Talosian Chronicles 6: Armageddon
Read Talosian Chronicles 6: Armageddon Online
Authors: Ben Winston
Talosian Chronicles – Book VI
By Ben Winston
Copyright © 2016 Ben Winston
Published by Blue Space Publications, LLC.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed by a newspaper, magazine, or journal.
All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Respectfully dedicated to all the people of the planet Earth.
May we find harmony in our diversity,
Compromise in our differences,
And may we join together to finally reach for the stars, in peace.
After discovering that the better part of the galaxy, the Alliance of Races of which the Talosians are a part, is at war with invaders from another galaxy, it soon became clear that there is a problem brewing in the Talosian Ruling Council. Nowhere is that more evident than in the sour relations the Talosians have with the other races of the Alliance of Races.
Half the Council believes that everything in the Sol System should fall under their control and in most cases dominance. While the leaders of the Council believe that the Sol System is a separate, autonomous entity. Two members of the Council along with the two highest ranking members of the Talosian Military came to the Sol System to negotiate the situation.
After a sabotage attempt perpetrated by one of the Council members failed, Ian and the other members of the Talosian Council discovered the extent of the corruption in the Talosian Ruling Council, and the plot to over-throw the Council. Ian and his friends worked out a plan to help the Talosians prevent a civil war that would allow the Empire to over-run the Talosians.
During all of this Star Dancer received a distress call from a Benesian ship; a civilian passenger liner registered to the Benesian ruling oligarchy. Cindy's new ship, the Raptor Damocles, is the closest and responds to the distress call first. Ian puts the dignitaries ashore at the moon base and heads out to assist the Benesians as well. Arriving first, the Damocles was heavily damaged by an Imperial warship that was destroyed in the initial exchange with the Damocles.
The Benesian ship hid and began repairs. When Star Dancer arrived, they located the Benesian ship but not Cindy’s Raptor, Damocles.
After locating the Damocles, Star Dancer helped the Benesian ship finish repairs, but while escorting it to a jump point, an Imperial Task Force arrived. After speaking to the Alliance of Races Military, Ian and the Star Dancer remained in the system to gather intelligence for the Alliance of Races. Impressed with Ian and convinced that the humans of Sol Sector are not the same humans of Talos, the Alliance of Races opened diplomatic relations with Sol Sector and invited them to take part in the assault on the task force Ian encountered while assisting the Benesian liner.
The diplomatic relations allowed the people of Sol Sector to take care of another issue that had been waiting for the Council to make a decision. The underwater Caldarian base in the Atlantic Ocean under the sea mount called Neptune's Massif.
Almost as soon as the underwater base was secured, the political situation on New Talos deteriorated into civil war. A militant faction intent on racial dominance staged a coup that killed almost half of the Grand Council of New Talos and took control of the population and all the military assets in the system. During the Coup, Admiral Goya and Councilor Noren tried to send the self-destruct commands to the Talosian fleet. Councilor Noren was gravely wounded in the attempt. A Council guard made a lucky shot and killed the assassin, and another Councilor assisted Goya in sending the Council override command to the fleet, destroying the ships controlled by the rebels, but leaving the loyal Talosian Military basically unarmed.
Ian devised a plan to retake New Talos and restore the Council to power, but lacked the forces on his own. First Admiral H'Joles of the Alliance of Races sent several Talosian units under his command to Ian in order to restore New Talos. Before leaving, Ian ordered the construction yards in Sol Sector to begin rebuilding the Talosian Fleet and to use the new designs developed by the researchers in Sol Sector.
While Ian and the task force were busy at New Talos, the Empire pulled their forces back to a forward staging area. The new Commander had a change in tactics to implement and wanted to take advantage of the New Talos incident to spread suspicion and mistrust in the Alliance.
Shortly after Ian and his remaining forces returned to Sol Sector, the Empire began using their advanced hyperspace travel system to stage terroristic hit and run raids on unprotected Alliance worlds. It worked, the Alliance citizens began to panic and lose faith in the Council and the Military.
The Alliance Council called for an emergency meeting of all races to discuss the situation. First Admiral H'joles also called for the Alliance Military leaders to meet and discuss options for countering this new threat to the Alliance.
Intending to send them out searching for intelligence after providing security for the meeting, Ian took all available Raptor teams with him to the meeting. However, once they arrived, the First Admiral shared some new information with him. An Alliance social survey probe had captured images of three large rings near the main Imperial base. It was believed that these were the devices that gave the Empire the ability to jump hundreds of light years almost instantly. Ian and H'joles agreed to send Ian's Raptor teams to investigate and destroy the devices. After briefing the team leaders and their AI, First Admiral H'joles dispatched the Raptor Squadron.
After destroying the hyper-gates the Empire was using for the terror attacks, the squadron of Raptors found themselves trapped in Imperial space. Two of the six ships were last in attempts to escape. In an effort to get out of the trap they find themselves in, the Raptors go on the offensive. After dealing considerable damage to Imperial forces, the teams find a mostly abandoned system on the border and begin to set up a small, hidden base.
Meanwhile, in the Hyperion system, Ian and his fleet are attacked by a type of super-elite Imperial infantry unit that no one has ever encountered before. In the fighting, the largest city on the planet is destroyed by these troops. It is later discovered that their entire objective had been to destroy one ship hidden in a hanger in the target city. After the destruction of the elite troops, Ian and the fleet of Alliance ships return the planet to Talosian rule. Most of the Alliance fleet heads back to Alliance space while Ian and his small forces return to Sol Sector.
While on vacation on Earth, Ian and his family are visited by T'gan M'orel, High Priestess and leader of the Benesian people.She brings Ian a warning of the impending destruction of Sol sector at the hands of the Empire. She also brought special therapists to help Janet Laskar who has been suffering considerable trauma as a result of the visions of the attack. She was so traumatized, she didn't report the vision to Ian. She feared that by reporting it, she would only make things worse.
Taking the warning to heart, Ian begins making preparations for the defense of the sector. Part of those preparations involve informing the leaders of Earth of the coming event, and the preparations that would be needed to protect as many people as possible. Upon learning of the source of the warning, the leaders reject the possibility and accuse Ian of simply trying to get them to disarm themselves.
Admiral H'joles ask to speak to the UN Council out of friendship to Ian and in return for Ian's assistance with the Alliance Council. However, he has to do so without the Council knowing his position in the Alliance.
The Council eventually asks who H'joles really is in the Alliance and he tells them; after making sure they understand that he has not spoken to them officially, but simply a citizen of the Alliance.
The UN Council appears to be convinced of the truth of the situation and tells Ian that they will discuss the 'request' he has made of them, but tentatively agree to assist Ian.
So begins the final chapter of the Talosian Chronicles - Armageddon.
Neptune's Massif Base
Mid-Atlantic Ocean
Earth, Sol Sector
"Colonel, forgive me for asking, but it seems as though most of your resources are being deployed here, on Earth. Don't you have other installations and colonies to defend as well?" Lars Tollissen asked. He was the UN liaison assigned to Alan to help get defenses installed on Earth.
"It may seem that way, Lars. In a manner of speaking, you're right, we do have more personnel working here than anywhere else. The reason for that is that when we built the cities and other off-world settlements, they were designed with defense in mind," Alan explained. "Try to remember, when we originally designed most of those places, we had no idea what we were facing out there. So when the plans for the settlements and facilities were made, we tried to incorporate defenses into them. So, we have far less to do for them than we do here on Earth."
"Ahh, I understand," Lars replied. "This makes more sense to me now."
"Well, so far, the governments are still playing nice for the most part. There hasn't been any serious attempts to stop us, but they're have been attempts to steal technology. We're going to have to replace the equipment that was destroyed," Alan replied frowning.
Lars nodded. "They are like poor children in a candy store, Colonel. They see all this wonderful stuff they desperately want. At least, you have made sure they cannot harm themselves."
"Still, let's just hope they figure it out soon; the more time we have to spend replacing destroyed equipment the less time we'll have to get the stuff built." He paused for a moment. "Andreya, could you pass along an inquiry about possibly locking the bunkers and shelters until they're needed? We could rig a release signal to unlock them when the time comes. Maybe that'll help keep the vandalism to a minimum."
"Sir, as you know, the weapons bunkers are already sealed until the crew manning the facility can arrive," Andreya replied.
"Yeah, I only meant the civilian stuff. Once the final inspection of each facility is completed,
we
seal it until it's needed. It seems some of the local officials that control access to them are having a little difficulty containing their curiosity," Alan explained.
"Understood, Sir. I'll see what can be done," Andreya replied.
Lars smiled at the beautiful 'woman'. "I still cannot get my mind around the fact that she is an AI avatar. Until this assignment, I'd only believed such things were possible only in science fiction novels and comics. She is truly an amazing… person."
Alan grinned at the man. "There is an ongoing debate in the Alliance Council as to whether or not she and her kind are to be considered sentient. We've already figured it out and given them the same rights we have. She's just as much a citizen as I am."
Lars nodded. "Many will see her and her kind as little more than talking computers no matter how much proof they are shown. Others will fear granting an AI autonomy because of the power they are capable of. The issue will not be an easy one for the people of Earth to accept I'm afraid."
Alan nodded. "We went through much the same arguments and doubts, on a much smaller scale, when the issue was brought to our Council. For the other members of the Alliance, they have much further to go in accepting it; they've had AI turn on them in the past. Of course, the design and programming are far different, and our AI are treated more as equals than as tools. Several of the new Alliance ships we built do have active sentient AI assigned to them as an experiment. So far the crews have adapted well and in most cases the crew themselves would strongly protest their removal."
Lars again nodded his understanding. "I think I would too. Having one of them around would be a strong benefit, especially to a ship's crew. Colonel, have you had much interaction with any of the other races? If so, what are they like?"
"Honestly, I've only had a little more exposure to them than you have," at the look on the man's face Alan chuckled. "I forgot, no one told you there are Talosians here. Talosians are human, just like we are, so it would be difficult to notice. You'll also meet a few Benesians soon; we're supposed to be getting workers and a couple new Marine units later today actually."
"What are they like?" Lars asked.
"Imagine a very beautiful elvin woman and you'll be very close to what they look like. The males of the race are very rare and to my knowledge, none have ever left their home world. The ones coming here will be unusual themselves for the most part." Alan went on to explain about the Benesian 'criminals' and the agreement reached between the Benesian and Terran Councils.
"So if the Benesians are against violence, how did they end up becoming Marines?" Lars asked.
"Not all of them agree with the non-violent policies of their former government. That was the reason they were exiled. Here, they will are allowed to take as active a roll as they wish. Remember, these ladies are not actually criminals by the definition we understand. By our standards, the only thing they are guilty of would be disagreeing with their rulers in a disruptive way. Of course, not all of them are guilty of the same 'crime'. Some were exiled for other 'offenses' or simply wished to join loved ones that had. None of the offenses are something we would consider to be true crimes, and in most cases are freedoms we take from granted," Alan explained. "In the last four months, almost half a million have decided to join us. Which reminds me," Alan grinned and went to the replicator. When he turned around he handed Lars a plain gold ring. "The ladies coming here are aware that we are a biologically compatible species. If you're wearing this, it should serve to limit the number of them hitting on you. Remember, they are the dominant sex on their world. A single male is a potential mate to them. The more aggressive ones will ignore the ring and hit on you anyway, but I'm sure they will respect your wishes if you tell them no. If not, please report it immediately."
Lars took the ring, but looked at it for a moment. "If I put this on, it would be a lie since I'm single. I didn't think that would be acceptable here?"
Alan nodded. "Not exactly a lie, but a misrepresentation of the truth. Yes, a fine hair to be splitting, but I thought I would offer you the option."
"Sir, that tropical depression we've been tracking has been upgraded to a category-one hurricane. She's still headed right for us, and is expected to reach cat-three before she gets here," the meteorological officer reported.
"What's her ETA?" Alan asked.
"Thirty-six hours, but we'll be seeing her effects in sixteen hours." The man paused. "Sir, I think the Earth folks are wrong on this, my sensors are tell me she's gonna pick up speed as she grows. I also think she'll hit a cat-four and make landfall around Delaware."
"Fuck, that's gonna slow us down," Alan replied. "Get with the folks on the moon and see if you can get them to agree with you. Do it quickly so we can warn the fleet on the surface."
TDF
Star Dancer
Equatorial Orbit
Earth, Sol Sector
"Alex, please get me an updated status on the orbital fortresses as well as the new assault fleets," Ian asked.
"Right away sir, although personnel is still an issue for the fleets," Alex replied as she entered the requests into her computer.
"What's the hold up there?" Ian asked.
"Getting all the people and getting them trained. They're almost at full capacity, and recruitment is at full capacity, but we're getting less than full cooperation from a few countries on Earth. The Russian Federation and China are not being very helpful, North Korea, Vietnam, Iran and Pakistan still won't allow us to recruit from their countries."
"Okay, I'll handle it," Ian replied. "When you get the time I'd like to speak to the Secretary General please."
Alex nodded. "The fighter training facility on Mars has begun training the Earth squadrons. The fighters themselves are already built and waiting."
Ian nodded. "Good, I'll need to speak to Alan Carlson after the Secretary General then."
"On your comm, Sir," Alex replied.
Ian set his terminal to his comm channel and saw the smiling face of the Secretary General appear. "Good Morning Admiral, what can I help you with today?"
"Good Morning, Mister Secretary. We're developing a bit of a problem up here; we're running short on personnel for the ships. Has there been any progress on the the hold-outs?"
The man frowned. "No unfortunately. I swear, you'd think we were asking them to give up their children!"
"Well, in a way, we are; we're asking them to allow us to take some of their people to help defend the planet. I doubt those national leaders even believe there is a threat, but they sure are eager to get our shelters and defensive weapons installations. Work hasn't begun in those countries yet and I'm half tempted to keep it that way until they see reality." Ian sighed. "I won't though, those shelters are for the people, not the governments. Is there anything we can do to help persuade them?"
"North Korea and Vietnam still believe all of this is nothing more than a ruse by the United States to over-throw them. The Muslim countries are upset with you over the handling of the terrorist issue. They are demanding the return of their people 'illegally' captured and detained by you and your forces," the Secretary General replied. "None of them seem to care that only about half of those you arrested were actually Muslim."
"Would it help if we sent someone to speak with them about the matter?" Ian asked.
"Actually, you're already doing pretty well on that part of the issue. You've stopped the fighting in the middle east. Not just the Arabic people, but the Jewish people as well. The issue of restoring Palestine still exists, but they are back to talking about it instead of shooting at each other. Your troops are maintaining the peace and ensuring everyone is treated fairly. Of course, that irritates the hell out of the Israelis and Palestinians, but no one is accusing you of being unfair. No, the work your people are doing in the Middle East will solve the issue there. The problem is Korea and Vietnam; no one can tell them anything."
Ian nodded. "I'm afraid it's a little worse than that, Sir. I'm told our recruiters are having difficulties in China and the Russian Federation as well. The 'liaison' officers we're required to have with us are intimidating people into refusing. While trying to make us accept the people they want us to take. We'd take them, but the problem is they are all spies or have questionable histories." Ian chuckled. "I'm actually surprised the US isn't doing it as well."
The Secretary nodded in understanding. "I was afraid that would happen when they made that condition. Unfortunately, there isn't a lot we can do about it."
"Yeah, I thought as much. We're actually getting more people from those nations as walk-ups at our installations, and those folks have to get past our 'protectors' to get to us!" Ian replied.
"No one has mentioned to me, but you've had to have spoken to the Vatican as well as several of the other world religious leaders. How'd that go?" The Secretary asked.
Ian kind of blushed. "Well sir, we kind of pulled a fast one there. You see, we have people up here from almost every religion. We reached an agreement with the Vatican and a few other major religious organizations shortly after the Caldarian attack. We have since expanded that program to include the religions of our allies as well."
"I'd have thought they would have fought you on the freedom of religion thing. They've been all over the news down here since this whole mess went public," the Secretary replied.
"I know, I've been watching. I'm sure that's one of the reasons for the law; most of those folks are not helping keep people calm; their just trying to get people riled up and make names for themselves. At least none of them are blaming us!" Ian replied.
The Secretary nodded agreement. "That's true, from what I've seen, they are supporting you at least for now. Let's just hope they never figure out you don't allow religions a public forum and that they have no place in your government. They'd turn on you in a hot minute."
"Well like I said, the leaders of the churches know and understand our laws and have agreed to abide by them; at least up here. They also know we are doing everything we can to keep the people safe," Ian replied.
"That you are most definitely are. I was going to call you later; we've been informed that several countries, including the United States will allow you to open your clinics under terms of that agreement. Your Council should have gotten that message first thing this morning, but I knew you would like to know as well."
Ian grinned. "Thank you, Sir. That is good news indeed. Just so you know; there were a couple of reasons I was pushing for it. First, it would help a great many people. We can cure AIDS and every type of cancer as well as replace lost limbs. It's been really hard on our medical personnel to know they could help, but simply weren't allowed. Now our fear will be that those we treat will be whisked away to some secret lab somewhere and dissected to see what we did to cure them."
Again the Secretary could only agree. "That is, unfortunately, a fear I share. However, as per the agreement, members of the World Health Organization will be there as well. I would think that would serve to limit the number of people who disappear."