Transmission Lost (72 page)

To her surprise, in fact, he looked relieved. “You speak English?” the human asked. “That's good, my Ailian is crap. I need to speak with General Soumaren right away.”

“That is me.” Aria looked over her shoulder to see General Soumaren coming from within the building. Her uniform was torn in a few places, but she looked unhurt. She was flanked by several of her marines, all of whom were looking at the trio of humans with just as much suspicion as the Ailians were. “I am General Kalma Soumaren of the Imperial Marines, and this is Captain Aria Me'lia of the Lirnan Royal Guards. Who are you, and why do you want me?”

All three of the humans saluted her, though there was some hesitation as they did so. This was clearly something that none of them had ever thought they would be doing. “I'm Lieutenant Commander Joseph Carswell with SEAL Team 21.” He gestured to the other man and the woman standing with him. “This is Lieutenant Nikolai Kozlov of the 57
th
Guards Spetsnaz Regiment, and Captain Angela Drechsler of Twelfth Company Kommando Spezialkräfte. Our home fleets have been sent by command on Cerelis to offer our assistance.”

General Soumaren and Aria looked at one another, before the Nuretan general crossed her arms. “Perhaps you should explain, Commander.”

“I don't think we got a lot of time for that, but I'll give you the quick version,” Commander Carswell said. “I don't know a lot of it myself. What I do know is that our respective governments have been negotiating behind the scenes for a while now, which you probably knew also.” He looked up as there was a roar overhead, and another squadron of human fighters flew by. “Our diplomats came to a few agreements a week ago...before your Empress was kidnapped. The United Nations wasn't happy about it, but I think losing Earth a few months ago put things in perspective. We're not pleased with these rebels of yours, General, especially since some of our people have taken up with them. And since it turns out the Ascendancy had nothing to do with Earth, I guess some folks are willing to put aside a few differences. At least until we get this shit straightened out.”

Aria frowned. “Are you?”

“We're not friends by any stretch of the word,” Commander Carswell cautioned her. “There's too much bad blood between humans and Ailians. Maybe there always will be, maybe not. But we've learned more about the Pteryd in the past few months than we ever knew before, and we like them even less than we like you.” He shrugged. “We're not here as peace envoys or diplomats. We're here as soldiers. Our job for right now is to help you take this planet back. Whether we go our separate ways and get back to our war afterwards is up to the politicians. But compared with the Pteryd or these 'Outer Colony' people, I think pretty much everyone back home agrees we'd rather deal with the Ascendancy. What do you say to that, General?”

General Soumaren looked back over her shoulder, where her soldiers and the Ailian troops had gathered. Those who could understand the human's words were relaying them to their comrades, and while there was a fair amount of confusion and suspicion to be found on all of their faces, a fair number of them were nodding in agreement. Aria knew exactly what she wanted to say, but it really was up to the general right now. The captain wanted her homeworld back, and she wanted her mother to pay for what she had done. She also remembered what the late Empress Solan had wanted to accomplish for her people, and though perhaps her plans had not gone exactly as she would have wished, humans were now standing with Ailians for the purpose of something other than fighting with each other. In the end, that was all that really mattered.

“Very well, Commander,” General Soumaren finally. She reached forward, extending a hand to the human officer. “The Nuretan Empire has never had any quarrel with humans, but I believe I speak for the Ailians present when I say I am glad that we can be allies. Perhaps the politicians are not all in full agreement, but on behalf of the alliance of the Empire and the Ascendancy, I will gladly accept your offer of assistance.”

Commander Carswell took her hand with a firm grip. “Done.” After shaking on the agreement, he placed his hand on his rifle. “My people are at your disposal, General. As we speak, I have SEALs, Spetsnaz, and KSK in position nearby, with Special Air Service and GIGN on the way, as well as some sniper/observer and tactical units from the Cerelan Federal Police. We've also got about fifteen thousand regulars from various nations tasked to our area, along with armor. I think altogether we have about two hundred thousand soldiers coming down planetside. They'll be linking up with your units to help out wherever they're needed.”

Aria was surprised. “So many?” She wouldn't have thought that the humans could spare that many soldiers in the middle of a war, but as she thought about it she realized it made sense. If there was a temporary ceasefire between the Ascendancy and the humans, they would no longer have to worry as much about defending their borders.

“Excellent,” General Soumaren said, and she looked visibly relieved. The human officer was putting a lot of trust in her for having just met, allowing her command over his people. He was very intelligent if he recognized that he would be out of his depth trying to command his own troops in such unfamiliar territory and on such short notice. And though only a fraction of the total soldiers the alliance had brought with them, two hundred thousand would be a great deal of help and much better than nothing at all. “Our top priority is the royal palace. We know that the Empress is being held there, and that is also where the rebel command is located. The palace must be taken at all costs.”

Captain Drechsler, quiet up to this point, spoke up. “Your people provided us with some basic information about the area just prior to our departure,” she said. “We have had time to look it over. It's a difficult target, but not impossible.”

“What you plan?” Aria asked. “Assault from front is not good, yes?”

“I've thought about that,” Commander Carswell said. “You're all Royal Guards and Imperial Marines, right? We'll treat this as a straightforward assault. Our air assets are softening up the enemy armor and keeping those Pteryd fliers busy. I'm thinking we'll put SEAL and CFP snipers on the tops of these buildings for overwatch. While they keep us covered, SEALS and Spetsnaz will go through the roof. You Royal Guards will go with them. The rest of us will hit the perimeter and keep the rebel soldiers on the ground occupied.”

“It is a better plan than we had before,” General Soumaren said. “I will let our troops know.”

Aria nodded. “Yes.” She looked to Lieutenant Ayalis.
“Mari, te'lek pa reshta aran ke maza. Sefe cha'ra ke ran are, cha?”
The lieutenant nodded to her, and Aria turned back to the humans. “Lieutenant  Ayalis is best sniper. Will go with you, show you best spots, yes?”

“Sounds fine,” Commander Carswell said. He finally gave a grin as he looked up at the tall Ailian. “I never thought I'd be fighting alongside a cat.”

Aria narrowed her eyes, but her muzzle widened to show her rows of sharp teeth as her tail flicked back and forth. “And I only ever see one human not scared to fight,” she said. “Is new thing for us both.”

******

-Tell me what is going on out there!- Ara'lana barked at the holographic image of her field commander. The pitiful excuse for a male had called her in a panic, not that she really needed him to tell her that something was going seriously wrong. The flurry of explosions outside in the past fifteen minutes had let her know that the enemy had arrived, but she had expected superiority in numbers right from the start. Things should have been over out there in a matter of minutes, but it seemed a more prolonged battle was raging. To say that she was unhappy would have been a gross understatement. She vowed that as soon as she had the chance, she'd kill that man for daring to be so lax in his command of her soldiers.

-I don't know what happened, Admiral,- the officer told her. -At first there was only a handful of Royal Guards and Imperial Marines, and we had them pinned down and about to retreat. Then a group of helicopter gunships came out of nowhere, and now there are human attack fighters engaging the Pteryd. My forward observers tell me they've spotted human tanks moving towards the royal palace, and we've intercepted radio traffic from United Nations special forces.-

-How dare you tell me such lies?- Ara'lana snarled. -You are making excuses, Commander! Our intelligence sources assured me that the United Nations was staying out of this matter.-

-They must have been mistaken...-

Furious, Ara'lana cut off his transmission and put in a call for Admiral Kris. The response was delayed, but eventually her admiral's face came up on the communicator. -Selina, give me a report on your situation.-

Admiral Kris opened her mouth to reply, but the image shuddered and static clouded it for a moment. When the picture cleared she was gritting her teeth. -Admiral, the Pteryd deployed as planned to encircle the royalist fleets. We were prepared to deliver our final blow, but then a large human fleet entered the system along with the Tenth Fleet. I'm afraid the battle up here is somewhat evenly matched again.- There was the faint sound of alarms in the background of Admiral Kris' transmission. -The humans are landing soldiers and armor on the planet, and have penetrated the atmosphere with fighters and helicopter carriers.-

Her anger rising into a real rage now, Ara'lana stood up and screamed at her naval commander. -Selina, why did you not inform me as soon as they arrived?-

The other admiral allowed annoyance to creep into voice as well. -With all due respect, Ara'lana, we have been rather busy up here! My fleets are taking damage and so are the Pteryd. I am doing all I can not to lose control of things!-

It took everything that Ara'lana had to get her temper back under control. -Please do me the courtesy of keeping me better informed from now on. I trust that you can defeat these new forces?-

-I will do my best, m'lady,- Admiral Kris said. -But perhaps we should put a call out for reinforcements, all the same.-

-Unacceptable,- Ara'lana growled at her. -The nearest ships would take hours to reach us, and we could not assemble a fleet of any significance for a day at least. You will have to make due with what we have in-system right now.-

Admiral Kris took a deep breath and let it out very slowly. Ara'lana could tell from the way her ears were pointed in different directions that she was thoroughly frustrated with her. She'd have to just grow up and get over it. -I can but try, m'lady.- She cut off the transmission without further comment or even the courtesy of formality.

Quivering with barely suppressed anger, Ara'lana shut off her communicator.
So...those damned humans decided to interfere with my plans. That will be the first and last mistake they will ever make. When I am through with subjugating the Ascendancy, I shall make sure they never forget the errors of their ways. Earth and Cerelis will burn for this...

With that, she came from behind her desk and strode out of her office. If her field commander was not up to the task, then perhaps she would just have to take matters into her own hands.

******

High above Lirna, Admiral Kris suppressed a roar of frustration. Her leader had been a brilliant tactician and a masterful fleet admiral, but three years gone from managing any kind of large space battle seemed to have clouded her judgment somewhat. She was not thinking clearly in the face of changing combat dynamics.

-Increase shields to as high a level as possible!- she ordered her crew. -All weapons at full power, regroup our battle formations, and prepare for frontal assault!- The Ailian admiral watched out of the front viewing window on her bridge as a flight of four human attack fighters made a run on the forward section of her ship, launching a barrage of explosive rockets, most of which were stopped by her shields. -Recall our fighters and assign them to protect our ships. We are going to need them. Who knows if more enemy reinforcements are on the way...-

The admiral leaned forward in her chair, still seething. This was supposed to have been a relatively easy battle, had it not been for the unexpected appearance of the United Nations ships. However, all was not lost. Though the battle lines were more evenly distributed than they had been before, the forces of the New Ascendancy still retained a slight numerical advantage. Even so, that advantage was not as large as Selina would have felt comfortable with.

Pressing a button on the armrest of her command chair, Admiral Kris called to one of the officers in her communications section. -Put out a call to any forces we have in neighboring systems,- she said. -Inform them of the situation and direct them to respond to Lirna immediately.-

The officer hesitated for a few seconds in her response. -But...Admiral Me'lia said...-

-I know what she said,- Admiral Kris interjected. -I am altering those orders. Admiral Me'lia may be correct that we have enough assets to win this battle, but I will
not
allow the slightest risk to the contrary. Call for reinforcements, Lieutenant, on
my
authority. Ara'lana will just have to be cross with me later.-

******

“Wh-What's going on out there?” Brooke asked, her voice wavering. She was sitting on the floor, shaking with renewed fear as the ground underneath her trembled. For the past little while, the sounds of muted explosions and thuds had reached her and Jack's ears, and they had heard talking from out in the hall, presumably from the human soldiers guarding them.