“No response, sir,” Violet replied, “from the enemy ships or the surface. We do have an open comm on the surface. I just don’t think anyone’s there to answer it.”
Rudy turned to Titus. “Opinion?”
“We don’t know the enemy capabilities,” Titus replied. “But we do know a couple of things. First, they haven’t responded nor moved since we arrived. Second, they destroyed the buildings down there. Even if they had already looted it, they have no intention of coming back. Which isn’t normal pirate behavior.”
“What do you propose?”
“We need more data,” Titus said. “Get closer, allow Violet to get a solid scan on them so we know what we’re up against. I’d like to understand their defensive capabilities… find out if Ronin’s right about the weapons. If he is, we haven’t encountered those before. We have no idea whether they’re giants or simply strange.”
“Sound thinking.” Rudy narrowed his eyes. “But we also have a responsibility to save anyone who survived down there. Violet, you have until we’re in combat range to gather data. Ronin, attack speed. Get us close. Power up shields and weapons. We’re driving these criminals off.”
I’m not sure he understands the gravity of what we’re seeing. Titus knew better than to argue with Rudy when he made up his mind. That didn’t mean Titus wasn’t still compelled to push his opinion about caution. Jumping into a fight with these unknown ships seemed exceptionally dangerous.
He figured they might be some kind of prototype; something new stolen to wreak havoc in the area. When this is over, we need to contact every research station in this region. Maybe one of them can shed some light on a major theft. At least then we can trace the source of these vehicles.
“Incoming message,” Violet said, “TCN frequency.”
“Put them through,” Rudy replied.
“Captain Barrington,” a fuzzy voice came through the speakers. “This is Commander Channing of the TCN Haley. We’re en route with the Covington and should be there in two minutes to assist with the distress call. Please respond.”
Rudy smiled, turning to Titus. “There, you see? Now we’ve got some backup. Does that give you a little more faith?” He tapped the panel on his chair to acknowledge the communication. “Welcome to the party, Commander. We’ve got a strange one over here. I look forward to your assistance. Prep your defenses as soon as you can. Barrington out.”
No, Titus thought, I’m not feeling particularly confident about this. The oddity of the ships bothered him, their lack of communication, the fact they had bombarded a colony with nothing of value… all these combined to create a mystery that needed solving prior to a fight. This might be a test of their weapons.
Picking a remote location for such a thing made sense. Anyone capable of building something so potent likely should’ve known the TCN patrolled the area. And if so, then they might’ve wanted to see how their toys held up under a conflict with the military. If that’s the case, we might’ve been lured here.
“Get the troops down there,” Rudy said, “rescue mission.”
“Yes, sir.” Titus didn’t like that either, but he gave Gunny the order to go. He lowered his voice, adding “Take care down there. We don’t know what you’re walking into. Be smart about how you proceed, yeah?”
“We’ll evaluate, adapt… you know the rest,” Gunny replied. “Primary objective is saving people. That’s what we’ll do if at all possible.”
The strange starships still had yet to acknowledge the approach of the Triton. The two destroyers arrived, moving to form up on them. Now that they’re outnumbered, maybe they’ll make a move. Titus had his doubts. I still feel lured in… drawn close for some reason. I guess we’ll find out soon enough.
Their ground force launched, taking a wide route to avoid the two vessels in orbit. Whatever happened, the Triton had to buy them enough time to save the civilians, to bring them back from the surface. Even if we have to abandon the colony and come back with a bigger team. I still feel like we’re biting off more than we can handle.
And if that proved true, then any fight may not last very long at all.
***
“Listen up!” Gunny shouted at the twelve men strapped in around him. “I’m keeping this short. We are here to save lives. Enemy engagement is a secondary activity; one that we’re trying to avoid. Intel is shoddy. We don’t know anything about them. Observe, witness, and remember. They’ll have questions when we get back.
“There are two objectives. The command center of the colony and the surrounding farms where civilians are likely located. Our ship will touch down to let us off then get out of there, moving to a safe location. Our rendezvous point will change so keep an eye on your HUDs for updates. Are there any questions?”
“What’s the big deal?” Private Hershal asked. “They’re just fancy pirates, aren’t they? I’m not sure why we’re all bent out of shape. Just go down, shoot them, finish this shit off.” He looked around at the others. “Am I wrong?”
The rest of the men grunted in response.
“We’ve never seen their ship before, numbnuts,” Gunny replied. “Not to mention the fact that no one’s talking since they arrived in orbit. Furthermore, they hit a colony with no strategic value and no goods worth stealing. You think that’s normal? You think we should go in like we’re fighting your rank-and-file peons?”
Hershal wouldn’t look at him but he shook his head. “No, Gunny.”
“That’s right. You monkeys need to think more! Yeah, I admit we’ve had it pretty easy in our assignments lately. They’ve been straightforward. This is why I drill you dumbasses so hard. Because eventually, we were going to have this happen. And now that we do,
