Gall Force Fan Fiction ❯ The Day After ❯ Allies ( Chapter 11 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Frederick_Herrio 
Anime/Manga: Gall Force Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Romance / Sci-fi | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 09.02.2004 | Pages: 5 | Words: 6.2K | Visits: 644 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Gall Force Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Romance / Sci-fi | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 09.02.2004 | Pages: 5 | Words: 6.2K | Visits: 644 | Status: Completed
Gall Force: The Day After
By Fred Herriot
450 Clare Avenue South, Welland, Ontario L3C 3B3 Canada
gorgo@timebomb.on.ca
**** **** ****
Based on the "Gall Force" series created by MOVIC.
**** **** ****
PART ELEVEN - ALLIES
"The Paranoid are here?!!" Lufy exclaims.
Everyone stares in disbelief at Patty as they convene in the living room. Patty held off on telling people about her encounter with Commander Dawn until her new friend Darlene, now under Amy's care in the nurse's station, was treated for her addiction. "Yes," the combat officer nods. "One battleship."
"Well, if Commander Dawn is its captain, then we've got all the help we could ask for," Shildy muses.
"I take it this chap is respected among your people," Chet muses. "Sort of like the way we used to admire General Rommell."
"Very much so," the Solnoid intelligence officer nods. "Along with his work with Project: Exodermus, he commanded several fleet actions prior to the destruction of our homeworlds. Further, he spoke against the commissioning of the Planet Destroyers. To those of us who long wished for peace, Dawn is a name worthy of respect."
"The beginning of the day," Derek muses. "And now, the beginning of final peace between Solnoid and Paranoid."
"We're making a lot of assumptions here, guys," Lufy warns.
"Yes, but we need to have faith," Eluza counters, then turns to Catty. "Signal your sisters. Appraise them of the situation. I'm sure Captain Nebulart will want to know about this."
"Immediately," the android heads to the computer room. Sitting at her terminal, she calls up the Cancom program. A message awaits her. "Perhaps they already know," she muses as she calls up the message.
Denise walks in at that time. "Hey, Catty, how's our new...eh?!" the waitress stops.
In front of Catty's eyes, the computer screen flashes a mad mosaic of colours. Denise looks confused, but the hypnotized stare on Catty's face told her everything. Leaping over, she shuts off the computer screen, then turns around to shake her lover. "Catty! Catty!! Wake up! Catty!!!"
The android shakes herself, then blankly stares at Denise. "Wh-what happened?" she moans.
"You were hypnotized," Denise gasps. "Are you alright?!"
Catty shakes her head, then horror crosses her face. "That was a visual computer virus someone sent me!"
"What?!!"
Catty resets the computer, erasing the data still ready for projection, then reboots the machine. "Someone attempted to hypnotize me into shutting myself down, then fusing my circuits in self-destruct!" she gasps, the horror of what nearly happened now coming to light. "Someone tried to kill me, Denise!!"
"What was that?!!" Shildy gasps as everyone runs into the computer room, reacting to Denise's earlier scream.
Denise explains what happened. Steve takes the seat as he calls up Catty's e-mail. "According to this, the message was sent by someone at Solnoid.Home2@Worldcom.com," the computer science student looks at the android. "And you weren't the only addressee, Catty. There are eighty-six other places this is going to."
"Eighty-seven living Catty androids," Rabby gasps, the horror of what is probably happening around the world coming to her.
"No!!!" Catty grips her head. "This can't be happening!!"
"Where is that place?!" Lufy growls.
The android tearily stares at the Attacker. "It's a remote base in the South Pacific, in French Polynesia near Tahiti. It's a research base for the Chaos Foundation...as well as a storage depot for Solnoid weapons and equipment."
Eluza looks grim. "The perfect place to start seizing control of Earth. Now there's the perfect excuse. The Paranoid are here!"
"There's another message coming in from Solnoid.Home2," Steve warns.
"Catty, step outside," Shildy advises as Steve calls up the message.
The message, in plain text, appears. "'To all loyal daughters of Malthus. Arise! The time has come for us to reclaim our place in the stars. Our leader, Journey, who because of her people's love for her, survived the shame of Sigma Narse, has returned to lead us to a new destiny. The mechanical watchdogs of the traitor Nebulart are dead. The slaves of the Terrans are powerless. Rise and reclaim your birthright. This world is ours, but a new Malthus awaits us if we but take the chance. The time has come!'"
"Shades of Hitler rising from the grave," Derek grimly sighs.
"Journey's alive?!" Patty gasps.
"Good!" Miti snarls. "I'll kill the slut yet!!"
Eluza turns to look at her people. "Are we ready?!"
The Solnoids and Terrans nod. "Just a sec'," Lufy walks to the computer screen. Calling up the reply option, she taps a message, then transmits it. "There! War's been declared!"
"What did you say?!" Rabby looks confused, then turns to the screen. Everyone looks as they read the message:
From: CNebulart8@Cancom.com
To: Solnoid.Home2@Worldcom.com
"John McCrae wrote in his poem 'Take up the quarrel with the foe.'
Our foe is YOU!
Your ass is grass and we're the lawnmowers.
The Gallant Force."
A devilish glare on her face, the Attacker nods outside. "I'm in the mood to hunt! Let's go!!"
The others cheer...
* * *
"Mr. Secretary-General, how could you have permitted this matter to go unobstructed for so long?!" the President of the United States demands from the Oval Office in Washington.
Likewise demands echo from the prime ministers of Russia and Great Britain, the president of France and the premier of China. "The situation is not as bad as it seems, honoured gentlemen," the leader of the United Nations replies. "The rebellious Solnoids have acquired a leader. But they are small in number and are contained. Further, the Paranoid commander is most decidedly on our side. And we have a force now preparing to deploy to French Polynesia to dispose of these miscreants. The matter will be resolved in a day."
"Forgive us if we do not share such optimism, sir," the British prime minister adjusts his glasses. "The technological distance between ourselves and Captain Nebulart's rebellious fellow countrywomen is appalling. Further, may I remind you that there is no love lost between Solnoid and Paranoid."
"You are correct, Mr. Prime Minister," Catty Nebulart sighs. "But, there is something you don' know of the Paranoid. Commander Dawn is not only Commander Galt's former adjutant, he is Commander Galt's offspring. For a Paranoid to be willing to allow his only child to proceed into hostile territory on something which did not have the absolute guarantee of success is an extraordinary act on its own. Commander Dawn and his men are volunteers, gentlemen. They cannot go back to their own people."
"Then they have nothing to lose," the French president sighs. "Forgive us, Captain. We are not used to losing control of any sort of situation. It is quite...galling."
"As it is for myself, M'sieur President," the Solnoid leader nods.
"This...Gallant Force of yours," the Russian prime minister cuts in. "They are heroes of your people, yes?"
"Da," Nebulart nods. "If you wish, gentlemen, I have prepared dossiers on each for your perusal. We may transmit them to yourselves and the other world leaders as we speak."
"We'd like to see them," the American president nods. "In the meantime, we have taken the liberty of dispatching a B-2 bomber to this base. It is armed with four fifty kiloton nuclear warheads. If your troops fail, Captain, we shall do as we see fit."
Nebulart nods as communications are severed with the leaders of the world's five nuclear powers. "Insanity," she mutters, then looks over. "How is she, Scarlet?"
The veteran soldier looks up, shaking her head. "She's in a bad way, boss. Her control circuits are fused and there's no way we can get at her neuroprocessors. Her mind's intact, but there's no way to get it out."
Nebulart stares at the redhaired woman now passed out on the floor, her circuit hatches on the chest and arms open, revealing a mess no mechanic would want to take a chance at fixing. Kneeling beside her, the captain closes the blank gold eyes which are the only hint that this android was once one of her many doubles. "Mother, take care of them," she claps her hands in prayer. "They are as much my children as if I had birthed them myself. Treat them with kindness."
A signal arrives. "Captain," a male technician looks over. "It's Commander Dawn. He wants to know what is happening."
Nebulart does not move. Scarlet stands, then walks over. "I'll take the message," she smiles.
The technician looks confused. "But...they were only androids."
Scarlet pats his shoulder. "You had to know them, kid. They were a lot more than that."
* * *
"Commander, what has happened?" Dawn demands. "Where is Captain Nebulart?"
"She's mourning right now, Commander," Scarlet looks down. "The bastards in Polynesia sent a virus that fried the circuits of all the Catty droids we had left. It hit her pretty hard. They're her kids, y'know."
Dawn's eyes close. His father, three million years ago and parsecs away, was probably feeling the same sorrow as the Solnoid commander. "I do understand, Commander. Tell the captain not to fret. We have something which may help if their neuroprocessors are not damaged. In the meantime, who has taken command of the rebel forces in Polynesia?"
"Supposedly Journey," Scarlet snorts. "Must be some whacko out to stir up the troops. This planet can really produce them."
"Indeed," the Paranoid's eyes narrow. "Then this new Journey shall meet the same fate as the original." He looks to his acting first officer. "Cal, what is the Gallant Force's status?"
"Sir, they have launched from Lunenburg, heading south-west towards the target zone," Cal looks to his board. "Sensors indicate four Bronz-Xs, six Dies Angels, two Homing Bats, two Jet Blowguns and a Flying Squirrel. A Canadian Forces transport from the Greenwood base is deploying with a Front Rover and a Breeze-II. Sensors also indicate a strike aircraft launching from the United States. Configuration and radiation indicate it may be the bomber the American president had seconded to the attack."
Dawn nods. "Set ship to automatic circuits. Prepare all modified drones for launch."
"Yes, sir," the officer begins programming controls. He then looks up from the screen. "Sir, a warpsled is approaching the ship. The pilot requests permission to land."
"A warpsled?!! Who?!"
"He identifies himself as Pak of the Fifth Reconnaissance Phalanx," Cal reports. "He was separated from his unit during Sigma Narse and noticing what we were doing, volunteered himself to assist us. Orders, sir?"
Dawn's eyes narrow. "Grant him permission to land. We will need the warpsled. The engines will probably be burnt out, but the transport itself will be useful. Ensure that which we salvaged from Malthus is loaded aboard."
"The gestation chambers? Of course, sir. I shall also prepare your warpsled."
"Thank you, Cal. You are dismissed. Prepare yourself."
"Sir," the officer nods, then proceeds off the bridge.
Dawn sighs. If he was human, he would smile. His personal dream was about to come true. Securing himself from his station, he proceeds into his private chambers, which were altered long before Sigma Narse made these series of events possible. "Catty," he quietly intones.
In the middle of the room is what used to be the endoskeleton of an android. Only the head and upper torso remain, mated to Paranoid computer equipment. There is nothing left which could indicate this was once a Catty android...save the Solnoid number 3534 on a breastplate. A speaker box echoes with a female voice. "Are we here? Terra?"
"Yes," the Paranoid answers. "The ship will not last when we open fire. The others are preparing themselves."
"You should prepare yourself, Dawn."
"I know," Dawn nods. "Sever yourself from the controls, my love. It is time we both departed."
"Wait," the voice chokes. "My sisters...is Scarlet right...?"
"It matters not. We can still save them."
"Yes...we can save them."
Dawn reaches up, then presses an access plate. The cranium opens, allowing the mass of neuroprocessors which served as Catty's mind to break free. Gently lifting the brain from the skull, the Paranoid secures it in his own armour, then leaves the room...
* * *
The Gall Force soars through the skies as they cross the equator, homing on Tahiti. Fifteen fighters: nine Solnoid, six Terran. Amy was riding with the other Terrans in the Canadian Forces Hercules lifting the ground transport and the tank to the scene. In the Flying Squirrel acting as force command, Eluza grits her teeth. There had been so little time to properly prepare her team. However, if Journey was really alive, the rebels would be disorientated, unsure if she was really their Leader. Further, they had been here up to fifteen years. Eluza had no idea how fresh they were. If this was recent, they would be as raw as some of the attackers. Further, life on Earth had to have slowed them. The "Starleaf's" crew were fresh. They stood a chance.
The first Jet Blowgun was Patty's. Darlene, once detoxed and given an appraisal of who the Solnoids were, rode in the Hercules, ready with Denise to help Amy. The woman had surprised her. She wanted to go to university to get her bachelor's degree, probably in English. Out of a sheer act of insanity...or the first sign of friendship...Patty had volunteered to go with her. But this had came. Ahead of her were the people who had taken her from her son and Rumy, dear friend as well as daughter-in-law. Patty intones a silent prayer. Rumy, wherever you are, fly with us today.
The second Blowgun was Spea, licking her lips in anticipation. Journey was ahead, perhaps a clone or an AI double. No matter what, the murderer responsible for the destruction of the Lorelei Fleet was still alive. My friends are dead because of you, butcher! Spea growls to herself. Now I'll have their revenge!
The first Homing Bat was Akira. The Japanese wore a headband of a thousand names, a memento of his grandfather, a kamikaze pilot killed off Okinawa in 1945. How would the warriors of the Divine Wind have looked at this? His girlfriend was in one of the Bronzs. This was just like an old samurai epic; a family fighting against bandits. Only this time, the bandits had laser guns and there was no ground, just the sea.
The second Homing Bat was Chet. While he was trained on the Bronz and the Dies Angel, he had taken to the attacker like an RAF pilot would a Spitfire. He forgot if any of his relatives had fought the Germans. What would the "so few" Churchill spoken so eloquently about think of him, a second-year engineer student who never once served in any of Her Majesty's armed forces, flying with aliens and foreigners against other aliens? Bloody rot, they would say, then probably wish him luck and clear skies.
The first Angel was Oskar. He wanted the struggle suit since it was a lot easier to disembark from than a Bronz. He hoped Mossad were keeping an eye on things back home. There were many Solnoids in the Holy Land, both among Israelis and Palestinians. Trouble could flare among them, no doubt inspired by the infighting between their Terran neighbours. He also hoped that if he and Eluza survived, he would get the chance to bring her to Israel, to see the Wailing Wall, the ruins of Jericho and Masada. Now, would his parents mind the idea of him marrying an alien gentile?
The second Angel was Len's machine. He was about to get into the biggest street scrap in history. That was what all this was about. Two gangs trying to take control of the same turf. Except the turf was Earth and the gangs were alien women, plus a few locals like himself. He had been in the gangs. He wondered where the old crowd was. Probably fighting another gang for a smaller piece of turf. Glad I ain't in that mess anymore, he sighs.
The third Angel was Miti. She intones a Sensualist prayer for peace, while tensing her body for the coming bloodshed. And now, cosmic joke of all, she was about to shed the blood of fellow Solnoids. She sees Spea. There were those here who sought revenge this day. She just sought an end to this madness so she could put her own mind at peace. Maybe the teacher back at Lunenburg Secondary was right. It was time for some guidance counselling.
Fourth Angel belonged to Mal. She had volunteered to come out when Eluza ordered Amy to come with the medical team. She did not have to like it. Fighting was not her game; she left that to the experts like Miti and Lufy.
Fifth Angel was Catty. Trying to calm herself, to control the hot rage she felt at the loss of her sisters, was difficult. And why shouldn't she be angry?! People had callously killed her sisters all because they had tried to keep the peace! Closing her eyes, she deletes the failsafe her mother had put in her mind which prevented her from killing her own people. A light smile crosses her face. It may not be right but it was just.
Sixth Angel was Maurice. He wondered if it was not too late for him to join the French Foreign Legion...then remembered that only non-Frenchmen could join. We could use the legionnaires right now, he muses to himself...plus about fifty atomic bombs.
First Bronz was Lufy. She licked her lips in anticipation of busting skulls, the skulls of those who deserved a good lobotomy or three...and she was just the surgeon for the job at hand.
Second Bronz was Rabby. There were probably Central Guard up ahead, not to mention the lunatics who commissioned the Planet Destroyers which had nearly butchered the Solnoid race. Finally, peace was at hand. Just one more fight and she could finally relax. Now, if only Journey would be party to the idea. Doubtful.
Third Bronz was Shildy. She had painted DAMIA in Solnoid on the carapace of the bouncer, letting it be known to all around her that she was the one who had wrecked it. Let's see how Journey likes that! she smiles.
Fourth Bronz was Derek. Now, he could act a little clumsy since people in the way would be out to kill him. This was not the least bit funny! he sighs, shaking his head. He wanted a quiet life with Lufy...and now he had to kill people to get it?! Not funny at all!
"I say, chaps, shall we have a pool?" Chet calls out.
"Pool?!" Rabby looks confused. "We're not playing billiards!"
"A betting pool, he means," Len interrupts. "We throw in money, and the first one who spots the bandits gets the pot."
"Hey, sounds fair," Oskar nods. "Ten bucks."
"I'm in," chorus from everyone else save Eluza and Derek.
"Why don't we think of trying to survive this mess?" the Canadian sighs.
"Do you have an idea?" Eluza inquires.
"I was just thinking of the Battle of Vimy Ridge," Derek clicks his teeth. "How we used artillery to rip up the ground around the German trenches before we went over the top."
"Hate to disappoint you, old sport, but we're not carrying much in the way of artillery with us," Chet warns.
Eluza considers the matter. Yes they did have artillery...and it was in orbit! Thumbing a communications button, she calls, "Starleaf to Captain Nebulart. Starleaf to Captain Nebulart. Respond, please."
"Go, Starleaf," Scarlet's voice calls back.
"Is Commander Dawn's ship in the area?"
"It's right atop the target at six hundred kilometres," the veteran warrior responds.
Eluza smiles. Simple Solnoid strategy for ridding themselves of a ground base; let a ship do it. "Tell Commander Dawn he's to open fire as soon as we're in close battle range of the target zone, Scarlet."
"He's ready to slave his ship to your command, Eluza. His crew are preparing to man drones and come down to help out."
That was a switch! "Roger. Give me control."
The Squirrel's controls falter as they take control of the Paranoid battleship. Eluza gapes at the statistics of the capital vessel whose type she had fought time and time again. She would have given her eye teeth for this information back during the war. Strange times, she sighs. Stranger allies. Couldn't complain now. She poises her hands over the trigger. Not just yet...
* * *
"Have they all gone through?" Dawn inquires of the fleet of Paranoid drones now in front of him.
Tek's voice answers from one. "All save the reconnaissance pilot. The warpsled is loaded with the equipment you requested, as well as the body of the one Solnoid we recovered from the carrier's wreckage."
"Send it to New York at once," Dawn orders. "Deploy and prepare for battle. It will be time, soon."
"Yes, sir."
Dawn walks into the genetic converter room. Already there were a pile of empty exoskeletons, no longer needed. One of the converters was at work. The reconnaissance pilot, Pak. Dawn takes Catty's brain and sets it aside, then removes his robes. He steps into the chamber. <<Good luck>>, Catty's voice echoes in his mind.
The chamber fills with boiling liquid, submerging Dawn's exoskeleton well past his head. The liquid was the same body-temperature fluid Solnoids used in creating new members of their race. Dawn feels himself flow out of the exoskeleton for the last time as the fluid is drained, pouring into the gestation tank, a double of hundreds used on Malthus millennia ago.
Dawn feels himself form into a solid shape as his sentience enters a dream-like state. He had conceived of this idea years ago as a possible course the Species Unification Project could take. It had been partially used to create Patty's son. Simply put, the gestation fluid was fitted with a DNA-recombinator, which broke down the Paranoid DNA and rewrote it to a Solnoid-type format, albeit with one difference: the XX-gender chromosome was changed to XY-format.
The Paranoid had always known the Solnoid had once been a two-gender race, much like most animal races on Earth. But as the war progressed, the male Solnoids had perished...but to the consternation of the Paranoid, the female Solnoids fought on, more vicious than ever. It was as if they had critically wounded a beast, but it still lashed out, driven mad with pain.
The organizers of Project: Exodermus, his father and himself among them, had been driven by two possibilities to launch the Species Unification Project. One, the presence of a third, Solnoid-type solid race would shock the Solnoids into remembering what they once were, allowing reason to take over and peace to come. Two, the third race would, if the Solnoids did not stop fighting, team with the Paranoid to suppress the Solnoids and force peace to come. Neither case had worked out; the third race would, Dawn discovered, simply merge with the sentient race evolving on Earth. Hence, Galt's decision to send the Solnoid survivors three million years ahead in time to encounter an Earth ready to take them...and control them should they once again become troublesome.
Dawn opens his eyes, feeling the powerful energy of human arms and legs. Was this what being solid was like? How wonderful! How fascinating...and how frightening! It was no wonder his race had feared the Solnoids! The differences between the allasomorphic Paranoid and the nonmorphic Solnoids was insane. And now he was becoming a Solnoid. What would his father say?
"Dawn..." a voice calls out.
He looks up to see a nude Solnoid woman staring at him. Catty. One of the ten thousand android watchers Catty Nebulart had unleashed to ensure the Species Unification Project would succeed. She had been assigned to the first "Starleaf," had sacrificed herself to ensure that Patty and her unborn child would live to see a free day. He had found what was left of her when his ship had stumbled onto the wreckage drifting near Saturn. Her body was beyond hope of repair; she had used it as a living conduit to ensure the carrier's escape pod would launch. But her mind was intact. He had mated her with Paranoid electronics, given her a sense of reality. In doing so, he created ways that they could cyberlink, join minds so they could share each other's thoughts.
And in doing so, they had discovered the universal emotion called love. He, an allasomorph would could not imagine what being in one shape for more than several minutes was like, had come to love her, a mechanical construct who knew nothing of shape-changing, of the contortions a Paranoid could perform on himself. By cyberlinking, both discovered each other's hopes and dreams. Dawn had learned that all the Catty androids wished one day to be organic, to live like their fellow Solnoids. Catty had learned that Dawn had, like most Paranoid, never felt real malice towards her mother's people. The Paranoid had, once they had overcome their initial shock, strove to try to force their enemies to see reason, to give peace a chance. Nor did Dawn see the ordinary Solnoid as being at fault. It was their leaders who had been the aggressors, forcing thousands on both sides to their deaths.
Even Born had seen that. The Paranoid Leader would never had accepted the presence of Planet Destroyers had not Journey brought them out first. They had been such a waste. That had been proven when DAMIA had been used in the second battle over Earth. Born had confessed to Galt and Dawn later that he now had to contemplate a crime he never wanted to have on his conscience: the slaughter of a race. Dawn wondered if Born had been awed by Catty Nebulart's act on Embryo. Perhaps he had been. A pity he will never know.
"Hush, Dawn," Catty shushes him. "Let's think of ourselves for a change."
He smiles. They were clothed, he in his robes as a Paranoid commander, she in her grey jumpsuit. They walk through a menagerie of images, of both homeworlds now lost. Soon, they would leave this dreamland and walk on another world's surface. They embraced, their clothes shedding away. Catty backs off, then produces a mirror. Dawn looks at himself. Catty had drawn up his DNA specs, literally making him a male version of her mother. Of course, she would still look like herself...or would she choose to change? Did she want to experiment when it came time for her new body to be created? It did not matter. To him, she would always be Catty.
They embrace, her back to his. "It's time," she shakes her head. "I'll miss this."
"Reality is much sweeter," he kisses her forehead.
She looks at him. "Yes. Soon, we'll both feel air in our lungs, our hearts pound, the pain of hunger in our stomachs and the pleasure of our love driving us to mate."
"We?!" he looks surprised.
Catty winks at him. "Can't I keep some surprises from you?"
Her giggle echoes as his mind succumbs to unconsciousness...
* * *
Dawn's eyes open. He shakes his head, feeling the cooling genetic fluid drip off his body. It was cold. He had never felt the change of temperature before. He looks down, stunned to see solid hands in front of his eyes. Why could he not shift himself? Wait! He could not! He was solid. Human!
A hand reaches down. He grasps it, then feels himself pulled to his feet. Thank the Maker his body was genetically designed to respond to certain physical stimuli. Controlling his body seemed not so difficult. The strength in the muscles allowed him to stand erect right away. Further, the body came equipped with balance mechanisms in the head. He felt a little dizziness, but he did not loose his footing. "It worked!" he feels his mouth move as he speaks. "Pak, are you well?" he turns to the other male there... then nearly forgets to breathe. "Catty!"
Catty smiles as she hands him a human-scale jumpsuit. "I told you I wanted to surprise you."
Dawn laughs as he takes the jumpsuit in hand. She produces a towel, swiftly drying his body as he waited to dress. He feels new sensations, especially around his groin as her hands pass. This was interesting. Once she is done, she backs away to allow him to dress. In a moment, he is once more adorned in the beige, white and black of a ship commander. He looks at her. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," she sighs as they kiss.
What a sensation that was! He then notices she was in a simple jumpsuit of her own. He finds another set of commander's robes, then drapes them over her shoulders. "There," he smiles.
"Dawn, I can't wear this...!" she protests.
A rumbling voice from behind her interrupts. "You are the commander's consort, Catty. You have the right."
Both spin around to see the speaker. When he sees the green, grey and black robes, Dawn almost experiences the human ailment called a heart attack. "Leader Born!!!" he gasps, then drops to one knee, his hand crossed over his heart in salute.
Catty echoes the movement. "Rise, both of you," the Paranoid Leader sighs. "Your experiment is a success, Dawn. I congratulate you. Now the time has come to end this war."
"But," Dawn looks up, "...should you not be with your people?"
"No," Born shakes his head. Dawn notes how much like Patty the Leader was. Actually, he was an older version of Patty's son. Not surprising, Dawn knew. "There are those among the Paranoid who see me as much a criminal as many Solnoid think of Journey. The final battle has come...but it will be between Journey and myself."
"But many stand between you and Journey, Leader," Catty warns.
"Let them," Born's eyes narrow. "I fought this war because it was the only way I knew how to save my people...and by doing so, I nearly destroyed my people. I must atone for this act. You both have lives ahead of you. Mine is irrelevant now."
The battleship's hull trembles. "The warp generators are about to fail," Catty looks up. "Eluza better launch her attack soon or else she won't have this ship to back her up."
"Indeed," Dawn nods. "Come, Leader. We must leave."
Born nods as the three proceed to the main hangar deck...
* * *
"Tally-ho!!!" Chet calls out. "I say, there's the blighter right now!!!"
The others tense as the small island comes into view. They were now some distance from Tahiti, in the area where the French carried out their nuclear tests. "Got it!!" Len snarls, then looks around. "Hey!! If they're supposed to be waiting for us, where the fuck're their fighters?!"
Lufy scans the area with the Bronz's camera. "I got a field! They've got shit-knows what down there!! Hey, Eluza, if you've got Dawn's ship slaved to your ship, let's use it!"
"Wait!!" Maurice calls out. "Mon dieu, I see a massive force of small craft off to the west! Can't tell who they are!!"
"Paranoid drones," Catty confirms.
"That'll be Dawn's force," Patty adds. "Don't shoot at them!"
Eluza sighs. Now or never. She thumbs the program that would launch the Paranoid battleship into its final battle...
* * *
Catty manoeuvres the warpsled out of the hangar bay when Eluza's command arrives, swinging the battleship's four main gun bank doors open. In a second, hundreds of magnetically-controlled pulse beams unleash themselves, bent by special electromagnetic fields to zero in at once on the small island six hundred kilometres dead ahead.
They hit with thermonuclear force. The island turns into a giant funeral pyre as the beams shred everything in their path. The Terrans and Solnoids avert their eyes as the ground crews are disintegrated, burned and pulverized, the fighters and suits they were servicing melted into scrap at the same time. Trees explode as the ground boils. A firestorm ensues as explosions heat the surrounding air, expanding it to the point where a vacuum results. The implosion that follows takes what little is left and sucks it in, eventually depositing it in scattered piles all over.
Eluza was about to call a second salvo when the battleship's warp generator fails. The centre of the ship shatters as the gun wings drunkenly drop away, exploding as their magazines are vented to space. In the warpsled, Catty, Dawn and Born watch as the ship spirals into the atmosphere, burning up in a bright comet. What parts of it would survive Earth's atmosphere would splash into the Pacific Ocean near the Drake Passage separating South America from Antarctica. Hopefully, no ship would be in the area.
The once-android winces. Dawn stares quizzically at her. "Sorry," she smiles. "I just felt as if another piece of me had died."
He nods understandingly...
* * *
To be continued...
By Fred Herriot
450 Clare Avenue South, Welland, Ontario L3C 3B3 Canada
gorgo@timebomb.on.ca
**** **** ****
Based on the "Gall Force" series created by MOVIC.
**** **** ****
PART ELEVEN - ALLIES
"The Paranoid are here?!!" Lufy exclaims.
Everyone stares in disbelief at Patty as they convene in the living room. Patty held off on telling people about her encounter with Commander Dawn until her new friend Darlene, now under Amy's care in the nurse's station, was treated for her addiction. "Yes," the combat officer nods. "One battleship."
"Well, if Commander Dawn is its captain, then we've got all the help we could ask for," Shildy muses.
"I take it this chap is respected among your people," Chet muses. "Sort of like the way we used to admire General Rommell."
"Very much so," the Solnoid intelligence officer nods. "Along with his work with Project: Exodermus, he commanded several fleet actions prior to the destruction of our homeworlds. Further, he spoke against the commissioning of the Planet Destroyers. To those of us who long wished for peace, Dawn is a name worthy of respect."
"The beginning of the day," Derek muses. "And now, the beginning of final peace between Solnoid and Paranoid."
"We're making a lot of assumptions here, guys," Lufy warns.
"Yes, but we need to have faith," Eluza counters, then turns to Catty. "Signal your sisters. Appraise them of the situation. I'm sure Captain Nebulart will want to know about this."
"Immediately," the android heads to the computer room. Sitting at her terminal, she calls up the Cancom program. A message awaits her. "Perhaps they already know," she muses as she calls up the message.
Denise walks in at that time. "Hey, Catty, how's our new...eh?!" the waitress stops.
In front of Catty's eyes, the computer screen flashes a mad mosaic of colours. Denise looks confused, but the hypnotized stare on Catty's face told her everything. Leaping over, she shuts off the computer screen, then turns around to shake her lover. "Catty! Catty!! Wake up! Catty!!!"
The android shakes herself, then blankly stares at Denise. "Wh-what happened?" she moans.
"You were hypnotized," Denise gasps. "Are you alright?!"
Catty shakes her head, then horror crosses her face. "That was a visual computer virus someone sent me!"
"What?!!"
Catty resets the computer, erasing the data still ready for projection, then reboots the machine. "Someone attempted to hypnotize me into shutting myself down, then fusing my circuits in self-destruct!" she gasps, the horror of what nearly happened now coming to light. "Someone tried to kill me, Denise!!"
"What was that?!!" Shildy gasps as everyone runs into the computer room, reacting to Denise's earlier scream.
Denise explains what happened. Steve takes the seat as he calls up Catty's e-mail. "According to this, the message was sent by someone at Solnoid.Home2@Worldcom.com," the computer science student looks at the android. "And you weren't the only addressee, Catty. There are eighty-six other places this is going to."
"Eighty-seven living Catty androids," Rabby gasps, the horror of what is probably happening around the world coming to her.
"No!!!" Catty grips her head. "This can't be happening!!"
"Where is that place?!" Lufy growls.
The android tearily stares at the Attacker. "It's a remote base in the South Pacific, in French Polynesia near Tahiti. It's a research base for the Chaos Foundation...as well as a storage depot for Solnoid weapons and equipment."
Eluza looks grim. "The perfect place to start seizing control of Earth. Now there's the perfect excuse. The Paranoid are here!"
"There's another message coming in from Solnoid.Home2," Steve warns.
"Catty, step outside," Shildy advises as Steve calls up the message.
The message, in plain text, appears. "'To all loyal daughters of Malthus. Arise! The time has come for us to reclaim our place in the stars. Our leader, Journey, who because of her people's love for her, survived the shame of Sigma Narse, has returned to lead us to a new destiny. The mechanical watchdogs of the traitor Nebulart are dead. The slaves of the Terrans are powerless. Rise and reclaim your birthright. This world is ours, but a new Malthus awaits us if we but take the chance. The time has come!'"
"Shades of Hitler rising from the grave," Derek grimly sighs.
"Journey's alive?!" Patty gasps.
"Good!" Miti snarls. "I'll kill the slut yet!!"
Eluza turns to look at her people. "Are we ready?!"
The Solnoids and Terrans nod. "Just a sec'," Lufy walks to the computer screen. Calling up the reply option, she taps a message, then transmits it. "There! War's been declared!"
"What did you say?!" Rabby looks confused, then turns to the screen. Everyone looks as they read the message:
From: CNebulart8@Cancom.com
To: Solnoid.Home2@Worldcom.com
"John McCrae wrote in his poem 'Take up the quarrel with the foe.'
Our foe is YOU!
Your ass is grass and we're the lawnmowers.
The Gallant Force."
A devilish glare on her face, the Attacker nods outside. "I'm in the mood to hunt! Let's go!!"
The others cheer...
* * *
"Mr. Secretary-General, how could you have permitted this matter to go unobstructed for so long?!" the President of the United States demands from the Oval Office in Washington.
Likewise demands echo from the prime ministers of Russia and Great Britain, the president of France and the premier of China. "The situation is not as bad as it seems, honoured gentlemen," the leader of the United Nations replies. "The rebellious Solnoids have acquired a leader. But they are small in number and are contained. Further, the Paranoid commander is most decidedly on our side. And we have a force now preparing to deploy to French Polynesia to dispose of these miscreants. The matter will be resolved in a day."
"Forgive us if we do not share such optimism, sir," the British prime minister adjusts his glasses. "The technological distance between ourselves and Captain Nebulart's rebellious fellow countrywomen is appalling. Further, may I remind you that there is no love lost between Solnoid and Paranoid."
"You are correct, Mr. Prime Minister," Catty Nebulart sighs. "But, there is something you don' know of the Paranoid. Commander Dawn is not only Commander Galt's former adjutant, he is Commander Galt's offspring. For a Paranoid to be willing to allow his only child to proceed into hostile territory on something which did not have the absolute guarantee of success is an extraordinary act on its own. Commander Dawn and his men are volunteers, gentlemen. They cannot go back to their own people."
"Then they have nothing to lose," the French president sighs. "Forgive us, Captain. We are not used to losing control of any sort of situation. It is quite...galling."
"As it is for myself, M'sieur President," the Solnoid leader nods.
"This...Gallant Force of yours," the Russian prime minister cuts in. "They are heroes of your people, yes?"
"Da," Nebulart nods. "If you wish, gentlemen, I have prepared dossiers on each for your perusal. We may transmit them to yourselves and the other world leaders as we speak."
"We'd like to see them," the American president nods. "In the meantime, we have taken the liberty of dispatching a B-2 bomber to this base. It is armed with four fifty kiloton nuclear warheads. If your troops fail, Captain, we shall do as we see fit."
Nebulart nods as communications are severed with the leaders of the world's five nuclear powers. "Insanity," she mutters, then looks over. "How is she, Scarlet?"
The veteran soldier looks up, shaking her head. "She's in a bad way, boss. Her control circuits are fused and there's no way we can get at her neuroprocessors. Her mind's intact, but there's no way to get it out."
Nebulart stares at the redhaired woman now passed out on the floor, her circuit hatches on the chest and arms open, revealing a mess no mechanic would want to take a chance at fixing. Kneeling beside her, the captain closes the blank gold eyes which are the only hint that this android was once one of her many doubles. "Mother, take care of them," she claps her hands in prayer. "They are as much my children as if I had birthed them myself. Treat them with kindness."
A signal arrives. "Captain," a male technician looks over. "It's Commander Dawn. He wants to know what is happening."
Nebulart does not move. Scarlet stands, then walks over. "I'll take the message," she smiles.
The technician looks confused. "But...they were only androids."
Scarlet pats his shoulder. "You had to know them, kid. They were a lot more than that."
* * *
"Commander, what has happened?" Dawn demands. "Where is Captain Nebulart?"
"She's mourning right now, Commander," Scarlet looks down. "The bastards in Polynesia sent a virus that fried the circuits of all the Catty droids we had left. It hit her pretty hard. They're her kids, y'know."
Dawn's eyes close. His father, three million years ago and parsecs away, was probably feeling the same sorrow as the Solnoid commander. "I do understand, Commander. Tell the captain not to fret. We have something which may help if their neuroprocessors are not damaged. In the meantime, who has taken command of the rebel forces in Polynesia?"
"Supposedly Journey," Scarlet snorts. "Must be some whacko out to stir up the troops. This planet can really produce them."
"Indeed," the Paranoid's eyes narrow. "Then this new Journey shall meet the same fate as the original." He looks to his acting first officer. "Cal, what is the Gallant Force's status?"
"Sir, they have launched from Lunenburg, heading south-west towards the target zone," Cal looks to his board. "Sensors indicate four Bronz-Xs, six Dies Angels, two Homing Bats, two Jet Blowguns and a Flying Squirrel. A Canadian Forces transport from the Greenwood base is deploying with a Front Rover and a Breeze-II. Sensors also indicate a strike aircraft launching from the United States. Configuration and radiation indicate it may be the bomber the American president had seconded to the attack."
Dawn nods. "Set ship to automatic circuits. Prepare all modified drones for launch."
"Yes, sir," the officer begins programming controls. He then looks up from the screen. "Sir, a warpsled is approaching the ship. The pilot requests permission to land."
"A warpsled?!! Who?!"
"He identifies himself as Pak of the Fifth Reconnaissance Phalanx," Cal reports. "He was separated from his unit during Sigma Narse and noticing what we were doing, volunteered himself to assist us. Orders, sir?"
Dawn's eyes narrow. "Grant him permission to land. We will need the warpsled. The engines will probably be burnt out, but the transport itself will be useful. Ensure that which we salvaged from Malthus is loaded aboard."
"The gestation chambers? Of course, sir. I shall also prepare your warpsled."
"Thank you, Cal. You are dismissed. Prepare yourself."
"Sir," the officer nods, then proceeds off the bridge.
Dawn sighs. If he was human, he would smile. His personal dream was about to come true. Securing himself from his station, he proceeds into his private chambers, which were altered long before Sigma Narse made these series of events possible. "Catty," he quietly intones.
In the middle of the room is what used to be the endoskeleton of an android. Only the head and upper torso remain, mated to Paranoid computer equipment. There is nothing left which could indicate this was once a Catty android...save the Solnoid number 3534 on a breastplate. A speaker box echoes with a female voice. "Are we here? Terra?"
"Yes," the Paranoid answers. "The ship will not last when we open fire. The others are preparing themselves."
"You should prepare yourself, Dawn."
"I know," Dawn nods. "Sever yourself from the controls, my love. It is time we both departed."
"Wait," the voice chokes. "My sisters...is Scarlet right...?"
"It matters not. We can still save them."
"Yes...we can save them."
Dawn reaches up, then presses an access plate. The cranium opens, allowing the mass of neuroprocessors which served as Catty's mind to break free. Gently lifting the brain from the skull, the Paranoid secures it in his own armour, then leaves the room...
* * *
The Gall Force soars through the skies as they cross the equator, homing on Tahiti. Fifteen fighters: nine Solnoid, six Terran. Amy was riding with the other Terrans in the Canadian Forces Hercules lifting the ground transport and the tank to the scene. In the Flying Squirrel acting as force command, Eluza grits her teeth. There had been so little time to properly prepare her team. However, if Journey was really alive, the rebels would be disorientated, unsure if she was really their Leader. Further, they had been here up to fifteen years. Eluza had no idea how fresh they were. If this was recent, they would be as raw as some of the attackers. Further, life on Earth had to have slowed them. The "Starleaf's" crew were fresh. They stood a chance.
The first Jet Blowgun was Patty's. Darlene, once detoxed and given an appraisal of who the Solnoids were, rode in the Hercules, ready with Denise to help Amy. The woman had surprised her. She wanted to go to university to get her bachelor's degree, probably in English. Out of a sheer act of insanity...or the first sign of friendship...Patty had volunteered to go with her. But this had came. Ahead of her were the people who had taken her from her son and Rumy, dear friend as well as daughter-in-law. Patty intones a silent prayer. Rumy, wherever you are, fly with us today.
The second Blowgun was Spea, licking her lips in anticipation. Journey was ahead, perhaps a clone or an AI double. No matter what, the murderer responsible for the destruction of the Lorelei Fleet was still alive. My friends are dead because of you, butcher! Spea growls to herself. Now I'll have their revenge!
The first Homing Bat was Akira. The Japanese wore a headband of a thousand names, a memento of his grandfather, a kamikaze pilot killed off Okinawa in 1945. How would the warriors of the Divine Wind have looked at this? His girlfriend was in one of the Bronzs. This was just like an old samurai epic; a family fighting against bandits. Only this time, the bandits had laser guns and there was no ground, just the sea.
The second Homing Bat was Chet. While he was trained on the Bronz and the Dies Angel, he had taken to the attacker like an RAF pilot would a Spitfire. He forgot if any of his relatives had fought the Germans. What would the "so few" Churchill spoken so eloquently about think of him, a second-year engineer student who never once served in any of Her Majesty's armed forces, flying with aliens and foreigners against other aliens? Bloody rot, they would say, then probably wish him luck and clear skies.
The first Angel was Oskar. He wanted the struggle suit since it was a lot easier to disembark from than a Bronz. He hoped Mossad were keeping an eye on things back home. There were many Solnoids in the Holy Land, both among Israelis and Palestinians. Trouble could flare among them, no doubt inspired by the infighting between their Terran neighbours. He also hoped that if he and Eluza survived, he would get the chance to bring her to Israel, to see the Wailing Wall, the ruins of Jericho and Masada. Now, would his parents mind the idea of him marrying an alien gentile?
The second Angel was Len's machine. He was about to get into the biggest street scrap in history. That was what all this was about. Two gangs trying to take control of the same turf. Except the turf was Earth and the gangs were alien women, plus a few locals like himself. He had been in the gangs. He wondered where the old crowd was. Probably fighting another gang for a smaller piece of turf. Glad I ain't in that mess anymore, he sighs.
The third Angel was Miti. She intones a Sensualist prayer for peace, while tensing her body for the coming bloodshed. And now, cosmic joke of all, she was about to shed the blood of fellow Solnoids. She sees Spea. There were those here who sought revenge this day. She just sought an end to this madness so she could put her own mind at peace. Maybe the teacher back at Lunenburg Secondary was right. It was time for some guidance counselling.
Fourth Angel belonged to Mal. She had volunteered to come out when Eluza ordered Amy to come with the medical team. She did not have to like it. Fighting was not her game; she left that to the experts like Miti and Lufy.
Fifth Angel was Catty. Trying to calm herself, to control the hot rage she felt at the loss of her sisters, was difficult. And why shouldn't she be angry?! People had callously killed her sisters all because they had tried to keep the peace! Closing her eyes, she deletes the failsafe her mother had put in her mind which prevented her from killing her own people. A light smile crosses her face. It may not be right but it was just.
Sixth Angel was Maurice. He wondered if it was not too late for him to join the French Foreign Legion...then remembered that only non-Frenchmen could join. We could use the legionnaires right now, he muses to himself...plus about fifty atomic bombs.
First Bronz was Lufy. She licked her lips in anticipation of busting skulls, the skulls of those who deserved a good lobotomy or three...and she was just the surgeon for the job at hand.
Second Bronz was Rabby. There were probably Central Guard up ahead, not to mention the lunatics who commissioned the Planet Destroyers which had nearly butchered the Solnoid race. Finally, peace was at hand. Just one more fight and she could finally relax. Now, if only Journey would be party to the idea. Doubtful.
Third Bronz was Shildy. She had painted DAMIA in Solnoid on the carapace of the bouncer, letting it be known to all around her that she was the one who had wrecked it. Let's see how Journey likes that! she smiles.
Fourth Bronz was Derek. Now, he could act a little clumsy since people in the way would be out to kill him. This was not the least bit funny! he sighs, shaking his head. He wanted a quiet life with Lufy...and now he had to kill people to get it?! Not funny at all!
"I say, chaps, shall we have a pool?" Chet calls out.
"Pool?!" Rabby looks confused. "We're not playing billiards!"
"A betting pool, he means," Len interrupts. "We throw in money, and the first one who spots the bandits gets the pot."
"Hey, sounds fair," Oskar nods. "Ten bucks."
"I'm in," chorus from everyone else save Eluza and Derek.
"Why don't we think of trying to survive this mess?" the Canadian sighs.
"Do you have an idea?" Eluza inquires.
"I was just thinking of the Battle of Vimy Ridge," Derek clicks his teeth. "How we used artillery to rip up the ground around the German trenches before we went over the top."
"Hate to disappoint you, old sport, but we're not carrying much in the way of artillery with us," Chet warns.
Eluza considers the matter. Yes they did have artillery...and it was in orbit! Thumbing a communications button, she calls, "Starleaf to Captain Nebulart. Starleaf to Captain Nebulart. Respond, please."
"Go, Starleaf," Scarlet's voice calls back.
"Is Commander Dawn's ship in the area?"
"It's right atop the target at six hundred kilometres," the veteran warrior responds.
Eluza smiles. Simple Solnoid strategy for ridding themselves of a ground base; let a ship do it. "Tell Commander Dawn he's to open fire as soon as we're in close battle range of the target zone, Scarlet."
"He's ready to slave his ship to your command, Eluza. His crew are preparing to man drones and come down to help out."
That was a switch! "Roger. Give me control."
The Squirrel's controls falter as they take control of the Paranoid battleship. Eluza gapes at the statistics of the capital vessel whose type she had fought time and time again. She would have given her eye teeth for this information back during the war. Strange times, she sighs. Stranger allies. Couldn't complain now. She poises her hands over the trigger. Not just yet...
* * *
"Have they all gone through?" Dawn inquires of the fleet of Paranoid drones now in front of him.
Tek's voice answers from one. "All save the reconnaissance pilot. The warpsled is loaded with the equipment you requested, as well as the body of the one Solnoid we recovered from the carrier's wreckage."
"Send it to New York at once," Dawn orders. "Deploy and prepare for battle. It will be time, soon."
"Yes, sir."
Dawn walks into the genetic converter room. Already there were a pile of empty exoskeletons, no longer needed. One of the converters was at work. The reconnaissance pilot, Pak. Dawn takes Catty's brain and sets it aside, then removes his robes. He steps into the chamber. <<Good luck>>, Catty's voice echoes in his mind.
The chamber fills with boiling liquid, submerging Dawn's exoskeleton well past his head. The liquid was the same body-temperature fluid Solnoids used in creating new members of their race. Dawn feels himself flow out of the exoskeleton for the last time as the fluid is drained, pouring into the gestation tank, a double of hundreds used on Malthus millennia ago.
Dawn feels himself form into a solid shape as his sentience enters a dream-like state. He had conceived of this idea years ago as a possible course the Species Unification Project could take. It had been partially used to create Patty's son. Simply put, the gestation fluid was fitted with a DNA-recombinator, which broke down the Paranoid DNA and rewrote it to a Solnoid-type format, albeit with one difference: the XX-gender chromosome was changed to XY-format.
The Paranoid had always known the Solnoid had once been a two-gender race, much like most animal races on Earth. But as the war progressed, the male Solnoids had perished...but to the consternation of the Paranoid, the female Solnoids fought on, more vicious than ever. It was as if they had critically wounded a beast, but it still lashed out, driven mad with pain.
The organizers of Project: Exodermus, his father and himself among them, had been driven by two possibilities to launch the Species Unification Project. One, the presence of a third, Solnoid-type solid race would shock the Solnoids into remembering what they once were, allowing reason to take over and peace to come. Two, the third race would, if the Solnoids did not stop fighting, team with the Paranoid to suppress the Solnoids and force peace to come. Neither case had worked out; the third race would, Dawn discovered, simply merge with the sentient race evolving on Earth. Hence, Galt's decision to send the Solnoid survivors three million years ahead in time to encounter an Earth ready to take them...and control them should they once again become troublesome.
Dawn opens his eyes, feeling the powerful energy of human arms and legs. Was this what being solid was like? How wonderful! How fascinating...and how frightening! It was no wonder his race had feared the Solnoids! The differences between the allasomorphic Paranoid and the nonmorphic Solnoids was insane. And now he was becoming a Solnoid. What would his father say?
"Dawn..." a voice calls out.
He looks up to see a nude Solnoid woman staring at him. Catty. One of the ten thousand android watchers Catty Nebulart had unleashed to ensure the Species Unification Project would succeed. She had been assigned to the first "Starleaf," had sacrificed herself to ensure that Patty and her unborn child would live to see a free day. He had found what was left of her when his ship had stumbled onto the wreckage drifting near Saturn. Her body was beyond hope of repair; she had used it as a living conduit to ensure the carrier's escape pod would launch. But her mind was intact. He had mated her with Paranoid electronics, given her a sense of reality. In doing so, he created ways that they could cyberlink, join minds so they could share each other's thoughts.
And in doing so, they had discovered the universal emotion called love. He, an allasomorph would could not imagine what being in one shape for more than several minutes was like, had come to love her, a mechanical construct who knew nothing of shape-changing, of the contortions a Paranoid could perform on himself. By cyberlinking, both discovered each other's hopes and dreams. Dawn had learned that all the Catty androids wished one day to be organic, to live like their fellow Solnoids. Catty had learned that Dawn had, like most Paranoid, never felt real malice towards her mother's people. The Paranoid had, once they had overcome their initial shock, strove to try to force their enemies to see reason, to give peace a chance. Nor did Dawn see the ordinary Solnoid as being at fault. It was their leaders who had been the aggressors, forcing thousands on both sides to their deaths.
Even Born had seen that. The Paranoid Leader would never had accepted the presence of Planet Destroyers had not Journey brought them out first. They had been such a waste. That had been proven when DAMIA had been used in the second battle over Earth. Born had confessed to Galt and Dawn later that he now had to contemplate a crime he never wanted to have on his conscience: the slaughter of a race. Dawn wondered if Born had been awed by Catty Nebulart's act on Embryo. Perhaps he had been. A pity he will never know.
"Hush, Dawn," Catty shushes him. "Let's think of ourselves for a change."
He smiles. They were clothed, he in his robes as a Paranoid commander, she in her grey jumpsuit. They walk through a menagerie of images, of both homeworlds now lost. Soon, they would leave this dreamland and walk on another world's surface. They embraced, their clothes shedding away. Catty backs off, then produces a mirror. Dawn looks at himself. Catty had drawn up his DNA specs, literally making him a male version of her mother. Of course, she would still look like herself...or would she choose to change? Did she want to experiment when it came time for her new body to be created? It did not matter. To him, she would always be Catty.
They embrace, her back to his. "It's time," she shakes her head. "I'll miss this."
"Reality is much sweeter," he kisses her forehead.
She looks at him. "Yes. Soon, we'll both feel air in our lungs, our hearts pound, the pain of hunger in our stomachs and the pleasure of our love driving us to mate."
"We?!" he looks surprised.
Catty winks at him. "Can't I keep some surprises from you?"
Her giggle echoes as his mind succumbs to unconsciousness...
* * *
Dawn's eyes open. He shakes his head, feeling the cooling genetic fluid drip off his body. It was cold. He had never felt the change of temperature before. He looks down, stunned to see solid hands in front of his eyes. Why could he not shift himself? Wait! He could not! He was solid. Human!
A hand reaches down. He grasps it, then feels himself pulled to his feet. Thank the Maker his body was genetically designed to respond to certain physical stimuli. Controlling his body seemed not so difficult. The strength in the muscles allowed him to stand erect right away. Further, the body came equipped with balance mechanisms in the head. He felt a little dizziness, but he did not loose his footing. "It worked!" he feels his mouth move as he speaks. "Pak, are you well?" he turns to the other male there... then nearly forgets to breathe. "Catty!"
Catty smiles as she hands him a human-scale jumpsuit. "I told you I wanted to surprise you."
Dawn laughs as he takes the jumpsuit in hand. She produces a towel, swiftly drying his body as he waited to dress. He feels new sensations, especially around his groin as her hands pass. This was interesting. Once she is done, she backs away to allow him to dress. In a moment, he is once more adorned in the beige, white and black of a ship commander. He looks at her. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," she sighs as they kiss.
What a sensation that was! He then notices she was in a simple jumpsuit of her own. He finds another set of commander's robes, then drapes them over her shoulders. "There," he smiles.
"Dawn, I can't wear this...!" she protests.
A rumbling voice from behind her interrupts. "You are the commander's consort, Catty. You have the right."
Both spin around to see the speaker. When he sees the green, grey and black robes, Dawn almost experiences the human ailment called a heart attack. "Leader Born!!!" he gasps, then drops to one knee, his hand crossed over his heart in salute.
Catty echoes the movement. "Rise, both of you," the Paranoid Leader sighs. "Your experiment is a success, Dawn. I congratulate you. Now the time has come to end this war."
"But," Dawn looks up, "...should you not be with your people?"
"No," Born shakes his head. Dawn notes how much like Patty the Leader was. Actually, he was an older version of Patty's son. Not surprising, Dawn knew. "There are those among the Paranoid who see me as much a criminal as many Solnoid think of Journey. The final battle has come...but it will be between Journey and myself."
"But many stand between you and Journey, Leader," Catty warns.
"Let them," Born's eyes narrow. "I fought this war because it was the only way I knew how to save my people...and by doing so, I nearly destroyed my people. I must atone for this act. You both have lives ahead of you. Mine is irrelevant now."
The battleship's hull trembles. "The warp generators are about to fail," Catty looks up. "Eluza better launch her attack soon or else she won't have this ship to back her up."
"Indeed," Dawn nods. "Come, Leader. We must leave."
Born nods as the three proceed to the main hangar deck...
* * *
"Tally-ho!!!" Chet calls out. "I say, there's the blighter right now!!!"
The others tense as the small island comes into view. They were now some distance from Tahiti, in the area where the French carried out their nuclear tests. "Got it!!" Len snarls, then looks around. "Hey!! If they're supposed to be waiting for us, where the fuck're their fighters?!"
Lufy scans the area with the Bronz's camera. "I got a field! They've got shit-knows what down there!! Hey, Eluza, if you've got Dawn's ship slaved to your ship, let's use it!"
"Wait!!" Maurice calls out. "Mon dieu, I see a massive force of small craft off to the west! Can't tell who they are!!"
"Paranoid drones," Catty confirms.
"That'll be Dawn's force," Patty adds. "Don't shoot at them!"
Eluza sighs. Now or never. She thumbs the program that would launch the Paranoid battleship into its final battle...
* * *
Catty manoeuvres the warpsled out of the hangar bay when Eluza's command arrives, swinging the battleship's four main gun bank doors open. In a second, hundreds of magnetically-controlled pulse beams unleash themselves, bent by special electromagnetic fields to zero in at once on the small island six hundred kilometres dead ahead.
They hit with thermonuclear force. The island turns into a giant funeral pyre as the beams shred everything in their path. The Terrans and Solnoids avert their eyes as the ground crews are disintegrated, burned and pulverized, the fighters and suits they were servicing melted into scrap at the same time. Trees explode as the ground boils. A firestorm ensues as explosions heat the surrounding air, expanding it to the point where a vacuum results. The implosion that follows takes what little is left and sucks it in, eventually depositing it in scattered piles all over.
Eluza was about to call a second salvo when the battleship's warp generator fails. The centre of the ship shatters as the gun wings drunkenly drop away, exploding as their magazines are vented to space. In the warpsled, Catty, Dawn and Born watch as the ship spirals into the atmosphere, burning up in a bright comet. What parts of it would survive Earth's atmosphere would splash into the Pacific Ocean near the Drake Passage separating South America from Antarctica. Hopefully, no ship would be in the area.
The once-android winces. Dawn stares quizzically at her. "Sorry," she smiles. "I just felt as if another piece of me had died."
He nods understandingly...
* * *
To be continued...