/ Duel Universe
/ Author: The Cowboy of Oklahoma
/ Ch 4: Silent Invasion
/ word count: 2083
The Baddeck was cruising at 3500ft, and headed south by southwest over the Rockies, the Harbinger was half a mile ahead at 3900 feet. The General, General Fornsburge, for unknown reasons, took his own life, but for other unknown reasons, didn't kill any of his men, instead locking them in a lower hold at gunpoint. After I had gotten the Baddeck airborne, and clear of the goo, the intercoms statics to life with voices calling out for help. It took a little time to discover where they were, I was finally able to unlock the door and allow the crew to get back to their stations and move the ship further from the goo on the surface. The medic onboard checked the Generals body, then had the body moved to the infirmary. Crewmen cleaned up the mess, then held a short ceremony for the General in the ships galley.
Several hours later, the communications officer called over to the bridge, "Con, comms, the Harbinger is on the comm, they want to know what we're going to tell the Coronado Base commander when we arrive, ...about the general." She reported.
"Thank you Ensign. Tell them I'll handle it when we touch down."
"Aye sir." She acknowledged.
"Navigation, what's our ETA to Coronado?" I asked.
"We're half an hour out from their radar coverage sir, but we should have already been in contact with them before now." He answered.
"Very well. Comms, Con, have you been able to tell Coronado of our approach?" I asked.
"Con, Comms, negative sir. I've tried all frequencies, they aren't picking up. It's almost as if they're not even out there." She reported.
"Strange. Unless a call went out for radio silence, why didn't we hear about it?" I queried.
"Not sure sir, it may have happened or been something the general did before he... ya'know. I'll... I'll keep trying sir." She stuttered.
"Very well Ensign. Lieutenant Michaels, you have the Con. Head straight for Coronado. I need to hit the head."
"Aye sir." Michaels said as he stepped up.
We flew over the outer marker of the bases radar coverage area, and we still weren't getting any response on any frequency.
"Harbinger, have you been able to get in contact with Coronado Base?" I asked.
"Negative Baddeck, all we can get is a line-o'-sight short range witcha'." 627 replied.
"Copy that, keep trying and report anything you hear."
"Aye sir." She said, a slight hint of worry beginning to creep into her voice.
"Comms, Con, have you been able to get ahold of any other signal, I don't care how insignificant." I queried.
"Nothing yet sir. All I've heard was the beeping of the outer marker as we passed over it." She replied.
"Are we even broadcasting a signal?" I asked incredulously.
"Yes sir, but there just isn't anyone listening. We're trying to reach DC or the UN forces now." She reported.
"Alright, let me know if you get something." I said.
"Aye sir." She acknowledged.
Switching on the ship wide intercoms, "All hands, this is acting Captain Freeman, for the next half hour I want complete and utter silence." There were confirmations from all decks, I looked straight ahead trying to leave any emotions off my face, my fists were a different matter. "I don't like this." I muttered.
For the next 15 minutes, the entire crew was dead silent. Not trying to make any unwanted noise or interfere with the comms officer in case they heard even the faintest whisper.
Using hand motions, I ordered the Baddeck to descend quietly, then I motioned so the comms officer could let the Harbinger know to stay circling overhead until we called for them. They nodded a confirmation as we made our descent. There was a cloud layer between us and any visuals on the ground. When we broke through the clouds, still 1000ft from the ground, we did not expect the sight we saw, different sections of the base were in flames.
"What the hell!? Navigator! Get us as close to the ground as we can safely go!! Ahead, 3 quarter speed!!" I ordered.
"Aye sir!" He acknowledged, then ordered the ship forward and down to gain speed and dropped us to the deck quickly.
I turned to the XO, "Red Alert!"
An alarm blared throughout the ship.
Over the intercoms, Michaels announced, "ALL HANDS, BATTLE STATIONS!"
Turning to weapons control, I ordered. "Arm all guns and missiles! Charge the mazer banks!"
Screens lit up, targeting reticles aligned, the ship gave a slight shudder to the new power output.
"Tell the Harbinger to remain out of sight until called. We may need emergency transport for ground personnel!" I said to the comms officer.
The crew in a tight, albeit an uncoordinated event, got the ship battle ready in 90 seconds. The Baddecks armaments we're all brought to bare and aimed towards the ground. The Baddeck lowered to about 300ft and we moved across the remaining distance at speed.
"Sir! There's a firefight happening at that building!" An Ensign announced pointing out a hanger on the main view screen.
"That's the hanger that the Gotango is being built and tested! Angle the ship to best help our weapons to support whoever's inside that building!" Once the ship had it's weapons lined up, "Controlled bursts, don't kill any of them, just push them away from the hanger for now, don't let your shots go wild! All guns, FIRE!" I ordered.
Below, the unknown troops outside the hanger heard the sounds of engines from overhead. Turning, they saw the Baddeck turning its side towards them and its weapons bearing down.
"Hovercraft! Move! Move! Move!" One of the intruders yelled to his compatriots.
They all began to move just as the first discharge of rounds struck the ground next to them, forcing them away from the hangers main doors. The Baddeck kept striking the ground just behind their feet pushing them further back.
"Where'd that thing come from!? I thought we set up a jammer for this entire area!" Another asked.
"I don't know!" He looked towards the hanger, now being guarded by that hovercraft. "If we don't get that ship in the ground under the Collectives control, we won't be able to take control of the rest of the fleet!" The leader said.
"We may have to fall back and make a new plan to come back and get it later!" Someone suggested.
"No! We won't get another chance! It's now or never!" The leader stated.
"So what do we supposed to do? There's no way to get past that hovercraft with our small arms fire. We'd need that other ship ourselves to have a chance of escaping."
"Well if we can't shoot our way in, or possibly even shoot our way out of here, does anyone have any other ideas?"
A young woman looked at the duel disk she was carrying and then turned to the others.
"How about we wager something for safe passage out of here?" She showed her disk to the others.
"Oh you have got to be kidding me! How do we wager a duel for our freedom? They're bound to have everyone here with a deck and we have killed a few of they're comrades. What makes you think we would be allowed to leave even if we could win a duel?"
"Honor among duelists?" She questioned. "I'll do it." She volunteered.
"Oh no! You're not even supposed to be here as it is! I'll do it. I was named squad leader for this mission, I'll be the one to get us out of here. As for the rest of you, find a way to sneak out while I'm keeping them busy with my duel!"
Grabbing a white curtain from a window where there was nobody looking in, the leader attached it to a broomstick. Then went to a doorway not far from where anyone outside could see, and began waving it furiously. He slowly moved forward and waved it again, holding it up high for all to see.
Then a loud speaker can be heard, a voice then said, "this is Captain Ka'an Freeman of the Baddeck. You and your compatriots, step out of the building with your hands up now!" He heard the voice say.
"I have a proposition. A duel, and if I win, we leave with no further shots fired." He offered.
"Are you really going to ask that!? You attacked this base, killed an untold amount of soldiers, and just when you are losing, you want to make a deal!?" The voice questioned.
"Well, we're sort of stuck in this situation. We don't want to die, so I thought I could reach an agreement with you." He said with a sheepish grin.
A moment of silence followed, then the voice aid, "stay where you are. Twitch a finger, lift an eyebrow, or even breath too quickly and it will be your last mistake!" The voice warned. "All ground forces, hold your fire. I'm coming down!" It finished.
A few moments later, the ship lowered to just about 20ft above the ground. A small hatch opened at the bottom of the ship and a ladder slid down to klank onto the ground.
Inside the Baddeck moments before, "XO, lower the ship to let me get to the ground via the bottom ladder, then get to 100ft and keep a lookout. Wherever his friends are, I don't want to be shot before I can have a word with that man." I ordered.
"Sir, I have a bad feeling about this. Why would he suggest a duel now? They were fine with blowing up the base before we got here.." He questioned.
"That's why they're suggesting this." I interrupted. "They weren't expecting a ship to suddenly show up and rain down fire from above. They're out matched, out maneuvered, and out gunned, so they want a compromise, fine. We need to make sure we send a clear message to whoever's so foolish enough to try and attack our bases and friends." I explained. "You have the Con. No matter what, don't let anyone take the Gotango unless it's friendlies. And call back the Harbinger, tell them to fly low and scout the area around the base for anything unusual." I said.
"Aye sir." He affirmed.
Heading down to the bottom of the ship, a soldier was waiting at the ladder for me. She tried to speak a protest, but I silenced her with a raised hand. Then I hit the hatch release and a moment later, the ladder dropped to the ground.
"Good luck sir." She said.
I didn't answer. It's not often I get to showcase any sort of dueling skills, and as an officer, I have to tend to my men before I can indulge in personal pleasures. I grabbed the ladder and slide down the rungs in a quick motion with my hands and feet on the sides. On the ground, I looked at the intruder dead in the eye, and from nearly 50yrds away, that was a feet. As I stepped away from the ship, the ladder was raised and the ship rose into the air. I walked over to the man whose hands were slightly raised in the air.
"Alright then, I'm here. What exactly do you want to do about this situation?" I asked.
"Well, I have my duel disk, and you have yours. We duel, and if I win, we leave without another word." He suggested.
"And if you lose?" I countered.
"Ugh.., I, we…" He stammered.
Sighing I shook my head. "Let me guess, they're already trying to escape? Not that it will do much good." Raising a hand and circling it over my head.
Soldiers suddenly moved and began moving away from this certain situation. Their weapons raised and they began looking for the rest of the intruders. The man in front of me was about to interject what was happening, when I took a step closer, his eyes looked back to me.
"Don't think you get to stop any of this." I said. "As for you and me, we have a duel to get started. So I suggest you get focused on that and not what these soldiers might do to your friends. Oh, and if you think you can back out now, you definitely don't know who you asked to be your opponent." I raise my arm and activated my duel equipment.
"DUEL!"