Galaxy at War - Sample Chapters

Galaxy at War (c) Vanessa Ravencroft (A Roy Masters novel in the Galactic Chronicles Series)

The alien machine paused for a moment as it appeared on top of a mountain of rubble that once had been a housing complex. The dark gray metal giant moved its eight tons of molecule compacted Ultronit armor with purposeful agility. All four of its weapon arms were raised.

Section leader Ohnic of the seventh Palace Elite keyed a fire resolution into his command giver. Then he adjusted the tele-optics of his helmet to compensate for the wafting smoke and dust that obscured much of the battlefield.

A Ruthiyk missile battery was dug in behind heavily reinforced concrete and the strongest battle shield projectors the Galactic Council forces had available, they now received the firing solution and four missiles hissed at many times the speed of sound across the sky.

The missiles bridged the five Lika distance across the ruins that once were the capital of the Hilibar Empire, but only one reached its target. The battle robot had destroyed three of them with energy beams.

The fourth however hit with a tremendous explosion. Two Grams of antimatter reacted with matter. Tons of debris was instantly vaporized as sun-like temperatures melted rock, concrete, and steel into a lake of molten magma and the shock wave flattened still standing walls and buildings.

Yet, as the brilliant white glow of the atomic fires subsided, the dust and debris finally settled enough to see; he watched in horror as the alien machine was still there, totally engulfed in a purple shimmering force field, wading through the molten rock unfazed.

One of his assistants was crouching behind the remnants of a shattered temple column. The Section leader said with panic vibrating in his voice. “What are we facing, what is this?”

Ohnic was clenching his fist and responded. “This is a Union Cerberus Robot and it isn’t alone. There must be Union Marines that are nearby as well.”

Whatever the Assistant said was swallowed by an explosion that shook the very ground so violently that both Hilibar fighters were lifted off their feet.

A sun-bright sphere expanded where the missile battery was. Nothing remained of the twenty Hilibar fighters or the missile battery. Everything else was instantly vaporized. This was the result of the latest Translocator bomb technology of the United Stars.

Thousands of supersonic booms in rapid succession from up high, like thunder following lightning. This crescendo hailed the approach of Union Marines as they dropped with supersonic speed from the sky.

The Marines were like a hail storm from hell. Spawned demons without mercy for as they descended, they fired on anything that moved or dared to be alive.

The last Hilibar resistance melted away like snow in a smelter furnace.

They watched helplessly as Union Marines and Cerberus robots swarmed over everything, brutally, relentlessly killing and destroying anything in their path. No fighter, no civilian, no priest, not even egg-carrying females were spared.

There was no place they could retreat, regroup or rearm. This was the last bastion, the last planet of the Hilibar.

Once they had been a mighty and proud member of the Galactic Council, serving the Kermac freely and without being forced into service by Kermac Psionics or other means.

For almost 2000 years they had believed the Kermac propaganda and dismissed the rumors of Union supremacy.

Their ruler, the supreme leader of the Hilibar had rejected the Union Offer of surrender not so long ago. He and the nine who gave the law no longer existed. The palace and even the bunkers below had been hit by the first orbital barrage before the Marine assault.

“Section Leader we must leave!”

“No my fellow Hilibar warrior, there is no place left.” The Section Leader raised his Command Giver and activated it to send on all channels. “Those who still hear me, surrender. You have fought well. The Hilibar...”

He could not complete his transmission as a swarm of transmission homing micro-missiles shredded his body and a Union Marine jumping over the collapsed wall, bringing down his chain sword cutting the Section commanders aide in half.

-“”-

Almost 750 light years from the Hilibar homeworld, the USS Hammerfaust dropped out of Quasi-Space into the Agerath System, the stronghold of the Itkkme. Like the Hilibar, the Itkkme were a member civilization of the Galactic Council and one of the most industrious providers of war materials and ships to the Kermac. They weren’t fighters like the Hilibar; they were workers and engineers who took great pride in their work ethic and the quality of their products. Their production lines churned out the finest T Bar cruisers and Yiee Battleships used by the other Galactic Council members to expand the Kermac influence and supremacy across the Universe.

The Kermac had promised the Hilibar protection, vowing that no Union Warship would ever come this far.

But the Hilibar fleets protecting them had disappeared weeks ago. The Unifrim, who were insectoids sent by the Kermac to take their place had simply fled.

What defenses remained were crewed by hastily trained Itkkme. These troops were pulverized in mere moments by relentless Translocator Cannon fire poured out by sixteen Union Battle Ships. The Battleships swooped in at tremendous speeds and behind seemingly impenetrable Para Dim Shields across the planet orbits of this star system.

The orbital shipyards were once the pride of Itkkme technology and now reduced to glowing scrap. The remaining pieces caused a terribly beautiful meteor shower of debris in the skies of the Itkkme homeworld.

The USS Hammerfaust was a planet bomber; one of the Unions most controversial weapon systems.

Captain Stella Summers, stood before her command chair. Her black uniform immaculate as she watched the planet centered on the main screen getting bigger.

“Mr. T’Thakk inform command that we are here and have them confirm the termination order.”

The ant-like Klack at the Communication station confirmed the order and opened a channel to Central Command. “This is the USS Hammerfaust, approaching mission target. Requesting confirmation of the termination order.”

“This is Central Command; verification codes are confirmed. All occupied planets and moons of the system are confirmed targets, commence termination. Crustbusters and P-Bombs authorized.”

“Captain, Command is giving us the green light. Admiral Stahl’s commence code has been verified.”

“Open bomb drawers one to five”, Came the next command from Captain Summers.

The weapon system officer of the planet bomber touched the necessary controls on his station.

On each side of the almost boxy hull of huge drawers were pushed out, almost like the drawers of an ancient filing cabinet. Two on each side and each of the racks held two thousand warheads; forty-ton self-propelled crust buster bombs. Each of these Deep Penetrators held enough energy to pulverize a small moon.

At the belly of the ship, drop shafts opened and a conveyor system moved the first P-Bombs into position.

Captain Summers was well aware of the gravity of her next order. She had given this order seven times in the last six months of this war.

She still had a dry throat and nodded. “Helm steady as she goes; Mr. Blueroom commence drop.”

The Takkian at the ships helm corrected the ship's course slightly to remain on the best attack vector. The Quadi-Ped Lieutenant named Blueroom began by opening the protective cover of the rack release. Blueroom passed one of his hands with an elegant motion across the cluster lights before him. This action turned the clustered instruments from green to red.

Mechanical claws opened and fusion pulse motors ignited, each propelling the bombs to 80 percent of light speed.

“Helm, turn her to Helio center and increase speed to 20 percent light,” Summers commanded.

The silicone being that looked very much like a petrified walking pine cone at the helm station confirmed the order and the huge ship majestically turned its bow towards the systems GIII type star.

The blue and green world spun below was the birth planet of a space traveling civilization. It now wandered off the main screen to be suddenly lit up with thousands of little bright lights sprouting on its surface. The P-Bombs had ignited nuclear fires all over the beautiful world.

Billions of tons of ocean water turned to superheated steam in seconds obscured the continents and the surface in a matter of moments. Then the Penetrators reached the liquid core after tunneling through miles of planetary crust. In an almost surreal image, the continental plates were outlined in bright white. It was then as if creation itself paused to sigh; the entire planet seemed to contract ever so slightly, only to expand a few moments later and the entire planet exploded in a cloud of elemental fire.

A spherical cloud of fire and burning matter replaced what once was a cradle of life.

True, the USS Hammerfaust had a crew of over 500 beings from all over the Union, but everyone knew this was the kind of war only Terrans fought, utterly brutal, relentless and total.

The USS Hammerfaust obliterated two more planets in the system known to hold Itkkme industry, mines, and settlements, before accelerating to threshold speed and disappearing into Quasi-Space.

Seventy Itkkme miners on the systems smallest planet were the only survivors. They stared in absolute horror into the night sky as 5 hours later the light of the destruction of their homeworld reached their little outpost.

Chapter 1: Stahl

Sivenfosieven, Command Wizard of the 7th Kermac Space Lord Fleet, carefully attached the artificial beard to his chin. He took great care in tying the light blue ribbons that held the cone-shaped, appendix-like beard which slightly curved upwards symbolically to his face. In the days of old, the ribbons really did hold the beards and were still used as a symbol of status and position. The color, width, length of the ribbons and way they were tied were codified in great detail and described in the elevated Scrolls of Greatest Importance.

Now these false beards, that had become synonymous with Kermac culture, were often glued or like as in his case attached via surgical implanted micro connectors.

The morning ritual of attaching the beard was an important one for every Kermac and practiced with spiritual and religious significance. To Sivenfosieven, it was the time of day that gave him strength and centered his thoughts.

Kermac beards contained hidden PSI technology. Every Kermac had a MOC approved mindshield in his beard. Those who were in higher positions; like his, also had a small but quite powerful Neuro Ripper in its tip. On very low intensity it was a perfect tool to make servants, slaves, and others lesser than he, squirm with uneasiness and painful nerve tingling while in the presence of a Kermac Wizard.

He also had a PSI enhancer that increased his psionic abilities. In his case, it elevated him into the very rare group of telekinetic gifted individuals. His natural Psionics had the potential for telekinetic powers but his natural strength allowed him to manipulate objects of no more than a few grams at the greatest concentration and exhaustion. With his enhancer, he could manipulate almost 50 grams within viewing distance. This was something he was tremendously proud of, as only one in about 100,000 Kermac developed telekinetic abilities.

That his PSI shield was actually quite illegal and not approved by the Ministry of Control was one of the perks a military leader of his level enjoyed.

He too feared the ever-present shadowy threat of the Thought Police. Once denounced by a TP officer as someone with thoughts not appropriate for a Kermac, even a man of his position could face the terrible punishment of a Mental Wipe.

While he tied the last knot of the upper ribbon ends and checked the result in a mirror field; he had to admit he had many of such non-appropriate thoughts lately.

He brushed his long thin hand over the completely smooth skin of his bald head and wondered if he would find time to have a skin bleaching ritual session today. In his self-critical opinion, he found that his skin was still several shades below the blessed true white of a Kermac God.

Religion was for Thrall species and slaves. Kermac knew and worshiped only one thing, themselves.

He checked the black mascara that lined his eyes and applied more lip white to make sure his lips matched the whiteness of the rest of his face and recited the seventeen reasons why the Kermac were supreme above all.

Making sure he did it loud enough so his aides waiting for him outside could hear him. He spoke the words mechanically as he had lost the conviction needed to recite this required daily sermon with passion: “Above all that exists and lives are Kermac! To all that lives we are Gods and must be worshiped for we are supreme. We are not among the dirt that dares to defile existence, we are elevated...”

He had not even reached the sixth reason when someone rapped against the folding door that separated his private accommodations from the Command Center.

He was aboard the most powerful warship ever created by the combined sciences and engineers of those who served the Kermac. This 1200 meter giant was part of a 2000 ship fleet of similar sized ships. He swallowed his anger for being disturbed, he was quite aware that no one would have dared to do so if it was not utterly important.

Waving his hand toward the door, he signaled the door to fold away. It revealed Sub Command Wizard Achnacdrie with a thinly veiled expression of concern. His subordinate said, bowing in the required motion. “My eyes are inadequate to fully appreciate the magnificence your presence bestows upon this universe; my lips are inadequate to...”

“Suspend the litany. If you felt it was important enough to interrupt my recital, then time must be of essence.”

“Indeed Magnificent Sivenfosieven, Commander most wise and supreme. We received message via Long-Range Telepaths that the Hilibar have fallen. Union barbarians somehow managed to circumvent brilliant tactical defenses planned and implemented by our other regional leader, the Great Command Wizard Fivtofortwe.”

“The fall of the Hilibar was only a matter of weeks and expected. The forces used to assist the Hilibar can now be diverted and bolster the Unifrim to protect the Agerath System.”

“Indeed you’re Magnificent Apparition of Perfection; that is the strategy of supreme wisdom. However Great Command Wizard Fivtofortwe might have experienced slight complications in that matter.”

“What kind of Complications?”

“Your colleague of the highest esteem and almost equal magnificence was so kind and sent a message via LRT that the Union completely destroyed the Agerath System; they destroyed the actual planets, Agerath, and all Itkkme present.”

Sivenfosieven did not blame is Sub Commander for acting the way he did. It was how Kermac spoke and behaved, 20,000 years of Thought Police made this as natural as eating and drinking. He did not blame the other Command Wizard, even though he considered him to be an Idiot. Whatever they threw in the way of the Union onslaught was obliterated, killed and destroyed in a truly terrifying methodical fashion. “What of the Unifrim? Simply speak of facts and refrain from the Form Speak.”

The Sub Commander sighed. “Your Magnificence, they fled. They left the Itkkme to fend for themselves. ”

“The Itkkme were vital to our war efforts. In that system was one of our most important shipyards. ”

“Indeed your Magnificence, it was.”

“There is more, isn’t there?”

“Our long-range detectors from our scout ships have detected a collection of several barbarian spaceships heading into this area. Insignificant of course, as they are just Union and it is of course completely impossible for them to ever reach this bastion of Kermac might. This is after all not a system that is home to worthless servants, this is a Kermac System. Defended by none other than you, the most brilliant Command Wizard. Their inferior technology and stupidity will make them easy prey to our mighty fleet and your brilliant order decisions you will give. Is this not so?”

“There is a fine line, Sub Commander. There is a fine line indeed between using Formal Speech to laud and elevate your superior; or use it to express sarcasm. You have long ago crossed that line. Your sarcasm is so thick, it has reached your eyes. So spare me your excuses and attempts to convince me otherwise. However, do tell me how insignificant that Union Fleet is that is coming this way.”

“We think it is the full First Fleet with the Devastator. No other known spacecraft makes our mass detectors spike that way.”

Sivenfosieven was certain he just managed to gain a few shades towards the Supreme White without any bleaching sessions. “Stahl is coming?”

Someone in the Command Center said, “No, your Magnificence, that Union Devil is already here!”

As if to underline these words, the Kermac flagship vibrated from the Battle Alert Warning Sounds and only seconds later shook violently as the first Giga Load exploded nearby.

Admiral Stahl was not on the bridge of the mighty USS Devastator; his Union battleship of alien origin was under the command of its current CO, Captain Tor Igvar.

The immortal Terran who was known throughout the known universe as the Eternal Warrior felt unable to remain behind the lines and direct his forces from the safety of his flagship as a man of his importance should have done. Instead, he sat in the command seat of an Ajax Class Super Cruiser; he had pulled out of the Surplus pool of Delta Group about a year ago. It carried the Union Fleet designation USS Shadow Hawk and whenever the First Fleet went into battle, he took her out personally, surrounded by a handpicked crew.

The Shadow Hawk was an 800 meter Super Cruiser, refitted with the most advanced shields and updated weapon systems.

With an almost fanatic devotion of the Devi’s engineering department to make it a ship fit to use by the Old Man, they used every trick in the book to acquire the very finest tech.

Of course, Stahl could have taken command of any ship in the fleet. He could have requested the latest and newest Dreadnought coming off the assembly lines at Ross 129, but that would have been inappropriate in his opinion. New ships were needed for the war effort and assigned to proper commanding officers and crews. Pulling such a resource merely to satisfy his personal ambitions and desires was something the man synonymous with integrity did not do.

Taking an old ship out of a boneyard and crewing it with volunteers was as far as he was willing to go. Putting himself in danger on the front lines was not exactly the role or position that the supreme commander of all Union Military should take, and was of course criticized by Admiral McElligott. Along with pretty much everyone else at Fleet Command.

Sitting on a desk and delegating forces behind the lines simply wasn’t him. He could delegate and direct on board the Shadow Hawk just as well and in the very center of the action.

While his style of command and his decision to fight himself alongside regular units was scolded and criticized by Fleet Command; it elevated his legend to almost godlike status among the spacemen, soldiers, marines, and officers of the Union Fleet. They followed him with a sense of unequaled pride and devotion.

Stahl himself spearheaded this all-out assault on the first Main Kermac Star System. The USS Shadow Hawk was among the first ships dropping out of Quasi.

“Brytha make those loaders sweat!” Stahl said to his Tactical Officer. “Keep your barrels straight ahead and sweep the path.”

“Aye Sir.” The Saresii woman behind the weapon controls said.

“Kolfsen don’t slow down one klick if necessary plow right through whatever tries to block our approach.”

This was perhaps the only Jooltar on the Union Side and most certainly the only one in the Union Fleet. Jooltar grunted and pushed the Helm System visor before his eyes.

The immortal warrior blinked at the fleet communications icon floating inside his retina, “Stahl to Devi, what is keeping you? Captain Igvar, light up some flares and tell them we’re here.”

The Devi responded and her turrets fired in salvo tact, every 30 seconds the biggest mobile Translocator cannons in the Union arsenal coughed Exo load after Exo load into trans-dimensional space only to re-materialize inside shields and past armor deep inside enemy vessels and each time a Kermac Battleship was vaporized with a suddenly expanding temporary mini-sun in its place.

The Kermac did not give up without a fight. The Kermac FTL Line Cannons did pack a wallop delivering the energies of fusion bomb explosions compressed in a tight focus of only a few centimeters through an ISAH field-like compression and acceleration field. This enabled Kermac Line Cannons to engage an enemy target with translight speed. There was little that could withstand a direct hit. Kermac Psi Powers were one reason the Kermac were so powerful and ruled over the Galactic Council, their Line Cannons were the other reason.

This had been the status quo for many thousands of years. Now there was the Union with Battleships bigger than anything since the Celtest disappeared. Their cursed shields withstood the Line Cannons and it took the combined hits of at least three Kermac Battleships and all their cannons to crack the shields of a Union Ship long enough to cause serious damage.

After the attack wave of Union Battleships, sixteen Forrestal Class Carriers arrived and launched Wolfcraft Fighters and Thor Gun Boats. Swift Destroyers were protecting the carriers with deadly TL Sniper fire.

Several Union Battleships were seriously damaged, but the Kermac and their Thralls had nothing to equalize the incredible fast Wolfcraft. Once again, the true value of space fighters was demonstrated. These were not the Nul or the Dai who also had fighters; few space-faring civilizations considered the use of one pilot attack craft. Most certainly, none of the known Galactic Council species did.

Wolfcraft fighters were heavily shielded, had Translocator Gatlings, Quantum Plasma Cannons and Loki Torpedoes and thanks to their size and fast speed almost impossible to hit, even for Kermac Computronic aided target acquisition systems.

The Saresii Tactical officer of the USS Shadow Hawk resisted wiping off the sweat from her forehead as her hands punched in energy reroute commands to the shield generator systems. The Super Cruiser had lost starboard shields and aft shields flickered with less than 20 % and were down to the last shield layer.

The temperature on the bridge was almost unbearable as Stahl had life support and climate controls turned down to an absolute minimum. Every iota of energy diverted to the bow shield projectors.

More than once since this attack run had begun, the Shadow Hawk plowed right through the barely dissipating energy clouds of enemy and friendly fire alike.

That they could have retreated at any moment return to the safety behind Union Lines was an option no one on this ship even considered. Stahl wanted to reach the Kermac World and deliver the Devil’s Bunch attached to an external hard point at the keel of their ship to that planet’s capital and seat of the local Wizards. They all would rather die than disappoint him.

A Devil’s Bundle or Devil’s Bunch was a set of 12 Loki torpedoes connected to each other like a bundle of firewood and released simultaneously. (This was actually an invention of Stahl during the Y’All war when he bundled the then common SHIROC anti-ship missiles to knock out Y’All ships.)

The reason for this attack was to destroy the well defended and protected Wizard Tower and by doing so, neutralize the Psionic Influencers the Kermac used to press their will on the Thralls fighting for them at least in this region of space. There was also the hope to possibly neutralize their ability to communicate with Long Range Telepaths sitting in bunkers underneath the wizard tower.

The Bundle was released at a distance where it could no longer be intercepted; it made its way and obliterated the city, the Wizard Towers and the Psi Enhancers. Many of the remaining Kermac ship crews suddenly experienced complete confusion as the psionic oppressive will that pressed them to risk life and health to defend the Kermac was gone. The tactical commands given by their telepathic communication suddenly fell silent.

The entire First Fleet, all four Battle Group clusters, had now arrived and the outcome of this space battle had never been in any doubt, but the action led by Stahl himself ensured a fast and decisive victory and the details of this fight were added to the many stories told among the crews and citizens of the Union, about Admiral Stahl.

This was the first Kermac Planet that was ever attacked in over 20,000 years and the first to fall in Kermac history.

Chapter 2: Drop Drop Deploy

Gunnery Sergeant Robert “the Hook” Dunn leaned back into the mechanical claw of the robotic arm and it lifted him off his feet and traveled with great speed along a central track and placed him into the next available Drop chute of the forward Starboard Drop battery.

Many arms like this one, rushed back and forth, performing a mechanical high-speed ballet only machines were able to do, bringing more marines from the Hot Standby deployment zone and stuffing them into Drop Chutes.

Gunny Dunn performed a suit check. He was wearing an SII-Destroyer Main Battle Suit Mark XI, more commonly known the Galaxy over as a Quasimodo.

Marines called their suit systems Mamma, because if you took care of Mamma; she took care of you.

“Mamma, Pre-Drop System Check.”

“Mamma, Online, commencing Pre Drop Suit Check. Nano-Bio Gel layer intact, Auto-Doc online, stocked and operational. Warning, Neuro connectors ping commencing in 5 seconds.”

Mamma warned him about sending a neural feedback pulse through all the neuro connectors of the suit. This short but intense reflex impulse agitated almost every muscle in his body and made him twitch like he had touched a live energy socket.

Some marines never learned to get used to the Neuro Ping and hated that moment, some loved it and took it as the start signal before a big race or sporting competition. Robert got used to it all right but he never learned to like it, even though it meant that his suit was now fully integrated into his body and even the most minute movement was translated instantly into the Battlesuits synthetic muscles. Six Billion miles of microscopic thin Mylo-Mylar-Nano carbon strands woven and wound into fire hose thick synthetic muscles attached to a Neutron-Ultronit foam Exoskeleton.

It all was covered from head to toe with 5-millimeter hexagon shaped scales made of Molecule compacted Ultronit, individually molecular bonded to a thin layer of Intelli-Fab, making the suits skin into a highly flexible, yet almost indestructible barrier. On top of that followed 260 pieces of semi-rigid armor pieces, interlocking, augmented and articulated.

It all meant that he could move this 8-ton battle suit with the precision of a Lavatian watchmaker, with the speed of a martial arts master and with the grace of a French Ballet dancer. A Marine wearing one of these could pick up a raw egg, or lift a 60-ton landing tank with equal ease; walk across the surface of virtually any planet, fight in almost any environment known to science and enforce the will of the Union Assembly where ever it was needed.

Highly advanced Shield emitters could engulf his suit with three layers of soap bubble-like iridescent purple shimmering Para Dim shields at an eye-blinks notice.

Through the main wet-link neuro connection a dedicated battle computronic transmitted not only battlefield data, target information, and communications directly to his brain, it also assisted and elevated his reflexes and reaction abilities to machine speed.

Mamma’s soft female voice kept going over each checkpoint, while he did a manual check on his offensive systems. Two chain fed mass accelerator cannons mounted in twin configuration, one on each shoulder. These babies had their origin in the ancient Gauss Rifles the first Space Marines carried into battle. These MACs accelerated plutonium slugs to 99 percent light speed. The relativistic mass created by 6 grams of Plutonium impacting at this speed with a few thousand tons of kinetic energy, and that 12 times per second if necessary.

On his back, in the hump of his suit; the reason these suits were called Quasimodos; was the suit’s main weapon, a Translocator Cannon with a 5 shot Micro load magazine.

This was but one of the many weapon systems available to him, most of them were built into the suit, like wrist guns, finger beamers, mine dispensers, and micro-missile launchers. However, studies had shown that an external independent weapon was preferred by most soldiers as it added versatility and an extra suit independent weapon system.

This was the reason he also carried the SII-TKU Mark 19 Plasma Rifle with a 5 gauge Grenade launcher and Chain Sword attachment, the standard infantry weapon of choice for the United Stars Marine Corps. It was a relatively old system and was with the Corps for over 150 years since the introduction of the Mark 1 in 4780, and the Mark 19 still looked more or less like the old Mark 1 with only minor improvements or changes. Dunn preferred the “Sitku” over everything else, even though he did have a choice of several other systems he could have selected during the Suit Up Sequence, including the Fafnyr SII TKU Gatling or the Feuersturm 4500 Chain fed Heckler & Koch Raketen MK.

Technically, of course, the Sitku had nothing to do with a chemical slug thrower and there was no rifling in the barrel parts of this weapon, but this weapon linked Marines to over 3000 years of Rifleman tradition and because of this, it was still called a rifle.

That the weapon had more firepower than a division of early Astro Marines complete with tanks and artillery was a fact Robert could not really relate to, as he had no idea what kind of weapons Marines carried when Earth became a space-faring civilization. It simply was something they always said when they handed out these babies.

Mamma said. “Pre-Drop Check complete. System at 98.87 percent.”

“Mama, what causes the one point thirteen drop from the expected 100?”

“The left gauntlet finger control has a seven nanosecond reaction delay, with a probability of a data trunk damage in the left suit arm. Do you want to abort the drop and receive a replacement unit?”

No Marine had to drop if he felt his equipment was not up to specs and no one would have held it against him if he asked to see a Black Smith, but that meant he missed the first wave drop.

Mamma assured him that the problem could be fixed by Suit Nanites as soon as he had dropped. So he opted to drop and called the status of his suit into Command Net with the Good and all Green message.

The robotic arms zipping back and forth, Marines called “Jar stuffers”, deposited a marine into a deployment chute right across his own and his suit systems recognized the otherwise invisible markers on the other marines suit and identified the man as Human Terran, Private Harry Boscoe.

He had met the kid just this morning, fresh and green as can be right out of boot camp and shipped out for the first time past Union Space.

Even if Robert could have seen through the completely opaque face plate of Private Boscoe’s Quasimodo that was seamlessly integrated into the rest of the suits dark gray color scheme and transparent only from the inside; all he would have seen was the bright blue and finger thick bio-slime that covered every Marine wearing a battle-suit from head to toe, like a second skin.

That blue goo was perhaps the real reason why Union Battle Suits were the very best in the known Universe. The goo did not only act as frictionless padding, allowing a Marine to wear that suit for many months if necessary, absorbing impact shocks the Arti Gravs could not handle and recycle sweat, body waste and every dead skin flake; it also acted in concert with the Auto-Doc and provided medical treatment. The bio slime kept temperatures at perfect levels. A marine was never too hot or too cold. It instantly sealed wounds and kept any wound trauma to the absolute minimum.

The S.L.I.M.E was more or less the same stuff Med Techs used in their Re-Gen tanks. The Blue Slime could if necessary assist the Auto-Doc and regrow limbs, bones and basically keep a marine alive even if sixty percent of his body had been vaporized.

The Blue Slime had a few other benefits as well but like the Neuro Ping, it was a thing you had to get used to.

As soon as the Suit was ready to be sealed the slime deployed out of small openings inside the suit and then crept and crawled like a living thing, warm and moist, all over you and entered every orifice. Newbies often panicked when the slime crept into their nostrils, forced itself inside the mouth, into ears and over their faces and eyes. Robert no longer really noticed it.

“Private Boscoe, did you perform a Pre-Drop?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Neuro Ping?”

“All 100 percent Sir.”

“Good to hear. Did you slime up alright?”

“Yes Sir, just completed.” The Private could not completely hide the uneasiness in his voice.

Robert had the individual icons representing his platoon troops, transmitted right into his retina and could access a wealth of data from each of his marines. Boscoe’s suit showed green and so did the vitals of the rest of his platoon.

According to his readout, Private Boscoe’s psych status was elevated but well within parameters. A seventeen percent increase of the young marines respiration rate, combined with an elevated heart rate and increased Adrenalin production was to be expected during a first Action Drop. Brain Wave patterns were also within expected regions. The brain regions responsible for emotions such as fear, just a notch above Orange. Robert could see the same data on every one of his men. Corporal Whitesheet next to him was almost asleep, completely relaxed, listening to Ult harmonics, that Quadiped was only on his fourth drop.

Robert keyed into Boscoe’s suit audio and said. “No reason to be nervous, this is going to be easier than the live fire drops you did in boot camp.”

“But we are dropping on the Noghlers right?” The slightly agitated voice of the Private said.

“Yup, big nasty twelve meters tall sentient Bios, with the latest Kermac battle armor. Tough motherfuckers they are. Still, no reason to worry, Private. Do you know why?”

“No Sir, I heard they are quite aggressive and dangerous.”

“Because we are dropping on Glher, their homeworld. It’s their last planet. We kicked their huge ceramic armor covered asses from twelve worlds. We’re Marines, there isn’t anything tougher and more dangerous out there. Besides you are now with Bravo Company 2nd Platoon, the Master Blasters. Our Platoon leader is Lt. Roy Masters, the toughest SOB you ever going to meet this side of the Orion Arm. He’s from Green Hell.”

“Yeah heard, but where is he?”

A voice interrupted them both. “I am already down here, advanced Recon and I really could use some help down here. Yes, I am from Green Hell, but my mother is a famous scientist and I will pretend not to have heard your last comment, Gunny.”

Red lights started to rotate and loudspeakers blared. “Drop-Drop-Drop-Deploy!”

Robert’s suit automatically moved into drop position with arms close to the body and the chute door closed with a metallic clang.

There was half a second of complete darkness and then it felt as if a giant’s invisible hand had taken hold of his feet and yanked him with great force and speed through a short pipe filled with blue sequenced pulsing lights into open space.

Below him was the immense sight of a brownish red planet with a few wispy white bands of clouds and dirty looking oceans.

He and the rest of Bravo Company, including 2nd platoon accelerated head first towards the first layers of atmosphere.

The Stryker was only one of 200 dropships in orbit around the hostile world, and they all started to deploy.

Through the retina-linked visual sensors, increasing his natural field of view by 60 percent to each side without even moving his head, he noticed the heavy weapon impacts into the shields of their own Dropship, the USS John Stryker.

He silently cursed the Noghler surface defense batteries as they fired accelerated antimatter loads into the swarms of descending Marines and the fast flashes of Kermac Line Cannon fire coming from below.

Marines doing an orbital drop were small and hard to hit targets, and their shields and armor were second to none, but planetary defense batteries designed to take on spaceships could ruin a marine’s otherwise perfectly good drop, especially if it was a direct hit. He noticed seven icons on the Company level board turning red and three more blink out in rapid succession. Red meant severe damage and the three lost icons re-appeared a heartbeat later on the casualty list. Three of damage icons belonged to his Platoon.

He pressed his lips together as he knew all three men who had just died, good lads of 1st platoon and made sure everyone was moving at max speed, with the random course deviator program activated, that shifted marines into unpredictable quantum patterns and gave orders to deploy Rescue Cerbs to retrieve the damaged and wounded Marines.

Force fields automatically took on the best aerodynamic shape as they penetrated the first layers of the planet’s atmosphere. Like thousands of glowing shooting stars, trailing superheated air molecules, Union Marines rained in on the home planet of the Noghler,

Robert’s targeting system identified a series of surface batteries, he aimed his shoulder cannons and switched to triple burst, while he gave a mental set of instructions to his Hump TL with the re-materialization coordinates for the micro loads he sent them inside the death-dealing turrets below.