The Cimalian Princess: Invasion
by AJ Marks
Chapter 3
Randy felt the shuttle land on the platform of the base headquarters. Quickly exiting the shuttle he looked around noticing a young lieutenant nearby. Walking over to the man Randy waited to see what would happen next.
“Captain White, I’m Lieutenant Chad Opal. I’m sorry to say that the admiral is currently busy,” Chad told Randy.
“Lieutenant, not to be rude but do you know where the admiral is? I’ve got some very important news for him,” Randy told him. He had no idea what would’ve taken his father away from his unexpected visit.
“With all due respect captain, the admiral is with several people of the government,” Chad told him. “The last time they were here they cut wages and several bases. I just hope the same thing doesn’t happen this time.”
Randy stopped at what he had heard. The government had decided it was time again to cut spending. “Then they’ve got the worst timing ever.”“What do you mean,” Chad asked.
Randy glanced at Chad who had stopped with him. “We lost the Griffen.” Randy noticed the look of disbelief in the young man’s eyes that almost mirrored his own.
“The Griffen is gone?”
“Yes, Captain Val was able to barely communicate with us before we lost contact. He sent all the information he could. If this is a group of pirates then we’re in trouble,” Randy said. “Their weapons are more powerful and stronger shields than we have.”
Chad let out a low whistle at that. “I think I know where the admiral might be then.”
Randy followed Chad inside the building. He felt a nervousness throughout the building. It seemed that people were afraid for their jobs. Everyone appeared to be busy even if they had nothing to do. He could see a bit of relief when people noticed that he wasn’t one of the senators. Randy could only hope that his father would listen, especially if he was with the senators.
They turned the corner spotting his father and the senators. Randy saw Greg Pappas and knew that he might have at least one supporter in the group. The other two he recognized as Senators Agnes and Barnes. Agnes had the reputation of sticking with his decision no matter what happened. He had a feeling that it didn’t matter what his father did the senator had already made up his mind.
“Admiral White,” Chad said walking up to the Jack.
“Can’t you tell we’re busy,” Senator Agnes said berating the lieutenant. “Admiral this interruption is outrageous!”
“Hold on a second, let the young man speak,” Greg said defending the young man.
“You would say that warmonger,” Agnes said. “We waste all these resources and for what, nothing. We could put the money to better use somewhere else.”
Randy clenched his fists in anger but remained silent. He needed to see how his father would handle this situation.
“Chad, Randy, I’ll deal with the situation after I’ve finished with the senators,” the admiral told them.
“Admiral, I think you should listen to this,” Randy said holding a data pad up.
“Randy, will you please excuse me for a second,” Jack said to the senators then walked over to where Randy stood waiting.
“Sure, it’s probably about Corrius. They might need something. The quicker it’s fixed the better for the government,” Greg said.
“Problems because of a solar flare, I doubt it,” Agnes snorted.
Randy focused on his father who stood in front of him.
“Randy, we’ll have to discuss your report later. Now no buts, this is an order,” he said to him leaning closer adding the next part in a whisper. “I’m trying not to get us shut down for good.”
“Dad…”
“No, this is final. I’ll see the report when I’m done,” Jack said.
Randy watched with disappointment as his father walked back over to the senators. Greg met his eyes in silent understanding then left the room.
“Well, that could’ve gone better,” Randy said. He took a breath thinking about what he could do next. “Where is Admiral Dredge?”
“She’s on board the Hood at Corestar,” Chad replied.
“Then I’ll tell her,” Randy said. Admiral Dredge happened to be the second in command of the fleet. She would at least have some input of what to do next.
Three workers quickly ran the small operating relay station on the planet of Dredius. The planet had mostly mining towns as the planet had been found rich in metals easy to mine. Most mines were located right on the surface of the planet.
“Hey, Rich, you see that latest movie vid by Heather Moarris,” one of the guys said.
“Are you kidding, man she could come over to my place any day,” Rich replied.
“Typical guys, only thinking about her tits,” the woman said to them.
“Beats watching channel one,” Rich said. He reached over switching one of the monitors to the channel in question. A clear picture of the largest moon appeared on the screen.
“I can’t believe that people pay money to keep that channel on the air,” the woman said.
“Hey, put a little T and A on it and viewership would increase,” Rich said.
“One viewer would double the people watching,” the other man said with a laugh.
“That’s the truth,” Rich said. “Hold on a second, what’s that?”
“What’s what?”
“That,” Rich said. He pointed to a spot on the screen where it appears several ships were heading in from behind the moon. “Looks military?”
“Military, here, you’re imagining things. I told you that your stint in the military warped your brain” the other man said.
“No,” Rich said noticing something very strange. “Those smaller vessels, they’re fighters. Do we still have communications with other worlds?”
“Huh,” the woman said confused.
Rich turned quickly punching several commands into the console in front of him. “Damn, jammed, but, hold on, yeah, we can do that, just boost the power, yeah,” he said quickly working.
The other two watched not sure what he was thinking. They turned back to the monitor. One of the smaller ships headed straight towards the satellite that housed the camera for channel one. A flash of light then a screen filled with static.
“What the Hades was that?” the woman asked.
“Probably weapon’s fire,” Rich said not looking up. “There, I think we can send this to Corestar, at least I hope.”
Meia looked over her fighter on the hanger deck. She could be on patrol within a few minutes. Normally the leader didn’t take turns in the patrol but she had felt restless. Hecus had done a great job maintaining her fighter. Everything seemed to be working in top order.
“Ah, Meia, does everything look good,” Hecus asked walking up behind her.
“It does, thank you Hecus,” Meia replied.
“You’re the only pilot I know who comes down here and spends time with us low lives,” Hecus said.
“Maybe I’m not that far removed from you as you think,” Meia said to him. She ran her hand over the cool metal of the fighter.
“I doubt that. You’re an elite pilot, we’re just Gamma class citizens down here, along with a few Epsilon citizens,” Hecus said.
Meia didn’t reply. She wondered if he knew what her class really was. She was one of those low lives Epsilon class citizens. If it hadn’t been for her piloting skills she’d have been in the same place Hecus was.
“Rumor is we’re going to be here for a few more hours,” Hecus said. “Then another planet to ‘liberate’. I wonder who the real tyrant is. There are stories, old stories that tell another story about the Alliance.”
“Hecus, they’ve killed how many people,” Meia said. “Including my mother.”
“I know, but I guess it doesn’t matter in the long run,” he said to her. “Well, here you go.”
Meia grabbed the fighter interface and adjusted the fit. Then she climbed aboard her fighter waiting for the permission to launch.
Seconds later she felt the clamps swing her fighter into position then release. The fighter engines came to life as she moved away from the Kitakim.
Hecus’ words seemed to echo in her mind though. She’d heard the stories as well, from others of her class. The stories said that the Alliance had no classes and in fact it had been the Cimalian Empire who had started the war so long ago.
Turning her fighter she began her patrol.
Randy didn’t have to wait long until Admiral Dredge answered. Her short gray hair seemed to be the only indication of her age. Her blue eyes didn’t miss a thing that went on. Even now Randy could see her mind working to figure out why he’d called.
“Captain White, what’s the problem,” she asked.
“Ma’am, I think there’s a larger problem at Corrius than wee first though,” Randy replied. “I don’t know if you were aware that we were sent on a possible solar flare?”
“Yes, I read that,” she said. “Something happened?”
“Yes ma’am. When we approached the planet I noticed a large number of unknown ships. Then we were attacked,” Randy told her. He watched for any reaction from her. “I retreated to Hesslius for a moment. Contacting Fleet Command I told them what had happened. The Griffen then was sent out to investigate further. It too was attacked but I fear that we’ve lost them.”
“What does Admiral White say about this,” she asked him.
“Right now we’ve got three senators from the council here talking about shutting some things down,” Randy told her. He stopped from saying anything else when a nearby monitor turned on. “Interesting,” he mumbled watching the screen. He then noticed the type of ships on the screen. The ships were identical to the ones that had attacked the Akagi at Corrius.
“This is Rich Nelson from vid station SBV on Dredius, we’re under attack from an unknown group. The image is from a camera that had been sending video of the largest moon,” the image blurred a bit. “I’m now hearing explosions nearby. It sounds…”
The transmission ended abruptly leaving Randy a bit stunned. He turned to Chad.
“We got that taped right,” he asked. “Of course, but there was one thing strange about it, it came in on a military channel.”
Randy paused upon hearing that. He then realized that Admiral Dredge was still patiently waiting to see what had happened.
“Is everything all right,” she asked.
“We just received a strange message from Dredius. I have the feeling that they have now been attacked as well,” Randy told her. “The video is being sent now.”
He waited a few moments while the file was sent then as she watched the video. After everything finished she looked up at him.
“I remember Rich, bright communications kid,” she said. “He left the military four years ago for a job with Telegalax. See if you can get in contact with Dredius.”
Randy turned to Chad who quickly walked over to the communications area. Randy waited watching as the officers quickly worked to carry out the admiral’s orders. A few moments later Chad shook his head no.
“No response admiral,” Randy told her.
“I’ll inform the President of the situation. We might have a rogue group of pirates out there. It’s been almost 150 years since the last war,” she said to him. “Stay alert we don’t know where they might strike next.”
“Understood admiral,” Randy replied turning off the communicator. He then activated it again waiting until Kim answered.
“Commander Basil, of captain, what’s wrong,” Kim said in a rush.
“I need you to place the Akagi on yellow alert,” he said to her.
“All right,” she said slowly waiting for him to continue.
“We received another message this time from Dredius,” he said not having to say anything else.
“I’ll do that, anything else,” she asked.
“Have John begin patrols at once. Also alert the nearby civilian stations in case they’ve seen anything unusual. Also if attacked you may return fire if necessary,” Randy told her.
“Understood captain,” Kim said as she signed off.
“Return fire, on what an asteroid with a bad attitude,” the voice of Agnes said. “I see I know what needs to be done now. Admiral any hope to save the military has ended.”
Randy turned to see the three senators, one with a red face, and his father standing there. He decided to try explaining what had happened.
“Yes senator, we’ve already lost one ship, the Griffen, and now the Dredius has been attacked as well,” Randy said to him.
“The Griffen,” his father said with a bit of shock in his voice.
“Yes, then we received this a few minutes ago,” Randy said activating the screen.
Randy wondered if showing then this would even make a difference.
Jack watched the video in disbelief at what he saw. He still seemed to be trying to wrap his mind around the fact that they had lost the Griffen.
“Trying to come up an excuse like this is quite pathetic,” Agnes’ voice said breaking Jack’s concentration. He looked again at what had happened.
“Is that what you think senator,” Randy’s voice said. Jack could see his son’s face and the anger there.
“Yes, I know you military types. Willing to do anything to keep your precious money. Ha, just an elaborate hoax that is easily seen though,” Agnes said.
“Seventy-eight good men and women lost their lives senator. Does that sound like a joke to you,” Randy said.
“I highly doubt that captain. Admiral I’ve seen enough. I know what I’ll be recommending,” Agnes said turning to leave the room.
Jack watched the senator leave wonder just what had gone on.
“Great, what timing,” Jack said out loud. “Randy tell your crew to stand down. We don’t need a panic going on.”
“Admiral, this threat is real. What if we’re attacked then what. We wait for them to destroy us before someone will understand what’s going on,” Randy replied.
“Jack, Randy’s right on this one,” Greg said. Jack glanced at Greg wondering what his friend was up to.
“Greg, we’re going to be shutdown if this continues. If my orders are constantly disobeyed then I’ll be viewed as someone who can’t be relied upon,” Jack said.
“And if this is another pirate attack then corporations will lose money and want us to defend them,” Randy said. “Those same corporations have deep pockets.”
“I’d like to know the truth,” Barnes said speaking up for the first time. “If this is pirates, or worse, then we’ll need the military and you’ll have my support. If it isn’t and I’ve been lied to then I’ll join Senator Agnes.”
They watched as Barnes left the room as well.
“Jack, something’s going on, at least find out what,” Greg said.
“Very well, have the Dragon sent to Dradius to see what’s going on,” Jack said turning to look at Chad. The young man again left the room to carry out another order. “At this rate I might need another aid.”
Jack looked at Randy for a few seconds before making another decision.
“Randy, I do want the Akagi to stand down until we hear from the Dragon,” he told his son.
“All right,” Randy said turning to leave.
Jack didn’t know what to believe. If this was another pirate war it would be the fifth such war. The pirate certainly had enough time to recover their forces from the last war. However pirates didn’t make any sense to him. He could only hope that the Dragon could bring more information.
End Chapter 3
Continued in Chapter 4
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