is
the bloody general?”

“What?”

“Oh, nothing. Just talking to myself.”

Lieutenant Harsmith was back in the meeting room, three days since the disastrous compound mission, and was by now a fair way towards recovery, his arm already regenerating.

But without the general to take charge, not much was getting done. Instead, the Kzarchian commanders spent most of their time arguing.

Honestly, Frank could think of better uses for his time.

“Frank, did you see the munitions report for your platoon?”

“Yeah…” the lieutenant grimaced.

The situation was bad, and the report had shown it. Overall, the platoon’s ammunition was hovering at around ten percent. To be fair, the problem only lay with the exby bullets, not the battlesuit’s wegs.

But the exby bullets were an important part of a Marine’s combat capabilities. Running low on them was going to cause problems.

And the SIAM missiles were in almost as bad shape, although at least the guerrillas had a few extra stored away.

“There’s not much we can do about it. Until the Marine reinforcements get here, we’re simply going to have to do a better job of conserving our ammunition.”

“Just like everyone else. And when
are
they coming anyway?”

Shrugging, Frank had to admit he was wondering himself. Sure, they would
probably
be here in just a week or so…

And yet, based on how badly things were going, Frank couldn’t help but worry that something else would go wrong.

Of course, he was right.

A Kzarchian burst into the room.

Before the already frowning Kzarchian commanders could say anything, he blurted out, “”Sirs, you’ve
got
to see this!”

“What? See
what
?”

“They’ve- the pirates- General Val’gor-” The commanders glanced at each other.

“Slow down!” a colonel commanded. “Explain. What are you talking about? You’re one of the people assigned to communications, right?”

“Yessir. And we just received a broadcast from the pirates, and-” He hesitated.

“Yes? And what?”

“I- I think you’d better see it yourselves, sirs.” Again glancing at each other, the commanders wondered what was going on.

“Fine. Set it up them.”

“Yes, sir. One second…” Tapping at a console at the side of the room, the comm officer soon had the message running on the room’s main screen. In the meantime, Frank was wondering what was going on. An idea struck him.

Had the pirates somehow managed captured the general or something? It
would
explain why he had been missing so long…

“Kzarchians, we have important news for you today.” Sitting at the governor’s desk, Bloody Jack was speaking calmly and persuasively.

“The evil General Val’gor, whom has caused so much trouble for this fine planet, has died.”

Well, there goes the kidnapping idea,
Frank thought.

Around him, the Kzarchian commanders were taking the news far harder than the lieutenant was. Some actually seemed to be in shock. The message wasn’t over yet, however.

“However, I do have some good news. Before he died, the general agreed to work with us to ensure Kzarch would become peaceful again.” The meeting room was now utterly silent, everyone staring at Bloody Jack on the screen, who was smiling.

Then the screen suddenly switched, showing a new scene, a recording of the bridge of a gunboat, where General Juan and Bloody Jack were talking.

“…Tell me, general, why did you agree to all this? To sending the Marines and your own men to their deaths?”

“Why? It’s simple enough: So that I can control the planet. The United Federation has
failed
Kzarch, pirate. They barely sent any help whatsoever, at our time of need. Kzarch needs a
new
direction, and
I
shall provide it. You see, if I waited for the Marine reinforcements, the people may well not realize how they actually
failed
us. But on the other hand, if
I
control the planet when they arrive, the people will support
me
. Then, I’ll be able to inform the Marines that Kzarch feels that it has no choice but to declare itself independent from the United Federation, due to its failure to protect us.”

“They’ll have no other alternative but to leave. And then I’ll be able to declare myself as
king
of Kzarch, and begin rebuilding the planet, to
my
vision.”

“And if anyone tries to stop me…” The general made an expressive gesture across his throat.

Then the screen switched back to the governor’s office.

“As you can see, the general betrayed his forces into our hands,” the pirate chief continued in an oily tone. “With the best of intentions, of course. But you don’t have to worry about him any longer. I killed him personally.”

“Now, although the guerrillas have lost their leader, they still insist on causing trouble. That is of course unacceptable to all peace-loving Kzarchians. So, we, your new, ah,
planetary council
, have decided punitive measures must be taken.” He paused for effect.

Those in the meeting room, shocked, upset, angry, worried, could only stare and wait.

“Therefore, we have resolved to demand the guerrillas’ surrender. If we do not receive it sometime over the next day, we will consider our ultimatum rejected. Should the guerrillas choose to foolishly do so, we will begin to wipe out the guerrillas’ towns, killing all the traitors within.” He raised a hand.

“Now, don’t worry! Only disloyal,
traitorous
towns shall be destroyed. All innocent and loyal Kzarchians have nothing to fear.” He smiled again.

“Guerrillas, we await your surrender.”

Then the screen went blank.

“Shit.” Colonel Fil'dwis said pithily, before the room erupted.

Everyone was shouting, arguing and raging. No-one had any idea what to do, and with the additional burdens of losing their leader, him having been traitor, the pirate’s ultimatum, and adding the general loss of morale and the bad state their ammunition was in…

Well, they couldn’t be exactly blamed for losing control a bit.

The yelling went on for sometime, until one of colonels drew his weapon, and pointed it at another.

“…e betrayed us! Don’t you
DARE
defend him!”

The room went silent and stared at the old colonel, his hand wavering slightly as he pointed it at his fellow.

“Colonel, why don’t you calm down and put away your weapon?” Frank suggested carefully.

Glaring around, the old colonel hesitated, then did so. Sitting down, he cleared his throat and said crustily, “Telling me to calm is all well and good, but
now
what do we do?”

“There’s nothing we
can
do,” Lieutenant Harsmith began, “-about General Val’gor having possibly been a traitor-” There was some grumbles both from those who had believed Bloody Jack and those who hadn’t.

“But they’re probably not lying about him being dead anyway. So we need to select a new general before anything else,” Frank said firmly, before the argument could start again.

“And how do you suggest we do that?” one of the colonels sarcastically wanted to know.

“Well, it should obviously be by date of rank,” one of the more elderly colonels pompously proposed.

“You’re only a deskrider!”

An argument broke out again. Rolling his eyes, Frank sat back. At his right, Tom shook his head.

At that point, the messenger from earlier came back, having quietly left after the video ended, looking worse than ever.

“Sirs, I… It’s another one.”

“From the pirates?” Colonel Fil’dwis inquired.

“Yes, sir.”

“Then don’t just stand there!” a colonel snapped, “Load it up!”

Once that was done, the screen displayed Bloody Jack in the governor’s chair again.

He was wearing a face that was falsely apologetic.

“Oh, I almost forgot to mention. To ensure the guerillas know we’re serious, we’ve already launched our first attack. By now, one guerrilla town will have been destroyed.” He smiled. The look of it, in all its horrible, loathsome joy of cruelty, would make the average person’s stomach turn.

“I
do
rather hope you guerrillas will surrender now. I’d hate to have to wipe out any more towns. Even if they
are
renegade,
of course
.”

“Please
do
contact us soon. We’re
waiting
for you.” Menace tinted that last line.

Then the screen went blank.

“Which town got hit?” Colonel Fil’dwis demanded.

“Broders, sir. We’re still trying to find out exactly what happened. But without any satellites and with the ground communications down… The only reason we know which town it is, is because the pirates broadcast the attack.”

“Wait,
what
?”

“They videoed it and broadcast it, sir. I… don’t know why,” the officer was forced to admit.

“What did they do?”

“Based on the video, sirs, which looks like it was taken from a gunboat, it seems that they simply wiped away the town with missiles. I don’t think they used any infantry at all.”

“It’s obviously a trap! If we don’t surrender, they’re going to wait until we try to stop them, and then they’ll catch us!” The opinion was obviously shared by the rest of the table.

“But
then
what do we do?” Tom asked, leaning intently forward. “We can’t do
nothing
! They’re going to kill
thousands, millions
even, if we don’t stop them!”

“So we should charge out and get
ourselves
killed? That’s hardly an answer!”

The argument broke out again. Frank got steadily more impatient, until he finally slammed a fist hard against the table, momentarily silencing everyone.

Hiding a wince, Frank said forcefully, “Before we can decide what to do, as I’ve already said, we
need
to select a new general!” This time, instead of arguments, there was broad agreement. But then what?

“And how exactly are we going to do that?”

“As I said
earlier
, deciding whose in charge should be based on date of-“

“Sir,” Frank interrupted politely, but forcefully. “While that may be usually true, this situation is hardly usual.”

“Well,
yes
, obviously, but-”

“We need someone who can lead the troops directly, colonel. And with all do respect you’re simply too- Er, not youthful enough.”

The colonel frowned, but with most of the others nodding, he could hardly argue the point.

“But if not by rank, then who shall we select?” one of the colonels asked.

“Sirs, I believe, upon considering all options, that there is only one real choice. Colonel Fil’dwis.”

“
What
?! Frank, what the
hell
-”

“Fil’dwis!? But he’s only been recently made colonel! And he’s a reservist!” one of the others objected. The rest might have joined him, but Frank got in first.

“We’ve already decided not to go by date of rank. And considering what your
last
general did, we’re going to need a colonel who’s particularly popular with the troops. Otherwise we might end up facing serious morale and command problems; not that we won’t
anyway
,” he admitted.

“Still, Colonel Fil’dwis is probably the most popular at the moment, especially considering his part in the counter-attack that saved our behinds three days ago.”

Frank was at his most convincing, but they didn’t seem very impressed. On the other hand, who else could they choose? Only one of the other colonels was not currently assigned to a desk, and he was currently injured; further, he wasn’t as good as Fil’dwis, or as popular. The other field colonels had all gone along with the ill-fated supply compound attack, and had all died there.

After a considerable amount of argument and protest (Including from Colonel Fil’dwis himself.) it was finally decided.

The former colonel was unceremoniously presented with a set of General rank tabs, and the camp informed of the news.

Unsurprisingly, they weren’t taking things well. Although the Kzarchians weren’t sure if they should believe the pirates’ messages, having already heard about them through the rumor mill and some even having seen them, they fit all too well with how things were going.