Vengeance

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: For the last time! I do not own Castle. Rating: K Time: In an AU future.

"Demming and his men killed off or drove away any humans who wouldn't follow him. He began enslaving the Tarkai. He forged a contract that purported to show that my dad had sold everything to him and left the planet. The Geiser Corporation decided it was easier and cheaper to just accept what Demming said had happened to my family and to not worry about what was happening with the Tarkai. Since then, nearly thirty thousand humans have moved to Tark and made themselves and Geiser wealthy."

"As you know, I've sent a team to Tark already. There's a recon team gathering intel on the plantations. There are four armed-propaganda teams letting the tribes know that I'm coming with a company of soldiers and weapons for the Tarkai. This will not be a quick campaign. I don't plan to attack the plantations until I have all the tribes surrounding the valley on our side and armed. But I plan to win. Any questions so far?"

There were none, so Castle continued. He brought up a holographic map of the area around the Golden Life Valley. "This is courtesy of our ship's captain who took photos from orbit of our area of operations. You can clearly see the valley where the plantations are located. It's a rough rectangle, slightly narrower in the north than in the south. The Kambala River runs through it. To the right, or east, is the town of Golden Valley. A little farther out is the spaceport. There are a couple of cargo lighters based at the spaceport, but most ships that trade with Tark carry their own cargo lighters. Only ships that can land on a planet, like this one, trade with the Tarkai. The plantation closest to the city is where my home used to be. Demming and his family live there now. One day we will pay a call on them."

There was some discussion of the strategy and tactics to be used, but these were very professional soldiers and understood what was expected of them.

Two days later they were in orbit around Tark. Captain Coleman came to see Castle as he got his troops ready to disembark.

"Good news, Captain Castle. It's raining like a cow pissing on a flat rock at your landing zone. The spaceport has shitty radar and they only man it when they're expecting a ship in, so the only worry you'll be seen is maybe an aircraft from one of the plantations. There aren't many of them and no one will risk an expensive aircraft in weather like this. You ready to land?"

Castle nodded. "Damn right I am."

Tark

Coleman had been right. Rain was pouring down on the ship and the people around it. She had expertly landed her ship in a small landing strip cut from the great forest that covered this part of Tark. A long line of Tarkai carried bales of Golden Life leaves into the ship and left carrying the rifles and ammunition they'd traded for as well as the equipment for Castle's company.

He had examined the weapons that the Tarkai were buying. They were simple, UK made, semi-automatic hunting rifles. Although they only had iron sights, they did at least use the same ammo as the Type 71 carbines Castle had brought and the weapons his own troops used.

He stood in the cargo hold with his officers around him, talking to Lieutenant Baratt, who had commanded the advanced party.

"We've checked out fifty-one of the plantations and the town. I started by using my six-man recon team as one unit, but I figured out pretty quick that we'd take forever to check out all four hundred plantations. It turns out people here keep a pretty close watch on the plantations to the south to watch for slaving expeditions. At first, I had two soldiers with two locals, then I reduced it to one soldier. That's so every scout team would have a radio and one person with a modern weapon. I've had our soldiers ditch their uniforms and wear local clothing, pretty much. The humans here abouts don't seem to pay much attention to their surroundings, so if they manage to see anything, they'll think it's just some damned furry natives running loose."

"Any conclusions you can make based on the plantations you've reconned." Castle asked.

"They're sloppy, sir. They put slave collars in our people that will explode if you try to take them off and will deliver a shock to the wearer as a punishment. The shocks will go all the way up to lethal. They figure that and a few guards is all they need. They even let the slaves go out in the woods to gather firewood and such. When we need to, we can approach them and get agents inside the plantations. Their communications security sucks as well. They're planning two slave raids now. One to the south and one to the west."

"What can you tell me about the raids?" Castle asked.

"They use helicopters or light airplanes to scout for villages. Our people have to grow crops to survive, and no matter how hard they try to camouflage them, they can be spotted from the air. Then they drop knockout gas from the planes and the slavers use vehicles to pick up their new slaves. They collar them and head back home, sir. The slavers will be moving to the south and west more and more. The valley goes through real hilly terrain to the north and the soil to the east isn't good for growing anything."

"How have the armed propaganda teams been doing?"

"Really good, sir. The four tribes just to the south of the plantations get the brunt of the slaving. Those are the Callaspi, Thornod, Besteenly and Gorp-Thorum. They're ready and waiting for us. The only problem is that the young warriors are all hot to grab their new weapons and attack now. They got no patience. Other tribes to the south of us, along the Kambala River, haven't been hit by the slavers very hard. They're more worried about other tribes moving into their territory and shoving them out."

"When can I talk to the tribal chiefs?"

"Four of them are waiting for you at Callaspi Town, sir. There are also a couple of war-leaders from other tribes here, just to hear what you have to say and go back and report to their chiefs."

"Let's go."

He and his troops were led to a well-built log longhouse in the village. As Castle entered, he felt a wave of nostalgia wash over him. He had been in this very long house as a boy, back before everything had gone so horribly wrong. There, sitting on a chair piled high with furs as pillows was old Shamsa, known as Grey Ears. Others were gathered around him. Castle thought he knew some of them, others he did not.

Shamsa spoke. "Welcome, stranger, to my house and to my family. Will you share a drink with us?" He gestured to a large earthen ware pot that held several gallons of fiery alcohol.

"I will drink with you all, Chief Shamsa, but I am not a stranger." Castle knew that Shamsa and everyone here knew who he was, but he was expected to announce himself. "I am the son of Jackson Rodgers and Martha Rodgers. My name was Richard Rodgers until the day that evil men came and killed my whole family and brought pain and devastation to this land. I see old Keeta standing over there." He gestured to the old woman. "She prevented me from running to my family and to my death on that day and led me to the spaceport where I found shelter and a way off this world. To protect myself from the evil men, I became Richard Castle and also became a soldier. I have come with my troops and my weapons to avenge my family's death and your suffering."

Shamsa smiled. "I know well who you are, you who are now Captain Richard Castle. Come, sit by my side, share a drink with all of us and tell us of your life and plans."

Castle impulsively took Kate's hand and led her to sit beside him. Shamsa dipped a cup into the pot and filled it with alcohol, and handed it to Rick. Then he did the same for Kate.

Castle briefly told of his life since leaving Tark and then went into his plan to recover his lost family legacy and free the Tarkai from slavery. He saw that his plan was not being favored by the younger and more aggressive warriors present. He knew that his plan of slowly building up an army of Tarkai, using guerilla tactics until they could face the slavers on better than equal terms, would not be popular.

When he was done, one young warrior stood up. "This human's idea is foolishness. We have guns of our own. Let him give us the guns he brought and add to them the weapons his soldiers have. My own brother was taken a slave two years ago. His wife and his children cry for him each night. All of us have parents, children, brothers and sisters or friends who have been taken or killed by these humans. Let us go kill them and take our own back!

There was a murmur of agreement around the longhouse, but before Castle could speak, Sergeant Major Saava rose to speak. "Be silent, child. I am Sergeant Major Saava, of this tribe and of the tribe of Richard Castle. I have been a soldier since before you were born. What you say is foolish. Yes, you have weapons and we have some weapons for you. And, we have our own weapons, some of which are very powerful weapons. But, we are few. There are some on hundred and fifty trained soldiers here. Add to this two-hundred and fifty rifles we have for you and your own rifles. We would have five hundred warriors and soldiers armed with modern weapons. There are five or six thousand armed humans who would oppose us. They can bring in more men, more weapons and more ammunition from off planet. We must wait for the Pink Zephyr to return before we can get a small amount of ammunition. We have ammunition for one good firefight and no more. When that is gone, our weapons are no more than clubs. Do not tell me that we will get our families and friends back by attacking the humans now. They would defeat us and drive us far from the Golden Life Valley, those that they did not kill or enslave. Your plan is for suicide for this entire tribe. Say no more of it."

Saava sat down and Castle heard a long muttering going through the crowd. He hoped it was favorable to him.

Shamsa nodded. "I think we have heard both sides enough. I and the chiefs from the other tribes and our advisors will retire now to ponder our possibilities. When we have decided, we shall let everyone know."

As Castle and Beckett left the longhouse, Keeta, the woman who had saved him on that long ago day approached. "Richard Castle who was Richard Rodgers, would you come and stay with me in my longhouse? It is not as grand as the longhouses I have heard the humans have on their worlds, nor even as grand as Shamsa's longhouse, but it is warm and dry. My children have now left to build their own longhouses. Please come with your woman and be my guest."

Rick tool a quick glance at Beckett who nodded very slightly. "We would be honored to join you, Auntie Keeta."

After a dinner of both local and off world food, and a drink of the fiery alcohol served in every Tarkai longhouse, Rick and Kate spread their sleeping bags on a mattress stuffed with aromatic moss. After a glance at Kate, Rick attached the two bags together to make one.

"Do you think that the chiefs will agree with your plan?" Kate asked.

"I hope so. I didn't come all this way, make all these plans for some hotheads to ruin them. And the chiefs are a conservative lot. They'll want to see how my plans work out at the beginning before they start a full blown war with the slavers."

"Are you worried?"

"Of course."

"Do you think fooling around would help?"

"Why, Corporal Beckett, I thought you'd never ask."

TBC