Prominence - Redemption

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  Del unclipped his nano armor and dropped it to the ground. It was lightweight, but as hot as hell to wear. Ello tossed him a hydrating gel pack and he tore off the top and squeezed it into his parched mouth with gusto. It had been a day of hard fighting and they were getting nowhere.

  The high pitched wail of the early warning radar sounded across the command post.

  "Shit here we go again," grumbled Del as he hunkered down within the rubble out of habit. Four or five blurs dashed across the sky above them and the air cracked like a whip as the sound of their hitch pitched engines tried to catch them. They delivered their payload and their bombs dropped down with great accuracy towards the command post. They exploded harmlessly however, about twenty meters in the air above them. Giant fireballs pillowed forth and swept down the side of the shield dome until the entire command post was colored in a red hue.

  "Damn, they have started using thermal bombs," commented Ello, who was crouched beside him.

  "I guess they worked out that the heat helps drain the generators quicker. How long can we sustain the shield dome if they keep doing that?"

  "Jorl! Shield status based on thermal bombs," yelled Ello to the chief combat engineer.

  "With the mini fusion generators we have scrounged from the city buildings so far...maybe 36 hours."

  "I want scrounging parties out the minute it gets dark tonight," ordered Del.

  "Yes sir...you realize that's only half our problem."

  "I'm well aware of our problem," snapped Dell as he looked over his shoulder to Alpha who was standing motionless with all four legs thrust into a patch of soil that he had meticulously cleared of rubble. We have to break this deadlock or they are just going to slowly run over us with sheer numbers."

  "What's the plan then?" asked Ello.

  "I don't know I need more time to think."

  That was Ello's queue to leave his commander and he took it. Del took out his pocket holo-projector. He sat against a mound of rubble and brought up a projection of the tactical map. It showed all the known locations of his teams and the enemy.

  When they had landed two days ago they had caught the Orlak by surprise as intended. Things had started well with his ambush teams effectively countering the initial rushed response by the Orlak. That had allowed them the breathing space to bring in the heavy equipment during the night.

  The Orlak remained predictable in their preference not to actively defend but never attack at night which meant his commando's were given plenty of time to set up an in depth defense. By the time the Orlak launched a more coordinated offensive his men were dug in and ready.

  By the second night they had held firm and Del intended to send out his infiltration teams to get in behind the Orlak lines and create mayhem which he could then exploit the next day and use to be able to squeeze Alpha through. The Orlak were waiting and ready though and the end result was simply four badly mauled and retreating infiltration teams, one of which was still trapped and hiding behind enemy lines.

  Today was the third day of the battle and they had been defending themselves against a rapid series of probing attacks and bombing runs. The intel reports he had been receiving all day indicated they were building up their main force still and that meant only one thing. The Orlak were just trying to keep them on edge and without rest while they prepared for a mass attack. If the numbers he had seen were correct then they were probably outnumbered twenty to one in men alone. If he did not do something before they attacked it would be all over.

  Del walked over to Alpha and stood in front of him. As usual Alpha did not move or acknowledge his presence.

  "Alpha I need your help," he said begrudgingly.

  "I cannot help you fight. I am peaceful now," he replied pointing a vine like appendage at the device attached to the back of his head.

  "I don't need you to fight Alpha I need you to tell me how to defeat the Orlak."

  "Elder ones control the battles. I am not an elder one."

  "I don't need to know about strategy I need to know what you would be doing right now if you were part of the army that is getting ready to attack us."

  Alpha tilted his head slightly at the statement then turned to Del to look at him directly.

  "You wish for me to help you kill Orlak?" he asked. Del paused for a moment unsure how to answer. He had no idea whether Alpha was shocked, sad or angry or any other possible reaction a normal person would have when requested to betray one's own kind. So he decided that truth was the best course of action.

  "Yes I am. Do you understand why?"

  "I do not."

  "I have to sneak you behind the front lines and find an elder to capture so you can talk to them and end this war. We must kill Orlak so that all Orlak and Vaslusian's can stop fighting."

  "You kill Orlak to save Vaslus," countered Alpha. Del paced back and forth as he debated what to do. If he could not get Alpha behind the lines before the Orlak attacked there would be no chance in parlay once the fighting started. Taking Alpha to the front lines to negotiate was out of the question too. If past experience had taught them anything it was that the Orlak shoot first without hesitation, even at surrendering troops.

  He had no choices left so he finally resolved to break a direct order from the Primariate, punishable by death, and tell Alpha the full extent of what was going to happen if they failed. This was the true test of the device on the back of his head because if Alpha was just playing the submission game this was exactly the type of information that would change the landscape of the war.

  "Yes we kill Orlak to save Vaslusians, but we must also kill Orlak also to save Drrdetala."

  Alpha uprooted his legs and started towards Del as though he was going to attack, but then stopped suddenly. Whether it was Alpha stopping himself or the devices doing it he could not tell, but the end result was that Alpha instead leaned down to look at Del face to face.

  "Vaslus must not attack Drrdetala," there was a tone to his woodwind voice that he had never heard before. He wondered if it was anger or fear.

  "If this mission fails and we cannot make peace then we will not just attack Drrdetala...we will destroy it!"

  "The Vaslus do not possess this power."

  "Who told you that, your eldest ones? I can tell you that we do and unless you want Drrdetala destroyed you need to help me make peace!"

  Alpha stood straight again and was silent for a moment. Del was not sure if he believed him, but it didn't matter Alpha had taken the threat to his home world serious enough even when he thought they may just attack it.

  "I will leave you to think about it Alpha. Fail now and let Drrdetala be destroyed or help me save countless lives and start an era of our two great civilizations working together in peace," said Del as he intentionally started to walk away.

  "To cause the greatest effect you must attack as soon as the day star rises," said Alpha.

  Del stopped and turned around again.

  "Excuse me, but that sounds like just about the stupidest idea I have ever heard and if that's all you've got then Drrdetala is doomed."

  "The Orlak have their greatest energy in the light, but they must remain active during the darkness when in battle because this is when the Vaslus attack us. Orlak are most vulnerable at this time until they have absorbed enough the light to replenish them."

  Del pulled out his pocket holo-projecter again and opened up action reports from past missions and started skimming through them.

  "Son of a stomach plate-less female!" he cursed under his breath. Alpha was right, the Orlak always attacked in the morning, but never directly at sunrise. It was small window of opportunity, but that was all he needed.

  Del tapped at his neck communicator and requested his communications engineer get him a direct link to the Prominence. It took a few moments and when the channel opened it was terribly distorted. The Orlak were doing their best to jam all incoming and outgoing signals.

  "Major I hope you have some good news for me
," said the Rear Admiral, the fatigue and tension in his voice was clear.

  "I wish I did Rear Admiral. Unfortunately this is an emergency call. I expect our positions to be overwhelmed by tomorrow. I have no other choice, but to attack first so am going to need an orbital bombardment that kicks off just before sunrise to shake things up."

  "You plan to attack the Orlak at daybreak, have you lost your mind! Even if I could provide you a bombardment its insane. We have lost over half the task force already in skirmishes just to keep the Orlak from doing the same to you. I cannot risk any more ships. If things get any worse I will be forced to...to take drastic measures. You have to find another way." The Rear Admiral's voice now sounding completely despondent.

  "I don't think you understand the situation sir. This is our only chance to complete our primary mission. If I don't get that bombardment tomorrow on time and accurate I will fail and the mission will fail. You will have no other choice than to engage the Prominence and sterilize the situation!"

  There was a silence broken only by sporadic distorted crackling of the comms channel itself.

  "You will get your bombardment...just don't fail. Too many people have died in this war already."