Chapter 5 - The Attack (2/2)
”Colonel Balthazar, Sir. I was afraid when you cut my call, that how I would have to report this to Lt. Col. Jacques and inform him of our plan. Glad to see that it is not necessary,” he said in a frightened manner.
”What happened? You seem to be very shocked for some reason,” inquired Balthazar knowing very well about the ape fleet.
”Sir, we have wrongly estimated the cargo sh.i.p.s purpose. The glitch was never meant to be serving the needs of smugglers. It was all just a ruse. We have witnessed a cargo ship leading an ape armada to the moon. If not for the fact that we been using a stealth shuttle and never engaged, we would have been dead by now,” said Jones.
”Size and description of the fleet?”, Bel further inquired.
”There are more than 150 war sh.i.p.s similar to our destroyers being led by a huge ship. There seems to be a cannon attached to it. Looks like a weapon to break through planetary defences,” replied Jones.
”I am glad that I decided to send you there Capt. Jones. I am headed towards the command centre now. Please, stay in stealth and continue reporting the movement and direction of the armada and also the vessel directing it. Please, continue to stay out of their sight. Go back to PK-170 and report to Sophia once we start attacking them. Thank You.”
”Sir, requesting to engage the ape armada after the attack starts. The crew men don't want to be left out the tussle, Sir,” reported Jones. Being a proud military man he couldn't agree to sit himself out of this battle.
”Captain Jones, the shuttle you are aboard is primarily a reconnaissance vessel. It is not meant to fight battles. I am not suggesting you and your men to sit down. Just report to Sophia, who will be leading an armada from the planet. I don't intend to have loyal men lose their lives in stealth shuttle for no good reason. Over and out,” snapped back Balthazar.
”For heavens sake, just do what I ask you to, guys. It is hard enough to guess, what my enemies are planning and now I have to deal with overenthusiastic men. Best I let Sophia deal with them,” thought Balthazar.
”Now that all my men are ready. I would just have to convince the Lt. Col. Chang Biming and Daisuke to let that merchant vessel enter our aerospace safely before we start firing at the ape armada,” he thought. ”It is best that I catch them and interrogate them.”
He reached a tall building shaped like a hexagonal prism. This was the main command centre for the moon base. Any and every order executed by the personnel on the moon must pass through the offices in the building. He immediately seeked out Daisuke who was the person presiding over the centre at this time. As, he entered the central communications centre, he was greeted by Daisuke.
Daisuke was a short dark haired man. He had small beady eyes that seemed to notice everything around him. He was the most experienced veteran on the base and held complete respect and authority of all the men on the base.
”Col. Balthazar. Was just about to call for you. We noticed an unauthorized vessel heading towards the base. It hails for support and it's captain says that it had been ambushed by the apes and that it is one of the Rowley's vessels”, reported Daisuke.
”I have come here for the same issue, Lt. Col. Daisuke. One of the experimental stealth sh.i.p.s from the planet base has accidentally noticed the same. It also reports an ape armada heading towards the moon base. You should be getting reports of it on your systems, too,” replied Balthazar.
As if to prove his words right, the alarms suddenly gave off. The detection systems noticed the ape armada behind the merchant vessel.
”BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! UNKNOWN FLEET OBSERVED! ALL MEN NEED TO REPORT TO YOUR POSITIONS. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. WE ARE UNDER ATTACK.”
This sudden burst had all the men in the room confused. ”How could the Colonel get such information before us. We are supposed to be the forefront of the entire defence of this sector,” they thought unanimously. The sudden display by the Colonel had various effects on the personnel. Some were impressed and other still found it hard to believe. But all of them had their pride hurt, observing the effectiveness of the new Colonel. This bought a sudden change in how the viewed his orders. Now, they finally considered that their new Colonel is no less adept at command and war than his predecessors and boosted their confidence in him.
Noticing the change in the expressions of his personnel, Balthazar decided that it is his time to step up and take charge.
”Wait for the merchant vessel to safely enter the moons atmosphere and beyond the line of fire of the cannons and artillery before we open fire,” commanded Balthazar. He immediately established a state of emergency all over the moon and the planet PK-170. ”Today, I shall establish my name over the galaxies,” he thought. ”Get me the mike and make sure every person on the moon listens to this.”
”The apes have been in a state of war against humanity for the past century. They have been threatening the territories established by our forefathers and continue to fight us without any intention to converse or negotiate us. Their behavior implies how greatly they underestimate the human kind. Today, we don't attack us again unprovoked at our citadel which is equivalent to trampling on our pride and honour. We shall lay waste to their forces and save the men they dare to attack.”
As soon as he was informed that the merchant vessel is out of the firing range, he announced war.
”ATTACK!! SPARE NO ONE AND DON'T LET ANYONE OF THESE ALIENS ESCAPE. THOSE WHO DARE TO INVADE OUR LANDS SHALL STAY HERE FOR ALL OF ETERNITY.”