Revolution (The Abraxis Complex Book 5) Page 8

  "Governor, I would like to add that, at this point, we are no longer of this army or that. Identification of such would imply we are different factions. It is true that in the past, we have been enemies because of our nationalistic views. That is an ideal that is no longer feasible in the face of this crisis. This is a threat that we all face, we must stand together as one world against the forces that would enslave us. I would suggest we be referred to as the Terran Military, a contributing subsidiary of the New Alliance Military," General Chou replied. "Unlike my former superiors, I have never held any personal animosity toward anyone of my former adversaries from other nations. We are all countrymen now. The sooner we can get used to thinking in such a way, the quicker our people will follow."

  All of the other military men from Earth were nodding agreement. "General Chou is correct. We are one people now, we need to start acting like it."

  The Ambassadors nodded and began quietly conferring with each other. So Carl replied to the military people. "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for that. It will serve to make a lot of this much easier."

  Greg was nodding his agreement. "Yes, it will. To that effect, we have already begun building a staff of senior officers from the alliance and from Earth to help me run this monster. Each of the Rangers in the Alliance has an important advisory role in their planet's military command structure. I'll get a brief out to all of you on how that seems to be working out, structure-wise. For now, the pro-tem civilian leader for Earth is Prince Edward from Brittan. He has already stated that as soon as he and his aides can organize it, they will begin working with the people in the formation of a new planetary government."

  Noticing that the Ambassadors had finished conferring, Carl signaled Greg that he needed to interrupt.

  "Ladies and Gentlemen, it looks like the Council has reached a decision. Madam Ambassador?"

  The Harclen Ambassador bowed to Carl. "Thank you, Chairman. We of the Alliance Council have reached a consensus on the following issues. Firstly, that no member world or it's colonies can or will be interfered with by the Alliance except by request. As Earth has already made that request, we will support the current actions of the free people of Earth.

  "Secondly, as Commander Greg has already stated, the Rangers are the defacto liaisons between the military of the Alliance and those of our members. In his role as the Liaison for Earth, we authorize Ranger Commander Greg to organize the form and function of that assistance.

  "Finally, if the new 'imperial' faction on Earth is allowed to grow and flourish, we feel it is inevitable that we will eventually find ourselves in direct conflict with it. Based on the statements we heard moments ago, the conquest and control of Earth is only their first objective. To that end, we are prepared to support the action on Earth as fully as we are able.

  "Ranger Commander Greg Albright, as the growing imperial cancer on Earth is a threat to our people and our Alliance, you are hereby authorized to eliminate the threat to our people. May your hand be tempered by compassion, and your actions guided by wisdom."

  Greg stood when she had addressed him directly. He bowed to her as he received his orders. "Madam Ambassador, does the council feel that a state of war exists between the Alliance and the self-proclaimed Empire of Terra?"

  The woman sighed but nodded. "As we understand the definition of that word, yes. A state of war now exists."

  "Thank you, Madam Ambassador. I will act accordingly," Greg replied and took his seat.

  Carl stood. "As the remaining business before the Council are civilian matters, can we allow the Commander to begin seeing to his orders?"

  "We can," the Harclen ambassador replied. "Commander, if you or your people need anything from us, please let Governor Hollister know and he can get it to us immediately. We all wish you success in your mission."

  "General Chou, have you heard how the North Koreans are reacting to this?" Greg asked when he returned to his office.

  The man snorted. "About like they react to everything else; threats and blustering. Our intelligence services tell us that there is a strong enemy presence in that and the surrounding countries. After what you did to stop them from starting a war, a new leader has risen and he is just as insane as Kim was."

  "Not that big of a surprise, really," Admiral Ellsworth replied. "Considering how very dependent South Korea has been in the United States. Sorry, I'm late everyone, I had a small issue of my own to take care of." Ellsworth was one of the highest placed military men in Australia. "What did I miss?"

  "A declaration of war, Admiral," General Chou replied gravely. "If you wish, I can send you the recording of the entire meeting. It would most likely be easier as none of us have aides as yet."

  "Thank you, General. That would be greatly appreciated," Ellsworth replied. "Commander Albright, I have several former senior military officers in custody that should be questioned about their involvement with the Cabal. I am also pleased to inform all of you that the country of Australia is now fully in support of your efforts."

  "That is very good news, Admiral. The current pro-tem civilian leader down there is Prince Edward of England. He will be holding elections and setting up a formal government as soon as time and resources permit. We have yet to decide on the military command structure at this point, but I will only be an adviser and liaison to you. That is not to say the Alliance isn't going to help, it only means that because of my other duties, I can't take a more direct role in this," Greg explained.

  "I would suggest General Chou take overall command at this point. He has the most combat experience of any of us," Admiral Cobb of Annapolis suggested.

  "I do, but you and General Benton are the best tacticians on the planet. If I command, we will need both of your assistance in this," General Chou replied, nodding his agreement.

  "Gentlemen, While you work out a command structure, I need to step away for a few minutes and issue some orders. I would also like to see if I can get a crew started on building a new base for you to command from. Do you have any suggestions as to where I should place that?"

  "Some place warmer than here, please. The winters in Beijing are horrible," Chou said making the men laugh. "But seriously, it has been my experience that the more complex a leadership is, the less work actually gets done. I would suggest we keep our command structure as simple as possible. To that end, In addition to their tactical duties, I would put forth that General Benton handles the air forces and Admiral Cobb the ground and naval forces," General Chou said.

  "Agreed. Specific missions and tasks can be delegated out to whoever would be best suited from that point," General Gordon said and grinned. "That was simple enough, now, where should we put our command bunker?"

  "Before you gentlemen decide on that, I would like to speak to Fighter Jarad; I cannot see the Cabalists keeping only one base. They have to be building more in other places," Greg asked.

  General Chou nodded. "Yes, we are going to need our own intelligence service as quickly as possible for situations just like this."

  General Schriever from Falcon Air Force Base in Colorado spoke for the first time. "Gentlemen, We already have a good portion of the assets available to us for this. Many of our operatives were left out in the cold by the departure of the Cabal. I personally know of two Chinese and one North Korean spy here in Colorado that we could most likely recruit. I just don't have a safe place to do the actual recruiting or have a way of making sure they are not of the Cabal."

  Greg nodded. "We will be sending a transport to Peterson tomorrow for the scientists and researchers that have requested our protection. Will that be enough time to round them up and get them to the base?"

  "Should be," Schriever replied. "My worry is what of the other spies we haven't been able to identify? I know the Russian federation and a couple of other countries have them here, but to my knowledge, no one knows who they are."

  "Abraxis, can we add Fighter Jarad to this conference please?" Greg asked.

  "Actually, he is about to knoc
k on your door, Commander," Abraxis replied.

  Greg chuckled as Abraxis simply opened the door to a surprised looking Jarad who was standing there with his hand raised as if to knock. "Come on in Jarad, I was just asking to include you in this," Greg said by way of explanation.

  "Ah, that explains it then. What did you need?" Then, seeing the other men he nodded his head to them. "Good afternoon Gentlemen."

  "Actually, we need a spymaster. Since you're the most experienced, as well as the only, former spy I know and trust… well, I'm sure you know the rest," Greg replied. "General Schriever has pointed out that recent action by the Cabal has left many of the world's spies in the lurch. We need to get an intelligence network built and thought to see what we could do about finding these folks and offering them a job."

  Jarad nodded. "I can see how that would help. However, we will have to be careful in the extreme here. Covert Operatives are hard to get accurate reads on; they are trained to be duplicitous and are suspicious and paranoid by nature. I do know of a few we can contact, though, would you like me to compile a list and begin checking them out?"

  "Yes please, Ranger," General Chou asked. "General Schriever also knows of a couple in Colorado that we might be able to enlist. General Schriever, would you please work with Ranger Fighter Jarad to get this setup?"

  "Certainly Sir, I'm more research oriented than intel, but I do have some experience in that area. I'll do everything I can to help," Schriever replied.

  "Excellent, thank you General. Fighter Jarad, please proceed at your earliest opportunity," General Chou said.

  "I'll get on it right away; honestly, that's why I was coming here anyway. I was going to make a few suggestions for Greg to let you know about," Jarad said grinning. "If you'll excuse me then, I'll head back to my office and get to work."

  True to their word, the military men began organizing the training of anyone that wanted it at the existing bases. The Alliance was asked to assist with transportation for groups that were simply too far away to get to a base easily, or in some cases quickly. Within a very short span of time, almost every military base was at full capacity whether they had training facilities or not.

  Greg's mother, Ranger Pilot Sharon, along with the transportation coordinator, Miss Oni, quickly added more pilots and the newly expanded shipbuilding facilities did their best to keep up. In addition to that effort, Carl organized the 'modernization' of the bases working with the Alliance. Sending crews and material down to upgrade their facilities and equipment, such as the hospitals, housing, and all the support structure needed not only by the new people but for the existing personnel as well.

  During all of this, the Cabal forces had not slowed their attacks at all. However, Greg had more of a force to use in trying to defend the people and places they were attacking. Granted most of it was ground forces, but that had been an area that they had been in desperate need of. Of course, they still needed more people, and pilots, but the situation was slowly getting better.

  While the war was beginning to take on the guerrilla style combat of the Vietnam era, some like battles lines began to take shape. Instead of a defined line of conflict, it became more of conflict areas. Nevada, parts of Utah, Arizona, and California were firmly under control of the Cabal. While they did let people in, absolutely no one, was allowed back out. Both Vandenberg and White Sands Proving ground outside of Las Cruses in New Mexico were active combat zones. The Redstone Missile range in Arkansas had seen a couple of assaults by the Cabal forces, but it wasn't constant like it was in New Mexico and California.

  One of the first things Jarad's newly formed intelligence network discovered was a rebel faction within the city of Las Vegas in the Cabal zone. It seems the various gangs had a problem with Imperial control and were fighting back, in their own way, against the Cabal. Somehow, a truce had been reached between the former enemies among the gangs, and someone appeared to be guiding them in how and where to hit. They were also getting technical support from somewhere as they had been witnessed to use several improvised explosive devices and other tricks only known by special operations soldiers.

  Jarad had a plan to get them some supplies and to try to make contact with them. He felt if he could get them better weapons and armor, as well as advanced medical supplies and possibly a communicator, they would be able to mount a better resistance to the Cabalists forces.

  Greg felt comfortable letting him handle this since Jarad and his new 'friends' knew more about these situations than Greg did. Jarad was also working very closely with the Terran leadership and commanders. Several para-military groups from all over the United States also tried to join the Alliance forces. Not surprisingly, there was a small migration from the deep south as KKK members and a few other hate groups moved to join the Cabal to help 'cleanse' the world of undesirables. The Cabal got, even more, recruits and supporters from different neo-nazi organizations as well as other fascist groups as the official line from the Cabal appealed to them.

  In Atlanta Georgia, in the United States, the studio crew of the nation's largest news agency destroyed their own equipment before they were shot by Cabal forces. The dedicated news network was only off the air for two days before resuming broadcast from their new facilities in Las Vegas, Nevada. The local reporter told Greg about the attack since he was talking to a friend in the studio when it began, Greg and his team left immediately but did not arrive fast enough to prevent the deaths. They did manage to repel Cabal forces, forcing them to get back on their ships and retreat but not before they killed several hundred civilians, and kidnapping a few others. The communications AI, with the assistance of Abraxis and as well as the intelligence AI made sure the entire mission, was sent out to the entire world, as it happened. Abraxis did warn viewers that it was a live broadcast, and not suitable for more sensitive viewers.

  The entire corporate structure of the company that ran the Network was already gone. The people in the office buildings had been quietly kidnapped and taken away before the attack on the studios. The rescued new people joined the new news network being formed by the reporters already on the moon. They were happy in that now they could broadcast the truth. There were discussion programs as well that brought guests on to argue the policies and actions of the Alliance and Terran ranger forces. There were those people that disagreed with the Alliance and some of the policies of the Rangers, but every seemed to agree that something had to be done to stop the Cabalist forces from taking over the planet. None of the opinions were censored in any way. It was a core belief of the Alliance and the Rangers that people had the freedom to have their own opinions.

  In a surprise move, several Muslim leaders formerly known as either supportive or at least sympathetic to terrorist groups spoke out in support of the Alliance. They told the people that 'The Great Satan' that was their true target was now called the Cabal. They called for every jihadist and extremist cell to stop fighting 'infidel' Americans and work to support Alliance forces in the protection of their world and the people.

  Jarad suggested three sites for the new military base. He suggested all three sites be built; two as decoys and one as the real base. One would be in the Australian outback, far from any populations centers. Another would be built deep in the Amazon, again far from any large population, and finally, the real base would be built on Ascension Island in the mid-Atlantic Ocean. All three projects would bring much-needed income to the areas, as well as being isolated so when the attacks did come, fewer people would be hurt. In the case of Ascension Island, it would be all but evacuated and the residents relocated. The same practice would use at the other two sites. It would be very important to make sure nothing special was done at any one site that wasn't done at the others. Each of the decoy bases would be staffed defended just like the real base was, and the two decoys would have com repeaters so communications would always 'originate' at all three places. Not even the guards would know they were defending a decoy site.

  The military structure Greg had env
isioned was being formed, and being formed quickly. The ship facilities both civilian and well as one of the military ones came online and immediately began operations. The civilian ship facility began construction on a big mining ship as well as a large transport, with a large freighter and another mining ship scheduled to be started as soon as the frames for the first two were finished.

  The military dock complex started fork on two cruiser class and one battleship. Four of the cruisers would be built during the construction of the battleship. When the battleships were finished, a carrier would be next while the cruiser gantries built other, lighter support ships such as missile cruisers and torpedo boats, ammo supply freighters, and destroyers.

  The destroyers would be very helpful in the fight against the Cabal as they would have the ability to fight in the atmosphere as well as to land on a planet's surface; an ability that would only be shared with the smaller cruisers and support ships. There was a troop transport planned that was the size of a medium cruiser that would be able to land and deploy troops and equipment, but there still issues with the design, so it was not yet in the schedule for construction yards.

  Jarad's plan was simple; get better weapons and equipment to the resistance fighters in Las Vegas and the surrounding areas. However, that was much easier said than done. The Cabal had deployed a combination force field/detection barrier around the city and had also deployed heavily armed roving patrols. The field could not identify a Hypersled as it passed through, but it did know something passed through. So Hyper sleds could be detected by it, after a fashion.