Solbidyum Wars Saga Book 1: Battle of the New Orleans (43 page)

Over the ne
xt few days I recovered quickly. I was able to see Sgt. Marranalis the next day; he’d suffered a concussion and a broken leg in the assault to free the troopers in the hold. He had managed to get into and adjacent compartment while under fire, when Wanoll had sealed off some of the compartments to trap the rebels and prevent their movement in the ship he also sealed Marranalis with five of them.

Marranalis had taken them one in single hand to hand combat and killed them all, but ended up with a broken leg and a concussion in the process
and managed to break his communicator.  Three days later Marranalis, Kala and I left the
DUSTEN
and returned to the
NEW ORLEANS
. The
NIGHTBRIDGE
had been removed from our hangar and other than for the patrol ships belonging to the troopers assigned to me by the Federation as body guards and the just barely functional
TRITYTE ,
the hangar bay looked pretty empty.  Captain Stonbersa, Kerabac and Piesew welcomed us back and we were all glad to see each other, but everyone mourned and grieved the loss of Lunnie and Reidecor.  We would need a new ships engineer, that was a certainty, but a pilot was another matter.  With the
TRITYTE
being planned to be part of a flying museum exhibit traveling the Federation there was no need for a pilot, at least not at the moment.  We would be spending our time either on the ground or on the
NEW ORLEANS,
once we got back to Megelleon I intended to have Captain Stonbersa acquire several shuttle craft for the
NEW ORLEANS
, some of these of course would require pilots, but of a much lower caliber than Reidecor had been.

We had been back on Megelleon about
three days when word came to us that the Federation was planning a special event to honor those who had fought for Federation in what was now being called oddly enough the Battle of the
NEW ORLEANS
and the
DUSTEN. 
Kala and I really didn’t want to attend, the loss of Lunnie and Reidecor still being sore wounds for us, but Admiral Regeny pointed out that Kala was still military and that he could make it an order.  With Kala going I felt that I needed to be there as well and so it was that Kala, Sgt. Marranalis, Kerabac, Captain Stonbersa, and I all dressed in our best formal whites appeared at the event.  Kala and I were both of pretty somber moods and walked the carpeted walk from the shuttle to the senate hall where the event was to take place.  This was the same hall where just a few months earlier I had been named ‘Tibby the Recoverer’ and given a vast fortune as the finders reward for the recovery of the Solbidyum.  Back then I was filled with excitement with all that was happening. Last time I had walked briskly, but today I walked with a limp from the still healing wounds I received at the hands of Lexmal.  Once again when we reached the two tall doors that went into the great hall and our escort lined us up, Kala and I were to go first side by side, followed by Marranalis, Kerabac and Captain Stonbersa, who were to walk three abreast. When we were all lined up we entered the great hall, unlike last time the tables for senators had been removed and chairs now filled the space and we were told that over one hundred thousand people were in attendance.

Large screens around the hall displayed our images as we entered and all drew quiet as the escort move
d forward and announced; “It is my honor to present Citizen Thibodaux James Renwalt, also known as Tibby the Recoverer, Major Kalana, Sgt. Marranalis, Captain Stonbersa and Kerabac.  Citizens of the Federation, I present to you our heroes.” At this announcement everyone rose to their feet and loud cheers and applause rang out throughout the hall as we were led to a circular revolving stage in the middle of the great hall.  Unlike before there were no tables save for one small one near the center bearing several objects, on each side of the table stood two cloths covered pillars.   Chairs circled the edge of the platform turned facing in toward the center of the platform all but five were filled and we were led to the chairs and seated in the order in which our names had been called out before.  I was seated to the right of Leader Rieam, Leader Turaine was still off planet as was Leader Maragon, and Kala was seated to my right and so on down the line until Kerabac was the last of our group.  To Leader Rieam’s left was seated Admiral Regeny and it was he who first rose to speak.

“Citizens of the Federation, we are gathered here today to pay respect and honor those who have shown outstanding performance and heroism on behalf of the Federation and without whose sacrifices this very planet may not be here today.  By now all of you have heard the stories of how a
group called the Brotherhood of Light tried to mutiny within the Federation military forces not only to steal the galaxies supply of Solbidyum but to over throw the Federation and place all its planets under their domination.  In a few well planned and daring actions they managed to capture the two large war ships the
TASSAGORA,
and the
DUSTEN
, with no other large war ships within five days the Megelleon system.  They also managed to capture over eighty percent of all patrol ships in the immediate area, the leaving only one Corvette the
NIGHTSHADE
and twenty percent of the patrol ships for defense of Megelleon.  They attacked and bombed the Federation High Command Quarters, and only by the foresight of Tibby the Recoverer was the High Command spared.  Fortunately we had the foresight to take the Solbidyum with us and secret it away to a place known but to the High Command.  Let me say, here and now that the dispensing of the Solbidyum will occur as promised and that not one grain of it has been lost. 

When the
DUSTEN
and the
TASSAGORA
fell to enemy hands the Brotherhood was controlling and running operations from a secret underwater base, it was Tibby who devised a plan that got the Brotherhood to lead us to their Headquarters and it was Captain Stonbersa who provided us the information needed to find that base, it was from the Tibby’s Yacht, the
NEW ORLEANS
that the Federation High command gave the orders for the base to be destroyed.  No one foresaw the extent of explosive force that was generated by the destruction of the blast and we can only conclude that a large arsenal of explosives existed there.  It was through Tibby’s personal generosity that a special fund has been set up to see that all persons suffering damage by the giant waves created by the blast will receive full compensation for their losses and that each family that lost a love one resulting from the waves shall receive one million Federation credits.” Applause and cheering broke out once again.

“It was Tibby who devised the plan,” Regeny continued, “to destroy the
TASSAGORA
and a large portion of the patrol ships that had fallen to the Brotherhood rebels.  I am not at liberty to tell you how this was accomplished as it is classified information that is vital to planetary defense, I can only tell you that it is because of Tibby that this was possible.  It was Tibby, again, who came up with the means for us to enter the enemy held
DUSTEN
and bring an end to the tyrannical occupation and threat posed by it and although many lives were lost, thousands of lives on the ship and possibly millions of lives here on Megelleon would have been lost had it not been for his plan and actions. It was Tibby, who personally led the raid on the
DUSTEN,
where he was captured tortured and nearly died in trying to free the ship and to keep the Federations Solbidyum out of the hands of the enemy.

Tibby did not act alone, and others were involved and many paid the supreme sacrifice to keep our freedom and to keep the Solbidyum out of the hands of the enemy.  Many of you have heard
and seen Tibby’s fantastic skills in hand to hand combat, that which he calls martial arts.  It was hoped that special units could be trained with these techniques, unfortunately time didn’t permit for this to fully happen and desperate measures were used to try and bring about a more rapid training.  This didn’t happen soon enough for those going into battle against the enemy and most of them died trying to take back the
DUSTEN
from the enemy.  Though vastly outnumbered, records indicate that they still managed to take out three rebels for every one of their lives lost, however a few of the individuals that Tibby trained and who benefited from special training with Tibby did ultimately bring about the downfall of the Brotherhood rebels.  We will address this more later.

In
recognition of doing more to save the Federation than any other person in the history of the Federation the Federation military High Command wishes to acknowledge Tibby the Recoverer’s outstanding service to the Federation forces by bestowing on him the honorary title of Vice Admiral and that he shall be shown and afforded all the respect, recognition and benefits that the rank of a Vice Admiral in the Space fleet offers.” This was followed by yet another round of applause while an aid handed leather bound document to the Admiral who then handed it to me. Now, I believe that Leader Rieam has something to say.”  

Leader Rieam rose and moved to the podium and said. 
“Vice Admiral Tibby, for your selfless service to the Federation and placing yourself in harm’s way to prevent the Solbidyum from falling into the hands of the enemy and for your planning and leadership in a raid to prevent the loss of more lives and possibly the end of the Federation itself, it is the will of the Senate that we bestow on you the highest honor the Federation has reserved for a citizen.  From this day forward you shall be known as First Citizen Tibby the Recover.  The title of First Citizen has only been given out three times in the past six hundred years, we are proud to bestow this title upon you.” Applause rang out through the hall.  Leader Rieam went back to her seat and once more Admiral Regeny took the podium.

Admiral
Regeny continued, “As stated before, Tibby did not do all of this alone, Kerabac performed dangerous and complicated navigation procedures that made it possible for all these things to happen. I regret that once again I cannot reveal details as most of this information is classified.  Captain Stonbersa, who I regret to say is recently retired from the Federation space force but is now Captain of Tibby’s Space Yacht the
NEW ORLEANS
, played a huge and dramatic role in delivering not only the blow to the Brotherhood Headquarters, but in delivering troopers to the
DUSTEN
as well for the taking back of the ship.  His outstanding skills as a Captain made it possible for the recovery of the
DUSTEN
. 

Stg.
Marranalis a trooper of the Federation Space Force on special assignment to First Citizen and now Vice Admiral Tibby and trained in martial arts by Tibby and who led a team in an attempt to rescue the loyal troopers held in
DUSTEN,
got trapped in a compartment with five rebel troopers and took them all out in single hand to hand combat utilizing methods taught to him by Tibby. It was Marranalis who trained and led the troopers both of the Federation fleet and from Tibby’s personal security team in the taking of the
DUSTEN. 
Sgt. Marranalis is as of today officially elevated to the rank of Corporal.  Congratulations Corporal.

During the action to recover the
DUSTEN,
two individuals showed the ultimate acts of courage and heroism, without the bravery and actions of these two individuals the mission would have failed.  The first of these two individuals was Corporal Luinella, affectionately known to her crew members and friends as Lunnie.  Corporal Luinella was an Engineer with the Federation Space Force and was assigned to permanent duty to First Citizen Tibby.  During one of the critical phases of the operation to retake the
DUSTEN
Corporal Luinella discovered that one of the components on one of the craft used in the operation was faulty and that only by placing herself at risk of being captured would the ship be able to perform its function.   Rather than have the mission fail because of this one piece of equipment Corporal Luinella stayed with the craft, unbeknown to her fellow crewmates, so that the recovery operation could occur, had she not done so and additional lives would have been lost.  Corporal Luinella was captured by the enemy and brutally tortured and mutilated without ever revealing one detail of the operation that was taking place. She was able to inflict injury to her torturer, non-other than the traitor and fugitive to the Federation, Corporal Lexmal, by biting off his finger even though she was physically restrained.  She was then brutally stabbed multiple times and died from her injuries. 

Likewise, Captain Maxette, Captain of the
DUSTEN,
who after being captured, mutilated by having fingers cut off and his tongue cut out, managed to get himself free, steal a gun from a guard and kill the Federation traitor and Rebel leader Commander Thimas before dying.  I now turn the podium over to Leader Rieam for the next portion of the ceremony.”

Leader Rieam took the podium and began
, “For their unselfish sacrifice and dedication to the Federation, above and beyond the call of duty and in recognizing that by their actions the Federation was saved from possible defeat and annihilation, the Federation bestows posthumously on Captain Maxette, and Corporal Luinella the Honor of First Citizens of the Federation and so that the memory of their ultimate sacrifice will not be forgotten and that all shall remember. The Federation has had built these statues,” a pause while the covering over the pillars were withdrawn to reveal two perfectly detailed statues of  Captain Maxette and Lunnie, twice their actual size, carved out of some sort of opalescent stone. Leader Rieam continued, “…that shall stand in the main plaza of the Capitol building for all to see and remember.”  Kala turned to me and grabbed hold of me and we both wept openly as Leader Rieam said, “I know turn the podium back over to Admiral Regeny.