Johnson II
Johnson refills his veggie smoothie glass, then folds his hands over his lap as I continue the interview.
Q: What was the combat in Low Earth Orbit like?
A: It was a collection of rather tense moments. The first of said moments was the launch itself. We were based in New Mexico, near the border with Colorado, which thankfully meant there were no civilians nearby to endanger. However, there was still a worry that our thrust bombs would have a, er, mishap. It's not terrible if the first bomb misfires, actually. That means the ship simply stays put. If the second bomb fails, however, then the ship would hit the ground hard, and most likely be too damaged to fly.
Thankfully, there were no such mishaps as we took off. The launch was different from that of a rocket; there was no steady acceleration, but a constant jolt. Wham, wham, wham, as though God Himself was knocking.
Though the launch was successful, there was still the worry that we would be intercepted on our way to orbit by enemy craft, whether they be killercraft or digit-ships. Half of the nation's railguns were focused on ensuring we were unmolested, and nearly a hundred Raptors served as a sort of escort craft. One digit-ship attempted to intercept us, but it was shot down. No killercraft were able or willing to approach.
Q: What happened once you were in orbit?
A: That was when we were finally able to use our glasers, and the fighting could start. The highest-priority targets were the digit-ships, due to the fact that they possessed weapons, and were in the middle of bombarding our ground forces. Many of them began to cease their attacks when they detected us.
This was the part of the battle that the Michael was most suited for. The Uriel was a high-speed pursuit vessel, designed to chase enemy ships in case they left cislunar orbit, but that came at the cost of having only two railguns and far fewer missiles. The Michael was definitely meant more to clean the orbitals.
Q: And how well did it perform that job?
A: Very well. The first two digit-ships in range were destroyed by glasers before they could even attack us. For once, we had the edge in laser technology; the fithp lasers were infrared, meant for anti-missile and propulsion roles, which also meant they were not designed to damage heavily armored targets. Our glasers, however, only needed to be fired once, and were capable of destroying their digit-ships with ease.
The next digit-ships offered more of a fight, as they fired missiles before actually appearing from below the horizon. For those, we needed to use our inferior infrared missiles and CIWS systems. Thankfully, the few missiles that did make an impact hit our armored shield, and did no damage.
Q: What happened when the Russian ship launched?
A: That was a few minutes later. It had to engage some digit-ships by itself, and lacked glasers. The Russian philosophy was simply point defense weapons, and over eight hundred nuclear missiles, a third of which were armed with Casaba howitzers and small-scale NEFPs. It received some damage to its point-defense guns, but managed to destroy six digit-ships before it rendezvoused with us over Africa.
By that point, we had destroyed ten digit-ships of our own, and the rest had retreated.
Q: Retreated?
A: They made emergency landings in occupied territory, once they realized that we were capable of beating them. They were unwilling to expend more equipment against us when it did nothing, and especially when we began to destroy any Race starships still in orbit. I believe we destroyed about twenty of them.
That was about an hour's worth of fighting, but the most important part was still yet to come. The Flishithy and the rest of the Conquest Fleet was still in lunar orbit, and so we needed to go after them if we wished to end the war.
Due to having the lowest delta-v, the Chongqing and Mumbai stayed in orbit, to ensure the digit-ships did not attempt to reassert orbital supremacy as we went after the mothership. The Uriel and Michael, the latter of which I was on, were the ones to make the burn to the Moon.
Q: How long was that going to be?
A: Six hours. For me, that meant staying in the cockpit of the Endeavor and making sure the missiles were ready to launch once combat began. For the rest of the world, however, that meant they could resume the ground war, and finally not need to worry about what was over their heads.
-/-\-
Perry II
As Teerts goes into another room to fetch a bag of potato chips and some peanut butter, I decide to continue the interview with Miss Perry.
Q: When Operation Earth commenced, did you see combat?
A: Not immediately. Only a few planes were up in the air at the time, since we were waiting for the Archangels to fly, y'know? I still wasn't in the air until after the counterattack. Thankfully, we got off lighter than other countries in that regard, since we still had more than a few Ow guns operating.
Once the Archangels went up, though, and they cleared the sky, we were good to go. I rolled out of an airfield near St. Louis, along with a few squadrons of Lightings and Raptors. Our mission was to escort a bomber fleet to Little Rock, where one of the biggest landing sites was. I'm talking a good fifty B-52s, with about a third of the entire B-2 inventory alongside it. We had Canadian planes flying with us, too. Lot of older stuff, but they knew how to use it.
I was over Poplar Buff when I saw the first killercraft. They were already engaging other aircraft- the Graywings. Y'know, the 'Nam and Korea vets in their old planes? Must've been about fifty of the old vets, flying against seventy bandits. I'm almost embarrassed for those Race pilots. I guess they must have been fresh meat, because they hadn't gotten an edge over the Graywings by the time we rolled in and took them out.
The air offensive was really kicking into high gear by the time we crossed the border.
Q: How so?
A: Well, it almost felt like something from those old WWII films. There were literally tens of thousands of us in the air, in a massive coordinated attack. We had hundreds, maybe thousands, of Graywings and drones flying up ahead, doing light bombing runs, drawing away killercraft, and soaking up laser fire so the more advanced planes could score hits in. Thousands of rockets and artillery shells arcing through the air, too.
We had Thunderbolts doing their little 'brrrrt' routine over any landcruiser column they could find, and there were hundreds of helicopters providing close support for our boys on the ground. What's more, we had help from Mexican and Brazilian fighters, too. Between us and them, the Race was in a bit of a pickle.
I could only see so much of it at any time, but on my AR feed... it was as though I could see the entire air battle at once, and it made me feel small.
Q: You said 'soaking up laser fire'. How dangerous were the fithp ground lasers during this stage?
A: Bad. They took more of us out than the killercraft, by a fucking mile. I think we lost nearly eighteen hundred. Still not as bad as the Race, though. They were almost completely out of the sky by the time our bombers arrived. The lasers took down eight B-52s, but that still left plenty to drop their payloads.
Our bombing runs were all made within ten minutes of each other, across the country. Little Rock? We flattened the starships there, as well as the bases in the city. Same thing for Montgomery, Dallas, Memphis... we probably dropped a few thousand tons of explosives all across those places.
Q: What happened after that?
A: The bombers started flying back to St. Louis, while we started offering air support to the troops on the ground. By then, the Archangels were already heading to the Moon to go after the rest of the spaceships.
I have to say, it felt good, finally winning back the sky.
-/-\-
Oyuunchimeg III
Rattling the fingerclaws for extra effect, Oyuunchimeg proceeds to tell me the story of how she procured them.
A: When the fight to win the world began, my people and I were in the region you call Hindu Kush, near northern Afghanistan. The Russians had helped to bring us there, but otherwise their presence was less than that of a phantom.
Q: Why was that?
A: The region we were to fight in was incredibly mountainous and rough terrain. To use their armored vehicles would be foolish, and so the Russians decided that we were best suited to fight in that area, as our horses could traverse it with greater speed and nimbleness. They gave us weapons suited for fighting tanks, as the Russian designs are so simple a child could use them. Which they have.
As the Russians met with the star lizards in other parts of the nation as the battle began, my people rode into the valleys and hills of the Kush, to root out the star lizards who were foolish enough to try and invade the region. The rains had done them little good, though the ground was dry when we rode.
Q: What kind of combat did you see?
A: The former soldiers led many of the combat operations, though they ultimately answered to my husband and I. We would direct them to attack certain locations, and they would do it. I personally rode out against the enemy.
The star lizards were disorganized by the difficulties offered by the land. Many of their precious landcruisers had become stuck in mud, or simply could not climb out of the valleys they had descended into. The cold, too, was their enemy. Many of the bodies we found had died to the frost, rather than the bullet.
Without their machines, their advantages against us had been lost. No longer could they hide behind their armor, or bomb us from a distance with their planes, not as the rest of the world challenged them for the skies. They were limited to invading on foot, or in carts they had seized from the locals. They were tired, demoralized; the partisan fighting had already taken its toll upon them, and they stood little chance against us.
In the first two hours, we encircled four groups of star lizards, the largest of which was three thousand strong. We numbered nearly fifty thousand. Our tactics were fairly simple; the more skilled riders would catch them by surprise, then quickly retreat. When the scaly devils went to pursue, the rest of us would attack from the flank, using our numbers against them. They invariably managed to shoot a few of us, but we had guns as well., and they were slaughtered.
We were unimpeded by the bombardments from the sky, as none were willing to expend such weapons on horseback riders. As we continued south, we picked off the stragglers, and occasionally had to do battle with a stranded landcruiser or two, whose crews had stayed put. For those, we needed to use the Russian weapons, and a number of us would die to distract their guns as we took aim with our own.
She pulls back some of her clothes, revealing a faded scar under her right breast.
This was from such an encounter. We were sure to enact repayment upon the crew after they climbed out, hands raised.
She rattles the claws again.
It was a story told many times that day. Often, the crews would surrender, hoping that they would be given humane treatment. Their hopes were in vain.
Q: You killed prisoners?
A: Yes. Sometimes, we simply shot them. Other times, riders whose families had been harmed by the initial landing were allowed to enact vengeance. We gave them knives for that. The landcruiser crews who surrendered after killing a number of us had ropes about their necks, and were forced to keep up with us as we rode on. If they survived until the next fight, they were granted the mercy of a bullet.
That was what we did, from the border to Zebak.
She frowns.
You look at me with the judgmental eyes of one who does not truly understand. You must see me as a brute, or my people as the savage hordes the rest of the world saw our ancestors as. Smelly, horse-riding barbarians, whose scruples had not changed since the time of Chingis himself.
You forget that we were farmers or shepherds before this war, that many of us lived peaceful lives. Most of us had never shot anything bigger than a hare. We were not soldiers, but simply people who wished to enact a measure of revenge, or justice, or even closure.
That is the price of war. The suffering and shame we endured by being the first to fall to the star lizards was like a wound on us, allowed to fester over the weeks. Many of the riders who came with us were those who had lost someone they knew, whether it be a brother or wife or friend. We had been scattered back to the plains by the capture of Ulaanbaatar, and there was a great deal of worry amongst us after the destruction of Chongqing, that perhaps the fallout would come to our land and ruin the scant farmland we had left.
So yes, when we got our hands upon the star lizards, many of whom had killed our fellow riders before we captured them, we allowed that anger to push us to depths we normally never fathomed. Many of us are haunted by those times, but what was done is done, and nothing can change that. The bones around our necks are not simply trophies; they are reminders of what pain can do to us, and we hope we may never let it twist us again.
-/-\-
Hakmon III
After her husband finishes filming the comedy video, Hakmon disappears for a few minutes, then returns with something under her arm.
Q: A box?
A: Just some mementos. You can continue with the questions.
Q: Very well. Now, unless I am mistaken, you and your unit was caught behind enemy lines during the counterattack, yes?
A: Yes. After the Schism began, I was transferred to be part of the Arabian offensive, as we suddenly had less pressure on the Tigris. On the day of Operation Earth, we launched an offensive of more than half a million down through the Arabian peninsula. Parts of it had been reclaimed, while other swaths of the region had turned during the Schism, so we were actually very far down south when the counterattack began.
Q: How far south?
A: We were actually past Medina. Then the orbital artillery came down, and a desert isn't the best place to try and take cover, which would have spelled disaster for us, if not for the haboobs.
Q: Haboobs?
A: Large sandstorms. Very common in the Arabian peninsula, especially after the collapse of a thunderstorm. They were all over the place, thanks to Footfall. It didn't impact the air war very much, except for the sand making the lasers useless, but it did have a big impact for us on the ground. Normally, it's never a good idea to drive into a haboob, but it was better than getting hit by flying crowbars.
It actually worked. We lost only ten thousand men, and about three hundred Merkavas. Getting the sand out of your unmentionables was a very unpleasant experience, and the storms themselves claimed a few lives. Still... I dread to imagine what would have happened if there were no storms, and we were just out in the open to get hit.
During that time, we had encounters with Race forces, who were actually better suited to desert fighting than us. Those fights were some of the few times I could remember where they actually began to beat us. We lost another fifty thousand men during the fighting all across the peninsula.
Thankfully, when the Archangels rose, many of the Race attacks stopped cold, and that let us fight them off.
Q: When the Race counteroffensive ended, how bad was the situation?
A: There were still about half a million Race males in the southern Peninsula, after the offensive ended. Near the mountains, which was where I was, there were about eighty thousand of us, surrounded on all sides. The rest of the IDF and allies were liberating Riyadh, or heading to Oman and Yemen. That meant we were unlikely to be bailed out.
So, we decided to make a mad dash for the nearest outpost of fighters, and hope that our surprise offense would serve as the defense against the Race forces surrounding us, at least until we managed to regroup with some fighters and not have to worry about guarding our flanks.
Q: And where was this outpost?
Hakmon smiles nervously
A: Mecca.
Q: You fought at Mecca?
A: Well, it actually made sense. The city hadn't fallen during the invasion; apparently, the Race had a rare moment of sanity, and realized that damaging the most holy site in Islam before they could pacify the region would make the partisan fighting too savage and widespread to quell, especially when they still had fronts nearby. There were a hundred thousand partisans, protecting the city as the Race laid siege.
And not to mention, all of the Arab soldiers in our ranks wanted to lift that siege.
The mad dash to the city actually worked; the Race was caught off guard, and we managed to break through the siege lines that were about ninety thousand strong. The Arab soldiers went to bolster the partisans, while us non-Muslims were still initially kept outside the Qu'ran Gate.
The fighting was intense. I think hearing the news about the Archangels really made the Race desperate, since they realized the gravity of the situation. It still didn't keep them from maintaining the siege. By the sixth hour, they were retreating from the city, and so on the seventh hour we rested.
Q: Rather poetic.
A: Indeed.
It was... strange, in the city. I mean, the air about the place, after we won. I imagine a lot of the Arabs were uncomfortable with the fact that there were tens of thousands of armed Jews right at the doorsteps of their most holy sites, but that point, those who were still concerned were too tired to really kick up a fuss. And there was a sense of... well, it was almost like electricity. I think the relief amongst the beleaguered people in the city, and the partisans, and the soldiers who'd reclaimed Mecca...
I have trouble describing it. There was little noise during that time. Many of us just mingled with each other, shaking hands or giving bows or exchanging a few words. A few people on both sides embraced or pat each other on the backs. There was some crying.
And then when the time came to perform the Asr Salah...
She opens up the box, and pulls some photos out. A few show her chatting with Arab soldiers, while one shows her standing in view of the Kaaba, watching as tens of thousands of people make their prayers.
To this day, I still can't believe I was able to actually be there, to witness that without hassle. I think that was the first big sign for me, the sign that things were going to change.
-/-\-
Wierzbowski II
After a while, Wierzbowski insists on going on a walk through the city as our interview continues. The town of Fresh Start is one of many post war settlements, cut from a different cloth than that of its predecessors. There are no historic buildings, no outdated telephone poles above ground, and none of the other enduring relics of pre-war life.
Q: You said earlier that you mainly saw action during the Battle of Interstate 55. Did you see combat during Operation Earth?
A: Yeah, but not as much. Interstate 55, that was a fuckin' barrel-shootin'. But when Operation Earth rolled around, I was movin' as part as this broad front, a good five hundred miles long, and a good fifteen million men. There were probably ten thousand Thumpers bearin' down on those poor Lizards, which mean there was gonna be a lot more sharin' of landcruisers. Prolly also helped that I wasn't on the front lines, but in the second wave. Ended up drivin' past a lotta burnin' landcruisers.
Unlike a lotta other countries, we didn't need ta stop when the counterattack came, because we still had most of the Ow guns still workin', and we hadn't left their range when the Archangels went up.
Q: Where were you sent to liberate during that time?
A: Eh, I wasn't part of any of the big battles. Wasn't at Little Rock or Memphis. I was doin' the boring work. Clearin' out the countryside and suburbs, that kind of shit. Not much happened. I doremember chasin' some landcruisers across a gulf course near Pine Bluff. The dumbasses got stuck in one of the ponds, and ended up surrenderin'.
Gotta say, it was weird durin' that time.
Q: How so?
A: Well, I mean, up until the Lizards, we hadn't had a big war in our country for a hundred and fifty years. No, we hadn't had a war on our soil, period. I don't count some Japanese submarine guy shootin' up a dock, or that firebomb that set some trees on fire in Oregon. The idea of havin' ta fight a big stand-up war was alien, so I guess it was pretty fittin' that it was literal aliens doin' it.
Never thought I'd be drivin' through the neighborhoods of some Everytown, USA, shootin' at aliens. Felt like somethin' from one of those pre-war video games, y'know? That jingoistic shit where it's Russkies invadin', and that lone badass has ta liberate DC or somethin'?
He shakes his head.
Guess it ain't no shock that those games aren't made anymore.
Q: What else did you see during that time?
He sighs.
Eh, wasn't always funny shit like that. Further down we got, the worse the smell. Y'know, that sea-salt smell, when the surf has time ta settle in the ground? All that dead sea life, and those drowned animals, and... well, drowned people? Mighta been winter, but it still stunk ta high heaven. And the mud made drivin' hard a lotta the time.
And then the partisans.
Q: Partisans?
A: What, you think there wouldn't be guys fightin' against the short occupation? All 'em doomsday nuts or 'muh house is muh castle' asswipes who finally had somethin' they could legally shoot? The Lizards hadn't even landed before they got their guns out and started makin' plans for guerilla warfare.
Mostly old folks, since the fighting age men were either in the army or making equipment for the army, but there were a few teens, too, actin' like it was Red Dawn. Thank Christ I didn't have ta hear 'em say somethin' like 'Wolverines!'. It was insufferable enough as is.
Q: Insufferable?
A: I mean, don't get me wrong. Many, nah, most of 'em were just happy that we were comin' along and sending the Lizards runnin'. Others, however, felt the need ta get into a dick-measurin' contest. Guess they felt high and mighty, shootin' some Lizards on piss break and scamperin' for the bushes.
And a small number were just nasty. This wasn't just the normal shit I was talkin' about earlier, with the people who got hurt by the war and wanted ta hurt somethin' back. These were just sick fucks, those asswipes who were the reason we still had sundown counties. Mad dogs who finally got the leash taken off when Lima rolled in.
One thing I saw... hoo. A group of these guys, well... they had a habit of takin' Lizards alive. But they didn't send 'em to us so we could take 'em ta POW camps. They got out the garden shears, or the knives, and they decided ta, uh, make 'em sing soprano. And they had this big tree, and they'd... hang the bits from the branches. Everythin' else, they, well, they cooked. Guess the breakdown of transportation in occupied turf meant food was scarce, or maybe they were just feelin' like it. Prolly the latter.
I saw what musta been a hundred of those things, danglin' from the tree. And the fuckers came up ta us with fuckin' skulls as hats, whoopin' and hollerin', expectin' us ta be proud of their little art project.
He rubs his face wearily.
What I hear, they got tried after the war. And even though some people will prolly still try and call me a traitor, but I hope they hanged. When ya take a rabid dog off the leash like that, you ain't gonna get the leash back on.
Really soured the mood I was feelin', when we started gettin' towards the close. Reminded me that even after the victory, things might never be over.
-/-\-
Jeong II
Jeong hands me a few photographs of Race design. In it, I can see a young boy, standing with two gaunt parents. It is clear that they have been recently bathed, and given new clothes.
Q: I take it this is you?
A: Yes. A Race male took the photo a week after the camp's liberation, on the behest of Fleetlord Atvar when the negotiations began. The intent was to demonstrate the benefits of Race rule, by highlighting the most brutal aspects of human societies. You can tell how shortly after the liberation it was; my parents still hadn't regained the weight.
Q: What was your life under Race occupation like?
A: A few towns were still in outright rebellion, and so I was actually moved here, as it was one of the quieter zones. Already, the Race was working to cement their power. There used to be a pair of massive statues, of Kim Jong Un and his father, and I was brought to watch as they toppled them. I also sometimes saw them arresting officers who had remained loyal to the regime.
As most of the infrastructure was intact, they were more able to try and make us into ideal citizens of the Empire. For me, that meant being sent to a makeshift school, where some tired Hallessi male taught us the language of the Race, and how to write in it. The children, like me, were constantly curious about everything Race. We had been told they were the devils themselves, and some were almost disappointed that they didn't eat babies. I remember some of my classmates asking if they could play with my teacher's ears.
He pulls out some calligraphy he made, in the Race's writing, along with what appears to be a practice book. In it, I can see the scraggly writing of a child.
It reminded me strongly of the 'reeducation' I had undergone in the camp. But at least I was fed, and I was not forced to work. My parents were not forced to mine, but instead got temporary jobs distributing clothing. Instead of a crowded, cold barracks, I was able to live with my parents again, in a small apartment.
Q: Did things change when Straha took power?
A: Yes. The crackdowns on the still-rebellious settlements became more harsh; they began to threaten the loyalists with orbital bombardment, and flattened the occasional rebel neighborhood to make their point clear. In addition, they became more focused on destroying the old regime. I saw state-authorized books and propaganda films being thrown to the fire in ceremonies that we were made to attend.
There was the also the matter of non-regime culture. Some Race officers tried sniffing out the smuggled works that were still amongst us, but that was largely unsuccessful, I believe. There were only two arrests during that time.
We were kept in the dark about the outside world, as well. For all we knew, the rest of the world could have fallen. Most of us didn't even know of Operation Earth until the invasion actually began.
Q: What happened to you during that time?
A: I remember hearing the distant rumbling in the distance, of artillery and missiles. That got me out of bed, and then I ran out into the street with my parents in time to see the aerial battle, as Chinese and Southern fighters engaged the killercraft. I was ushered inside shortly after that by my parents, and we hid in the basement as the planes shot at each other, and then the bombs began to rock the city.
We only came out a few hours later, when some Southern soldiers came down slowly, asking us if we were alright.
Q: What was that time like?
A: There were mixed reactions all around. My father was happy to see that the South had reached us. I saw others in the streets, asking the soldiers about family in the South. Much crying.
Personally, however, all I could think of was the sight of the bombed out streets and Race bodies. I recognized the tired Hallessi teacher amongst the prisoners, with a broken eyestalk. I wondered why someone who had never even raised his voice in class had received such a painful-seeming injury.
Many were joyous, but I was simply filled with a great uncertainty.
-/-\-
Guglielmi II
Ret. Private Vito 'Googs' Guglielmi invites me to his deli shop in Palerno, Sicily, where he offers to make me a sandwich as I ask my questions. A tall, hawkish figure, with an incredibly pronounced nose, he is quite genial during our talk.
Q: Thank you for the sandwich, Signor Guglielmi. I would like to ask you about the invasion of Sicily during the war.
A: Yeah, go ahead. Like, about the landings, or the operation?
Q: Both.
A: Well, the landings were not a fun time. I was, uh, actually on the toilet when I heard the alarms. Didn't even have time to pull up my pants when I ran out and saw those meteorites falling from the sky and hitting our big guns. Seeing that suddenly made me need to use the latrine again, but I didn't get a chance to go before I had to hop in the American APCs we'd been loaned and start driving out.
Q: Where did you go?
A: Uh, pretty much everywhere. We just kept on driving around the little mountain paths, only stopping for quick fuel breaks as we tried to get the radio working and find out what was going on. That was the plan our brass made. Something about using the terrain to your advantage or something. Yeah.
He slices some salami.
When we finally realized that they'd landed in Gertini and Comiso, we were already heading that way. Not because we had the foresight or anything, but because Mt. Etna was erupting, and we didn't want to be near that. Messed up the radio, and but it also meant there were no planes in the sky, which was nice.
Q: Did you see combat during that time?
A: Yeah. The rain was coming down hard, like, really hard. It was awful to drive in, but the aliens had it worse. We started moving around the mountain paths in the countryside in small groups, with maybe one or two tanks for thirty guys. Lot of us had army scooters and light armor to drive around in. We were kinda like the Portuguese, you know? We in Sicily were prepared for insurgency, not big stand up fights.
We were packs of feral dogs, troubling any small groups of aliens. We shot at envoys, blew up bridges that hadn't been taken out by telephone poles, snuck around and attacked bases after they sent deployments elsewhere... hard to tell if I actually killed anyone. The rain made it hard to tell.
Still, we were slowly losing. Sure, we were a pain in the stump for them, and they were having trouble thanks to Etna, but we were outnumbered six to one, I think, and we had no air support. If we gathered up too much, that was basically putting on a target and screaming 'shoot me' at the sky, especially when the clouds started to clear up. We killed a good two hundred thousand aliens and destroyed a laser by week two, but they had two thirds of the island under control.
Q: What happened during Operation Earth?
A: Fighters started coming over from other places, and we finally got to fight on the open field, for one. Got us hit a bit, but then the Archangels went up, and suddenly the sky was ours. I saw Tunsian fighters, Italian fighters, even Russian fighters.
Q: Russians?
A: Lots of Russians, actually, to help the mainland Italians fight the Lizards. I never thought I'd see Russian paratroopers coming down, and I especially never thought I'd be happy to see them. They landed behind our lines and helped us launch raids on bases near Camiso, while the mainland came down to liberate Gertini. Wasn't there for the huge blowout in Syracuse, though. Would have loved to be in the celebrations there.
Instead, I was sent to go chase after the surviving Lizard forces that'd made a run for the mountains. I guess they thought they could play us at the same game. But it was as that stupid movie said.
Never go in against a Sicilian, when death is on the line.
-/-\-
Putting the smoothie aside for a few minutes, Johnson leans forward, twiddling his thumbs.
Q: Did the Archangels encounter any trouble while flying to engage the fleet in lunar orbit?
A: Yes, but not of the intense kind. The fithp missiles, while powerful, would lose a lot of velocity breaking lunar escape velocity, which would have made them easy to take out with our point defense. Instead, it became a heating game of sorts.
Q: Heating game?
A: Lasers are largely unaffected by gravity; they could still hit us, though they were greatly attenuated at that distance. Instead of trying to destroy missiles in short and precise motions, the fithp lasers were instead focused on our hulls, trying to overheat us during the few hours it took to properly engage them.
Thankfully, our blast shields took the heat, and the Urielresolved the issue by rotating, though we still suffered some damage to our observation equipment. We were able to respond when they entered glaser range. By the time we inserted ourselves into lunar orbit, we took out another thirty Race starships, and three digit craft.
Q: What was combat in lunar orbit like?
A: It's hard to describe. Not only was there the adrenaline, the anxiety, but also a sense of surrealism. As a boy, I had always dreamed of visiting the Moon. And now, there I was, piloting a Space Shuttle as we engaged an alien fleet for the independence of the human race. Through the windows, I could see the lunar landscape roll by, just like in the old Apollo footage, and at the same time, I could see the flashes of nuclear initiations and ships being destroyed by lasers, miles and miles away.
It was after the initial orbital insertion that the Shuttles detached from the Michael. Before the program shutdown and the war, the Shuttles had Rocketdyne RS-25 engines, but the possibility of combat saw us retrofit them with a more short-lived, higher thrust engine. Not useful for STO, but more better suited for orbital maneuvering.
While the Michael tore into the surviving digit ships and Race starships, we and the Uriel were sent after the Flishithy. We were dealing with the possibility that the mothership would flee back to interplanetary space, where it would be nigh-impossible to pursue, and our mission was to slow it down long enough for the warships.
In essence, that consisted of spinning around, firing a few nuclear missiles, then spinning back around so that our heat shields took the brunt of their lasers.
Unfortunately, the point-defense on the mothership was still highly effective, and none of the missiles were making it through. Michael was pursuing as well, but they were halfway around the Moon; they would not have made it in time.
Q: And that's why the Atlantis...
Johnson falls silent for a few moments. He grabs a photograph of him in a flight jumpsuit, posing with a dozen others.
A: Cole was the youngest of us, actually. Was barely out of college when he joined the program. He was a smart kid. Very smart. He was a funny man, and a nice man, but most importantly he was a good man. He was the kind of astronaut you'd see becoming the first man on Mars.
I hear the blackbox actually survived the impact. Hard to believe, considering that Atlantis must have been going at ten klicks a second when she smashed into the engine. I haven't brought myself to listen to it, even after all these years.
It should have been me who made that call, not him. But I didn't. And that's why he's now only a statue in DC, instead of setting up Bradbury Base.
And it's why humanity is free.
-/-\-
Wallafess VII
Wallafess and I return to the Race Free Zone, where we sit down in his shack. The sun is lower on the horizon, glittering over Salt Lake.
Q: What was your time on the Flishithy like, after Footfall?
A: Lousy. A lot of the people turned icy towards me, after what happened. Chris and his girlfriend were the only onse who bothered to talk with me, and even that was less often, since the others glared daggers at them when they did. Might've been because of our friendship, or maybe some thought he was being a Quisling when they made him give the ultimatum.
In retrospect, it's a miracle someone didn't try to drown me in the shit pond when they had the chance.
Escape was pretty much impossible, then. More guards, who also knew our old tricks, and we weren't exactly in the spirit of trying new ones. Chris was worried sick about the landings in America. He didn't get news about Interstate 55, or about Operation Earth, so for all he knew, America was down the hole.
Then, one day, there was a huge commotion. Fithp moving through the halls, troopmales scrambling for something, all of that. Had no idea what it was, until I heard something about huge Tosevite spaceships coming for us.
A few minutes after the commotion started, Tashayamp and her mate came in, to tell us that the Herdmaster wanted one of us with him, to act as a reference point for something. Chris's girlfriend went. Something about making sure the others didn't hate him more, I guess.
Of course, that wasn't what really stuck with me. What really stuck with me, was how they just left the doors open when they floated back towards the bridge.
Q: What do you mean?
A: You heard me. They looked at each other, looked at us, then didn't lock the door as they went out. It was a very knowing gesture. Still took me a few moments to realize it wasn't an accident. That... that was my first introduction to the Schism that was going on. I guess there were some dissidents who, while they weren't going to take direct action against the madman in power, weren't going to stop us, either.
I took the opportunity almost immediately. I hopped out, along with everyone else. There was no plan that time. Some of us just fled down the hallways, while Chris and I decided to go do our bridge routine again.
Q: Why?
A: In due honesty? I didn't expect to survive. I just wanted to die somewhere that wasn't that damn garden. If I also pissed off the Fleetlord in the process? Well, I'd be content.
And considering that no one stopped us, I'm sure they agreed. Or they were just in battle positions. We probably should have been in battle positions, especially when there was that huge thwack and lurch when the Shuttle hit us. Dislocated a finger against the bulkhead when that happened.
-/-\-
Joshi VII
It is a quiet night as we walk the streets. A few people stare at Joshi, but say nothing. She herself is silent for a while, before I finally continue the interview.
Q: What happened when you were ordered to the bridge?
A: I hadn't even made it when there was a great, terrible sound. I remember slamming into Tashayamp from the sudden shift in impact. I still had no idea what was going on. I knew that we were under attack, but I didn't know by whom, or even how. The Breakers told me nothing as I was brought along.
I came to the bridge to see Straha himself sitting in the acceleration webbing, hissing orders left and right at gathered Race officers and fi'. I saw looks of panic in everyone's eyes. And every few seconds, there was another terrible sound, as though someone was plucking the world's largest guitar string. In retrospect, those were most likely the missiles hitting the gash in the ship, caused by Atlantis's sacrifice.
Q: Did the Fleetlord say anything to you when you arrived?
A: Yes. He ordered me to stand by him as he argued with the old Advisor. I knew enough of their languages to actually understand what they were saying, and that was how I learned of what was going on. The Advisor was terrified. He was speaking of how the human ships used terrible lasers and nuclear weapons, weapons they had never actually developed. He described the effects the gamma rays were having on his combat crews, in the digit-ships or elsewhere.
Straha was ordering him to have the digit-ships cover the Flishithy's escape, and seemed to disregard the threat posed by the ships, even as the sounds got worse and worse. I still remember the pock pock pock sounds of the railguns, scoring holes in the ship's flank.
He asked me if the human ships were willing to ram me, just as the Shuttle had. I replied that I didn't know. He pressed me on it, and I admitted it was a possibility. He asked the Advisor if the Flishithy's weapons could take down the human ships, and was told that the human ships had fought their way through countless ships without damage. Even then, the parasite craft were doing their own attacks, destroying laser turrets at the cost of themselves.
At the same time, I heard news of the fighting on the ground, of how the Race occupied territory was under attack from all sides. In that moment, I felt something I'd thought I'd lost long ago. I felt hope. I realized we could win.
After a heated argument with the Advisor, Straha decided to open up communications with the ships, and had me speak into it, even though my English was still not very good.
Q: What did he say?
A: He told me to tell the ships that if they continued with their present course and failed, he would go to the asteroid belt and return with a moon. He vowed that he would rescind his previous mercy, and immediately move to scour the planet, whether it be by the remaining explosive metal bombs, or the orbital bombardment.
The reply from the ships was 'if'.
Q: What happened after that?
A: He was silent for a few moments. I remember exchanging a nervous glance with the Advisor.
Then I heard a banging against the door, and Straha exploded.
Q: Exploded?
A: He began to spit invectives at me, at the Advisor, at everyone. He hissed something about bringing Atvar to home in a cage, about leaving the traitors to human mercies while he came back with a rock big enough to destroy us all, about how we were supposed to be on horseback, not firing lasers... he vowed that he was going to order a full nuclear strike, or do anything and everything to ensure we were less than a memory.
He was screaming at phantom armies at that point. Then he told me to tell the rant to the ships, or he'd have my friends on the ship shot.
And that did it. After being kidnapped, orphaned, witnessing my home be atomized, and watching cities be washed away, I had finally had it. I didn't care if they shot me, or if I did nothing. I wanted out of this madness.
I didn't even realize I had my hands around his throat until I felt him digging his claws into my wrists. I think I was screaming during that time. I do certainly remember slamming his tiny little body back into the webbing, then stomping on his chest hard enough that he ended up curling into a ball. I hit him a few more times after that, which earned me a broken knuckle, and then the Advisor pulled me away.
I thought 'this was it'. I was ready for one of them to pulp me with their guns, or simply break my neck with their trunks. But they didn't.
Q: What happened?
A: The fithp and the officers on the bridge all stared at me. Then, the Advisor said something I will never forget.
"What are your orders, herdmaster?"
I'm surprised I was still thinking straight at the moment, when I ordered them to stand down, and told the ships about the surrender.
Can you imagine how I felt, then? Just... just a sudden rush of so many emotions, but strongest of all... was relief. I had suffered immensely, and so had the world. The future was still uncertain.
She smiles.
But the war was over.
-/-\-
You have been reading:
Worldfall, Chapter Sixteen: Victory