planet to negotiate for his safety, or to hold until the main fleet arrived. He ordered two regiments to retake the camp at Rossville since it was the largest.
Richard had taken the fortifications of the Cainth invaders and added small Coronado screens to cover them. The screens had not been tested in battle but looked good during their earlier tests. Even the marines’ armor used a smaller version. The new power cell technology extended the time they could fight before having to recharge. The civilians were inside the main screen and his battalion was in place around its perimeter. “Sir, regiment reports that massive Alliance forces are heading our way, probably two regiments. We will be supported as soon as possible, but you must hold out until relief arrives.”
“And so it begins,” he thought. “Perhaps now I can atone for my sins.”
“Sir, the humans have landed ground forces and they have set up a defensive perimeter at the camps,” General Dorg’s communications leader said.
“How strong are they at Rossville?” Dorg asked.
“It looks like they have a full mechanized heavy weapon battalion dug in there,” the communications leader responded.
“Only a battalion; two regiments should be plenty. Land our forces, then ask for their surrender. These humans haven’t fought a war. They’re basically pacifists and they should roll over without a fight.”
“You should tell that to those ships of theirs up there, sir. It may not be as easy as you think.”
“Sir, we have two regiments of Alliance assault troops landing twenty miles to the west. They’re forming up and moving this way. We’ve just received a message from the Alliance ground commander and he requests a meeting with you to discuss surrender,” Richard’s communication officer said.
“Have him drop by, Lieutenant. I’d like to get a feel for him. Tell our men to dig in deep and make sure they have vertical as well as forward coverage of their screens. Have our heavy floaters been hidden?”
“Yes sir. They are dug in underground on each side of the valley. Only their visual port is above ground. I’ll make sure they are well camouflaged.”
“Here comes the Alliance representative.”
The Alliance floater settled just outside the town, flashing a blue and green strobe indicating its purpose of peaceful meeting. No one would ever consider violating a truce strobe. The last commander to do that had been summarily executed on the spot when they returned from the meeting, and all his family members were later executed. Richard Wiseman walked out to the Alliance floater and said, “Lieutenant Colonel Wiseman, Fifth Battalion Naval Marines. How can I be of service?”
The Alliance Colonel looked at the human and said in a voice that was almost a sneer, “I’m going to give you and your men the opportunity to surrender and live. We will destroy you and all your civilians if you resist. We will allow you to live until our fleet arrives and removes the problem overhead.”
“I do humbly appreciate your offer, sir,” Richard said. “I know it was given with the best of intentions, seeing as how you and your troops have taken such good care of our people while you incarcerated them. And that bit with the hostages, using lasers to kill unarmed civilians. I can see how brave you and you troops are. One of the things my men truly look forward to is seeing how good you are when the hostages are capable of fighting back.”
“You are surrounded by twenty-four companies to your six. We have heavier weapons and we control the air. You have no chance. You’ll be responsible for the death of all those you think you’re protecting,” the captain replied.
Richard had made sure the conversation was being relayed to all his men and to the civilians inside the screen. “We have learned from experience, sir, that the Alliance only deals death. Your assurances are meaningless, and I speak for all those I protect; if you choose to attack with two regiments, you will not have more than one company survive. You will learn this day what price we place on our lives. It will be a day your race will never forget.”
The Alliance colonel looked into the human’s eyes and could see the barely restrained anger and the steel resolve. He was going to teach the humans some respect, but the look of this soldier chilled him. He turned without a word and left.
As Richard walked back to his headquarters, he could hear a chat start on the general com frequency, “Wise-man, Wise-man, Wise-man.” It grew louder and louder until all thirty thousand civilians were yelling with the troops.
“Now we’re ready,” Richard thought. “Let’s see how good our weapons are. Our ships are clearly superior. The Alliance fools have not seen what real fighting armor can do. Our ships can handle four-to-one odds. Four to one should be easy. I hope.”
The colonel landed and informed General Dorg of the meeting. General Dorg sneered and ordered, “Begin the bombardment immediately.” Fifty heavy floaters roared out toward the human positions.
Richard heard on the general com frequency, “Beam floaters coming in from the west, estimate fifty- plus.”
Richard said, “Company commanders, launch hornets one through fifty.” Each marine had four of the small missiles on their back loader. They had been numbered one through four thousand. Each man knew what their missiles were numbered and launched when their number was called. The small missiles were amazingly fast and carried a fully charged and sealed Coronado power cell. When the missile struck it would shatter the seal on the power cell and it would instantly release its entire energy charge. Each of those cells had absorbed the energy from three primary lasers for one hour. They carried quite a punch, as these floaters were about to discover. The command was heard over the communications net and fifty hornets zipped into the air and headed west. Once they cleared the troop’s positions, they shed the armor protector from the warhead and began looking for a target. The small missile’s sensor used the Coronado cell’s field leakage to sense its target. Once it detected a target, it shrunk the field to a straight line and directed it on the target. Every hornet was programmed to ignore targets that were illuminated by the shrunk fields of other hornets.
The Alliance commander was watching the floaters roar toward the human positions on his view screen and was looking forward to seeing the humans have the groad blown out of them. Suddenly, all fifty Alliance floaters exploded within ten seconds of each other. They didn’t even have time to evade whatever it was that hit them, and there was no wreckage. Whatever struck the floaters vaporized them. “Launch one hundred and have them come in low from different directions. Spread them out,” he ordered. One hundred floaters lifted and, staying close to the ground, moved toward the humans’ lines.
“Sir, we have multiple readings on floaters,” Lieutenant Dunn said. “They’re staying low to avoid detection.”
“It won’t help them,” Richard said. “We have a satellite overhead with passive sensors. They’ll never see it, but it sees everything they do. Launch fifty-one through 150 hornets, Commander. Send them vertical to read their locations.” The hornets launched straight up to three thousand feet, and then started picking out their targets. Not one floater got through.
The Alliance headquarters was in a state of disarray. The little missiles were so small and flew so fast that the Alliance sensors had not even picked one up. They had received a brief blip when they went vertical, but it had disappeared immediately. General Dorg said, “I have lost 40 percent of our air units and have not hit anything. Floaters stand no chance against their defenses. Start an artillery barrage and prepare the assault troops for attack.” The general was hoping that his brother would arrive with the fleet soon. He didn’t like what he was seeing.
“Artillery coming in, sir.”
“Expand the field,” Richard commanded. The portable screen covering the camp expanded until it covered the troop positions. He felt safe that no amount of artillery was going to get through the screen. When they moved heavy particle beams into position, that would be another story and he would have to shrink the screen to increase its strength. He was right so far. The artillery was exploding harmlessly four hundred yards from their positions. “I wonder if they can see this,” he thought.
General Dorg was pounding his four arms against the display. “Nothing is getting through,” he realized. ”Floaters, artillery, nothing.”
“Sir, our heavy particle weapons might get through that screen if our readings are right,” Dorg’s sensor officer said.
“You mean a frontal assault is the only way to get at these humans,” the general screamed.
“Unless you can get one of our ships overhead to hit them with a primary laser, yes sir, it is.”
