human-do-a-worm - Tumblr blog

[human-do-a-worm]

Saw this at work the other day. Be gay do crimes.

[human-do-a-worm]

[human-do-a-worm]

Going on orders for a month. When I get back, I'll write some more. Should I continue the story, or just start another one?

[human-do-a-worm]

“Your invasion is doomed to fail.” The Kalveen before me did not like hearing this. A scowl spread across her face, her mandibles clicking in anger. “Our fleets are nearly four times the size of theirs. Our technology outclasses everyone in the galaxy. We have already beaten a third of every species in the galaxy, and have not suffered so much as a single loss. Tell me how these apes could even stand a chance against us.” “The Terran Empire is a friendly nation. They have only been involved in a handful of conflicts to day, excluding their internal squabbles. But from each of these conflicts, they grow stronger. When they get attacked, rather than keeping their internal conflicts going, they band together. They forget their internal differences and become one single unified force.” The Kalveen diplomat interrupted before I could continue. “As was the case with the Draxxon, and we crushed them with ease. Unified or not, we can break anyone.” “You say that now, but you vastly underestimate your foe. Humans are the single most adaptable species in the galaxy. They have colonies on worlds that would have been destroyed and harvested for resources were they discovered by any other species. Their adaptability isn’t just limited to survivability on deathworlds either.” I tap some inputs into my PDA and pull up a fleet map of the last battle humanity was engaged in. “20 cycles ago, the Hexlan invaded Terran space. Their technology, like yours, severely outmatched the humans.” I press play on the display, and show the battle as it unfolded. “This was Humanity's first battle in space against a superior foe. The Hexlan fleet outnumbered the humans 20 to 1. Any sane commander would have fled. But the humans are not sane. Rather than fleeing, they charged. They knew that there was no chance of destroying the enemy ships with their weapons. So they didn’t use their weapons. They mustered ground teams with full combat loads into the escape pods, got in as close as they could, turned a broadside towards the enemy, and launched the pods, then retreated from weapons range. Within 30 minutes, half of the enemy fleet was under their control, and firing upon the remaining half. there were no Hexlan survivors.” I close the display on my PDA, hoping my message was clear.

“Then we’ll simply avoid space conflicts. We’ll drop in shock teams to handle the threat on the ground and take planets that way.” Sighing, I pull up another display on the PDA, this time of Human ground forces 50 years ago from the Drenzal war. “Humanity is nigh unmatched on the ground. During the Drenzel war, Human forces were deployed to free the planet Rental. It was a veritable fortress. Open killing fields around heavily fortified bases made any attack suicide. The humans didn’t care. Their tanks took out anyone foolish enough to charge from the fortresses, and their artillery destroyed anyone who remained inside. The only survivors were those that surrendered. All others were crushed under rubble, dead inside their vehicles, or shot dead in the trenches they hoped would save them.” Knowing what was coming next, I prepared the final piece of evidence for my case against this war.

“Then we’ll take their colonies with no military presence. They can’t hope to stop us then.”

“Were it any other species, that might work, but Humanity is not simply a race like the others in the galaxy. This footage is from a Hexlan ground assault force in the opening days of the war. This planet had nothing but small towns and farms. 2 weeks after their invasion began, the planet remained unconquered. Humans specialize in asymmetric warfare. They have been excelling in this front since before first contact was made. As the Hexlan tanks rolled through the town, the ground underneath the lead vehicle exploded from an IED, then a cargo truck pulled out from an alley and cut off the rear vehicle. Humans poured out of the surrounding buildings, and used plasma cutters to open holes in the tanks, then threw grenades inside of them. The soldiers in the cities were at least safe for a while inside the tanks. The Hexlan forces in the countryside were far worse off. The network of human marksmen on the planet made short work of the patrols that were sent out. Casualties were so dreadful that the soldiers were instructed to maintain physical contact with one another to ensure that their comrades weren’t left dead in the field. Less than a day after this footage, the human fleet arrived, composed of every kind of ship imaginable, and outnumbering the Hexlan 10 times over, scaring them off.”

I close my PDA for the last time, if they could not see reason from this, then they were doomed to die. “Then what should we do? If fighting Humanity is so pointless, then how can we win?” “You can’t win against them. They will find a way to beat you back, to your homeworld if necessary. Every Human you kill only strengthens their resolve and makes them fight harder. When you face off against humans, you either surrender, retreat, or get destroyed.” With that I left the planet. Less than three days later, the war posturing had stopped, and the Kalveen began to open up talks with to Humans for military cooperation.

The Kalveen are tooling up for an invasion of the human space volume. Grand Elder Tashmin has dispatched you to gently explain why this is a terrible idea.

[human-do-a-worm]

Unkall and his Terran

Sorry it's been so long. College kinda fucked me up mentally for a bit. I've got a few more days until my last exam, so I'll probably be able to bang out a few chapters before then. Hopefully I'll start tonight.

[human-do-a-worm]

what's your opinion on the trebuchet? also, the pack-portable trebuchet?

I have a love for artillery of all kinds, but trebuchets hold a place especially near and dear to my heart.

As for the Pack-Portable Trebuchet, afraid I've never heard of it. Is it a literal trebuchet transportable by simple pack?

[human-do-a-worm]

Where I'm at

I haven't stopped writing entirely, just a bit preoccupied being the Army's bitch. I should have a lot more time soon enough, and I can hopefully get the next chapter out within a month. Also, results from the poll showed that you wanted to see more about Annie, so that's mostly what the next chapter will focus on.

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An Unkall Boy and His Terran Poll

The Poll ends tonight at 11:59 EST, I'll start writing the next chapter soon. you can find the poll here

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An Unkall Boy and his Terran progress

I'll probably be typing up the next chapter in the story soon. would you rather see more story about Annie and her past, or more about the future and Jakob's plan? Poll

[human-do-a-worm]

An Unkall boy and his Terran

Well folks, you've been waiting patiently for it, I've been procrastinating about making it, and here it finally is. The first story in the follow up series. I hope you enjoy it.

It had been just over a quarter cycle since the attack on Unkall Prime. Jakob’s wound had healed, and left another scar, indistinguishable from the countless others he bore. Both Ruthal and Jakob had gotten used to each other by now, and they truly saw themselves as a family. Ruthal’s schooling had ended for his experience cycle, where Unkal children take a cycle to gain claws on experience about the jobs they had chosen for themselves. Ruthal, with aspirations to be a soldier, was eager to ask his adoptive father about coming to work with him.

“Welcome home Ruthal, how was your last day for a cycle?”

“It was great dad, We got to spend the day in the library reading tactics instead of the usual training.”

“So, what’s next? You don’t have to start today or tomorrow, but what would you like to do for your experience cycle?”

“Well dad, I want to learn how to be a soldier. Not just the marching, and not just the tactics. I want to feel what it’s like to be in combat.”

“Well son, you’re talking to just the right person. Follow me, there’s something I’ve been wanting to show you.”

The aging Terran led the Unkall boy into the basement, and slid open a panel on the wall to reveal a security console. After typing in a password, the wall next to the console slid back, and dropped into a hole in the floor, revealing a hallway with three doors on either side.

“This is my hobby room. I come in here every now and then, but not nearly as much as I should. There’s two important rooms you need to see in here.”

Jakob pushed the button beside the metal door at the end of the hallway, sliding it up and out of the way.

“This is my firing range. Marksmanship is a perishable skill, and something that takes a lot of practice. My collection has everything from modern plasma and laser weapons, to the traditional kinetic weapons of Terra. There’s even a few in here that I made myself. The laser weapons charge and cool in their docks, and the plasma cartridges are refilled at the notches on the firing lane. The ballistic weapons are trickier. Their cartridges have to be reloaded by hand, so after you’re done shooting, make sure you sweep the shell casings into the bucket by the door. Now, for the other room”

Jakob took Ruthal out of the firing range and led him to the door directly across from it, sliding the door open in the same manner.

“This is my equipment room. All my uniforms, protective vests, helmets, armor, and miscellaneous gear is in here. Every piece of this stuff has seen action, so be gentle with it.”

Ruthal points to the clear doors of a case containing a prototype armored combat suit

“What’s that?”

“Well son, that’s my old armored combat suit. I wore that from the time I was in the infantry, all the way up until I left the Terran Empire. I wonder if it still works.”

Jakob opened up the case and took off the helmet, pushing a small button on the inside. Suddenly the visor lights up with a menacing orange glow, and white text can be seen scrolling on the helmet’s heads up display. Suddenly, a robotic female voice speaks up from the suit.

“Jakob, is that you? Your biometrics are the same, but you look so different. You’ve got scars all over your face, and your hair is gray. How long have I been in shutdown?”

“Relax Annie, I’m just old now. You’ve been in shutdown for a few years now. A lot has changed since then.”

Ruthal spoke up in a scared tone.

“Dad, what is that?”

“Relax son. This is Annie. Her designation is AINI-137. She’s an Artificial Intelligence Neural Interface that allows the wearer of the suit to function at peak performance.”

“Artificial Intelligence is banned. Every species that made it was nearly wiped out by it.”

“Well son, all things made by a race take on the traits of that race. Unkall creations are very different from Imhex creations. Human creations are the same way. We gave them the best traits we have, one of which is the ability to, as other species call it, pack bond. You’ll notice I refer to Annie as she, and not it. That’s because our AI are not only allowed, but actively encouraged to make their own personalities, to be more like us. Annie has saved my life more times than I can count, and not just because of the suit she lives in. She can process a situation faster than I can, and identify threats, escape routes, and even people in danger. Aside from biology, she can pass all the moral questions the Terran Empire has to classify someone as human.”

“So she’s not a danger to us?”

Annie picked up her helmet from Jakob’s hands and reattached it to the suit, before using the text to create two eyes on her visor and looking at Ruthal

“No, I’m no threat. Any friend of Jakob’s is a friend of mine. Besides, it takes 24 hours before even my basic combat systems could come online. So now you know my name, would you mind telling me yours?”

Still somewhat scared, but more calm knowing that he was not in danger, Ruthal spoke up

“My name is Ruthal. Your friend adopted me after Unkall Prime was attacked.”

“Wait a minute. Unkall Prime? Isn’t that the Unkall homeworld? Who would attack there? My records show that the Unkall are peaceful. Has this changed since I have been in shutdown?”

“No, we’re still a peaceful race, but some of the outer colonies are fed up waiting for their independence referendum to be recognized by the council, so a group of them attacked here in the capital city. My parents were killed in the attack, as well as 563 other innocent Unkall. There’s talk of denying the referendum now, which has only made the people on the outer edge more mad.”

“That sounds terrible. Did they catch those responsible?”

“Most were caught, but around 100 of them slipped away. They’ve been found in the outer colonies, but all attempts to take them in to stand trial have resulted in the peacekeepers being turned away by threat of force.”

Suddenly Jakob smiled. This was not what he had planned, but this would turn out much better.

“Say son, you wanted combat experience, right? I just thought of a way to get some. Tomorrow, we’ll come back down here, then we’ll start training. We’re going on a vacation soon.”

Jakob, Ruthal, and Annie leave the secret area, closing the door behind them. Jakob cooks a nice dinner for himself and Ruthal, and eventually they both go off to bed.

Later that night, Jakob is roused from his sleep by the sound of his door opening. A familiar noise is made as someone steps forward.

“I was wondering if you’d end up coming in here Annie.”

“I missed you Jakob. While I was in shutdown my background processes kept me worrying about if you’d ever come back for me.”

“I could never forget you, especially given what we went through together. Well, what are you waiting for? Climb on in, just like old times.”

The combat suit gets in the bed under the covers, the nerve stim activating so that she can feel contact with her pilot once again, Annie goes into sleep mode and Jakob drifts back off in a dream. The house is now silent once again.

[human-do-a-worm]

Follow up series

Over the next few days I'll be writing the follow up series to Ramblings of an Old Soldier. Feel free to put suggestions on what you'd like to see written out.

[human-do-a-worm]

Ramblings of an Old Soldier Part 3/3

Sorry about the wait. The second dose of COVID vaccine drains you a lot more than the first dose. Anyways here’s part 3, part 1 and part 2 can be found here.

Admiral Sturm sat on the park bench as he always did. Sipping on his coffee and reading the latest news from his datapad. Once again, the Unkall boy approached him and sat beside him on the bench. He noticed that the aging Terran was wearing a strange uniform, with the image of a furred beast embroidered on the chest and upper right arm.

“Good afternoon Mr. Sturm.” “Ah, hello there son. Back for story time again?” “Yes sir. I was wondering what happened after the summit. Almost all traces of you vanished from records 8 cycles ago, and the only mentions of you after that were how the Terran Navy wanted you back.”

“Well, as I said the other day, I became a merc. My crew and I were the best. We took contracts from the Segmentum Norrus, all the way down to the Serectan Void. We didn’t work like most mercenary groups. We sought out our clients, and saw a lot of business. Everything from running escort duty on supply runs to desperate worlds, to taking down entire groups of bandits and pirates. Wherever we went, outlaws and tyrants alike feared the sight of The Wolf’s Den.”

“The Wolf’s Den? I think we heard about a group of people using that ship last cycle in our Galactic History class. Something about taking part in the Gingral war, only a few cycles ago.” “Ah yes, the Gingral war. Some of the bloodiest fighting I’ve ever seen. That was the last contract my crew and I took. We started off in a small role; mostly just escorting supply freighters to the border colonies since most of the supply lines had been cut and the colonists were starving. Our last supply run had been going well, until 6 light cruisers decloaked and opened fire. We did the best we could, but the supply freighter carrying food and civilians was destroyed in only a few minutes.”

“We could have escaped after that. Made a jump to the nearest Unkall station and gotten reinforcements, but My crew and I all knew what had to be done. We knew that the Gingral had to pay. They may have outnumbered us 6 to 1, and they may have had us outgunned, but they didn’t account for us having a mark 7 jump core. We warped around behind them and took down 2 of the light cruisers rather easily, but then we took a hit. The jump core cut out, and we were relying only on engine power.”

“But The Wolf’s Den must have survived somehow. The history logs said that it served through the entirety of the Gingral War.”

“That’s almost right. We knew that we wouldn’t be able to keep her together much longer, so we did what all Terrans do in situations like this. We became unpredictable. We gave all power to weapons and blasted the furthest ship from us, then mustered to the airlocks. We put on EVA gear and as soon as we were close enough to the next ship, we boarded.” “Wasn’t ship boarding added to the prohibited activities of War after the Terran war?” “It was, but targeting civilians has always been among the prohibited activities of War, so we were still committing a lesser infraction. We blasted open the port hangar with a plasma charge, and cleared the first room. Then we cleared the rest of the ship up to the bridge and took out the last remaining light cruiser. Changed the comms channels to the ones we had on The Wolf’s Den, then modified the IFF tag accordingly. When we arrived at the Unkall station we had just left, they demanded an explanation, so we told them what happened.” “And you weren't reprimanded?”

“Oh, we were. There was even a small tribunal held to determine if we could still fight. That’s when the call came in. Rakthis had been attacked, with only a handful of survivors. I immediately got up and started heading to my ship. The Unkall admiral demanded to know where I was going. After calmly telling him that there was now a full scale war, we had work to do. I went to the hangar and got the light cruiser repaired and ready for combat, but not before renaming it. The Wolf’s Den was never destroyed, it just became another ship.”

“What happened next?” the Unkall boy asked. “Weren’t the forces around Rakthis said to be uncounted?”

“They were, that’s why we didn’t go to Rakthis. We went to Waalon instead. Then to Rek’lon, and finally to Scrurros. Everywhere we went, we pushed back the Gingral horde. My first mate, Sarah Callingham, had family on the outer colonies back in the Vrumoid war. Saw most of them killed in front of her when their shuttle was shot down leaving atmosphere on Vrall VII. Scrurros was a tough nut to crack, and she had more crafty ideas than I did. We landed The Wolf’s Den on the uninhabited side of the planet, then bought a grav truck from one of the farmers. It was hard to weld the armor plates on it at the right angle, but mounting the lasguns and mortar was rather simple. I stood in the back, manning two of the lasguns and the mortar while she and two other soldiers were up front in the cab. We got almost to the planetary capital before we faced any resistance.”

“But the history logs said that Scrurros didn’t fall until the later end of the war.” “That’s right. We couldn’t take the planet as easily as we’d taken the others. When the first mortar hit the shield on the planetary governance center, we knew we were in for a fight. We got the truck away with only a few shots on the armor, but we were pursued by the planetary militia. One of the armored gun trucks fired their heavy las gun and took out the rear grav drive. With the back end of the truck along the ground, our speed tanked to a crawl. I was able to keep the militia back for a while by pinning them down with the lasguns, but then another shot hit us, dead center mass.”

“How bad was it? Were you alright?”

“I made it out with only a few scratches, scrapes, and bruises, but Sarah and the others up front weren't so lucky. The shot penetrated the cab and blew up at the steering linkage. Only Sarah, myself, and the one crewman in the back with me made it out of that. We ducked into a nearby building for cover, only to find that it was a school. Not wanting to put the civilians in danger, we lightly dressed Sarah’s wounds and went on into the forest surrounding the city. We came to a cave at the foot of a mountain, and made camp inside.” “Who was the other crewman that was with you? I notice that you haven’t said his name yet.”

“His name was Richard Grumman. He was the newest addition to The Wolfpack, joining us less than a cycle ago. We hadn’t had much time to get to know each other. The Militia found us in the first week, and he was shot to death on the night they raided the cave. Sarah and I managed to get away, but we were far from being safe. The next night we got a transmission from The Wolf’s Den; They had been found, and were wondering what to do. Sarah and I were at least four days away from the ship, so I made the call and told them to leave while they had the chance, to keep fighting and never forget about us.” “So you willingly stranded yourself and an injured crewmate on a hostile planet just to save your crewmates? The stories about the Terrans must be true.” “You’ll learn that those stories don’t even tell half the story if you stick on a Terran ship for even half a cycle. Anyways, there we were, just me and Sarah on Scrurros. I treated her wounds the best I could, but she wasn’t getting much better. Eventually she died, less than half a cycle into our time on that world. I retired with her body to the farmer who sold us the truck, and paid him to let me bury Sarah on his property. Much like with the freighter, the Gingral would pay. I took stock of what I had. Two lasguns, three fragmentation grenades, an energy grenade, and a plasma charge. Not nearly enough to take on the forces of the planet, but maybe enough to make it possible.”

“So what did you do? The Gingral don’t just let prisoners get away. Especially not in the middle of a war.” “Well, I couldn't just storm the Planetary Governance Center. That would accomplish nothing but my own death. Instead I went for something better. Three grids away from the Governance Center was the Defense Center. The plan was simple. Get inside, break as much stuff as I could, and hope that was enough to take down their defenses. It took me ten days to reach the capital again, and another three to figure out how to get inside. Turns out the Gringal didn’t make their roof as secure as they should have. I opened up the ventilation system and got inside. From there it was a short trip to the bunker exterior.”

“Aren’t Gingral bunkers some of the hardest to break open in the entire galaxy? How did you get inside?” “Simple; I didn’t break in; I snuck in. I kicked out the vent and got inside the bunker, then closed and locked the door behind me and smashed the controls. There were only technicians and a few soldiers inside, who were easy enough to dispatch. The harder part was accessing the communications room. Aside from the door of the bunker itself, the communications room was the most secure place in the facility. The door was half a meter thick, and barred at six points. That would prove to be a great challenge, so I left it for later. I quickly found the controls to the weapons system, and took it down. The planet was now mostly defenseless against ships in orbit and low atmosphere.”

“So you took down the guns, but how did you get in?”

“The door was too hard to get through, so I made my own instead. I went above the room and opened up the three fragmentation grenades. Terrna frag grenades use a pressure sensitive explosive to detonate, so I poured it out above the room, then placed the plasma charge on top of it. I ducked out of the room and waited for the explosion. When that charge went off, it was as if the whole planet shook. When I went in to check on the hole, the charge had only just broken through the floor. It took hours for me to get the hole wide enough for me to wriggle inside, but it was worth it. I contacted the Unkall fleet, and they were there within the week. The planet fell and I was pulled from the bunker before the food and water stores were even dented.”

“So that’s why taking Scrurros was so easy for the fleet. There wasn’t as much resistance as the planet originally had. And you were the one to take it down?”

“That’s right. After the war, I was broken. My knees were all but useless for fighting, and I could barely stand without swaying. The Unkall empire never forgot what my crew and I did. We were paid many times more than what was written in our contract, and they even got me a home right here on Unkall Prime. Now I sit here, enjoying retirement in my old age. Though the Terran lifespan is almost 50 cycles, we’re usually out of our working years after only 30 cycles. Our bodies are too old and weak to do most of the hard tasks that we normally would.”

“So what do you do now? Surely after a life like yours you want to do something just as exciting after you’re done working.”

“I mostly just read now. When you spend your life as a soldier, you miss out on so much. I never settled down and had kids, and my time for that is even drawing to a close. I did take up a few hobbies here and there, but nothing really stuck. I still work part time for the Unkall empire, training their soldiers in virtual reality simulations is about all I can do, but I’ve given the Unkall the strength to protect their planets, and given their generals and admirals the knowledge not to go on any missions they will regret. I’m happy with the contributions I’ve made in my life, and if I had the chance, I’d do it all over again. By the way, I never did catch your name.”

“My name is Ruthal Nerzak, and I’m slotted to be a soldier in the Unkall Defense Force.”

“Well Ruthal, I hope we will meet again someday.”

With that, Ruthal stopped recording and went home, finishing his final report.

A few days later, Ukall prime came under attack. A colonial independence group made numerous strikes around the city, and Ruthal had been caught outside on his way home from class. He tried to run away, but was chased by one of the insurgents down an alleyway, when suddenly two lasgun shots rang out. Ruthal though he was dead, but he slowly opened his four eyes and saw that the terrorist was dead on the ground in front of him. Looking up, he was me with a familiar face

“Thank you Mr. Sturm, I thought I was surely dead.”

“Don’t thank me yet, we’re seven grids away from the nearest shelter, and there’s enemies all around us. You said you wanted to be a soldier, well your training just started early.”

Sturm handed Ruthal the lasgun from the dead insurgent, and after showing him how to fire and teaching him how to make sure it doesn’t overheat, he led the Unkall boy out of the alley and down the street. Two blocks later, Sturm pulled the Unkall boy into an alley.

“Alright son, listen up. There’s about fifty armed and angry people between us and shelter. Our espace routes have been mostly cut off, so I need you to listen to me and listen well. When I tell you to run, you run as fast as you can. We should be able to get past most of them by taking the alleys across the street. I picked up some kit off one of these guys. The flashbang should buy us enough time to cross the street, but I’ll have to think of something after we get to our next crossing.”

Sturm threw the flashbang far into the crowd of terrorists, blinding a dozen of them and allowing them to cross the street. After seeing how many insurgents were at their crossing point, Sturm and Ruthal entered a tall residence building across from a big shootout between the insurgent and Unkall forces.

“Alright, we don’t stand a chance of crossing that. Here’s the plan. We’ll get up high, and then open fire on them. If nothing else, we’ll draw their attention away from the defense forces and allow them to break through.”

“I can’t. They’re people, just like us.” “Look around you kid. There’s men, women, and children all gunned down by these guys. I’m not sure what that makes them in Unkall society, but to us Terrans, they’re no longer people; they’re monsters. As a soldier, our job is to get rid of the monsters, so that everyone can sleep soundly at night knowing they’re safe. Taking a life isn’t something one does lightly, but it’s still something that has to be done. It’s better that we take them out, because if we don’t, who knows how many more people they’ll kill. We don’t do this because we like killing, we do this because we love the people we protect, and we’d give anything to keep them safe.”

“But I don’t want to hurt them.”

“I understand. I’m not sure if the Unkall have a saying like this, but Terrans sure do. You have a big heart. You want to keep people safe, not put them in the ground. But sometimes the best way to keep people safe is to put bad people in the ground. We’re between a rock and a hard place. If we sit here and do nothing, they will continue to hold this street, but if we can take them down, even just one or two of them, we can make them fight on two sides, which is the easiest way to break through an enemy line. I recognize a few of the soldiers I can see from up here. I trained them myself. They’ll realize what’s going on and they’ll do the heavy lifting; we just need to give them a helping hand. So, are you ready?”

The young Unkall nodded, then Sturm and Ruthal braced their lasguns on the windowsill, and opened fire on the street below. As Sturm said, the insurgents shifted their position, attempting to defend against incoming fire from two directions. As the Unkall defense forces broke the lines, a single shot came from the street and hit Sturm in the neck

Bleeding badly, Sturm stumbled back, Ruthall catching him in his arms. As he was losing his grasp on consciousness, Sturm held Ruthalls hand

“Never forget what happened here. Never forget the atrocities you saw with your own eyes, and never be afraid to rise up against the monsters who make things like this happen.”

With that, Sturm closed his eyes. Unkall security forces soon burst into the room, seeing the state of the old Terran, they gave him the best aid they could, and sent him off to the hospital, with Ruthall at his side.

After a lengthy surgery and two pints of blood, Sturm woke up in his hospital room, Ruthall asleep on his lap. Colonel Rengar, a soldier in the Unkall defense forces entered the room.

“So Admiral, I see your retirement is going well.”

“Can the crap Colonel. How many did we lose?”

“Casualties are still being counted, but even one is too many.”

“And what about the boy, Ruthall. Why is he still here?"

"His family were among those killed in the attack. We haven’t told him yet, just that we’re still looking for them.”

“So what will happen to him?”

“We don’t know. He doesn’t have any living family, and in our culture friend’s do not step in for situations like these. He will likely be left to become an adoptee for some family here, but after this, I’m not sure who would adopt him.”

“I will.”

“What? You can’t be serious. The looks he would get, especially here in the capital. I’m not sure if he can take it.”

“He knows my story. He knows that I take care of the ones I call family. He didn’t hesitate to pick up a rifle and follow me through the streets today, and he only barely hesitated to fight beside me. He’ll make a fine soldier, and he’ll make a damn good son. Get me the documents dammit.”

“Very well.”

Ruthall woke up, and was told about what happened. He didn’t take his family dying too well, but was glad that he would not be alone. The next day that school was in session, Admiral Sturm put on his old Terran uniform, and walked his son into class. It was not easy adjusting to caring for a young Unkall child, but it was a change that Sturm was happy to make. He had known what it was like to be alone, and now he could keep Ruthall from knowing that pain.

The End

Let me know if you guys want a follow up series about Sturm and Ruthall on Unkall Prime, and how they live their lives together.

[human-do-a-worm]

Ramblings of an Old Soldier update

Ramblings of an Old Soldier Part 3 coming out either tonight or tomorrow. I got a bit caught up in schoolwork, but I'm through it. More of Jakob's story will be fleshed out in this one, and depending on how well I can keep a coherent sentence this one will be as long as the last two or longer.

[human-do-a-worm]

It's 2:25 in the morning. I'm tired. I want to sleep. Why did I convince myself that learning Russian was a good idea? Why did I put this essay off until the last minute? Why do I do this to myself. If I even have a chance at getting into heaven, I'm going to bitch slap god for making me like this and throw it all away. And it will be well worth it.

[human-do-a-worm]

Ramblings of an Old Soldier Part 2/?

Part 1 can be found HERE

The next day, the Unkall boy came back to the old soldier, sitting on the bench where he normally does, reading his data tablet. The boy had a rather happy look on him today.

“Ah, you’re back. I take it that my story wasn’t quite enough on its own then?”

“Not quite mister. It turned out to be more than enough for my first paper. After I turned it in, my teacher said I could go ahead and write the rest of my papers for the course since I had found a primary source willing to share their experience.”

“I see. How kind of your teacher. Back when I was in school, they would have told us to stuff it.”

“So, what other stories do you have to tell?”

“How about my time in the cycle after the Martian campaign?”

“That sounds wonderful. Let me start my recorder.”

The Unkall child pushes a glowing button on his data tablet, and a blue dot appearing on the screen indicated that the recording had started

“It was less than a month after the battle on Mars; that’s one twenty-fourth of a cycle in standard units. Reconstruction had begun on mars, and the war fleets which were now all massed around Terra had been split into five groups. Group Solar and Group Lunar were the two largest of the fleets, and as such were classed together. Group Pangea, Group Gondwana, and Group Oceana were the three smaller groups, and were classed together as well. The fleets were organized in this way by Grand Admiral Demetrius, to ensure that no one fleet would have to stand against the enemy for too long a time.”

“Since I’ve brought him up, I should probably tell you a bit about the Grand Admiral. Remember what I was saying about the preparations for the battle on Mars. All the meticulous planning done to move the civilians back to Terra, and keep morale up while being an effective fighting force? Well, that came from Demetrius, and was only slightly modified by individual units as the orders were passed down the chain. His odd decision making turned out to be one of the most valuable things that humanity had, because nobody could anticipate his plans; especially the Vrumoids. He was only a rear admiral, but after his commendation, and the first victory in the war, He was immediately promoted.”

“Back to the war now. The battle plan was simple. Keep a constant pressure on the enemy, working in a single spot, pushing the enemy back system by system, and planet by planet. Where to stop would be figured out as the fleets went along. This seemed to work very well. In most systems, Groups Solar and Lunar rarely had fire a single shot. The Vrumoids would either flee or be destroyed by one of the smaller groups before the heavy guns of the heavy class ships could be brought to bear.”

“The reconquest continued almost flawlessly until there was a single human world left to reclaim. Rexorb VI was nothing more than a rock when humanity last saw it, but after looking upon it, the armada called for the command group; Group Regal; to come and take a look. At first sight of the data scans, Demetrius broke down with laughter. Failing to find the humor in this situation, his second in command asked him what was so funny.” “These poor bastards. They’ve made this planet up to be just like Mars, hoping we’ll make the same mistakes they did. Have they never been told that it’s a bad idea to try using the tactics someone created against them? They’ve made themselves the easiest targets possible for us, and what’s even better is that they did it on a mining world. There were only a few housing units on that planet, and its riches lie deep inside. This is the perfect opportunity to try a new idea.”

“With that, preparations were made swiftly, and with much laughter all around. On the back side of Rexorb VI’s moon, groups Solar, Gondwana, and Oceana moved into position, mounting themselves with their primary propulsion systems poised to drop the moon from its orbit.”

The boy spoke up

“Didn’t the Vrumoid forces on the planet notice what was happening?”

Laughing, the old man responded

“Nope. That was a benefit of only showing the enemy one small and one large battle group at a time. According to Vrumoid intelligence recovered after the war, The defenders on Rexorb VI simply thought we were just deciding how to invade properly. They had no idea Demetrius was crazy enough to consider crashing the moon into the planet, and they would have to have been crazy to even guess that the rest of the fleet would just go along with it. I know Demetrius was expecting to do some explaining to the others.”

“The High Admiral may have been absolutely insane, but he wasn’t heartless. He ordered a shuttle to take one squad and an emissary to give them one final chance to surrender. They of course, believing a ground war lay ahead, refused. That was the last mistake that the Vrumoids ever made when dealing with humanity. Exactly one planetary axis revolution after the shuttle returned to the fleet, all the pushing ships’ engines fired up. Each of the ships had worked out their individual point of no return for propelling the moon towards the planet, and had an order to pull off at what their captain deemed a safe time before reaching their point of no return. By the time the last ship pulled off, The moon was going faster than its own terminal velocity.”

“When that moon hit the surface of the planet, the entire thing cracked like a geode. After observing this from one of their comm stations, the Vrumoid Empire rushed to set up peace treaty negotiations. Of course, who was the Terran representative by unanimous vote from the United Terran Council? None other than High Admiral Demetrius. They figured that if nothing else, he could get the Vrumoids to leave humanity alone. But what he got us was something so much greater.”

“As you might have learned in class, our home system and colonies were entirely located within an isolated part of Vrumoid space. We had no knowledge of the Galactic Council Alliance, at least until one of the Vrumoid delegates at the negotiations made a mistake and asked one of his compatriots what the council would think of their actions if they ever found out. After learning that there were other intelligent species in the galaxy, Demetrius demanded that humanity be granted a swath of planets and territory directly to the territory of another GCA member.”

“This single achievement is what brought humanity forward. Demetrius did what no other Terran could do; he found sentient life that wasn’t actively trying to kill us, and he made sure we could get to them with ease. If it weren’t for him, we would have never known the GCA existed, and likely would have been either wiped out or enslaved by the Vrumoids after they rebuilt their forces.”

“Of course, after we made contact with the council, and they saw what we were able to do to a far more technologically advanced species, they demanded to see our battle reports and to speak with all the commanding officers. I remember standing there by High Admiral Demetrius’ side.”

The young Unkall spoke up ecstatically

“You were a commanding officer?”

“Sure was kiddo. Leading the charge of those bikers on mars was one hell of a brave thing, and Demetrius took note. When he got the chance to promote one of his soldiers to an admiral under his command for Group Solar, he spoke loud and clear to us and said “Where’s that crazy bastard that volunteered to charge a platoon of enemy tanks using nothing but motorcycles and bombs on sticks? I have a job for you!” That was the day I was no longer a simple marksman, I was an Admiral, and a damn good one too. My group didn’t lose a single vessel to the enemy.”

“I still remember the day I went down on that rock the day before we cracked it. The Vrumoid commander must have been watching the video recordings from when I charged the tanks, because the moment I walked into the room and she looked up at me, she looked all sorts of shaken up. When I told her that this was her last chance to accept a mercy never offered by her empire, a chance to surrender; she simply said that surrender would never come until she and her warriors no longer stood upon the planet. If only she knew the irony in those words.”

“I remember being at the peace conference, and although Demetrius had only been seen rarely by the Vrumoids, mostly in transmissions intercepted from Mars to Earth, they had seen me plenty. I think I scared them more than Demetrius did, because when I talked about how my motorcycle wasn’t out of fuel yet, they started agreeing to our demands.”

Curiously, the boy tapped something into his data tablet

“Wait a minute, are you saying that you’re Admiral Sturm?”

“Indeed I am. Admiral Jakob Sturm, service number 6556-0293-422-41, former commander of the Terran expeditionary fleet codename Solar. I proudly led my sailors, soldiers, and marines through some of the harshest battles that humanity has faced, and kept my fleet intact. I wasn’t lying when I said that I didn’t lose a ship in my group to the enemy. And after serving 10 cycles in service of my species, I left honorably.”

“So what did you do after you left? I’d imagine being an admiral is a hard job to top.”

“You’re right, admiral is a hard job to beat. I served as an ambassador of Terra for a cycle before I returned to the stars. I found some of the others from back on Mars that charged with me on that day. We were a mercenary group. We mostly took escort contracts or welfare and security for anyone we deemed especially needy. We did good work for a few cycles, but then I had to give it a rest.”

“That’s around the time your name stopped appearing in records of both the GCA and Terran reports. What happened?”

“I’ve been talking for too long. I think you might be able to get a few pages out of what I’ve said today. Better to not burn up all your content at once, right? I’ll be here again tomorrow, like I always am. I’ll tell you more then.”

“If you insist sir. I’ll be here.”

“Until then, take care. I may be old, but I still expect people to stick to a schedule.”

With that, the boy stopped his recording and went home. To meet someone as important as Admiral Sturm, who seemed to have vanished from most records 8 cycles ago, was entirely unexpected. Unexpected, but it will certainly make a wonderful paper for his teacher.

[human-do-a-worm]

Ramblings of an Old Soldier Part 1/?

The young Unkall child approached the scruffy looking Terran sitting outside the library reading from a data tablet.

“Hey, you’re a Terran, aren’t you”

“Sure am, kid.“

“I have a report on Terran history, do you know any good events I could use?”

“Maybe, but you’d just be listening to an old soldier ranting about the things he’s seen.”

“I wouldn’t mind listening if you have the time to talk, sir.”

“Alright then, I’ll tell you the story from my most important battle in the Terran-Vrumoid war.”

“Would you mind if I record it? I might need to go back over some details once I get to writing my paper.”

“Not at all kid, now sit back and get comfy, ‘cause this story’s a long one.”

“This story comes from a time when hope was lost. When the Vrumoids threatened to wipe out humanity, as impossible as that seems now. It was over 20 cycles ago that humanity was pushed back to their home system. Everyone knew that the crafty Terrans would become even more determined now, and so the Vrumoids sent the largest fleet they had ever assembled. Unfortunately for them, they had never truly seen humanity at its darkest times, and simply expected the Terrans to be a bit stronger. They were wrong.”

“The Vrumoids had studied the task ahead of them well, and were considering places to launch their first strike on the Terran home system. Europa held no direct strategic importance, it could simply be blockaded. Venus and Mercury would prove too difficult, as the fleet would have to pass beyond Terra itself to even get in striking distance. Uranus and its moons were too sparsely populated to mount an effective civilian resistance, and held nothing but a communications pose which could be simply destroyed with an orbital strike. Eventually, the Vrumoid armada settled on Mars. It had a decent military presence, as well as a significant civilian population. An attack there would surely force the Terrans to surrencer. The planet was well terraformed, and would prove to be a fine colony to the ever growing empire.”

“Unfortunately for them however, they were not fast enough to block the warnings from Uranus, and the people knew what lay ahead. All children and anyone who would not fight if need be was evacuated to Terra. Those who could manned the dense turrets or took to the skies, those who couldn’t prepared the planet for total war. The final preparations made was the commandeering of all PA and speaker systems on the planet to be controlled from the central command bunker hundreds of meters under the ground. With that completed, the bunker doors were sealed from the inside, and reinforced with sandbags and debris at every doorway. Mars was as prepared as it could be.”

“When the Vrumoid armada entered orbit, they were immediately set upon by ships of all sizes; bombers, fighters, interceptors, frigates, light cruisers, and even civilian ships, filled with boarding parties hoping to enter through a gash in a Vrumoid ship. Though ultimately a failure at destroying the fleet, those brave souls accomplished their task, and forced their enemy to descend on to the surface. The fighting was fierce. Farmers mined their fields, factory workers planted explosive charges on their warehouses, and each city had to be taken building by building, room by room. This was not a matter of win or lose, the Terrans had already known that victory was not likely. This was to make the Vrumoids pay for every inch of ground with blood, and lots of it.”

“For the first two months, the battle seemed to be a stalemate, until a clever group of Vrumoid engineers figured out how to remove some of the smaller guns from their ships and mount them to vehicles. Then the tide began to shift. First one city fell, then another, and another after that. Seeing no more need to keep their ships docked on the planet, the fleet command pulled their ships into orbit once more.”

“Eventually, the Terrans had but one stronghold left; the citadel of steel. A massive structure with anti-aircraft High Energy Laser cannons mounted atop it, and guns at every possible avenue of approach. As the now aptly named “Terra’s Doom” cannons were brought to bear on the fortress, the planet suddenly came alive. All across the planet, a single voice could be heard.”

“People of Mars. The enemy has pushed us back to the final bastion of safety on this planet. We are now forced to show our hand. Strike fierce brothers and sinister. Fight for your species, for your friends, for your family. Fight with no mercy, no respite, and no weakness. Now is our chance to show them one last display of what it means to be human. Let the sound of glorious battle fill your hearts, and don’t let our enemies rest for even a second.”

“With that, suddenly, deafening music poured across the planet. It was simple, composed of only a few instruments and played by those of talent among the commanders who were of best use at the command screen rather than on the front lines, but with each power filled note, a city on the planet came to life, from the buildings where the Vrumoid army had not bothered to check the dead, or not bothered to search every building. In but a few measures, the Vrumoid fleet command was in awe, as all across the planet, thousands of units went silent. Finally, the song ended, and Fleet command breathed a sigh of relief, but as quickly as the last song ended, another soon started.”

“Brothers, sisters, friends one and all”

“Come, gather round, and heed my call”

“Our foes draw closer, but hope is not lost”

“We’ll hold this red rock no matter the cost” “They think themselves mighty, they think themselves strong”

“But they’ll not be thinking that way for too long”

“For our people have rallied, together we fight”

“And we will not softly fade into the night” “For our cities may fall, and our walls they may rend”

“But my friends we are very far off from the end.”

“With those words echoing in their hearts, the doors of the citadel fell into their emergency holds, dropping out of the way. Thousands of Terrans, on vehicles from armored transports and tanks, to motorcycles charged the last Vrumoid battalion on the planet. The charging Terrans all knew that this was their chance. This was their final opportunity to make the Vrumoids regret ever attacking humanity. The stampede split neatly into two, surrounding the Vrumoid soldiers. No matter how many they picked off from the horde, it was not enough.”

“The first to strike were the armored vehicles designed for military use. Though they could not hope to penetrate the thick armor of their opponents, they targeted their wheels and treads, forcing the Vrumoids to simply sit and wait for what was to come, though they wouldn't have to wait very long. The riders broke off from the circling swarm, and after forming a smaller circle inside the perimeter, charged in a single line straight towards the three Terra’s Doom tanks. As the riders drew closer, the Vrumoids could clearly see that these riders were charging them with what appeared to be nothing more than simple spears. It wasn’t until the first rider drew near and the tank shook did the crew inside realise that they were doomed. Those were not spears, they were pole mines, and each one was slowly but surely chipping away at a piece of their hull.”

“The riders then finished their assault, and retreated back to the safety of the horde, which then quickly dispersed. Thinking this to be the end of the attack, the crew laughed. One of them got out of their Terra’s Doom and looked at the citadel, before quickly scuttling back inside. From the gate of the citadel came a loud rumbling. When the others looked to see what frightened their comrade, they all panicked. Four large tanks came from the gates, carrying on top of them the HEL cannons formerly mounted on top of the citadel. One by one, the HEL cannons powered up, and one by one, the Terra’s Doom tanks were destroyed.”

“Shocked by how quickly what was shaping up to be a pyrrhic victory became an even costlier defeat, the remaining Vrumoid fleet jumped the system and headed home. And that was how the war shifted, from a simple matter of planting a small fleet on a planet and killing anyone who resisted, to getting as far away from Terrans as the Vrumoids could manage.”

“Well, I think I’ve talked enough for one day. See if you can get what you need out of what I’ve said. If you can’t then just come on by the same time tomorrow, I usually come out here to relax and read the news from home.”

“Thanks for helping me out mister.”

“Don’t worry about it kid, be safe.”

With that, the Unkall child went home to begin his work.

[human-do-a-worm]

'Hey Lik'raal, we've got a box of defective grenades we have to get rid off, want to go skeet shooting?"

"What is this 'skeet shooting'?"

"Someone's going to duck behind a berm and huck these grenades at us as high as he can, then we're going to shoot them out of the sky."

"Isn't that just a waste of ammunition?"

"Maybe, but it's fun"

"So your idea of fun is putting someone's life in danger to shoot defective explosive devices out of the air directly over them?"

"Yeah."

"Barbarians... all of you"