The fleet moved into permanent orbit, and powered up their weapons again. The planet was known to have ground to space weapons and was probably going to use them. The minimal damage that had been obtained during the battle with the Sekotian space forces was being repaired. It wasn’t much, but it was substantial damage to the shields of the TDY vessels.
Radon looked over a topographical map of the region that had been obtained during the planets membership in the confederacy. It wasn’t fully completed but it did show all of the locations of the planets space weapons. These were numerous and proved to be shielded somewhat.
Most of the shielding was only by foliage and ground cover, but shields protected some of the weapons. These shields would have to come down before the weapons could be destroyed. Radon ordered the fleet to open up on the shielded weapons just as the weapons opened up on the fleet.
The weapons had less shields than the fleet did and proved to be easy targets. After only a few minutes of bombardment, the shields on the weapons were down. Another blast from the fleets’ guns reduced the weapons to shrapnel. They hadn’t been very affective against the capital ships.
Radon switched the focused to the other unshielded weapons. They were easier targets most of the time. Some of them, however, proved to be mobile. These were much harder to hit and would require starfighters to eliminate. Radon decided to send the starfighters in.
Adrian received orders from command to assemble his squadron. The others were being assembled as well. They met in the briefing room, and were told what they would be doing. It didn’t sound too difficult, but he knew that meant it would be.
For the most part, their mission would be to take out the mobile weapons platforms. Most of these were similar to juggernauts only more mobile. Their other job would be to take down the starfighters that would come up to meet them. These fighters were all atmospheric and would be hard to beat.
The newest fighters in TDY’s arsenal, the Rapyirs, were built for speed and maneuverability in all types of conditions. That meant they were fast in atmosphere, but probably not as fast as the Sekotian ships. The Rapyir was armed well and had decent shielding, but was outnumbered.
The Sekotian ships, as seen in Prince Kamon’s courier the Hope, were extremely fast and could outrun a lot of vessels. They were also armed fairly well. While no two looked alike, they could easily be picked out in a dogfight. The enemy supposedly numbered close to 100 while the TDY fighters only numbered 72. TDY only had a wing at its disposal.
Adrian and his pilots suited up and headed for their respective ships. The only fighters TDY used were Rapyir’s. That meant friendly fire was all but impossible. No other faction had the technology to build a Rapyir.
The pilots climbed in and started up the ships. All reported in to Adrian that they were powered up and ready to go. Adrian radioed in to control that they were ready and he was given the ok to move.
A single wag of his wings told the squadron that they were good to go. Adrian kicked in his repulsors and glided through the MagCon field. Outside, he kicked in the ships engines and the rest of the squadron formed up. Gold was the second Squadron to head for the planet. They were only passed up by Major Janson’s Spirit Squadron. Janson’s group was the best squadron in the navy.
The ships headed for the planet, and powered up weapons and shields. They breached the atmosphere to the unwelcome fire of the mobile artillery. Spirit squadron was attacking the first group of the vehicles, and Gold squadron headed for the other group. Two flyby’s resulted in the destruction of the vessels.
The five TDY Rapyir squadrons that had been sent down to the planet began to circle around looking for hidden weapons emplacements. They were almost finished when all of a sudden; enemy fighters appeared on their rear scope. The nimble Rapyir’s turned and headed for the enemy fighters.
They blasted into the midst of them after taking out some of the ships. A huge dogfight ensued. TDY hadn’t seen such a battle in a very long time. The fighter pilots welcomed it, but command didn’t like it.
Adrian turned sharply left by swinging one wing down and keeping the other vertical. He came in behind an enemy fighter that was heading after one of Spirit’s fighters. From the looks of it, the Spirit’s were the main targets.
They must know of Spirit’s rep. They’re trying to earn themselves personal glory.
It also left many enemy ships open to assault from the rear. The pilots of the ships must not have been very experienced because they were not worthy opponents of the Tholatin vessels. The battle didn’t last very long. The results were devastating to both sides.
The Sekotians had lost all but three of their ships. The remaining ships were limping back to their hangars. TDY had lost five pilots from Spirit squadron. Seeing as all of the 100 enemy vessels had targeted them, it was to be expected. It wasn’t welcome however. TDY didn’t like losing people.
New orders came in. The fighters were ordered to fly over the planet in preparation for the landing of the troops. They didn’t want any hidden traps sprung on the nearly helpless transports. Adrian ordered his squadron to begin, then got lost in the work.
Radon thought the fighters had done well, considering the circumstances. The loss of some of Major Janson’s men was expected, but he hadn’t expected so many of them to be killed. He didn’t like it.
He moved on to the other matters at hand. The shuttlecraft and other landing craft were being loaded with TDY ground forces. Most of which were plain army. A select few were being loaded with elite forces. These elite forces, the Royal Phalanx Guard Corp, would be taking on the tougher situations.
The landing craft were mostly being loaded with BLAV’s. The Bugroth Land Assault Vehicle was the newest weapon in TDY’s arsenal. It was technically just an improved version of the chicken walker, but had extra bonuses. It was a lot faster, and had more firepower.
Radon passed on the word for the shuttle’s and landing craft to begin landing the ground forces. A few minutes later, the craft were headed for the specified drop zone to the north of the main village. The fighters were already scouring the area for weapons emplacements that would threaten the ground forces. They didn’t find much however. That might or might not be a good sign.
General Skai, the head of the Tholatin Drive Yards military forces, was leading the assault on Zonama Sekot. He was onboard the second shuttle craft to head for the planet. Peering out the window, he watched as the planet closed in on them.
He admired the planets landscape. Except for the southern half of the sphere, it was quite a lush and vibrant planet. Full of different trees, and the trees that produced the famed seed partners, it offered quite a wide variety of places to hide just about anything.
This meant they would be doing some jungle warfare. It wasn’t that he wasn’t accustomed to it he just didn’t like it. Jungle warfare was not his area of expertise. He was better trained for urban warfare.
No matter. A few moments later he had landed and was setting up his forward command center. Ground forces were already unloading. The perimeter had been secured by one of the two divisions of RPGC. The other RPGC division would move into the city with a squad of Bugroth’s.
Approximately twenty minutes from the order to move, all of the troops and equipment had been landed. The Bugroth’s had been powered up, and their crews were onboard awaiting the order to move. When General Skai was satisfied that everything was ready, he gave the order to move.
The first division to move out was the 2nd Harbinger Division. Along with it was a squad of Bugroth’s. They had been assigned the mission of cutting a path to the mountains. Supposedly the planet Prime Minister was located in a building there. They moved out to the left and were soon out of sight.
The next group to move was the other RPGC division. The 23rd Marion division was on its way to the city. With it was another squad of BLAV’s. This group specialized in Urban Warfare and would neutralize any troops in the city.
A few minutes later, after the rest of the army divisions and Bugroth squadrons moved out, word came in that the 2nd Harbinger had come across a battalion of TDY troops. This was interesting news. TDY hadn’t known that any troops were still on the planet. General Skai ordered them to come back to the base camp.
The next news to come in was that the 23rd Marion had made it to the city without much incident. They had, however, encountered much opposition inside the city limits. The Bugroth’s had handled all the heavy installations and were working on troops while the TDY troops scoured buildings.
Sergeant Delear was sitting in his Bugroth just on the outskirts of the capital city. The 23rd Marion was all around it watching the city. No contact had been made so far, but they expected heavy opposition in the city.
Moments later, the troops began to move, and Delear put his BLAV into motion. It hadn’t taken long for anti-infantry weapons to open fire on the troops. Delear keyed in his lasers and opened fire on the nearest emplacement.
The emplacement burst into flames, and Delear forced his Bugroth into a hard run. He moved towards the heart of the city with another Bugroth at his side. They stopped just on the edge of the square and Delear keyed in his radar.
He was glad he had. Just around the corner on both sides was a weapons emplacement and five to ten troops each. Delear motioned for the other Bugroth to take the right while he would take the left.
He switched over to grenades, and turned the vehicles upper body to face left. He moved around the corner and fired a grenade. It landed squarely between the legs of one of the soldiers. That was the last that soldier had of his life.
The grenade exploded taking all the enemy forces with it. Delear turned to look at the other Bugroth and saw that it too had dealt with the enemy troops. He turned back the way he came and headed for the rest of the fight.
General Skai looked up as a haggard looking bunch of individuals came into the clearing. He knew through obvious reasons that these were the troops that had been on the planet for a while. He left the command center and headed over to the leader of the group. The leader saluted him immediately.
“General Skai. It is an honor to meet you sir.”
“May I ask your name soldier?”
“Colonel Duschai, sir.”
“Colonel, why are you still on the planet after this long of a time? Why did you not contact us?”
“We were unable to sir. The Sekotians cut us off from our supplies and forced us to move into the jungle. Ever since then, we’ve been performing hit and runs to try and get our equipment back. We have been unsuccessful.”
“I see. Well, you were outgunned. It is to be expected that you would fail in your attempts. I have sent for shuttle’s to come and pick you up. You’ll be taken up to one of the ships in orbit. There you will be fed a decent meal and given some new clothes. You should all take a shower as well.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”
“You’re welcome Colonel.”
Skai walked back towards the command center. There he sat down. The only new news was that the Prime Minister had been caught. He was being held in his living facility, and was waiting for a commanding officer to come and debrief him. Skai decided it was time he contact Admiral Mont.
Radon looked up as the Communications officer said something. He hadn’t heard it at first, so he asked him to repeat it.
“General Skai wishes to speak with you, sir.”
“Very well. Put him onscreen.”
“Yes, sir.”
A moment later, the screen turned on and the visage of General Skai formed on it. The General saluted Radon, and he saluted back.
“General Skai. What do you have to report?”
“Admiral the city is taken. All pockets of resistance have either been destroyed or taken prisoner. The Bugroth’s worked to perfection. We actually made a discovery. It appears the a division of our troops has been on the planet since Zonama withdrew form the coalition.”
“That doesn’t make sense. We wouldn’t leave anyone behind. Did the commanding officer say why they had not contacted us before?”
“He did, sir. He reported that he was unable to contact us because the Sekotians cut the troops off from their supplies. They were then forced into the jungle where they have been living off the land for some time. They attempted to retrieve their supplies multiple times, and every time they met with defeat. I’m sending them up by shuttle.”
“Very good, General. What other news do you have?”
“It has been brought to my attention that the Prime Minister has been captured in his home. He is currently under guard and cannot get away. We have eliminated all of the troops in the area. I suggest that you come down and interrogate him.”
“Your suggestion is well stated. I think I will take you up on it. It seems the plausible thing to do. Very well. I shall fly in immediately. You are dismissed General.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Radon stood up. He had every intention of taking one of the shuttlecraft down to the planet. He did want an escort however.
“Captain.”
“Yes, sir?”
“Order Commander Adrian’s Gold Squadron to come back up and refuel.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Once they had refueled, I want them to escort my shuttle. I am going to go down to the Prime Ministers house and pay him a little visit. I don’t want any unexpected surprises to pop up.”
“Yes, sir.”
The Captain went about his business. Radon turned and, with his two RPGC guards, headed toward the lift. He entered it and keyed in the authorization to take him to the docking bay. It stooped a few moments later, and the three occupants stepped out.
Radon and his Guards walked over and boarded the shuttle. Radon sat down and made sure that he was strapped in tight. It was possible they may encounter some unfriendliness on the way down.
A few moments later, the Rapyir’s had refueled and were ready to go. Radon’s shuttle took off and formed up with the fighters. They then headed for the planet.
Breaching the atmosphere, Radon took his first real look at the planet. It was a stunning sight. A lush and beautiful planet. It was one that he would enjoy visiting on his off time. The shuttle swept in towards the mountain home of the Prime Minister.
Landing on the pad outside of the home, the shuttle powered down. Radon and his two guards walked off the craft and headed towards the monstrous building. It was a grand home. It wasn’t bigger than Prince Kamon’s castle, but it was still pretty good size.
They entered and were greeted by a sergeant. The sergeant led them through many halls before stopping. He motioned for them to enter and then left. It was apparent by the guards that this was where the Prime Minister was being held.
Radon opened the door and walked in. The room was a grand hall. Lining the walls were many paintings and tapestries. They were all so grand and told him much. Many of them depicted scenes from the planets history. It was something that would have to be studied later.
Sitting at a table in the center of the room with two guards around him, was a pale and haggard looking man. It was odd that the man would look so bad considering his status. Radon sat across from him and noticed why he looked so bad.
The man was very old. Probably old enough to be Radon’s grandfather. That was quite a shock. The man would probably die soon, and no one would know about it. That was a little disturbing.
“I am Admiral Radon Mont of the Tholatin Drive Yards Navy. I understand that you are the Prime Minister.”
The man only nodded in acknowledgement.
“Good. As you know, you militarily withdrew from the TDY coalition. That is unacceptable and was stated so in the charter that you signed. It stated that any military force against the coalition would be met with swift and harsh punishment.
“Well. We have come to deal out that punishment. We have already eliminated or captured all of your ground forces. Your naval forces are destroyed. Your weapons have been destroyed. You no longer pose a threat to us. As such, we are moving for a regime change.
“You are hereby removed from the position of Prime Minister. A person of the people’s choosing will replace you. There is nothing that you can say or do to stop this.”
“This is unacceptable. Nothing in the charter said anything…”
“The charter told you all that I have just told you.” Radon cut him off. “Like I said, there is nothing you can do. Zonama Sekot will become part of the coalition again. This time, you will not be leaving.”
Radon stood up and said no more. His mission was complete. Zonama Sekot had once again been added to the coalition. This time, a new Prime Minister would assure that this incident never happened again.
The vote would take place the next day, and the new Prime Minister would be in office by tomorrow night. Then, the fleet would head back to Tholatin, and all would be well. Until then, Radon intended to get some sleep.
He boarded his shuttle and headed back up to his flag ship. There, with his guards outside the door, he settled into bed. He would sleep well this night. There wouldn’t be any more work to do in the morning.
