SIRE.
"Is it time?" she looked up into the darkened sky.
NOT FOR A SHORT WHILE YET SIRE. REPORTING CORRELATION OF INCONSISTENCY AMONGST THE INVADING FORCES. HAVE REPORTED SOME SORT OF ILLNESS.
"An illness?" she asked in alarm, "What sort of illness?"
UNCONFIRMED AS OF YET SIRE. SPECIAL FORCES HAS DETERMINED THAT IT IS BETTER TO WAIT FOR MORE INFORMATION BEFORE ATTAINING ONE OR MORE OF THE REMAINS FOR FURTHER LABORATORY ANALYSIS.
She thought this through for a moment, "Agreed. Though I notice you said remains. Are they dying?" she asked truly alarmed now.
SIRE.
"This could be an outbreak of some sort of ... of trauma they developed after traveling such vast distances. Or maybe it's an outbreak of some disease they brought with them. Have any similar reports been made throughout the Empire?" she worriedly got to her feet and dusted her skirt off.
NONE SIRE. IT SEEMS THAT THIS MALADY IS RESTRICTED TO THE INVADERS AT THE MOMENT. ALL REPORTED CAPTURED ENEMY ARE IN RELATIVE GOOD HEALTH EXCEPT FOR THOSE WHO REFUSED TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS. THERE ARE THE TYPICAL RESULTANT BROKEN APPENDAGES OR INTERNAL INJURIES ATTAINED WHILE QUESTIONING, BUT NONE SHOW SYMPTOMS OF THE ILLNESS.
"I do not like this new illness. It scares me. We have not had any break out of illnesses for ...When was the last time a disease of this magnitude was reported?'
NINE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN YEARS AGO SIRE. SEVEN CITIZENS PERISHED.
"Nine hundred ...? How many of the invaders have died so far?" She had not grasped the number previously mentioned.
OUR TOTAL IS UNCONFIRMED SIRE, THOUGH WHAT IS, COMES TO A TOTAL OF ONE THOUSAND AND NINETY-TWO MEMBERS .
"That many?" she gasped in surprise. "Well it sure cuts down on the overall count we have to kill." She breathed deeply as fear got a foothold on her imagination. "No." she shook her head determinedly. "Get me somebody suitable out here to attain one or more of the dead and if at all possible, a few sick prisoners. Have them start with investigations into this outbreak. Oh. And remind me about those prisoners when this war is over."
SIRE.
"How long before we attack."
"Twenty minutes Sire," a voice at her side made her jump as she peered into the darkness. "You are a quiet man Colonel." She said.
"Part of my makeup Sire. We are ready."
"Are you positive Colonel that we cannot bring our big guns into play? Our armed forces are twiddling their thumbs and screaming to be involved. There is quite a lot of the enemy spread about my world and I frankly cannot keep our forces underground for much longer."
"As I live and breathe Sire." He removed his head covering so she could see his face in the gloom. "I agree completely with Admiral Blair, the moment we show our tanks and mechanized units, they will be destroyed. We have to wait for him to give us the go ahead but I must add Sire, there is some good news. We are bringing some of our heavy guns forward in ones and twos. Nothing much and at a snail's pace I agree, but should we speed things up now, the enemy would lay waste to all our forces. We have not prepared ourselves for a ground-to-space war. It's either up there or down here where it gets dirty. In the future ..."
"In the near future Colonel," she abruptly cut in. "I guarantee military installations with missiles and what have you. In space and on the ground! I will not be caught out like this again. This war would be lost from day one were it not for the Polrobs and the Annular." She watched as he replaced his hood and his head vanished. "We have much to be grateful for Sire. But now, a short distance from us, our own war is about to begin without us. Shall we?"
War Clan William, eager, fearfully chomping at the bit, moved out silently into the night. Hundreds of invisible Special Forces glided wordlessly, effortlessly amongst them. Above, unseen and just as silently, hundreds of Polrobs skimmed towards their unsuspecting targets.
The first to die were the pickets. Meant to keep watch for any un-anticipated event, they nevertheless died in their numbers with un-anticipated regularity until an over-eager warrior woman made the mistake of setting off a perimeter alarm that had sirens blaring their harsh and strident noise for all to hear. The immediate detonation of a claymore mine put an abrupt end to her recriminations as flares shot up into the night sky and illuminated the immediate area with its otherworldly shimmering light.
The fight began. Short bursts of laser fire erupted from every direction. Bodies crumpled. Shouts, screams of wounded and dying. Stunned and disorientated soldiers erupting from their sleeping bags were laid waste from above before they could get a finger onto a trigger. Half destroyed and gutted buildings were entered where long and sharp swords cut the life from confused defenders screaming for help on comm sets suddenly awash with more screams. Tanks jerked to life as crew members piled into them. Switches were flicked and sudden harsh light illuminated the immediate area around each tank that had the defenders as well as their attackers blinking as they hesitated.
Inside the tanks, the crew gaped in astonished awe at the half naked women that had attacked them. The glint of a sword. A rolling head and the killing commenced.
"It's a damned lot of women." shouted the driver of a tank who gunned the tanks electric/H²O 350.5 liter engine.
"What's a damned lot of women?" asked the machine gunner as he checked the load on his weapon. "Rotary locked and loaded... Fuck!" for the first time he noticed that it was only the two of them in the tank. "Here. What happened to Michelson and Pieter's?" he asked. Glaring down at the driver in his seat. The driver turned and looked up. "A bunch of fucking women wearing skirts attacked us with swords man. The whole fucking camp seems to be in the crapola. And don't ask about Michelson and Pieter's ok. They were behind you. Right behind you." he turned back to his visual plate and stared in wonder as he caught a glimpse of a pair of naked thighs as they clambered onto his tank. "Shit."
"Seems we have somebody hitching a ride," the gunner looked up. His eyes following the loud scuffing sounds of the woman . The tank was sealed shut and short of a direct hit by anything larger than a 235mm Howitzer shell, the hitchhiker was plumb outa luck. They did not call these tanks the Corrupters for nothing. "Crap with that. Give me some targets." He jerked a lever and the turrets servo motors whining as its long 155mm barrel swung down from its vertical position. Placing his gunners helmet over his head, the internal situational screen lit up and in its green glow he saw the outlines of buildings and moving figures. The sharp, short bursts of laser fire caught his attention but he could not discern enemy from foe. For that he would have to wait.
The driver having vacated his chair in a rush, darted over to the battle-ops-computer, flipped a switch and waited impatiently for the thing to run through its prelim diagnostics. "Ok. Hang on. This is going to take some doing. Got one. Another. Fuck you. Got you. Here comes three." He said breathlessly as he punched the keyboard. Three targeting crosses depicted themselves on the gunner's situational screen and he immediately jerked the machine guns trigger three times. There was no time for satisfaction on a job well done as more and more thin white crosses appeared. Suddenly the tank rocked on its air cushions and the driver cum plotter was slung to one side. "What the hell was that?" He groaned as he wiped blood from his face. Struggling to get up from where he lay wedged between his seat and the tanks hull, he made it half way when the tank was rocked again. The sound that reverberated through the tank had him clench both hands awkwardly over his ears. It was as if somebody had taken a gigantic sledge hammer to the hull. "Get us out of here," he screamed forgetting for a moment that he was the driver. Something butted his head from behind and he swatted at it only to have it butt his head again. Turning around, he did a double take as his eyes registered the gunners dangling blood drenched arm, his eyes followed it upwards to the slumped body entangled in the safety straps that neither of them had thought to use. With a mind gone numb, he stared at his seat and tried to think of what to do. That thought never had a chance of becoming a reality as his whole world abruptly became a nightmare of sound, flames and shrapnel.
Silent, swiftly moving and invisible death descended on the out-world foe from all directions. Where the enemy regrouped, sudden death erupted in their midst. Where the enemy tried to reorganize their failing flanks, death from above blew holes through their ranks. The enemy had long minutes to realize that the foe they saw – women to the last one – were not the only attackers to fear. It was the invisible ones that brought implacable fear for how could one fight that which one could not see? The wounded, the dead, piled up. Some stood their ground and died heroically. Others called for their mothers or sweethearts or cursed while spraying laser fire in all directions only to join those that had fallen before. Here and there, a single soldier - after seeing many friends being dismembered by screaming half-clad she devils, or floating combat knives sink into pliant flesh – would shove his hands up in the air and stand trembling at the destruction wrought against him and his comrades. Here and there, a harsh commanding voice from above declared that they were encircled and that death would be the only outcome should they continue fighting. Usually a swift and accurate laser shot would convince those diehards hiding in basements or office buildings that life was preferable to sudden death. First one. Then another. Then in groups of two or three, they came out of hiding. Weapons discarded and hands held up high, they stepped forward and either glared their hate at their captors or hung their heads in shame as they were defeated.
A machine gun nest hastily erected on the second floor apartment sent out its deathly message cutting down friend and foe alike. Warrior women and invisible Special Forces keeled over alongside their enemy as laser fire swept the area. Unseen by all, two Polrobs darted forward and unleashed their own brand of death and the whole building burst into flames and rubble as miniature Torpedoes designed for naval warfare punched through walls and exploded. When the dust cleared and settled, a large space where once a whole office block stood, now glared like a missing tooth.
Polrobs darted about taking out defensive positions with accuracy. A bell tower used as a snipers post vanished in a pall of dust and debris.
A warrior woman stared uncomprehendingly at the small egg shaped object that rolled from a slack hand after she turned a corps over. The resultant explosion ripped both living and dead into shreds.
Another warrior woman, enjoying herself tremendously and laying waste to her foe with sword and knife, turned to seek out more enemies and came face to face with a tank barreling out of control in her direction and died as it crushed her soft body against a building wall. The tank suddenly erupted and blew apart as a well-aimed miniature torpedo slammed into its open and forgotten hatch.
Two hours later, after the mopping up had been done and the last foolish sniper had been eliminated, Emperor Katya Berotivich stood off to one side and stared at the gathered prisoners of war. "One hundred and seventy three? Is that all?" she asked in surprise.
SIRE.
"Out of eight hundred? Did we kill so many?"
THAT ASSUMPTION IS INCORRECT SIRE. THERE ARE ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN COMBATANTS IN THE MEDICAL TENTS UNDER QUARANTINE. TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FOUR COMBATANTS WOUNDED AND TWO HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-SEVEN FATALITIES.
"In other words my friend, we caught them napping in more ways than one." She turned to the unmasked and visible Special Forces Colonel that stood silently beside her. "Get me their superiors Colonel. I wish to converse with them immediately." She gazed about and pointed at a huge tree that still stood although its trunk had been split in two by an explosion. One section had come crashing down to destroy a park bench and lamp pole but nothing much else. The other half, raw, splintered and leaking sap would still provide some shade when the sun had reached its zenith. "Can somebody arrange seating and some sort of lighting for us?" she asked as she watched a duck in the semidarkness waddling towards a water filled bomb crater.
"I will see to it Sire," he said whispering into a miniature comm unit stuck into his uniform collar.
"Guardian?"
SIRE.
"I have a feeling that a show of force may be required. Can you ...?"
Minutes later, two soldiers with stars and Laurel wreaths on their breast pockets were led towards the waiting chairs where a Signals unit was jury rigging a string of globes attached to electrical cabling that led off a small distance to a field generator.
"Sire?" the Colonel said as he stepped closer to her, his cloaking shield deactivated. "We seem to have fortune on our side." He indicated towards the two men that stood undecided at the chairs. "The small chap is Major General Piet Labuschagne while the black gentleman is Lieutenant Colonel Zulu Mntuli." He chuckled softly. "Quite a catch if I may say so. Our intelligence chappies will be itching to get hold of these two."
"They can stand in line Colonel. Me first." She turned and stepped towards the two Officers with the Colonel a few meters behind her. "Gentlemen?" she held out her hand and they automatically stepped forward and shook hers. The surprised and astonished looks on their faces notwithstanding, they introduced themselves. "My name is Katya Berotivich and this gentleman behind me is Colonel Hadim. Please. Be seated. We have much to discuss."
"Please pardon me madam." The General said, removing his cap. "But who are you that an Officer in the armed forces would follow your orders?" He glanced at the silent soldier beside her for emphases. "I am only asking, madam. I am not too familiar with your culture." He finished lamely.
Katya grinned at him as she seated herself. An early morning breeze brought goose bumps to her exposed skin. "You can rightfully be excused sir. I am the Emperor." She finished. Cocking her head to one side, she watched them intently for their reaction.
"Emperor? You? But you're a wisp of a girl. Why my daughter would be your age right now." stated the General.
Katya held out a warning hand to Colonel Hadim as he stepped forward to admonish the prisoner. "At ease Colonel." She glanced at him. "We can but only forgive these small misunderstandings." She turned to the General. "Do not be mistaken sir. I am the Emperor. I govern all twenty-nine of the planets that make up the Galactic Empire. I govern by right of arms. My word is law." She kept silent for a few seconds to allow her words to sink in. "You have entered my domain bent on conquest. Have captured, killed and tortured some of my people. I take umbrage General. I resent your being here. But ... that to one side, you have brought with you an enemy that cannot be killed with weapons of destruction. You have brought with you an enemy that must be stopped and stopped right now before it infects my Empire."
"The malady infecting my men? Is that what you are ... we thought it was some sort of germ warfare."
"We may be backward by your terms General. But we are not into genocide and never will be." She answered. "I would like you to instruct your men to be compliant with my medical staff. This malady as you call it must be stopped before it goes further."
"Agreed madam. I will pass the word along. Now what about food, shelter and ...?"
Katya's laughter echoed through the morning light. "In due course General. First things first. My people will provide the necessary. Liaise with Colonel Hadim here, and we will make your stay as comfortable as possible."
"You do realize madam that as prisoners of war, we are honor bound to try to escape?"
"Escape General?" she laughed once more. "Where too?" she lifted a hand and pointed off into the morning gloom, "Out there? And then what? Try to make contact with your forces and take the sickness to them? Then again, they may already be infected. Will that not be defeating the whole purpose of this meeting sir? You are all under quarantine sir. Even myself. None that are here will be allowed to wander off for any reason. Death will be the outcome of any endeavor of that nature I assure you." She glanced upwards, "Guardian? Pass the word. None to leave. Get every exit and bolt hole covered. Neither prisoner nor any of our own will have permission to leave this city under any circumstances. Not while this malady is still with us."
SIRE. INSTRUCTIONS SENT. MEASURES NOW BEING CARRIED OUT.
The two Officers stared upwards in alarm and tried to see who she was talking to. Katya ignored their astonishment as an idea came to the fore. She bent down and picked up a small pebble the size of a pea. "Just to make sure you understand exactly what will happen General, should one of your people decide to wander off." She gave him the small pebble, "Hold it between thumb and forefinger please. Now hold it away from your body. Yes. That is perfect. Guardian. Show our guests how precise your aim is."
Before the General could think of jerking his hand away, a short burst of laser fire disintegrated the pebble. The man jerked his hand away with a yelp of surprise. Glanced at his slightly scorched fingers and stuck them in his mouth.
"That General was but a small example. Now see what you and your men have to contend with... Polrobs... Be visible."
The wind was knocked out of the two Officers as countless Polrobs became visible above their heads. The morning sun's rays glanced off carapaces that drifted backwards and forwards in the slight breeze. Both men turned about and stared open mouthed at hundreds upon hundreds of flying miniature saucers. "We could have killed every one of you General, with a simple order." Katya said softly as the two men brought their attention back to her. "But out of deference to my own forces, I decided to offer you mercy. You are after all only following orders from those higher up the chain."
"You could have saved many of your own forces lives Madam Emperor." The up to now silent Lieutenant Colonel said.
"I could have sir," Katya said with a grin, "But then I would have had some angry soldiers who would never have forgiven me. But for now General," she stood up and they followed hastily. "Our first of many discussions is over. I thank you for your time." Without another word Colonel Hadim escorted the two Officers away and returned shortly after.
"I believe they in turn believed everything Sire." He said as he stood beside her and watched two ducks swimming in the shell crater.
"They had no reason to doubt my words Colonel. Sometimes what one sees is not always what one should believe. Now to business. I have been notified that the enemy has attacked three more cities. Ohara, Campdon and Midas. All with relative success. Loss of life has been minimal but the damage like here is phenomenal. What are we going to do about them?"
"That Sire, I believe is up to Admiral Blair. I believe he may be correct in the assumption that from here on out the enemy will have eyes on any movement to or from this city. We stay put. They cannot fire on us for fear of their own people. But that's not to say they will not lay waste to any force moving towards those three other cities. As soon as word is received from him, we call up our own forces and attack those three cities and get them back into the fold. In fact, it is possible that their ground forces may regroup and attack us here to reclaim this city."
"Exactly my thoughts Colonel. Let's take some precautions shall we?"
Z''