Chapter 8: Picking Up the Pieces

It had been less than thirty minutes as the sandstorm had momentarily calmed down. The sunlight was doing its best to try to penetrate the numerous manifolds of dust layers that circulated in the air. The distant static discharges were too far distant to pose any danger to the wreckage of the UHN Gladiator. The assault carrier was primarily intact, with the exception of some bulkheads that had been buried into the thick sand. Cipra’s environment had never been fiercer than before. It was noon, and the sun was the only natural light source in the area.

Four vehicles were quickly approaching the assault carrier. The UHN marine IFVs had their lights tuned to the damaged ship. They had just crossed over a sand dune to close in on it. At the same time, the large starboard hatch door of the carrier was being pried open. A set of mechanical fingers, human hands, and emergency lever actions were in progress. The hatch made a harsh squeak within ten seconds when it slammed fully open. Sand and dust flew into the vessel’s interior as marines came walking out ... at least the ones that could stand and operate.

A mixture of various personnel came out of the carrier, almost to become staggered by the sand and wind. Everyone had different breathing masks, visors, or helmets. It was the only way that they could operate in the environment. It took a few seconds for many to get acquainted with Cipra’s storms.

Some of the individuals were marines. They were already in their power armor and well capable of handling whatever Cipra could throw at them. Their bodies were completely covered and well protected. They walked out of the carrier’s hatch with minor issues. However, they had to help assist many others in getting out. Those that didn’t have power armor were in their respected jumpsuits or basic combat armor, with various guns and weapons in their hands. Others were quick to greet and wave to the distant incoming vehicles.

Among one of the people to walk out was that of the T’rintar mechs. The walking digitigrade mechanical humanoid had her shield and guns at the ready. The red glowing eyes quickly assessed the situation before turning and nodding to the people inside. The winds pressed against the silvery green metal feathers that protruded from the top portion of her head and body. A fellow marine in power armor stepped up to the towering mech. She was a few feet shorter, but the Oshunian woman patted her hand against the side of the Itrean.

“Phew,” Zalika commented. “We both actually managed to walk out of that one alive. How are your systems, Bekra?”

Bekra, the mech, turned to look down at Zalika. “My body is undamaged from the attack. I stand ready for whatever opposition that comes our way.” She said it with a deep robotic-like voice. Her red eyes would flash and darken as she spoke. She had no mouth, but her auditory emitters and receptors did the talking.

“Thankfully, your real body is intact. Sorry that we lost a few Itreans from the crash.”

“As am I,” Bekra said as she shifted her shield and continued to scan the terrain. “The loss of so many...” she seemed to halt her sentence. She seemed like she was trying to convey more words but simply had nothing more to say on the manner.

They turned their heads to look upon the carrier. The moving swept sands seemed to be a constant barrage. Even as they spoke, there was so much dirt that was in the air that it was already placing a nice layer of sand on top of the downed vessel. The small grounded layer of sand that the carrier slammed into was already getting covered up. In less than an hour, there would have been no signs that a vessel crashed upon the surface. The one minor advantage of the storm was that the winds were so intense that it provided partial cool air into an area riddled with so much heat. However, even then, the temperatures were still grossly hot. Even now, a few of the personnel already could feel the presence of sweat that had gathered on their helmets and clothes. The blasting warm air was still uncomfortable except for those that were in their respected power armor.

One of the IFVs pulled up alongside the Gladiator as the others followed suit. They directed their lights upon the personnel that was coming out. A few of the doors opened up to reveal the various crewmembers and marines. Among one of them was Kosai. His left arm seemed to be broken as a makeshift cast was applied to it. However, he didn’t seem to be phased as he gave commands through his helmeted visor. Corpsman came running, with engineers and other marines to greet Kosai. Among the lead was an Aphadus officer, a lieutenant. The former Indian features were apparent.

“Sir, I’m Chandrakant, XO of the Rio De Janeiro,” the officer introduced himself. “Report of your crew status so that we can help you.”

“Major Kosai,” the injured officer introduced himself. “The Gladiator crashed after it was struck by enemy fire. Ship is running on emergency batteries ... main reactor is offline. Lost communications and sensors. We haven’t had a chance to fully evaluate the casualties, but we lost about ... sixty from the attack. I have about fifty more that are critically wounded.”

“Yourself?”

“Arm’s broken ... but don’t worry about me. Treat the others that need help first.”

“Condition of the equipment?”

“Our communications are offline. The starboard vectoring thrusters are completely inoperable. This ship is going to need a full overhaul at the shipyards to get it running again.” He used his free hand to point his thumb at the interior. “I have all but two of the M30s that are inoperable. The MMACC...,” Kosai angrily sighed. “Never had the chance to get thing detached before we crashed. It’s crushed and buried beneath us.”

“Damn,” Chandrakant replied. “Looks like you took the worst of the three of us that made it to here.”

“We were the lucky ones,” Kosai shook his head. “They fucking knew we were coming. They had the whole ambush fleet ready to pick us off.”

“You had the right idea, sir,” the XO confided him. He waved his other crew to hurry along and into the carrier to render assistance. “If we stayed in orbit, we would have been torn to pieces anyway. Making a run through the blockade was the only way.”

“What about you? Looks like you managed to get all four of your IFVs on the ground.”

The XO shrugged. “We were virtually unscathed. The Aksren were focusing their attacks on the Phalanxes.”

“You were a less vital target,” Kosai surmised. “You were lucky. What about the Legion?”

“Good ... more or less. Commander Maninder is dead ... along with most of the bridge crew. The emergency bridge CIC crews managed to safely deploy the MMACC and land the ship. Railgun rounds hit and knocked out half of their vehicles. The ship can still fly, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Shuttle MacArthur was the only shuttle to make it. They are en route to here pretty soon to render further assistance.”

“Damn...” Kosai seemed to do the math in his head. “One MMACC ... eighteen vehicles from the Gladiator ... two mechs ... around ten from the Legion ... your vehicles ... that’s not enough to launch an assault on the capital.”

“No ... but we don’t have much of a choice, do we?”

“No, we don’t. Fuck...,” Kosai cursed under his breath. “Lost a lot of good men and women today...”

“We can try to bring the Rio De Janerio to help further assist in the assault on the capital...”

Kosai waved his hand at the XO. “Generous offer, but your luck will run out. The Aksren have more planetary defenses than we anticipated. They shot us down rather easily in this. An old Fu Yi class ... it wouldn’t last a minute. Don’t even know how long a single MMACC will last either. No ... your position is here. We may need the Rio De Janeiro for something else. It’s best to remain here for now.”

Even if Chandrakant volunteered so quickly, he seemed more relieved to hear about the idea of staying behind. Zalika and Bekra stepped up close to the two officers and listened to their conversation. The officer of the Rio De Janeiro briefly looked at the tall T’rintar mech. Bekra seemed menacing by appearance, but he had more wonder towards it instead of being disconcerted. He then focused his attention back towards Kosai.

“Have you heard any word on our aircraft?” Kosai asked.

“One B-110 and one F-170 were all that made it, and they were from yours. Chandrakant replied. “They might be able to fix the bomber, but I don’t know much more on that. It’s best to be briefed with the other officers of the Legion in regard to that. It was strange though...,” the officer turned his head to the Northeast. “Supposedly, there was a lot of weird chatter on the aircraft comms about some pilot that was really under the influence and acting crazy. They took out most of an Aksren air patrol and managed to chase off the aircraft, though.”

Zalika’s eyes widened when she heard the news. Bekra turned her towering frame and looked down upon her. The mech’s eyes temporarily glowed red. She then tapped her shield into Zalika’s side. Instead, Zalika bit her tongue and remained quiet to avoid attracting too much attention.

“Was that pilot recovered?” Kosai asked.

“I don’t know,” Chandrakant asked Kosai. “I think the pilot flew northeast, but the aircraft disappeared from our radar.”

“I see.”

“Is your CO still available?”

“Yes, he is. He’s well enough to speak if you wish to direct any further questions to him.”

“Roger. I’ll go and speak to him next.” The officer looked up towards the sky. “How long do you think they are going to hold up out there?”

“As long as it takes.”

Kosai looked up into the sky for a short time. It was challenging to see beyond the immense sandstorm. So much dirt was in the air, but for a brief second, he thought he saw a tiny flash. It might have been coming from a nuclear explosion from far orbit, but it could have been anything. He wasn’t determined to find out.

“Let’s hope that they do...” Chandrakant remarked. “We got another few days of this storm. After that ... after that...”

“I know ... our nice little smokescreen will be gone.” Kosai knew that the situation was dire. He turned his head and focused hard on the XO of the Rio De Janeiro. He then took a step towards him. “I volunteer to lead the assault on the capital.”

“Really?” the officer looked at him and nodded. “Well ... you wouldn’t have any argument from me.”

“I’m sure that my CO will back me up on this. The Legion’s crew will have to see to it as well.”

“Of course. Make sure to tend to those wounds, Kosai. I wish you Godspeed to New Hong Kong.”

With that, Chandrakant stepped past and headed into the interior of the Gladiator. This left Kosai to his thoughts for a brief moment. Both Zalika and Bekra addressed the officer.

“Sir,” Zalika stated. She did a short salute to him. Kosai noticed the walking Itrean mech and spoke to her first.

“First time seeing an Itrean mech walking around,” Kosai responded as he did a brief two-finger salute back to Zalika. “Bekra, is it?”

“Yes,” Bekra responded back in her deep robotic tone. “I standby to fight the Aksren.”

“Good ... I’m sorry that you lost some of your own ... I guess we’re just lucky to make it.”

“Casualties of war. I wish to serve humanity.”

“Same here, sir,” Zalika said with pride. “Ready to kick some ass.”

“Bekra...” Kosai explained to her. “I’m going to need you to be a part of this assault on New Hong Kong. Don’t be surprised that I turn to you for advice on what we’ll be facing. I might have you help providing fire support on the MMACC or to provide escort with the other vehicles.”

“I stand ready,” Bekra defiantly stated. The robotic tone of her voice somewhat masked it but still carried much bravado.

“Sir,” Zalika addressed him. “I believe I know that pilot’s name ... the one that might have been ... um ... well...”

Kosai gave a questioning look. “The one that went AWOL?”

“Ahem ... yes, sir. It’s Petty Officer 1^st Class Dean. I believe that might have been him.”

“You seem to know him.”

“I know him enough. He’s a stoner. Don’t let him fool you. He’s supposed to be a good pilot.”

Kosai didn’t seem focused on her words as other personnel were trying to gather the officer’s attention. Unfortunately, it seemed to distract him as he waved his hands to tell the others to wait.

“Listen,” Kosai commented to Zalika. “I would ask more about this situation, but you can tell about my situation. What is it that you want?”

“If he’s heading northeast, then we should try to find him,” Zalika said.

“Our goal is to reach the capital, not scour the desert because some pilot decided to dabble with things he should have avoided.” Kosai’s tone was aggressive. “It’s not our goal to go and search for every person that’s out here. Our time is short.”

“I’m telling that...,” Zalika tried to say, but Kosai cut her off.

“Enough! If Dean is along our path, he comes with us. Maybe he’ll be thrown in the brig if the desert doesn’t finish him first.”

Zalika bit her tongue. Bekra could tell that Zalika was trying to make amends for the mistake that she made. Kosai, however, only seemed concentrated on the myriad of other things that were coming down on him all at once. Even for most individuals, they understood that Kosai was among the few that were willing to take command of a very beleaguered marine force. The longer they waited, the more likely chance that the situation would grow even more dire.

“Officer Kosai,” Bekra stated. “Please establish some time to rescue the other pilots before they succumb to the desert. They protected our forces during the landing.”

“Yeah ... what she said,” Zalika quickly replied while she pointed her hand to the towering mech.

“As you were. Excuse me,” Kosai stated as he had to respond to the other crew and officers. He stepped away and left the two behind.

Zalika took a deep breath. “Well ... this is another fine mess that we’ve gotten ourselves into.”

“We?” Bekra asked.

“Yeah, you should have stopped me from handing that tainted weed to Dean. See what’s happened?”

“You gave that to him. I was not responsible...”

“You know what I mean.” Zalika waved her free hand in the air as she gripped onto her M18 machine gun. “I might have ... led to the pilot’s ... demise. Damn ... we go from the Emphra to now this ... This year is a fucking shit-show.”

Bekra gave an electronic sigh. Even with the lack of lungs, her voice and tone said it all. If she could roll her eyes, she would. Instead, she tapped her shield to the Oshunian woman’s power armor.

“Come, mate,” Bekra said. “We need to get ready...”

Zalika rolled her eyes as she turned around and followed Bekra. It was time to get ready to assemble the surviving ground forces...

The battle had escalated to a much larger one in the vestiges of space. Cipra’s orbit was that of thousands of warships. The T’rintar forces continued to move slowly in reverse. The Atra was one of these thousands of warships. Multiple explosions were everywhere. A nuclear blast would erupt here and there. Tracer fire would still erupt and persist endlessly. The spectacle was brilliant but agonizing.

Inside the Atra’s bridge, Ramírez was witnessing and conveying any further messages that needed to be passed between both fleets COs. Overall, he would analyze certain events. The battle itself was exhausting, even if it had been only thirty minutes. His deepest of concerns was towards the UHN forces. There were simply too many Aksren warships. The Ark Royal and supporting battleships could be easily destroyed if enough withering fire came towards it. The UHN ships could also be wiped out if the enemy pushed hard enough. Ramírez could feel the small cushioned seat press against his butt. It caused him to squirm a little bit as he tried to remain composed. Tara’Talar seemed comfortable and relaxed, despite the ongoing battle.

“Why did she contact us?...,” Ramírez wondered out loud. Finally, his voice was enough for Tara’Talar to clearly hear it.

“Who?” she replied.

“You know who.” He turned to look at the Itrean woman. “Why did the Aksren Fleet Adjunct contact us?”

“She was trying to threaten us.”

“But you said it yourself. You have full-scale battles but don’t normally hail each other. Why?”

“Because everything is already said ... before the battle and after the battle. Our people are at war with each other. It’s pointless to make threats in which the enemy already knows. This also causes us to normally ignore hails in turn. Besides ... you already know of the Aksren leadership.”

“Yet, she still did,” Ramírez pointed his free hand towards Tara’Talar. “This is Loreshren, the same one that conquered Cipra, to begin with. What do we know of her?”

“I ... only know so much,” the Itrean make a couple of clicks in her voice. “She is the only Aksren Adjunct that has command of a Super Dreadnought ... I think. Normally, only Fleet Adjuncts in the Aksren clan can gain the privilege to command their most powerful of vessels.”

“‘Was’ an Adjunct. She claimed that she was Fleet Adjunct when she addressed us just now.” The bald-headed officer twirled his mustache. “She must have gotten promoted after this victory ... Would conquering a planet gain you a promotion to Fleet Adjunct?”

“Conquering a planet is very rare among our people. Even during this conflict, we never really lost a planet. I suppose so...”

“But, this Loreshren did. She managed to conquer an enemy world over a year ago. Her knowledge of English is impressive. She actually had enough knowledge of it when she first took the planet. She even contacted and threatened the Ciprans when she first came in. Would threatening a world make sense in Itrean tactics?”

Tara’Talar thought about it as her reptilian eyes danced around, looking at the console screens. “It happens, but not that often. Our people try to wipe out the other. However, Loreshren’s actions are not ... that unusual.”

“You seemed surprised, however.”

“Perhaps Loreshren is unique. There are other Aksren Fleet Adjuncts that wouldn’t fall into common categories.”

“True,” Ramírez thought. “I just feel that there is something to pick out ... maybe a weakness of some sort.”

“A weakness that we can...,” she was trying to find the word. “Exploit?”

“She purposely showed her face to us. If she was doing the same thing as before, it would have been an auditory message only. That’s what she did when she first invaded Cipra. She never showed her face until now.”

Tara’Talar paused as she passed on information to her Fleet Adjunct. Ramírez continued to think about it.

“She decided to do it now ... Tara, I need to know about emotions ... Itrean emotions. The Aksren are smug people...”

Tara’Talar turned and gave a disturbing look at him. If she were a Yutilian and had feathers, they would be rising. It caused the officer to notice her reaction.

“No, I wasn’t meaning you,” Ramírez stated. “The Aksren clan. They tend to act smug ... prudish ... full of it. What does ‘keshik’ mean? The word she used a couple of times?”

“It means ‘trash’... ‘gross garbage’...”

“She looked at us as lower lifeforms. That’s typical Aksren clan behavior, right?”

“Yes,” Tara’Talar firmly answered. “They view themselves as above us. They feel that they are invincible.”

“Yes,” Tara’Talar confirmed. “They look at the Aksren of the T’rintar clan as garbage or traitors ... even if some of us were born and never went to Aksren clan space.”

“Yet, she made a very pointless threat against us. Because ... humanity is a part of the picture.”

“I don’t understand.”

“She went and told us to vacate this space. She even asked us to leave. Is that typical behavior?”

“It ... can be, but it’s not common.”

Ramírez watched on his screen as a nuclear detonation erupted near the outer boundary of the Ark Royal’s defense network. Then, another volley of missiles came hurdling through while the UHN warships were busy destroying the onslaught of alien warheads. There had to be hundreds of missiles. Ultimately, all but two were completely shot down when they struck one of the battleships. The UHN Bingham’s dorsal mid-section had two small explosions as the anti-armor warheads blasted into the interior. The dorsal railgun was almost torn completely off of the hull. However, the vessel was still intact. He looked at Admiral Rex’s visual screen, which was trying to get in contact with the Bingham. Ramírez opened up the communications to inform him of what was happening. Then, he waited for the Admiral to finish up what he needed to convey.

“Sir, the Bingham’s taken a direct hit on its primary bridge,” another crewmember called out to the admiral. “I’ve lost contact with Captain Peizhi.”

“Try again,” Rex ordered. There was a pause as the admiral was looking away from his console.

“No response, sir.”

“Again.”

There was another pause as Ramírez was hit with the realization that Peizhi’s vessel had taken damage. The XO of the entire human operation would have been in the primary bridge of the Bingham. The damage seemed significant enough. It was quite possible that this man was dead.

“No response, sir ... wait,” the same voice called out. “I’ve received contact from the UHN Bingham. Dorsal primary section received heavy damage. Ten casualties are reported from the secondary bridge. Lieutenant Montgomery has taken command of the Bingham. They report that Captain Peizhi is dead.”

“Damn,” the admiral commented. He looked at Ramírez. “Well, ol chap ... looks like you are now XO of the entire op.”

Ramírez had little time to let the idea fully sink into his mind. Instead, he remained focused on the current events that were transpiring.

“Admiral,” Ramírez explained. “You’ve lost half of the drone network. We’ve lost our marine forces, and Peizhi is dead. I recommend that we retreat.”

“I’m beginning to wonder so, myself,” Rex adamantly replied. “However, it’s my firm belief that we still have men and women down on Cipra. We can’t abandon them. If we leave, the Aksren clan will commit to wiping out all resistance. We can’t retreat.”

“Then I have to recommend that you continue to withdraw to a safe distance. The Aksren warships are picking off your drone network one by one. Once it goes down, you won’t be able to maintain a proper defense with the other warships. We can’t afford to lose you or the Ark Royal.”

The admiral paused as he thought about it. “Negative, Captain Ramírez. We need to stay and help protect the T’rintar replenishment vessels. We stay in the battle line. We’ll maintain present course.”

The compliment of Ramírez’s rank only swayed the bald officer by so much. There was not much else that he knew that he could do. Rex wouldn’t be persuaded to retreat. This entire operation was an all-or-nothing concept from the beginning. The UHN couldn’t afford to send reinforcements, and there would be too little to make a difference as it was. This battle might have seemed small by Itrean standards, but to humanity, it was utterly enormous. Ramírez nodded his head.

“I understand, sir,” Ramírez said. “I stand ready to command if necessary.”

“Good. I’m giving you a list of assignments to help out in command of the UHN fleet,” Rex stated. He tapped the mute button on his console as he seemed busy sending the list to him.

Ramírez looked over to Tara’Talar. She remained focused on passing information to her fleet adjunct. For a brief moment, he felt incredibly alone. Even if she was right there next to him, the idea of having to command the entire fleet of UHN warships momentarily spooked him. He could only hope that Rex would survive this battle. At the rate that it was going, it didn’t seem promising. He knew that the Aksren clan had been long adapted to fighting human vessels. The Ark Royal was an impressive vessel, but it was nothing more comparable to the many dreadnoughts that the Itreans had in turn.

“Shit,” Ramírez remarked. He suddenly felt a warm hand press against his arm. It disturbed his thoughts as he could see that Tara’Talar had reached over to tap him. She had heard enough of the prior conversation. The scaly hand of the Itrean woman held onto him briefly before she withdrew it and resumed her work. For some reason, it was somewhat soothing to Ramírez’s thoughts.

“XO of an entire task force,” he grumbled. “I just learned about the whole op today ... then to be thrown into this mess. Why am I not surprised that the UHN does this shit to me?”

Tara’Talar made a couple of chirps. She seemed to stem a laugh that he recognized rather quickly. He gave a look of anger towards her.

“It’s true,” Tara’Talar replied calmly. “However, I know that you’ll be victorious. You’ve done this before. You did well.”

“Hmmm...,” her words broke his thoughts of the idea of being the second in command of an ongoing battle. “Still wonder about Loreshren...,” he paused as he began to refocus on the conversation of the Aksren can fleet commander. It seemed to put Tara’Talar’s thoughts towards the prior discussion that they had.

“If the Aksren clan leadership is that of a people that view themselves as invincible towards others,” Ramírez explained. “Then there would have been no point in threatening us to begin with...,” he began to twirl his mustache. “There was a purpose to what she did.”

Tara’Talar’s was focused on the human officer. Her head cocked slightly to the side. “What was she trying to do?”

“She wanted us to leave...,” he pointed his finger as he thought about it. “When Rex refused to do it, she looked at him. Is that normal?”

Tara’Talar seemed to think about it. “For her to look at a human? I ... I don’t know. I don’t know enough about her personality.”

“I bet she was angry even if it was small. She didn’t just contact us to threaten us. She was calling us to veer away ... leave this system. Why would she purposely tell us to leave if she had the upper hand? Clearly, the Aksren clan could win this fight in the long run. Both sides know this. However, she doesn’t know our resolve ... the human resolve. To her, it’s still a mystery.” He began to think of the past battle and her trying to conquer the planet. “She knew enough of the English language. I don’t know the reason. Maybe the Aksren clan secret intelligence is far better than we imagined. They got ahold of the information that the T’rintar clan gained when they took Eutera ... before the alliance. Loreshren is the only Adjunct to have command of a powerful ship. Why did she get it?”

“It ... depends,” she replied to him as she made a couple of clicks in her voice. “Aksren clan leaders gain rank much as we do. With the Aksren, however, money can gain power. Good leadership, experience, and past records.”

“And good friends as well ... even for a group that practices elitism.”

“Yes.”

“Loreshren is either really good at her job or just lucky. She worked her way up through the ranks. Maybe she bribed people or made the correct friends along the way. For her to have her position now, she is taking this personally. She is afraid of our resolve. Itreans know how to fight other Itreans, but do the Itreans know how to fight humans?”

“Our technology is better. Our resources are better than what you have. You said so yourself.”

Ramírez had fully set aside the battle. While it was ongoing, there was enough time for him to evaluate the scene of events before it would get busier. Even Tara’Talar felt inclined to help him as much as possible if it meant a way to defeat their enemy.

“But I bet there is one thing that the Itreans don’t have,” he continued. “They don’t have the complete knowledge of how humans think. Think about it. When your clan attacked Eutera, why did they use a Tiltra Assault Carrier?”

“I ... don’t understand the question.”

“You have different transports and assault ships. You used one of your biggest ships to attack the colony, correct?”

“Yes. It was to ensure that there was enough room for all the colonists to be held.”

“And, you used something else as well. It’s the only few transport ships that can properly house Shal’rein soldiers ... fellow Shal’rein that grew up in T’rintar space.”

“The Shal’rein can fight better than any other soldiers that T’rintar has. It was argued that human resistance would be fierce. They wanted the strongest soldiers available for the attack.”

“Because your people were afraid that they would lose the battle. Que in Loreshren from the Aksren clan not long after. She gains information on the human colony of Cipra. Easy target. Cipra’s recently established. Its defenses are pretty light. She is either ordered to attack it or comes up with the plan. She knows Cipra but doesn’t have enough information. She learns English, but maybe she doesn’t know how fierce we try to fight back.” The officer put his finger down on the console. “Cipra’s siege lasts for months. Aksren ships come and go. They inflict some damage and leave. Yet ... they could have outright launched an all assault and taken it within the first day. The Aksren clan have more than enough resources to conquer the entire human race. Yet, they did it so slowly.”