Book 2: Chapter 37: Dedia IV

Book 2: Chapter 37: Dedia IV

USD: Three days since system entry

Location: Dedia IV Orbit, Space Elevator Rendezvous, Tears of Fire, CIC

A necklace of ships floated in geostationary orbit behind the space elevator, following it in the constant dance that saw them circle the planet. The massive tether was tens of thousands of kilometers long. It reached the surface and stretched out well past where the ships had gathered at the equilibrium point.

A massive counterweight could be spotted anchored at the end if one used a telescope. However, the main activity occurred closer to the midpoint where gravity and centrifugal force pulled equally resulting in a net zero force.

The orbital was smaller than Ackman Station, but still possessed the same type of mooring arms that Alex had encountered before. Except they had all been cleared of civilian traffic and the entire station crew had been drafted towards the effort of unloading the Tears cargo.

The newly converted combat/construction drones had immediately set to work before the mooring was even completed, detaching the massive hangar trays that had been secured to the inside of the ships outer hull. A station tug then took charge of the cargo from the drones, floating the trays across the gulf and toward a section of the station that had been opened to vacuum to fit the massive pallet.

The crew would then reseal the stations arm, and an army of workers descended on the supplies to sort them out. Weapons and other things would go to the stations single I-field hangar where a half dozen large atmospheric shuttles waited to ferry the cargo to various points below on the surface. The rest went to the large ring in the center of the orbital which would detach and bring the cargo to the anchor point far below.

The anchor point on the surface was mobile, currently floating in a large bay that the capital of Dedia Prime surrounded. The city was the single largest inhabitation on the planet, housing over 99% of the entire human population behind its walls.

Those walls towered over the surrounding countryside like massive cliffs in a display that had surprised and awed Alex as she zoomed in the optical cameras on them. They were thick as well, wide enough that she could have considered landing the Tears on one longwise in a straight section.

The fact that the newly arrived colonists had been landed outside those protective fortifications had been done on purpose.

Captain Walkers excuse was that the colony had been planning an expansion and that the drop had been to speed up development of the planet. It was doubtful there was a single person on the planet that would have believed it, even if they had been die-hard Solarian loyalists. Which they were not.

Alex panned her camera view from Dedia Prime towards the current front line. Air support flew sorties from the main starport within the city's walls. The action was active over a hundred kilometers of front line, anchored between two large plateaus that the colonists had set up defensive artillery bases on. So far those anchors had held up well enough to provide indirect fire to the beleaguered line of infantry and armor that nestled between them.

And indirect fire and air support they needed in droves, as the horrifying sight of thousands of the Rexxor creatures stampeded toward their lines in uneven intervals that could last several hours to days.

Worse, the timing seemed to be accelerating as the creatures seemed to be tunneling underground in an attempt to breach the defensive line.

The entire countryside had been decimated, a massive corridor of death that the humans had enacted in their retreat from the colonists landing zone. There were still long columns of refugees that had survived being husbanded by motorized infantry from the front line to the city, but skirmishes erupted constantly slowing the movement down to a crawl as heavier and heavier patrols were required to get the civilians to safety.

To Alex, it looked like the Rexxors were encircling the army, preparing to wipe it out en masse. No matter that the Governor had told her they had no intelligence, she could see the design. Even if it wasnt sapience, they were still pursuing a strategy that was slowly strangling the human force to death.

Alexs console chimed with Eliss voice.

Elis-to-Alex, anyone home in there? Ive dropped off the first shuttle load of arms and am enroute to pick up the next. Do we have it ready, yet?

Alex checked her display of their cargo hold. They had sorted out the highest priority supplies to be brought directly to the Dedia Prime Armys forward bases, to be delivered as soon as they arrived. Sending Elis alone down so close to the fighting worried Alex, especially since she was stuck in orbit on the Tears.

Yes, it is ready to go. Ill recall a half dozen drones to help you load it up.

Roger. Thanks for that, its a bit much for a lone girl, even in power armor.

Just be careful. Ive been reviewing the footage and it looks terrible. You cant really understand it until you see it. The Rexxor are like a wave of ants, except they are the size of tanks. The little ones are sneaking past and gnawing at the backlines.

Yeah, the people I saw didnt look very good. Been active too long and need some downtime.

Theyve been doing this for almost two weeks I think.

Ill be there in thirty minutes, hold the door open for me.

Okay, Ill see you then.

Alex killed the connection and went back to studying the surface video feed, this time selecting several faraway settlements that were closest to the action. They had all been decimated or destroyed.

Nameless, highlight the settlements that we can visually confirm havent been wrecked and likely have survivors.

[Affirmative: Adjusting map overlay now.]

The map switched from a visual terrain relief to a flat colored one, with colored circles indicating the positions. They were arrayed by color for how close they were to the hive the Rexxor were coming from, while size denoted their populations.

The Governor raised an eyebrow at her comment, and Alex felt herself straighten slightly.

Shit, she was falling out of her Captain persona.

Sorry, Governor. It just seems that focus seems to be problematic now that there are settlements outside the capital.

Governor Tyler nodded, Indeed. I regret allowing those to begin to sprout up, but the people can be very independent. I had hoped that they would be able to manage, and for the most part, they have. Each settlement is generally fortified by a wall and its own security force.

He reached up to turn a swivel monitor on his desk so she could see the display. A zoomed in view of the capital region appeared, with military markings denoting secure positions, fortifications and settlements. Various red lines showed the axis of advance that the Rexxor had made, and several settlements had been crossed out. Wiped out, Alex assumed, by their proximity to the massive red circle that denoted the active hive.

Fortunately, only the nearest hive seems to have been agitated in this manner, and while there has been an increase in overall Rexxor activity across the continent, it hasnt boiled over to wipe out the outer settlements other than those nearest the hive.

He reached up to circle several settlements in turquoise, and then one just south of the active hive in green.

These settlements need priority evacuation. I have already tasked our shuttle crews and available orbital personnel to see to them. This green settlement is called Tifaria. Consider it your first mission. Its one of the largest settlements outside the capital, and closest to the Rexxor hive. Population is approximately 14,000 people.

Alex frowned, We have two shuttles, Governor. Thats fifty-five sorties, at two hours each, and I do not have an excess of personnel.

I understand. We arent expecting you to evacuate the place in four days at maximum pace. I would like your first sortie to be aimed at arming the militia there with weapons that you have brought us to help increase the security of their perimeter. Tifaria has a more respectable fortification than most settlements and Rexxor attacks should be light. With 1,500 to 2,000 militiamen to provide protection it should be possible to evacuate everyone safely.

Alex nodded, Very well, I think we can handle it.

Governor Tyler nodded, then picked up his data pad and began to input some numbers. Alexs HUD chimed with a positive sounding beep.

|Payment Received to Account|

|+195,000,000 SE|

|Total Balance: 203,813,877 SE|

Your first weeks pay and mission bonus. I believe you have something for me from MilTech Arms, as well?

Alex nodded, pulling out her data pad and swapping the screen to the MilTech Arms invoice before handing it to him.

He read it over, then signed the bottom with a digital pen, sending the numbers on her account careening ever higher.

|MilTech Arms Starlight Revolution Contract|

|High Priority Courier Mission|

|Destination Authorization|

|Governor Tyler Johnson: Confirmed|

|Calculating Payment Time Stepped|

|+428,183,432 SE|

|Total Balance: 631,997,309 SE|

You made it here in an astoundingly quick time, Captain. Mr. Hammok has certainly been generous with his stipend as well.

Alex looked at the amount and felt a tittering excitement. Starlight Revolution had more than enough seed money now to setup operations without having to drag things along.

I dont think he expected us to make it so fast. I did have our ships engineer redline the Linear Drive the whole way.

Governor Tyler nodded, Lets talk specifics about Tifara.

Alex nodded and settled in to discuss the scope of the mission.