The Inception: The Augmented Human Rebellion - Book 1 (2 page)

‘Hello soldier. Are you awake now?” the feminine voice asks.

“Have I been augmented?” he asks.

“Aren’t you the smart one?” the nurse replies. “I’ve never heard of
anyone who had figured that out, when they first awoke.”

***

“Landing in 2 minutes,” the pilot announces.

‘Impact’ is a much more appropriate word than ‘landing’, to describe the
assault ship’s impending arrival. Assault ships are capable of landing,
but in combat situations they often need to arrive suddenly. This
upcoming impact speed may be in the neighborhood of 50 klicks per hour. In a
more extreme situation, the impact velocity might be as high as 75 klicks per
hour. The mechanical parts of the ship are designed to absorb those
impact stresses. The humanoids, on board, require some dampening
mechanisms and special packaging, in order to survive the controlled crash.

At the 2 minute mark, the humanoids aboard the Nemesis are fully encased
in their combat armor, and have been compacted into a specially padded ‘pod’,
at the rear section of the cargo bay. At the time of impact, the ships
velocity may go from 50 klicks per hour to zero, within a second – depending on
the landing terrain. The velocities of the humanoids will be decreased
more gradually, as the specially padded pod travels the 20 meters, from the
rear of the cargo bay to the front. Even with the dampened deceleration,
the landing impact could kill an ordinary human - but these are not ordinary
humans.

***

The humanoids on this assault ship are ‘Type AH’ (Augmented Humans), from
the Terran solar system, located in the Orion Arm of the Milky Way. These
are specially bred humans, with ‘augmented’ physical and mental
capabilities. Armies of augmented humans have been produced, in order to
satisfy the requirements for Terra’s membership in the Darinx Empire. The
AH soldiers are produced by modifying human clones, in order to meet particular
job-function requirements. Some are bred smaller, but most have been
super sized.

For example, Captain Nemo, who commands the 100 person company aboard
this assault ship - the Nemesis - is 2.5 meters tall (8.2 feet), and weighs
over 160kg (352 lbs). He has been augmented, with a brain which was
recovered from a deceased Terran soldier. The transplanted brain has been
enhanced using computerized brain implants, which are designed to increase the
speed, intelligence, targeting, and communications capabilities of the
augmented human soldier. Captain Nemo, when ‘awakened’ at the
Augmentation Center, was a fully trained combat experienced soldier, who was
ready to assume his duties, less than 2 months after the brain transplant.

Captain Nemo was allowed to remember all of the combat experience, and a
small part of the personal life of Sergeant Cade Westerling. He remembers
enough to know that Sgt. Westerling had a wife and 2 children, who he loved
with all of his heart. Augmented humans are forbidden to ever contact the
brain donor’s family, but the Captain often thinks about them, and wishes that
he could tell them how much they were – and still are – loved.

The other thing that Captain Nemo was allowed to make his own, from
Sergeant Cade Westerling, was his first name – Cade. The name for this
augmented human is ‘Cade Nemo’.

Augmented humans are not recognized as humans, even though they are
sentient being who are derived from humans. Augmented humans understand
the unfairness of this policy, and also understand the pragmatic reason for the
policy.

If augmented humans were recognized as being fully ‘human’, they would be
entitled to the same rights and privileges afforded, to every other Darinx
citizen. In that event, they could choose to serve in the military, or
not. Since the very reason for their existence is to serve the Darinx
Empire, as soldiers, they cannot be recognized as being fully human.
Augmented humans are considered to be the property of the Darinx Empire –
basically slaves of the Darinx Empire.

Augmented humans are very bright – brighter than most humans – and they
fully understand the inequities of their condition. There have been pleas
for change, as well as some armed uprisings – all of which were totally and
brutally crushed. The Darinx Empire is involved in a life or death
struggle against the Verm Empire, and until that struggle is resolved, the
needs of the Empire supersede any need for fairness.

In order to keep augmented human soldiers from gaining control of
critical weapons systems, they are not permitted to occupy any command level
positions. ‘Captain’ is the highest rank that an augmented human soldier
can attain.

***

Captain Cade Nemo isn’t thinking about his personal problems at this
moment. He is living in the ‘now’, and now is an extremely dangerous
period of time, for himself and his company of soldiers. Company K of
Battalion 308, has been ordered to establish a beachhead on the planet Parin,
in the Orion Nebula.

Captain Nemo is fully focused on the controlled crash, which the assault
ship is about to make. Status checks indicate that all soldiers are
‘armored-up’; packed into the deceleration pod; and braced for impact. If
the impact is in a rocky area, Captain Nemo can expect that 2 or 3 soldiers
will die, due to impact injuries - and another 10 will suffer concussion
injuries, which may render them ineffective for some time to come.

“Brace for impact” warns the ‘Artificial Intelligence’ pilot. The
AI – named Danion - is part of Company K, and is emotionally involved with the
group of 100 augmented humans. Danion has been programmed to feel empathy
for the soldiers, and is concerned about the safety of each individual, and for
the company as a whole. Danion and Captain Nemo have developed a good
working relationship, and have a high regard for each other’s capabilities.

***

This landing goes well, as the ship burrows into the soft surface
and reduces speed gradually, rather than coming to an abrupt stop.
Additionally, the ‘impact dampening mechanisms’ engage automatically, and the
velocity of the pod - holding the soldiers - is reduced gradually, as the pod
traverses the 20 meters from the rear, to the front of the cargo bay.

“Well done,” thinks Captain Nemo to the ship’s AI. He allows all of
the Company K soldiers to overhear the conversation, because the Captain wants
to compliment the AI in front of the entire company - the AI has feelings,
too.

The Captain is able to communicate with the AI, and with each individual
soldier, through communications circuitry implanted in their augmented
brains.

“None dead and only 4 injured – none seriously,” reports Danion, to
Captain Nemo.

“Good news, Danion,” thinks the Captain, to the AI. And then
“Prepare to disembark”, to the entire company.

First Squad, under Lieutenant Guilles, is at the point position
today. They will exit first and establish a perimeter around the
Nemesis. Scouts will go out, searching for enemy forces or natural
hazards. The perimeter will quickly be expanded to a circumference of about 5
klicks. After that, the rest of the company will disembark and establish
a base camp.

***

The point position is always dangerous and Captain Nemo is especially
concerned about the safety of First Squad, because Lieutenant Guilles is
Captain Nemo’s lover.

Augmented humans are forbidden to marry or to have children - but that
doesn’t stop them from falling in love. Any pregnancy, from such a
relationship, will be terminated and the individuals involved will be disciplined
and separated.

***

Captain Nemo is reviewing video feed of the area surrounding the impact
site, and doesn’t see any organized resistance. When First Squad is
formed up, in front of the Cargo Bay door, Captain Nemo thinks “Disembark!”
over the First Squad comm system. The AI drops the ramp and opens the
door. First Squad soldiers leap from the assault ship, to the alien
surface, and establish a defensive perimeter, within minutes of the impact.

Augmented humans have super-human strength, and that strength is
further enhanced by the power assist features of their battle armor.
Lieutenant Guilles orders her scouts to move outward in all directions, in
order to expand the perimeter.

The enemy forces on this mission are expected to consist entirely of the
extrucian species, which is native to this planet. The extrucians are
‘insect like’, and the individual native somewhat resembles the ant, of planet
Earth - except that these soldier ants typically stand 2 meters high.

The bottom segment of the extrucian has 4 legs, making it a very fast,
and very stable quadrapedal. The top two segments are perpendicular to
the bottom segment, and each of the top 2 segments has 2 arms. Instead of
hands, the arms have a number of tendril appendages, which provide power and
manipulative abilities superior to augmented humans.

The extrucian brain is structurally different from a human brain, but the
cognitive abilities are equal-to-or-greater-than the normal human brain.
The augmented human brain is somewhat faster than the extrucian brain, giving a
slight advantage to the AH.

The extrucian species tends to organize in colonies, in a way that is
similar to the ant species on Earth. All-in-all, the extrucians are a
very formidable enemy, and in this encounter they will have the added
advantages of overwhelming numbers and home turf.

This enemy can be expected to attack in mass, and to swarm their
opponents. This landing site was picked because of its remote location,
away from any large colony. That should provide adequate time for the
Darinx forces to establish a secure perimeter, and to install defensive weapons
systems.

The one big advantage that the Darinx warriors have is superior weaponry.
The swarms of attacking extrucians, by air or ground, will be decimated by the
computer controlled laser and plasma cannons. Once the automatic
defensive systems have been established, reinforcements should begin to arrive
from Battalion 308, which is in geosynchronous orbit, directly overhead.

The scouting parties have not detected any organized resistance, and
First Squad continues to enlarge the perimeter. Captain Nemo is watching
video feed, taken from orbit, which indicates that the nearest extrucian colony
is preparing a massive assault, by land and air. Danion reports that
troop-landers are already en-route, from other extrucian colonies. The
extrucians are prepared for this invasion, and the first attacks - by air -
could arrive within 30 minutes.

Captain Nemo has to make a judgment call at this point. Can Company
K establish a secure perimeter in time to stop a swarming ground assault, and
can they defend their position, against an aerial assault? The Captain
concludes that Company K can easily establish the ground assault defenses in
time, but they will have inadequate defenses against a swarming air
assault.

He communicates that conclusion to the command center, in orbit.
Almost instantly, Coronel Kax – a human - transmits a direct order to establish
the base – no matter what. Captain Nemo acknowledges receipt of that
command, and requests additional personnel, ammunition, and fortified
structures. Colonel Kax says ‘no’ to the request for fortified structures
and personnel, but will consider additional ammunition.

Captain Nemo orders First Squad to return to the Nemesis, ASAP (As Soon
As Possible), and orders Danion to prepare to move the expedition, to a
secondary landing site in the mountains. That location was Captain Nemo’s
first choice as a landing site, but his decision was overruled by Colonel
Kax. Captain Nemo doesn’t ask for permission to move, because he is
certain that permission would be denied – “Better to have an angry colonel,
than a dead company,” thinks the Captain.

When First Squad has re-boarded the Nemesis, Danion flies to the
mountainous location, and picks a landing spot near a series of cliffs and
caves. One of the caves is large enough to shelter the Nemesis. At
the cave entrance, Danion hovers and backs the assault ship far enough into the
cave, so that it will be protected from enemy fire.

Upon landing, Captain Nemo orders Second Squad to secure the cave
entrance; First Squad to establish a perimeter; and Third Squad to secure the
cave. As soon as the cave entrance has been secured, the Captain orders
the remainder of the company to disembark, and to prepare the defensive
systems, with priority on the aerial defenses. Danion reports that
extrucian troop-landers are en-route, at this very moment, with an ETA (Expected
Time of Arrival) of 12 minutes.

***

The Cave

One clear advantage of having the Nemesis in the cave is that Company K
will have transportation, if they need to evacuate. One clear disadvantage is
that the Nemesis’s powerful weapons systems will be unavailable, while she is
parked in the cave. Captain Nemo chose this scenario, because he doesn’t
trust Colonel Kax, to evacuate them.

There is a history of animosity between Colonel Kax and Captain Nemo,
which dates back to the Pandot expedition, when the Colonel - during a rushed
retreat - abandoned a company of soldiers.

Captain Nemo’s record of success, and his friendship with the commanding
general, is all that keeps the Colonel from having him executed. What the
Colonel can do, however, is to put Company K in untenable situations, in the
hopes that Captain Nemo will be killed. That strategy hasn’t worked so
far, but the Colonel keeps trying.

***

While they are establishing their defensive perimeter, Company K must
also fight off enemy air attacks, along with assaults from ground troops, who
have been delivered via troop-landers. Defense of the Company K position
would be untenable, except for the natural defensive positions afforded by the
mountainous terrain.

The caves have been searched and are largely uninhabited, except by
animals. There are about 20 extrucian non-combatants living in the cave,
where the Nemesis is parked. It is too late for them to safely leave the
area, so they will be detained for the duration of the battle. Captain
Nemo orders his intelligence officer, Lt. Whu, to question the civilians
concerning the caves. It’s important to know if there are interconnecting
tunnels between the caves, and if there are other entrances. If Company K
doesn’t receive assistance from headquarters, this may be home for a while.