Chapter 336 (2/2)
They all sat.
She moved to each of the little trio. She looked over the hologram projected just to her right as she examined Palgret. ”Hm, muscle strain like the others. Blood pressure's a little high, but it fits with your anxiety metrics. No major defects,” she snapped off the holo. ”You're fit to fight, just slight fatigue and muscle strain. Take this,” she held out a pill, which Palgret took and swallowed. ”It'll help with the muscle strain and still leave you able to fight.”
”Thank you,” Palgret said.
”Let's hope you don't have need to see me again any time soon,” the Mantid said. She looked at the green mantid, who had just gotten done turning Palgret's helmet over and over in its hand. ”338 says your like everyone else, your environmental systems aren't up to extended use. He's going to do some minor adjustments.”
”Only authorized personnel are allowed to do maintenance on armor systems,” Palgret said. He looked at the green mantid as saw that it was projecting a small holo over his head of the Maintenance and Logistics Corps. ”Oh.”
The holo switched to a closed fist with the thumb pointing up.
”He says not to worry, he's certified by your own people,” the black mantid on the right said.
Palget held still, sighing with relief when the armor suddenly started circulating cool air, not cold enough to be chilly, but cool enough to lower his body heat output. He watched with interest as the green mantid took each rifle, took it apart all the way down to the molycirc blocks, then put them together, twice after making small repairs. He finished with the last rifle and the icon appeared between his antenna again.
”All right. Go ahead and eat and rest. I'll tell Sergeant Ringman that you all need a break,” the mantid said. She looked at everyone and flashed a smiley-face between her antenna. ”It's almost aggravating how they can outwork everyone but a robot, isn't it?”
All three Maktanan nodded.
”I heard they can have robotic parts implanted, even replaced limbs and vital organs,” Clanvut blurted out. ”Is that why they can work so long?”
The Mantid chuckled and shook her head. ”No. It's just the way they're designed. And the parts are cybernetics, far beyond the normal eye or ear replacements your people have.”
”How long can they work for?” Stungut asked. ”Aren't they going to be too tired to fight?”
”How long can they work like that?” she asked. They all nodded. ”Without breaks? Properly trained, they can work for ten or twelve hours, even more. With breaks? Literal days,” the Mantid said. ”They'll arrange to get about six to ten hours of sleep, a little bit of stretching, and be fully fit to fight.”
Palget stared at the humans that were still working. Most had removed their armor and were working in their adaptive camouflage uniforms, their weapons and equipment stacked up for easy retrieval with a Maktanan watching over it. The ones moving the heavy beams still had their armor on, but their helmets were removed.
Palget was somewhat mollified that at least those humans looked sweaty.
”I'll let your CO know that all of you need a few hours of down time to relax, get some food in you, and get a little bit of sleep,” the russet colored mantid said. She turned away. ”All too soon there won't be any chance to sleep.”
Palget felt his skin prickle up at that. Not so much the words, but the way she said them.
TWENTY HOURS REMAINING
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Mana'aktoo looked over the holomap of the entire system. The Terran Space Force vessels had sped all over the system, dropping shoals of gear. Hypercom buoys were scattered everywhere, providing the entire system with real time communication. All three asteroid belts were seeded with enhanced virtual intelligence combat systems, from missile launchers to mass drivers. Every moon, every one of the smaller planets, were all playing host to Terran defense systems. Scanning systems were seeded from the Oort Cloud to orbiting the sun.
Admiral Schmidt had requested permission, and both Mana'aktoo and Kulamu'u had granted it, to turn the system into ”one fuckoff fortress of go fuck yourself” in the time they had.
Space Force vessels had moved into the long convoys of automated freighters, hiding among them, looking like nothing more than large ore haulers. Some had hidden in the gas giants, others were hidden by the asteroids.
Nearly fifty vessels were in a grouping, ready to break out into squadrons to take on the Type-III combat machines when they arrived.
The damage to the Task Force that had warned him of the oncoming Precursors had all been repaired, the ships refitted, the dead replaced. The troopships had landed their complements or were preparing for boarding actions.
Despite the fact that the Precursors jumped out, specialized teams, with communications gear that could transmit in Hellspace and that could reach out hundreds of light years, were ready to board the automated war machines just to give the Terran military the information of where the ships were jumping too.
A one way trip, yet hundreds volunteered, Mana'aktoo thought to himself. Seeing all of this, watching these preparations, I no longer wonder why these humans dominated everything thrown at them so quickly. They pile onto any perceived foe like they are fighting a predator just outside the cave where their females and young are hiding.
He stared at the holomap again.
His own vessels, his tens of thousands of ships, were hidden away, hiding in the gas giants, in comet trails, in the asteroid belts.
He wondered how many of them would survive to see the end of the battle.
TWELVE HOURS REMAINING
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”All right, depending on the geometry when they jump in, we'll have between two and ninety hours to prepare,” the Terran was saying as he paced back and forth. He was being broadcast across the command channel and every being was watching. ”We already know that the weight of metal they are bringing is extensive. Space Force and the Sword Hoof Navy will have their hands full with the space borne clankers.”
The Terran stopped pacing, turning and facing everyone. ”We'll handle the landers. We doubt they're going to full planetary destruction. This system is too resource rich, but these are Type-III's, and there isn't enough data to predict what they're going to do.”
”Commanders, you have your orders. Troopers, you know your jobs, you will be assigned your missions once we see how the enemy is deploying. You all are trained and fit to fight,” the Terran stepped forward, so that he was made large. ”This is your world, behind you are your families, and we'll stand shoulder to shoulder with you.”
”It's jawnconnor time, and you know what that means,” he said.
The holo winked out as the humans gave a resounding reply.
”SMASH THOSE METAL MOTHER FUCKERS INTO JUNK!”
SIX HOURS REMAINING
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”Are we ready?” Mana'aktoo asked.
”As ready as we can be,” Kulamu'u replied. ”It's up to the people doing the fighting now.”
”Digital Omnimessiah preserve us all,” Admiral Schmidt said.
ONE HOUR REMAINING
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”All troops, stand by.”
TEN MINUTES REMAINING
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”Here they come,” Numsret said over the command channel.
ESTIMATED POINT OF ENEMY ARRIVAL
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The Hellspace breaches were small, pinpoint, barely allowing the machines to slip through.
They opened by the thousands, the tens of thousands, out in the Oort Cloud.
The machines used graviton stealth drives to lunge away from their deployment point even as they engaged their systems to extend out their arrays.
The Goggle-Imps blinked their great big googly eyes and stared at the system, whispering the data back to the oncoming armada.
DAWN OF THE FIRST DAY