Robotech II: The Sentinels

Rebirth

Chapter 5: Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-ah.

"Is this the Region, this the Soil, the Clime, Said then the lost Arch-Angel, this the seat That we must change for Heav'n, this mournful gloom For that celestial light?" –Milton, Paradise Lost

In the dark of night, they stood lit only by the fires of their destroyed flashclappers. Far off was the sound of battle as Hovertanks and Enforcers fought to the death.

Gnea and Jack both had placed their hands upon their heads on orders from the leader of the Oofaran patrol; she had yet to speak, but had made an upwards motion with her gun that was impossible to misinterpret.

"I am Gnea, sister of Selby, one of your greatest warriors. I have made arrangements to meet with her and proceed to your village to speak to your leader. I demand you take us to her at once!" Gnea said.

"Selby died a year ago in battle with the Invid," the leader said, simply.

Gnea was astonished. If her sister had fallen in battle, who had answered her message? Had she just led them into a trap?

"Look, we're obviously not Invid," Jack said. "Could you just–" he cut off as the leader shoved the badger's muzzle in-between his eyes. He gulped, but said no more.

It was then that Gnea realized something; none of the Oofaran were the least bit curious about Jack. When they had first arrived in Eallgrenee, none of the Praxians warriors would leave the human men alone. There were some who just thought they were ugly women at first, but almost all of her species was able to intuit that there was something different about the men and tried to satisfy their curiosity. These Praxians, on the other hand, couldn't seem to care less about Jack. Add that to the fact that they were all wielding REF weapons…

` "I think you know who we are, and why we're here. You didn't just happen to be here in the woods; you were following us," Gnea said.

Jack looked at her in bewilderment, but didn't say anything.

Gnea was about to press the point home when a shrill voice cut through the night air.

"Let go of me! I demand you let go of me right this minute!" the voice screeched in the human language. Gnea turned in shock to find the source of the voice, and saw a young woman with black hair in a bob cut, clad in clothes that were unsuitable for being in the woods or stealth. Jack's mouth fell open.

"This one was following you all the way from the city, in a most unsteathlike manner. We assumed you pretended to not notice her in order to lead her into some sort of trap," the leader said.

"Uh, yeah," Jack said.

"Who are you?" Gnea asked.

"I'm not saying anything, I demand you release me at once!" the woman said.

"This is Sue Graham. She's a journalist," Jack said.

"Journalist? Is that some sort of spy?" the leader asked.

"Basically a spy without morals," Jack said. "She's developed a keen interest in me. All the stories she's written about me get her a lot of clicks."

"How much do you think she knows?" Gnea said.

"If she knew anything, she would've spilled the beans already," Jack said.

"Take her flashclapper to the chop shop," the leader said to one of her lieutenants. She nodded and rushed off.

"How do you know that name?" Jack said, but the leader ignored him.

"Take these three and bind them," the leader said. "We must make haste, for I feel the battle will not remain distant for long."

2nd Lieutenant P. Bernard (no relation) reclined on the hood of his Veritech Hovertank and watched the sun rise. It had been a quiet night, but perimeter guard duty always was.

The idea was simple, draw a circle that contains both Eallgrenee and all spaces within 2.5 miles of it. At every 20 degrees of arc two hovertanks were placed. The sensors in the Hovertanks would be piped to a main computer in the city which would create a realtime map of everything occurring within 10 miles of the city. The emplacements were also so close together that any incursion could be swiftly dealt with.

"Hey Pierre, you gotta take a look at the feed," Lousie said from inside her tank; she sounded terrified.

He crawled inside his tank and flicked on the senor screen, and couldn't believe his eyes. The fear disappeared, because he was sure that there must be some kind of glitch in the software (but wait, why would Louise see it too?) or there was some natural phenomenon screwing with his sensors.

Invid armor, when it was recognized, appeared as a green triangle on the sensor screen. Now there was a green wave coming towards the city, with the individual triangles unrecognizable. It was impossible to estimate, but he suspected there must be at least a thousand Enforcers heading his way.

He grabbed the lever to switch the tank into Gladiator mode. As soon as he began to aim, he saw the approaching storm, and realized that the scanner hadn't screwed up. There were at least a thousand Enforcers, all standing nearly shoulder-to-shoulder in a formation that he vaguely remembered from the academy: a phalanx.

He opened fire and took out three Enforcers in quick succession, which only revealed another layer of the troops right behind them.

He never saw the disc of burning plasma that ended his life.

"Put them down," a voice barked in the darkness. Jack felt himself falling, quickly followed by a painful collision with the ground. He heard a couple of soprano "oofs" from beside him, and concluded that Gnea and Sue had been unceremoniously dumped as well.

A pair of hands shoved him into a sitting position and removed his blindfold. He found himself kneeling in a clearing next to a forest, the trees were the tallest he'd ever seen, reminding him of the great redwoods he'd once seen on a visit to California. The sun was almost exactly overhead, suggesting it was near midday. He looked to his left and saw Gnea. He asked if she was all right, but the gag in his mouth turned it into a mumble.

The same amazon who had roughly removed his blindfold removed the bindings from his legs, but not his wrist-bindings or gag.

He felt uncomfortably warm as she leaned in and whispered into his ear. "Our great epic poems tell of the joy that comes from killing a man. I look forward to that soon."

Jack looked at Gnea is terror, but she simply glared at him.

The amazon pulled him to his feet and shoved the muzzle of the badger into his back. "Walk, man."

They were led into the forest of the massive trees. Jack allowed himself to look up towards the full length of the trees, he imagined they must be at least 500 feet tall.

After they had walked for what must have been miles, the leader gestured for everyone to stop, then gestured to the amazons that had been leading the captives; they cut their bindings. The amazon that did Jack's laughed unsettlingly as she did so.

Jack pulled the gag out of his mouth. He glared at the psycho amazon, she ran her tongue down the length of her knife, Jack swallowed his harsh words with an enormous gulp.

"I see exile hasn't changed you at all, Kiera," Gnea said to the psychopathic amazon.

"On the contrary, I can be myself here. They even reward me for it," Kiera said.

"I don't know who you think you are, but I am personal friends of Admiral Hayes and her husband, and you're going to regret this!" Sue shouted.

The amazon who had removed her bonds re-gagged her, tied her hands, and threw her over her shoulder.

The leader grabbed Jack by his shoulders and shoved him towards a particularly large tree. "Climb," was all she said.

Jack gulped again; he wasn't a skilled climber of any sort. In fact he'd made fun of Karen when she talked about rock-climbing back on Earth. But as he looked closer at the tree, he saw a perfectly camouflage rung at eye-level. It would have been at shoulder level, and thus easily reachable, to the average Praxian. He grabbed it and fumbled with his feet as he tried to climb.

The leader grabbed his butt and shoved him upwards, this was accompanied by an angry exclamation from Gnea. He began to climb.

He'd stopped counting the rungs after the first 200, but eventually a platform emerged on his right, and he siddled over to a set of horizontally arranged rungs (both handholds and footholds). He walked to the guardrail and looked down, and was astonished: he was at least 500 feet above the forest floor, which meant that the trees were much taller than he had assumed, easily taller than any on Earth.

He turned around and saw that there was a massive network of platforms and bridges all around him. It reminded him of the Ewok village in Return of the Jedi, but that was a joke compared to this. This wasn't a village or even a town, but a city.

They were led across miles of walkways before they came across an elaborate structure consisting of many platforms stacked vertically, connected with walkways. The platforms weren't furnished any more elaborately than the others Jack had seen, but the number of guards suggested it was an important place. Perhaps some sort of city hall.

The leader asked some of the guards a question in a dialect of Praxians that he didn't recognize. He looked to Gnea, who shrugged.

They were led to a room with many tables and benches, which Jack assumed was some kind of mess hall. A single Praxian woman was eating alone at one of the tables. She had long black hair which was piled into an up-do on her head. She wore a sea-blue garment, and was the only Praxian Jack had even seen who painted her nails.

The leader stopped before her and they had a long whispered conversation. Finally the woman wiped her mouth and stood up from the table. She motioned, and Kiera shoved the three of them forward.

"I am called Kaelyn, I am the leader of our tribe. Explain your presence here," she sad.

"You can stop pretending: you know who we are," Gnea said. "You've done a horrible job of hiding the fact that you have people in Eallgrenee."

Kaelyn scowled at Gnea, but Jack got the impression that the scowl was hiding amusement. "Very well, we know who you are, but your purpose in coming here is a mystery to us."

"This is Jack Baker, my commanding officer, he will explain everything," Gnea said.

Jack started. He had never thought of it before, but he supposed he was the commander of their effort to free the Whaashi.

"You may speak, human," Kaelyn said.

"I am Second Lieutenant Jack Baker of the Robotech Expeditionary Force and the Sentinels. I am in charge of a covert operation, against the knowledge of my superiors, to free the Whaashi from Invid control," Jack said.

Everyone in the room took notice when the name of the Praxian birthplace was mentioned. The guards whispered to each other.

"That's very daring of you, Jack Baker. What interest do you have in the Praxians ability to procreate?" Kaelyn said.

"The Invid hold the Whaashi hostage, and use the threat of its destruction to maintain control of this world. If we can free the Whaashi and keep it safe, then we can drive the Invid from this world," Jack said.

"How do you intend to keep it safe, assuming you can free it without it being destroyed in the process?" Kaelyn asked.

"In the short term, we have a force field generator we captured from the Invid which will repel anything the Invid can throw at it. We can keep it running continuously until the world is free," Jack said.

"And I imagine you're here because you need our help?" Kaelyn said.

"Yes. The plan we've devised requires skills that your people possess in abundance. Unfortunately, we have no people with the necessary skills," Jack said.

"An interesting offer, Second Lieutenant Baker. I am curious though, what's in it for us?" Kaelyn said.

"The future of the Praxian race!" Gnea shouted. "Isn't that enough for you?"

"The Regess is still releasing new Praxians from the Whaashi. It's at a reduced rate, I admit, but it is happening," Kaelyn said.

"You're okay with the planet being under Invid control?" Jack asked.

"The only parts under Invid control are the cities where the normies live," Kaelyn said. "The Invid have never even come close to finding any of our encampments, and even if they did, we'd disappear before they had a chance to lay siege."

"This could be your chance to prove yourself to the 'normies', to show them that your ways are effective," Jack said.

"We have joined forces with them before, to drive out the Laemarch, the Balior, the Zentraedi. Every time they make the same promises, that they would welcome us back into their society; that they would stop killing us. Every time it's been a lie," Kaelyn said.

Jack opened his mouth to reply, but no words came out. He had no reply.

"All right, I've heard enough. Nia, take them to a holding cell until I decide what to do with them."

The battle for Eallgrenee was entering its fifth hour. Admiral Hayes, General Hunter, and Bela were gathered in the massive command center in the bunker beneath the palace. They were joined by video-links to General Grant and Colonel Wolfe.

Most of the large room was occupied by a giant green glass cube, into which was projected a three dimensional image of Eallgrenee and its surroundings, updated second-by-second by sensor data and reports.

"The assault wave has stopped advancing," Hayes said.

"Vince, it looks like the GMU's guns are doing a good job of keeping them at bay," Hunter said.

"They're testing the premier for weaknesses," Wolfe said. "We've caught individual armor as close as a mile to the city limits."

"Can we use the fleet?" Bela said.

Hayes shook her head. "The only ship whose guns have the necessary level of accuracy are Haydonite, and we don't want a repeat of what happened on Uzo."

Uzo was an island on Karbarra which had an Invid military installation on the north end, and a Karbarran settlement to the south. During the liberation of that world, the Haydonite ships had used their weapons to take out the base. It has resulted in all kinds of strange behavior from the technology in the city afterwards, making them incredibly unreliable. The strangest thing of all was when a river's course reversed and started flowing uphill. After that they had determined that the Haydonite synchro-cannons were simply too unpredictable to use in combat.

Hunter grabbed fistfuls of his hair in frustration. "I can't believe we're stuck in trench warfare, that sort of thing went out of style 100 years ago."

"It isn't going to remain that way for long," Bela said. "We've estimated there are 10,000 Invid armor out there, but there are more than 10 times that on this continent alone."

"It would be too much to hope that reinforcements aren't on the way," Hayes said.

Hunter went over to one of the terminals and started typing furiously. Then he swore a torrent that would have impressed Karen Penn.

The image in the tank zoomed out to show the continent in its entirety, the green wave around the western edge of their city became less imposing, but there two lines of equal size moving across the continent towards them.

"Those are far enough away for the fleet to be of use," Hayes said. "Also, the Quist and Dodan are sending detachments of battlepods and power armor. They'll land on the other side of the Invid line and we'll start a pincer attack. They'll also prevent any reinforcements from hooking up with the initial wave."

"But we can't hold them off forever," Wolfe said.

Hayes looked at her hands, and sighed. "I know. We are not going to prevent them from getting into the city. Urban combat is inevitable."

"I suggest we contact Rem and get him to set up that Invid force field generator here. We can get civilians in through the tunnels and make this a refuge," Hunter said.

"General, we have no civilians, and none of us would become refugees," Bela said, straightening her back in pride. "My people will fight to the last warrior."

"General Grant, take the GMU to the palace," Hayes said.

"But Admiral, the perimeter-"

"Will fall no matter what we do. We need to fortify the city and palace, and we need to dismantle the GMU and move its emplacements onto the palace," Hayes said.

"So we aren't going to use the force field generator?" Hunter said.

"The only way Invid will set foot on the palace ground would be if the rest of the city were destroyed," Bela said. "And in that scenario we would deserve to die."

"I wouldn't be quite that fatalistic," Hayes said. "But it would be a sign of weakness and would demoralize the troops."

Hayes turned to the monitor displaying Wolfe's image. "Colonel Wolfe, cover the GMU's retreat, and then go on the offense. Take out as many of them as you can for the next 20 minutes, and then retreat into the city before they can join up with reinforcements."

"Understood," Wolfe said.

"General Hunter, scramble Skull and Red squadrons to meet up with the Zentraedi reinforcements. And Bela, we could use all the help we can get," Hayes said.

"Every citizen of this city will do as I command," Bela said. "And I will command them as you see fit."

"Okay, everyone get to your stations, and let's hope that we'll see each other again," Hayes said.

Bela rushed out of the command center, the communication monitors winked out.

"I'll never get used to this," Rick said. "Just accepting that people are going to die, and we've got to be okay with it."

"You never will, unless you're a psychopath. I had a talk with Captain Gloval about this a long time ago. He said the fact that I cared about the lives that were about to be lost, on both sides, meant that I was a good commander," Lisa said.

"But that doesn't make it any easier," Rick said.

"I remember a time that I stood in a command center like this, with Captain Gloval, Exedore, Breetai, even Minmei and her stupid cousin were there. The entire weight of the Zentraedi armada was being launched against us, and the only reassurance we had was Exedore's statement that we had escaped impossible situations before," Lisa said.

"This is on a much smaller scale, but I think our chances are worse. We don't have the magical Super Dimension Fortress to help us this time," Rick said.

"I'd better get Max and Miriya deployed," Rick said, but stopped on the room's threshold. "By the way, have you seen Lieutenant Baker lately?"

"No, I was surprised he wasn't with you," Lisa said.

"It's his day off, but I assumed he had enough sense to come in when the city is under attack," Rick said.

"There's something wrong with that boy. I thought at first it was just his youth and inexperience, and that he'd fall in line like you did. But I get the impression that he doesn't seem to understand that he's in the military," Lisa said. "He acts like a pirate, or a cowboy."

"Yippee-kaiee, ma'am," Rick said with a wink and a tip of an imaginary hat, and went on his way.

"You can't be serious," Jack said.

They had walked across more platforms and walkways than Jack could remember, and then they had come to the crevasse. The thing that was hanging down from far above was some sort of nylon rope and not an actual vine, but the effect was the same.

"Are you afraid, you big strong man?" Kiera said mockingly.

"We can have no permanent means of egress from the prison platforms. Otherwise the prisoners might find a way to escape," Nia, who until recently Jack had thought of as "the leader", said. "Climb onto my back and hold on for dear life."

As Jack started to climb onto the amazon's back, he spared a look at Gnea, who was looking at him in hate. What was wrong with her today?

Nia grabbed the tether, and wrapped part of it around one of her wrists, and then leapt off the platform. The wind rushed past them, and Jack tried his best not to scream. He could handle the G-Forces, but he usually had a fuselage between himself and the long drop to the ground. In a moment it was over, and Nia dumped Jack like a sack of potatoes.

A moment later Kiera swung over and deposited Gnea on the platform in a similarly brusque manner.

"Where's Sue?" Jack said.

"Keep your britches on," Nia said. "Some of our engineers want to question her about some of the devices they found on her. She'll be back shortly."

Without another word the two amazons swung back to the other side.

Jack continued staring down into the crevasse in silence. Gnea went to the center of the platform and sat down with her legs crossed.
"I guess we wait," Jack said, turning to her.

She felt her heart sing as she looked at his red hair and blue eyes. How could something so simple make her feel so wonderful?

"Do you think they're going to kill us?" Jack said.

"I don't know. My sister would have seen that we were spared," Gnea said, and shrugged.

Jack walked over and sat across from her, but not nearly as close as she would have liked.

"I'm sorry about your sister," Jack said.

"She was a warrior, in her own way. This is the end that awaits us all," Gnea said.

"Still, she was your sister, you must have loved her, especially if you broke the laws of your society to see her," Jack said.

Gnea felt strange; she felt the pain within her that she'd been trying to block ever since she'd heard of Selby's death. At the same time she felt gratitude to Jack for telling her not to be ashamed to feel it.

"I lost my parents, so I think I can understand the pain you must be feeling," Jack said.

"But you told me that you survived the attack because they were in a transport with your parents between major cities," Gnea said.

"Yes, we survived the initial bombardment, but my parents didn't survive the aftermath. The humans that were left fought over the scarce resources of the small towns and villages that survived. My mom got sick and died because we couldn't find any medicine. My father was killed by a sheriff who fancied himself a warlord of the wastes," Jack said. "But I escaped, and eventually I was found by General Hunter."

"Why does he treat you so poorly then?" Gnea said. "Does he have no sense of pity?"

"He doesn't remember that he rescued me. He patrolled those wastes for years, saving many lives. I was just a red-haired punk he found one day," Jack said.

"But I'm getting off track," Jack said. "The pain is immense, even after all this time." He laid his hand on her shoulder, the touch was electric. "But it will pass."

"Why are you being so nice to me? We're comrades-in-arms, we should reinforce each other, not indulge in our weaknesses," Gnea said.

"Grief is no weakness, Gnea," Jack said.

Jack got up and started to stroll around the platform. Gnea missed his warm and soft hand on her shoulder. "My people wouldn't have survived if it was. It gave us the ability to rebuild our world and build a relationship with the Zentraedi that continues to this day." He turned and looked at her. "Grief stops wars."

Gnea felt darkness building inside her. "Are you saying that you want peace with the Invid?"

"I think it's possible, if a warrior race like the Zentreadi-" Jack said.

"WE are a warrior race," Gnea said through clenched teeth.

"Yet you disobeyed your warrior code because you loved your sister," Jack said.

Gnea felt something cramp deep within her chest. She felt pain and hope at the same time.

"You may consider that a weakness, but there's a chance it may have saved your world," Jack said,

Gnea felt her heart racing, and a warmness spreading to every corner of her body.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Jack said. "I thought you'd be mad."

Gnea was on her feet without realizing it, she strode across the platform, placed her arms around Jack's neck and kissed him.

At first he was stiff with surprise, but didn't fight her, then his arms encircled her waist and pulled her closer. It was the most wonderful feeling she had ever experienced.

Jack had been attracted to Gnea from the moment they met. However there wasn't much to that, he had been attracted to virtually all of the Praxians he had met, including Bela in a Helen Mirren sort of way.

He wasn't sure when it had become more than that, though. Perhaps it was during the sitzkrieg on Praxis, where the only bright spot of his day was when he would accidentally meet one of their small friend-group that had formed during the battle of Karbarra.

When did he start feeling happy just being around Gnea? When did seeing those sea-green eyes and sparkling smile become the best part of his day?

Was this what was responsible for the burst of energy he'd been feeling as he put together the plan to free the Whaashi? He assumed it was just overcompensation for the five months he spent as General Hunter's secretary, but now he wondered if there was something more to it.

The kiss and embrace ended, she stared at him hungrily.

He felt like a wet-blanket, but he needed to ask. "You do know what this means to my people, right?"

"Shut up, I love you," Gnea said, even more sultry than usual.

"Fair enough," Jack said.

They melted into each other, and rolled around on their discarded clothes in the late afternoon sunshine.

As they laid beside each other, consumed by the afterglow, Gnea said: "It's strange that something so silly could feel so good."

"Silly?" Jack said, bewildered.

"Yeah, all that poking and licking. If it didn't feel so good, I'd have started laughing," Gnea said.

"I never thought of it that way," Jack said. It did sound pretty silly now that he thought about it.

They watched the sky turn dark purple as twilight came upon them. Then suddenly the sky flashed with white and blue light; once Jack's eyes adjusted, he could see the second volley of blasts tearing through the atmosphere. The platform shook from the shockwave from the first volley, finally catching up with them.

"Is that lightning?" Gnea asked, uncertain.

"I think that's the fleet. Those yellow beams look like the Karbarran weapons. Those white are Zentraedi, I think," Jack said.

"Were they planning some sort of attack?" Gnea said.

"If they were, they didn't tell us about it," Jack said, then he had a sinking feeling. He checked the compass on his watch, which just confirmed it. The blasts had been aimed in the direction of Eallgrenee.

They heard distant voices over the vast chasms, and the two of them quickly got dressed. There heard a swish and a light came across the chasm towards them. As it got closer Jack could make out that it was a dark figure wearing some sort of electric light on her head. With a thunk the figure landed on their platform. In the dying light of the day Jack was able to make it out as Kiera, and Sue was in a harness on her back.

Kiera unbuckled the harness and let Sue drop to the ground.

"You asshole!" Sue said. "Do you know the trouble you can get in for assaulting a reporter?"

Kiera gave Jack a long glare, and then swung back over.

"Are you okay?" Jack said to Sue, in spite of himself.

"Yeah, yeah, they weren't exactly friendly, as you can imagine," Sue said.

"What did they want with you? They said something about some technology you had?" Gnea said.

Sue snorted and grinned mischievously. "Yeah, you'd think those idiots had never seen a vibrator before."

Hour 13 of the Battle of Eallgrenee saw the inner perimeter breached, and Enforcers began to stream into the city. Admiral Hayes ordered the Wolfe Pack to abandon its position in the marshes around the city and begin urban combat.

General Grant, after completing his fortification of the palace with the artillery from the dismantled GMU, led his squadron of next generation Excalibur destroids into battle with the Invid armor.

The Wolfe Pack was supplemented from the inside with squadron upon squadron of hovertanks that had been built on Praxis and were piloted by Praxians. Bela took charge of the premiere squadron herself, and they formed the vanguard as the Invid entered the city.

The uneven ground and cover had forced the Invid to abandon their phalanx strategy, and they were roving around the city in squadrons of about equal size to their opponents.

Bela was horrified as she saw most of her soldiers, all of them in battoloid mode, running towards the enemy, attacking them with their powered fists instead of using their rifles.

She provided as much covering fire as she could but it wasn't enough. Within five minutes all of the pugilist Praxians had been killed.

She was relieved to see that the rest of her squadron was doing much better; in fact far better than she suspected was normal for a squadron's first battle. They were using cover, fighting with their backs against a building to avoid being struck from behind; there were even a couple who had gotten onto the tops of buildings and switched into Gladiator mode to essentially become turrets. They were ripping the Invid apart.

One of the times Gnea caught a look at one of them, she realized from the blue knee and elbow joints of their Battoloid form that they weren't her squadron; it was Gnea's squadron, who she had taken command of when Gnea couldn't be found.

Eventually all of the Invid armor was destroyed or so badly damaged that they needed to retreat. Bela was barely able to catch her breath before receiving a message from Janice in the com office, requesting her help in another sector.

The battle raged on with no end in sight..

"So, I think you have some questions to answer," Jack said to Sue.

"If you ask nicely, I might…" she leaned in and took a look at Jack, then looked to Gnea. Then she got that interminable smirk that was so familiar to everyone in the REF at this point. "You two just had sex, didn't you?"

"What? Of course not!" Jack said.

"Yes," Gnea said, simultaneously.

"Oooh, this is juicy! My viewers are going to love this!" Sue said.

"If you think that a human and Praxian having sex is something new, you're a pretty lousy journalist," Jack said.

"Of course I know that! Within the first day of our setting down on Praxis there were at least 20 male soldiers who got it on," Sue said.

"How could you possibly know that?" Jack said, in spite of himself.

"I checked the medical records, there were a lot of off-duty soldiers who had broken wrists, shoulders, one of them even had a pelvic fracture," Sue said. "In any case, both of you are very popular with my viewers. People have been shipping you ever since Karbarra."

"What does ocean transport have to do with it?" Gnea said.

"Look, as interesting as all this is, the real question is: what do you know?" Jack said.

"Why Lieutenant Baker, whatever are you talking about?" Sue said.

The swiftness of Gnea's reflexes and the dimness of the night resulted in Jack not realizing what was going until Sue started screaming. Gnea had grabbed her by the front of her blouse and was holding her over the side of the platform.

"Stop it! I'm a member of the press, do you know what that means?!" Sue screeched.

"Gnea, that isn't how we handle things on my world," Jack said. "Though sometimes I wish we could."

"We're not on your world, Jack. Listen, you, you're going to tell us why you followed us, and everything you know, or I'm letting go," Gnea said.

"All right, all right! I knew you, and Janice Em and Rem are planning something!" Sue said.

"And how did you know that?" Gnea said.

"Because I've been following you for the last couple of months! I saw you testing those motorcycles, and I saw the hole you punched in the hangar with that new gun!" Sue said.

"Put her down, Gnea," Jack said. "She's told us enough."

"She'll endanger the mission when we get back to the city," Gnea said.

"We'll deal with that when it happens," Jack said.

Gnea looked at Sue doubtfully, but made no move.

"Remember what I said: mercy is no weakness," Jack said.

Gnea growled, and threw Sue down, causing her to skid across the platform. Jack liked to imagine she got a bunch of splinters in the deal.

"I think I deserve a kiss for that," Gnea said.

Jack grinned and accommodated her.

The tender moment was broken as they heard the swoosh. Jack looked into the darkness and saw the familiar blue light heading towards them across the chasm.

Kiera motioned towards Gnea. "The chief wants to see you." She sounded strangely chipper.

Jack stood in front of Gnea. "You're not taking her anywhere!"

"Hey, relax," Kiera said. "We're not going to do anything to her."

Jack furrowed his brow. Why was she suddenly so cool and collected, so relaxed…

Gnea strode in front of him. "It's all right, Jack. I've been here before"

She climbed on Kiera's back and they swung across the chasm.

"I don't understand why she's suddenly so pleasant, it's almost like she got–" then he shut his mouth and said no more.

Sue snickered. "I've said before, it's the greatest thing humanity has ever invented. Those Victorians really knew what the hell they were doing."

Jack sat down next to Sue and sighed.

"I suppose the fact that I just saved your life isn't going to stop you from spilling the beans," Jack said.

"I just can't believe I ended up getting the story from your own mouth," Sue said. "But no, I can't sit on a story like this."

Jack gritted his teeth, he wondered if he should have just let Gnea drop her. He wondered how the hell any secrets got kept with journalists around. Surely they must realize that some secrets had to be kept…

"What about if I give you an exclusive?" Jack said.

"You sort of already did," Sue said.

"I mean it. We'll embed you with the assault force. You can take all the pictures and videos you want, and you can be the one who breaks the story. You just can't tell anyone before we do it," Jack said.

Sue said nothing for a long time, her eyes moved back and forth like the meters on an analog mixing board as she considered the matter.

"I have your word?" Sue said.

"Yes, and that means something coming from me," Jack said.

"Fine, I'll do it," Sue said.

Jack let out a long sigh. One problem solved, but he still didn't know if any of them were going to get out of this tree village alive.

Kiera took Gnea across many platforms and walkways into a small house among the upper branches. Unlike both the prison platform and the mess hall where they had first met Kaelyn, this place had a roof.

Kaelyn was sitting at a table with a number of badger sidearms that she was cleaning and reassembling.

"How come the REF never noticed that those were missing?" Gnea said.

"They've made so many since they converted the factories over that they wouldn't miss them. We also have agents who changed the log books. As far as your human friends know, some days in the factory are less productive than others," Kaelyn said. "Have a seat, if you like."

Gnea was preparing to stand, but then realized that nothing she did could give her the upperhand in this situation. She sat down at the table.

"We've met before, but I don't think you recognize me," Kaelyn said.

"Was it in Eallgrenee before you were exiled?" Gnea asked.

"I am not from Eallgrenee, though I have been there many times," Kaelyn said. "No, it was the first time you were here, before the Invid attacked."

"We were both much younger then," Gnea said.

Kaelyn put the badger she was working on down and folded her hands. "I was your sister's partner, Gnea."

Gnea started, then said the obvious. "You were not exiled for being a coward."

"No, I was one of the other ones," Kaelyn said. "Though I learned much from the ones you call cowards, including your sister. She showed me the Protoculture device, and I inherited it when she died. I was the one who answered your message."

"Then why did you waylay us the way you did?" Gnea said. "Why did you treat us so roughly?"

"Because you brought a man into our city, along with that other one," Kaelyn said. "We only meant to allow you in."

"So what happens to us now?" Gnea said.

"You'll be free to go at sunrise. I don't trust the sneaky dark-haired one, but I will let her go if you insist," Kaelyn said.

"You aren't going to help us?" Gnea said.

"Like I told the fire-haired one, this isn't our fight. If the normies decided they wanted the Invid gone, they'd wipe them out in a day. They are complicit in this occupation," Kaelyn said.

"But you are already fighting them," Gnea said. "That's how my sister died."

"We fight them in our own way, in a time and place of our choosing," Kaelyn said. "We have caused more damage to the occupation than your human friends have. Eventually they will be forced off the world."

"But why not speed that up by helping us?" Gnea said.

Kaelyn said nothing.

"Because you want us to suffer," Gnea said.

"No! Although I would be lying if I said I didn't take some joy in what was happening to the normies, the truth is that with the Invid to contend with, the normies don't spend much time hunting us down," Kaelyn said.

Gnea slammed her fist on the table. "I got it!"

Kaelyn looked interested. "Oh?"

"I think you misunderstand things. Jack's offer was not coming from Bela, but from the Sentinels themselves. If you help us, you can join us, and leave this world!" Gnea said.

Jack's eyes hurt as they adjusted to the light within the hut. He saw Gnea and the chief of the village sitting across from each other. However instead of a tea set, there was an abundance of stolen sidearms between them.

Kaelyn stood up as he arrived. "Lieutenant Baker, Gnea just made a very interesting proposal to me."

"You'd make a very cute couple," Jack said with the saccharine sweetness of a bottle of Tab.

Kaelyn laughed. "Yes, I think we would. But that isn't what I was referring to. If we help you, would you allow our tribe to join the Sentinels and leave this world?"

Jack blinked in surprise. This was something that hadn't even occurred to him. "Well… Yeah. I mean, the decision isn't up to me, but there is no reason why they wouldn't allow you to join if you helped."

Kaelyn glared at Gnea. "He's in no position to promise anything!"

"He speaks the truth, though," Gnea said. "I know these people, they will not betray someone who has helped them."

"I am reluctant to take your word for it, but I think it is a risk worth taking. There is another matter of concern. This village alone contains 5000 people. Would you be able to take that many?" Kaelyn asked.

"We'd have to call in some ships from Karbarra, but we were expecting at least that number of Praxians to join us as warriors to free the other worlds from the Invid," Jack said. "There would definitely be enough time for them to arrive in the time it takes us to finish off the Invid and secure the planet."

"And the others?" Kaelyn said. "There are millions of us."

"We need warriors on Tirol, I'm sure they'd be happy to have you," Jack said.

"Very well then, how many of my warriors do you need for your plan?" Kaelyn said.

"50.. Well, 48, but it doesn't hurt-" Jack started.

"I will send 75 of my best warriors with you back to Eallgrenee at first light," Kaelyn said.

She was about to say more, but a severely wounded warrior was carried in by two of the guards.

"What is the meaning of this! I was told… Wait, what happened to her?" Kaelyn said.

"Eallgrenee…" the wounded warrior rasped. "It's under attack. More Invid armor than I'd ever seen…"

"When? When did this happen?" Jack said.

"It was just after dawn, my mount was killed… had to walk here," the warrior said.

"Eallgrenee has been under siege for an entire day?" Jack said.

"It would be ill fate indeed if our people chose to take a stand, and our ally was destroyed before we could join the battle," Kaelyn said.

"Fear not, both of you," Gnea said. "The people of Eallgrenee are strong and uncompromising. It will be a fierce battle, but victory will again be ours!"

19 hours into the Battle of Eallgrenee, everything had almost become routine. Admiral Lisa Hayes could feel the tendrils of boredom tickling her mind. This was something she'd learned to control all the way back at the academy, so she stayed focused. It was good that she did, because that was when all hell broke loose.

"We're registering explosions at Power Station 12," Janice said.

"I'm registering one at Power Station 15, is that a bad reading or-" another tech said.

From all across the room the techs called out as explosions were reported at one station after the other.

Admiral Hayes stormed over to the tank, not believing her eyes. There were Invid mecha well within the uneven perimeter they had set up in the suburbs with barricades.

"How are there Invid inside the city? Did they leapfrog our anti-aircraft guns?" Hayes said, looking through the tank at Colonel Grant on the other side.

"No, civil defense has reported no Invid flyovers," Grant said.

More red dots appeared in the tank, all over the city without any rhyme or reason. None of them were even close to the points of the perimeter that were compromised.

"I have confirmed that all 20 of the power plants had suffered severe damage," Jancie said. "The power grid is down."

"They're attacking the industrial areas," Hunter said, bemused. "That doesn't make any sense, they should be going after military and civil defense installations. If their aim was to lower moral, they'd attack residential areas."

"Where the hell are they coming from?" Grant shouted. He was tired from his day-long patrol with Knight squadron, so the outburst was understandable.

Hayes considered it for a moment, far longer than it took for her to realize the truth. She considered her next words carefully. "Because they aren't attacking the Praxians, they're attacking us."

"What do you mean?" Hunter said.

"They're driving us out of the city by removing everything that's of use to us here," Hayes said. "Even if we manage to fight them off, we wouldn't be able to repair the damage before another attack occurs."

"She's right, it would take weeks to repair all that, maybe longer," Grant said.

Hayes felt dizzy, she walked over to a chair and sat down. She started at the eerie green glow of the tank, with the violent red dots moving inside it.

She didn't need to say it, they had all realized it. The tables had turned so quickly she felt whiplash. After a moment she got up and walked over to Private Em's station.

"Janice," she said quietly. "Can you do an analysis and find the chances of the Invid taking the city?"

"I already have," Janice said. It was the first time Hayes had ever heard her somber. "The chances of an Invid victory are now 95% within the next 3 days."

To be continued…

Notes:

Out of curiosity I looked to see if Baltimora did any other songs. They did, and yes, they all sound like Tarzan Boy.