Gall Force: Battlezone Earth

By Jason King

kingfam@worldpath.net

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Based on the Gall Force series by Movic

Written on a 386 with Windows 3.1!

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Chapter 1-

Solnoid meets Terran

Trevor Johnson was 19 years old when he and six of his friend volunteered for the Solis Alliance army. At the academy he and his friends quickly showed their skills as fighter and mech. pilots, and after a few campaigns, they were promoted to the status of the second most elite squad in the military, calling themselves the "Dark Slayers" they were stationed on the front line at the Titan base. Now they were around 21 years old or so and their squad now boasted a hefty 24 members from the original 6. Trevor considered this last mission one of his tougher ones, after all he lost two of his best men. But now all he and the guys wanted to do was relax in the rec. room and bar.

As they walked into the room they were greeted with a job well done, and sympathy for there lose, Trevor and "the guys" sat down at their usual corner table. Rob, Trevor's best friend, who was the second most sensible one of the group, picked up a magazine to read about anything that might have happened on the other fronts. Rob was the first to volunteer following the 3rd battle of Neptune.

Leo, the group's hotshot, went over to the bar. He was usually hotheaded and not very cautious, but his skills are invaluable to their squad. Basically the only person who would be able to defeat him in ship to ship combat is Lufy.

Dirk is pretty average in comparison the rest of the bunch, his best asset is his ability to look at things as realistically as possible. He considers himself as the true sane one of the group.

Yasuo is the optimist of the group. He also likes to think of himself as an amateur philosopher, his true belief is that no matter how many battles the human race could lose, they still wouldn't lose the war, simply because of the fighting spirit that he believes every man and woman has inside. He thinks of humans as the ultimate warrior race.

And the last of the six is Conrad, the group's second hotshot, but unlike Leo, Conrad fights best with a cool and clear head, the result of which makes him seem cold and anti-social. This also makes him strongly against alcohol, he says it clouds the mind too much and reduces alertness.

Trevor and Rob joined Dirk, Yasuo, and Conrad at the table. Leo was busy flirting with the ladies at the bar (with limited success). "So we lost Grin and Paul?" Dirk asked.

"Yeah," Trevor responded, " the damn ticks faked us out about halfway through the battle and got Grin when his guard was down, Paul's life support system failed and decided to do a suicide collision with one of the enemy before he lost all of his oxygen." In the war the human race has been fighting for the past fifty years, people can to refer to their enemy as "Ticks", the ticks were in fact a highly evolved and intelligent insectoid race that calls itself the Urilinoid Imperial Axis.

"That was truly an honorable sacrifice..." Yasuo responded. His "Great Warrior" philosophy truly had a grip on how the Dark Slayers fought.

"Geez that sucks, both of them were good friends, and great pilots." Conrad said, the rest nodded agreeably, they could tell even Leo was affected by the lose, the girls were actually talking nicely to him. Normally his hotheadedness repels the females of the species, but now he was actually getting sympathy from them.

"So. What about those things you found?" Dirk asked. Trying to change to a lighter subject.

"I really don't know." Trevor replied.

"We're hoping Jim will give us permission to see for ourselves." Rob added. Jim is around 65 years old and commander of the base. He trained Trevor and the guys when they first started out and since then they have come to consider him as their father figure, and close friend.

"Maybe. If we're lucky." Conrad said.

"Aw, I bet he will." Yasuo said.

"What do you think it is?" Rob asked.

"I have no idea." Trevor replied.

Jim walked down to the main lab to see what his boys had discovered. The images Trevor sent him were puzzling, those spacecraft were very human in design. Yet, they were like nothing he had ever seen before. As he came to the lab entrance he can his key card into the lock, the door opened granting him entry. The lead technician ran up to him rather excitedly, "Sir, I have something very interesting to show you."

The technician's room was a four walled room at 20x10 feet with a row of windows and computers on the wall opposite to the entrance. The windows looked down into the larger experimental room, which is currently occupied by seven glass cylinders, containing the seven surviving Solnoids, still sleeping in their cryogenic state. The technician led Jim to the window. "What the-" Jim said looking at the seven cylinders.

"These seven women are what we found in the space craft. Each of them are in perfect physical condition and could possibly be resurrected." the technician explained.

"You're kidding." Jim replied quite astonished.

"That isn't the half of it. It seems that they, and their ships, have been in this condition for three million years."

"What?!" Jim looked at the tech wide-eyed, then stared back down at the cylinders.

"Also, their technology is thousands of years ahead of ours, but we can't decipher the language to put any use to it, the characters are similar to ours and we can "sort of" read it, but the words are so alien that we have little chance of decoding the language. They do show a little similarities to ancient Latin, but even that doesn't make sense since the roman civilization didn't even rise until 3000 years ago."

"Just what are you trying to get at?" Jim asked.

"Well, we would like to try to resurrect them. Those tubes are designed for it." The tech said pointing to the cylinders. "Maybe they could explain things."

"Hmmm. I will grant you permission, but there is a catch."

"The catch being?"

"You must promise not to turn them into any sort of guinea pigs after the resurrection. In fact, I want you to grant them full citizenship rights."

"You can't be serious."

"Oh, but I am, they ARE human beings after all, no matter how old they are, or their origins. I will bring them under the guidance of my group until they are accustomed to our society enough to live on their own. I don't think they put themselves in cryofreeze for a million years just to be the guinea pigs of some inferior civilization."

"I see your point, but isn't "your group" that bunch of crack pilots?"

"Yes, but they are the most down-to-earth people I know."

"Well, I guess I really don't have much choice, you are the base commander after all." the tech said, starting to agree with Jim's plan, "begin the resurrection process."

"Yes sir!" one of the lesser techs said as he quickly went to the controls.

The human resurrection process was in fact very similar to the Solnoid process, but of course, with the limited human technology, the process was slower.

Rabby slowly came to consciousness, upon awakening, her first thought was that maybe the life support on here fighter failed, with that she started moving her arms around expecting to feel the crampness of the fighter cockpit, but instead she felt a warm fabric, like that of a bed sheet. She opened her eyes. The light was almost blinding, and she closed her eyes again, this time she opened them more slowly to allow them to adjust, 'What is this place?' she thought to herself. She found herself lying in a bed in a brightly-lit white room. There were curtains on either side, and a uniform of some sort was sitting at a table beside her. Curiously the room was very Solnoid-like in design, walls placed in perpendicular angles at a height of a Solnoid. The bed and table also seemed to be designed for the Solnoid body type. 'Could I be back on a ship? How long was I out? Where's Patty??' these questions quickly repeated themselves inside her brain, but at the same time, she began to have doubts as to who or what lived in this ship. The first thing she noticed was that the bed seemed longer, and the ceiling was higher. She looked down at her wrist and found some sort of plastic tube leading to a bag filled with some sort of liquid connected to her veins. "What is this?" she asked out loud. She wanted to pull it out, but common sense told her not too. She sat up and turned around for a closer look at the bag, it had a label on it, but it was written in a language she had never seen before in her life. "What is this place?" she asked again.

"Wh- Where am I?" came the voice of some other girl behind the right-hand curtain, wait a sec, it was Patty.

"Patty!" Rabby called.

"Rabby, is that you?", Patty asked, glad to hear a familiar voice, "Where are we?"

"I wish I knew." soon Rabby heard sleepy groans coming from other beds. Two of them sounded remarkably like Catty and Lufy. But that was impossible. Still she decided to ask anyways, "Lufy...? Catty...? Is that you?"

The curtain to Rabby's left rolled open as Lufy pushed it aside. "Rabby! You're ALIVE!"

"Lufy! It is you!" Rabby cried in joy.

"Lufy?!" Patty rolled her curtain aside, and sure enough, there was Rabby and Lufy." I don't believe it!"

"We're alive again!" Spea said coming to realize the great moment.

Even Catty could not believe it, her fears came to be untrue, and they did get revived!

Shildy could not find the words to express her relief and joy. All of their fears and questions subsided as the moment of the reunion over took them. This was the happiest moment of their lives. Catty looked over the plastic tubing and came to the conclusion that it would be safe to remove them now. "I think we can remove these tubes in our arms." Catty said pointing to the loose connection to the flesh.

Each of them removed the tubes and put on the uniforms, which actually fit very well. Rabby walked over to Catty, still in disbelief. Catty knew of Lufy's story about Rabby, Patty, Eluza and the others and knew that Rabby must have thought she was the Catty lost on the Star Leaf. "I know what you are going to ask, and no, I am not the Catty on the Star Leaf."

"What?" Rabby looked confused. Lufy quickly came to explain.

"So there were more than one Catty?" Rabby asked.

"Yes." Lufy replied.

"What happened ten years later?" Patty asked, over hearing the conversation.

"The war ended..." Shildy answered.

"Ended? Did we win?" Patty asked.

"No, both of us were destroyed in a horrible battle at Sigma Narse, we are the only survivors..."

Jim explained to Trevor and the other five what they had found, and the deal he struck with the techs. News of seven women from space who were frozen for three million years had just blown their minds. "You have to be kidding!" Leo said in disbelief.

"I don't kid Leo, and you know that." Jim replied, "Now I understand how weird this must be for all of you, but I would never trust these aliens with anyone else."

"Geez Jim, we didn't know you were such a humanitarian." Leo said.

"Well now you do. So are you going to see them or not? I just got word that they woke up fifteen minutes ago."

"Well sure." Dirk said.

"Just one more thing, they have a really ancient language that we are having difficulty decoding, but using some of our references from other ancient languages we have been able to come up with a few words and sentences. Stuff like hello and all that. Just so we can introduce ourselves."

"Well that's a plus." Rob said.

And so, Jim taught them the essential words and phrases as they went over to the medical block of the base.

"Say what about the rest of the squad?" Trevor asked.

"They will be introduced eventually." Jim replied as they came up to the door.

Shildy had just finished explaining the last ten years of the Solnoid-Paranoid war as Jim, Trevor, and the others came into the room. Patty and Rabby were instantly stunned by what they saw, these people looked like Patty's offspring. Catty also understood who these sentient life forms were. Lufy and the others had never seen the third race before and didn't know what to think.

Jim was the first to speak. "Hello and welcome to Titan" he said in a very butchered form of Solnoid.

Understanding the friendly greeting, Shildy responded in the correct Solnoid. Rabby figured they must have just learned a little of Solnoid before coming here. An awkward silence followed. Rabby was the next to speak, this time introducing herself and the others in a simplistic form of Solnoid, hoping these representatives of the 3rd race could understand her.

The six pilots and Jim were next to speak, each one introducing himself. Now that the ice was broken a little, Jim tried to direct the Solnoids to the exit using a combination of Solnoid, English, and hand gestures. The six pilots were impressed with their commander's amazing skills in language. They make their way out of the medical room and took a walk over to the transport that would take them back to the barracks area.

Leo, rather embarrassingly, found himself "checking out" Lufy and a few of the others, but he couldn't help it. 'Wow, what babes.'

"Don't be getting any ideas Leo." Rob teased him.

"Hey man, I wouldn't think of it." Leo replied.

"Yeah right." Rob retorted.

"Sheeesh, I get no respect!" Leo said as they stepped into the barracks transport.

"Maybe if you didn't act like a dick in front of the women you would get some respect." Rob suggested.

"Oh shut up." Leo said looking defeated.

Rob laughed.

This turn of events made Shildy wonder how long they were out even more, she expected it to be a long time, but how long was it really. Were these people aware of their origins? She supposed not, if that were true, would they be able to accept it?

"Shildy?"

"Hm? What is it Spea?"

"Do you know where they are taking us?" Spea asked.

"No not really." Shildy replied.

"Do you think we are on some sort of ship?" Spea asked.

"It's a possibility, but I don't know, I guess they will explain to us, if they can learn more of our language."

"Yes, I could tell almost right away that they weren't native speakers of Solnoid." Rabby added.

"Yes, when their leader, or who I guess is their leader, slipped into that other language I had gotten kind of confused." Spea said

"What strange words they use. I do say it wouldn't be easy for us to speak that language." Shildy replied.

"I'm surprise they knew any Solnoid at all." Lufy said.

"Actually, I think it would be quite possible to learn their language, even make translators, all I would need is access to a computer." Catty said, coming into the conversation.

"You could really do that?" Rabby asked.

"Yes, I am myself, a computer in a way."

The transport zoomed along a rail system taking them to the dome, which contains the barracks and recreational rooms. There were still no windows along the walls to show the Solnoids where they really were. It would just have to be a surprise. The ride on the transport was quite comfortable. It had soft plush gray seats and it was well lit, actually everything in the place was white, gray and well lit. The only word the Solnoids could think of to describe the place was "interesting".

The transport finally stopped upon arriving at the barracks dome. When they got out, Jim turned around and picked up some pieces of paper, "Okay girls, this door over here is the entrance to your living quarters. In my hands I have a map for each of you which explains to you how to get around this part of the base." Saying this was especially difficult for him since he only knew a little Solnoid, but fortunately, the Solnoids knew what he was trying to say. The labels on the maps were written in the Solnoid text characters, but some of the words were the English ones.

"Well, I guess we should check out these living quarters." Rabby said.

As the rest of the Solnoids went into their room, Jim tried explaining to Shildy (who he guessed was the leader of the group) that he had finish some other business and wouldn't be able to guide them for a while. Trevor and his friends showed the Solnoids around the area, there was a bathroom, ten beds, shelves for clothing and other things a bedroom would have. The room also had a window, which was the first thing the Solnoids went to. "Hmm, I think we are still on that moon." Lufy said.

"I think you are right." Rabby said.

Trevor and his friends just stood there, confused by the Solnoid language. "You know, their language is almost a cross between Latin and a bunch of other European languages."

Catty realized this language problem would probably need to be fixed quickly if they and the Terrans would ever be able to communicate. "Shildy, I am going to try to see if I can get to a computer and bring down this language barrier."

"Good idea, go ahead." Shildy replied.

Catty turned around to talk to Trevor, or at least try to communicate. She figured that the best way to explain to him what she wanted was to try to draw what she wanted, but her problem was, she had no idea what a Terran computer would look like, so she took a piece of paper a pencil off of a desk and tried drawing a generic computer, with a monitor and key pad. She then presented it to him.

"Computer?" Trevor correctly guessed.

Catty nodded and tried asking where.

"Follow me." he motioned with his hand.

Trevor took her out of the room and to an elevator which would take them to the computer and entertainment floor. Each of the rooms in the floor contained all sorts of computer entertainment devices, social rooms like dance clubs, theaters, and lounges. 'If this is a military facility, Terrans sure treat their soldiers well.' She thought to herself.

Trevor picked a computer room and brought Catty in, but upon entering Catty appeared nervous, there were other Terrans inside. Trevor was unaware of Catty's true nature and did not understand why she looked so nervous. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Can you bring me to another room, with no people?"

Trevor looked confused, but eventually figured out what she was asking. Trevor found a smaller room with just one computer and Catty was quite pleased. She immediately sat down and went to work, she pulled out the network cord from the computer and opened a hatch on her arm. Upon seeing that, Trevor jaw dropped and his brain suddenly felt overwhelmed. 'Holy shit! She's an ANDROID!' he thought to himself. 'This is nuts.'

Catty quickly assimilated herself with the computer's hardware and software and had the English language put into her system. Now everything the Terrans said previously made sense. But it explained nothing about their culture. Realizing the shock Trevor was in, she felt it was time to speak. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"You, you're an android!?" Trevor slowly came to his senses, and realized she had just spoken to him in English, "you spoke English, is that why you needed the computer?

"Yes, to both questions. I felt the language problem was to hard on both of us so I decided to see if I could learn your language and act as translator for a while."

"Well this definitely makes things easier. But now I don't know what to talk about."

Catty laughed at this remark, how funny it was, you have so much to say when you can't understand someone but when you do finally understand, you don't know where to begin. Trevor laughed at this too, but also raised a question about Catty. "So you are an android right?"

"Correct."

"And you have emotions too?"

"Yes, I was programmed to think and behave exactly like a normal Solnoid."

"So you have every emotion that I have? And you can think like me too?"

"Yes."

"Wow." Trevor was truly impressed, "We have androids and robots too, but none of them are as advanced as you, sure they can do stuff, but they can't think for themselves or have emotions. Hell, the androids we have barely even look like us! But you, you look exactly like a human! Is that real skin?"

"Yes, it is, and some of my internal components are genetically engineered organs too, I also have blood."

"Whoa..."

"Human? Is that what you call yourselves?"

"Uh, yes, it is. Is Solnoid the word for your people?"

"Yes"

"Boy, I can't wait until the guys see this. Shall we head back?"

"I think we should."

"Is your brain organic or silicon?"

"It is silicon."

"Which of your organs are the real ones?"

"Mostly the digestive ones, I do have a heart and lungs, but I need only a small fraction of the oxygen you need. I need to eat to maintain my power supply, and neither myself or my friends have eaten since we went in cryofreeze."

"Come to think of it, I haven't had any breakfast, or lunch."

"Do you know how long we were in cryofreeze?"

"I think it was three million years, my squad found you in one of our actions." They arrived at the elevator and stepped inside, Trevor pushed the button to the living quarters.

"Action? A military action? Are you at war?"

"Yes unfortunately. We have been at war for fifty years now. But I don't want to concern you with that right now. We could probably use dinner."

In the living quarters the Terrans and Solnoids sat around silently, there was definitely some difficulty communicating between them. Although, some of they guys were starting to get interested in their guests. Leo was really starting to like Lufy, he could instantly tell she was a fighter pilot. Actually, he noticed that most of them had seen some sort of combat, maybe even all of them, but he had a hard time believing that the fifteen year old with the glasses could be a soldier. Two of them had some pretty unusual hair, one had a really dark blue tint to hers and the one who left with Trevor had a purplish hair color. Even the one called Lufy had a green streak in hers.

Just then Trevor walked in with the purple hared girl named Catty, "Hey guys want some dinner, it's about that time."

"Hell yeah, I'm starved!" Leo said.

"Sounds like a great idea to me." Rob said.

Catty translated what Trevor just said and the Solnoids gave an equally enthusiastic response. The thirteen of them went back to the elevator and crowded inside.

"So you managed to learn their language?" Shildy asked.

"Yes, It is actually a very complex one, I counted between 750,000 to one million words in their vocabulary." Catty answered.

"750,000. Wow that is a lot." Shildy replied.

"And actually, their grammar system is almost exact to ours, learning their language would simply be a matter of learning their equivalents to our words."

"And we could put the words together and get an understandable sentence?"

"Yes."

"Well that makes things easier. Could you teach us some of it over the night?"

"Maybe, it would obviously take you longer than it took me. Maybe if I put together a design for some translators and gave it to their commander."

"How do you know he is a commander?" Shildy asked.

"Trevor told me that they are currently at war, he has not told me with whom yet, but this is apparently a military installation, the largest in the 9th system."

"So we are still in the 9th system."

"Yes, in fact, we are still on the same moon we crashed into."

"Hey, what are you talking about?" Trevor asked.

"We are discussing our situation." Catty answered in English.

"Ah, I see." Trevor replied.

"She speaks English?!" Rob asked surprised. The other Terrans also called attention

"Yes, I asked Trevor for access to a computer and used it to learn your language." Catty answered.

"She is an android, she hooked herself up to the computer and downloaded the language." Trevor explained.

"Whoa dude!" Dirk said.

"Dude? What is dude?" Catty asked.

"Dude is a slang word we use to name the male of our species." Yasuo said trying to get the opportunity to talk.

"What are they saying?" Shildy asked Catty.

"I told them that I am an android, and one of them used a slang term I was unfamiliar with, so Yasuo explained to me what it meant.

"Oh."

The elevator stopped at the top floor and brought them to a restaurant, they stepped out.

"Wow, food, doesn't it smell great!" Amy said.

"If this is a military facility I sure would like to see what it's like to be civilian!" Lufy added.

Catty translated what Lufy and Amy said to Trevor. "In our civilization we believe that soldiers who are treated right fight best." He explained. Catty repeated it to the Solnoids.

"Hell I like that philosophy!" Lufy said.

"This is actually a commercial restaurant, civilians from the arcology come here to work and get paid." Rob pointed out. Catty translated that too.

"That isn't a bad idea." Patty said.

They all picked a table and waited to be served. The Solnoids couldn't wait to find out what sort of foods the Terrans ate. The Terrans were feeling a little more cautious. "I'm not quite sure what they would be able to eat." Trevor said.

"Your right, maybe Earth food is absolutely nothing like they have ever eaten. Could their digestive systems handle it." Conrad said.

"Catty, what kind of food do you guys eat?" Rob asked.

"We ate genetically engineered foods designed to maintain perfect physical condition." Catty replied.

"Erk! I don't think there is anything in this menu like that. It's all food like pizza, hamburgers, hotdogs, steak, pork, and other meat. There are some salads and soups, but the salad is as healthy as you are going to get." Leo said.

Catty took note and explained it to the rest of the Solnoids.

"Hell, you only live once! I'll pick what ever they recommend." Lufy said.

The others agreed, if the Terrans could live off of it, so can the Solnoids.

"My friends say they are willing to try what ever you like to eat." Catty said. With this said the six Terrans buried their heads into the menus. After a consensus was made the Terrans announced their decision.

"We have decided to order two big pepperoni pizzas. There isn't too many people who don't like pepperoni pizza." Trevor said.

"That sounds fine." Catty turned to her friends and explained to them what they would be eating.

Soon enough the pizzas came and they ate. It was pretty good, and the drink the Terrans called "cola" wasn't half-bad either, it was strange stuff, it had a strong indescribable flavor and it fizzed in the mouth. Rabby liked it especially. The pizza was greasy though.

"Well that hit the spot." Leo said patting his belly.

"So what do you want to do now?" Dirk asked, feeling full.

"I don't know about you guys but I am ready for bed, besides, we have another patrol tomorrow." Trevor said.

"Does this moon see much action?" Catty asked, suddenly reminded off the war the Terrans are caught up in.

"Well, it's been getting more than it used to. I can remember only has one live confrontation with the Urilinoids when I first got here about two years ago, but now we get an attack almost everyday. You see, our defensive line on the seventh planet has been weakening and the Urilinoids have been getting more opportunities to attack us." Trevor responded.

"Paranoids? Did you say Paranoids?" Catty asked, very alarmed.

"No, not Paranoid, Urilinoid. They are a race of highly intelligent insects, about our size, and they have a technology-based culture. They wiped out the resources on their home planet and are trying to take over ours. For about 45 years we managed to hold them off at the orbit of the ninth planet, the one we called Pluto, that was until they brought in two large warships they call planet destroyers and blew up Pluto and its moon. Since then our defensive lines have been disintegrating and we lost the eighth planet as well. The line at the seventh planet will disintegrate soon, and when they finally do bring in their planet destroyers, we'll be waiting there to nuke 'em." Trevor asked.

"Planet destroyers!!!" Catty was shocked, appalled, frightened, and angry all at the same time. "Do you have them too?!"

"No. Our technology isn't as advanced as theirs, the only reason we've been holding them off, is our will to survive and fight." Trevor said, Yasuo grinned when Trevor mentioned the "great human will" in his philosophy. Even though this was such a grim subject, most of them believed they would win. Yasuo believed this especially.

"We can talk more about this tomorrow, we really do need our sleep." Rob said with a yawn.

"I guess we should go back to our quarters." Catty said rising out of her seat, the others followed.

Upon getting back, the men went back to their quarters and the Solnoids returned to theirs. Curious as to what was in the dressers, Rabby pulled open a shelf, and inside it were here vest, earrings and old uniform. "Oh, Hey! Our old uniforms are in here!"

"Really!" Lufy asked. "All of them?"

"Yes, check it out." Rabby pointed at the shelf's contents. And lo and behold, there they were.

"Well, I'm starting to feel at home a little more now, at least we have our clothes. These Terran uniforms just aren't me." Lufy said pulling hers off to go to bed.

"Yes I have to agree, I'm not used to the fabric they use, whatever it is." Spea said.

While the rest of them were discussing the Terran uniforms, Catty sat down to designs a translator. Using the sudden knowledge she obtained from the computer, she began drawing and writing on paper the potential translator device, it would be as big as shred of paper and be inserted under the scalp of the user, there microchips would relay information from the English language into the Solnoid brain. Catty had already written about two pages of its design when Patty and Amy walked up to her. "What are you doing Catty?"

"I am working on a translation device for us, fortunately the Terrans are advanced enough to have the technology to make one." Catty explained.

Patty looked at one of the diagrams, "Inserted in the scalp? I don't like that idea."

"Do not worry, the procedure will be painless and can be done during Trevor's patrol. I am almost finished with the design right now. And if I understand this map correctly, I should be able to find the base commander in his office before he goes to sleep." Catty pointed to Jim's office on the map. It was in the direct center.

Shildy also walked over to Catty's desk, but for a different reason. "Catty, what were you and the Terrans talking about? Twice you looked very alarmed, even shocked."

"We were talking about the war they are involved in, I would prefer not to talk about it until these translation devices are completed. There is so much I would much rather you be able to hear it as they are saying it rather than me relay the information to you."

"Could you at least summarize to me what they said?"

"To put it simply, they are facing an enemy more advanced than themselves, an enemy that has planet destroyers."

"Did you say planet destroyers?!"

"Yes, and from what I heard, two of the outer planets have already been destroyed."

Shildy's heart sank, the idea of fighting yet another war with planet destroyers sickened her. "Do you think they have a chance?"

"They seem to think they do. And if they think they do, that in itself could be enough."

"They must have some trick up their sleeves."

"Maybe." Catty finish with her design on the third page. She then stood up, "I have just finished the design, I will be back in a short while."

"Okay."

Jim was running through some reports from the day's patrol, yet another confrontation, this time with only two enemy mechs, but that was still more than they ever had for the past 47 years, now they get an attack almost every day.

"I sure hope we get those destroyers before they reach Saturn, otherwise I think we may be doomed." Jim just finished reading the last report when he heard a knocking on his door.

"You may come in." The door opened and Catty came walking inside. "You?" he cleared his throat, "How may I help you?" He said in Solnoid.

"Oh, you no longer need to speak to me in my language, I had taken the liberty to learn yours." Catty said

"What? How, it's only been 2 hours." Jim was confused.

"I am an android, I had Trevor take me to one of your computers so I could download your language into my system."

"Uh huh..." Jim said, "Well, with that matter aside, what did you come to see me for?"

"I have a design plan for a translation device you can use on my friends, but I need you to give it to your technicians for assembly." She handed him the plan and he briefly looked at it.

"How did you come to be familiar with our technology?"

"As I downloaded your language I found some files that gave me some very valuable information concerning your computer technology."

"Well, I see. I'll give it to them right away. Why don't you come with me?"

"I appreciate the offer, but I am quite tired myself and could use some sleep, I trust you will give it to them."

"Yes I will, thank you, and don't worry your secret is safe with me."

"What? That I am an android?"

"Yes, If the techs knew you were an android they would go nuts."

"I see. Well then I thank you. Good bye." Catty walked out the door and back to the Solnoid quarters.

"Good night."

To be continued…