Orbiting Ishtar
The augmented iss_murgatroid had begun an orbit of Ishtar, my homeworld. We had deployed 4 destroyers and 120 attack sleds, who had englobed the planet. We had also discharged several mine-laying robotic ships, who were planting minefields in a randomized pattern across Ishtar's skies. Friend-or-foe systems were fully active and all weapons systems were charged and ready.
Our orbit was geosynchronous, over Shushan, the capital. They knew we were here...coming in system in attack formation using a bridge-docked Annihilator is a good way to catch the attention of anyone with sensors. Planetary shielding, while not up to Empire standards, was functional. We tested it briefly with the mass drivers (no sense wasting perfectly good antimatter warheads on it when kinetic weapons would do) and confirmed the shield strength. Their shielding was enough to make the fight interesting, but not enough to fully defend the planet. It was as I had remembered...not much had changed in the years I had been gone except the leader of the people.
After a few minutes wait, to let the full sense of our power sink in, I told our communications officer to engage communications. I wanted to speak with King Syrus. In a pleasantly short time, his florid face was on the bridge viewscreen. He was wearing a unhappy expression, which darkened when he recognized my face.
"You!" Yes, he recognized me.
I smiled indulgently and reclined in the Captain's chair. Jellico had scorned normal chair styles and found an antique of Earth manufacture, from a company called "La-Z-Boy". It was remarkably pleasant.
I smirked, then replied, "Yes, it's me. And you probably thought you'd seen the last of the Khans."
"I only wish," he replied peevishly. "I have to see your accursed father every day. I don't know what he did to the fusion reactor safeguard system, but if we don't get the codes from him regularly, thousands die."
My smirk widened. My father, Armannen, had not been a popular ruler. His experiments in cloning were unapproved of by the majority religion (ours is a minority religion) and he had boobytrapped the fusion plants around the world as a safeguard against public uprisings. He had been deposed in a bloodless coup by Syrus, who then discovered the trap when cities started being blown off the map. My father had not been a cruel ruler, but he wanted things his way, and got them.
"Sounds like you're in quite of a pickle," I responded. "I have a solution for you. Step down and restore him to power, and I won't kill you."
"Return Armannen to power? You're just as mad as your sociopath father if you think I'm that desperate. Not a chance. If we have to, we'll power down the fusion plants and run on antimatter alone. Yes, antimatter. We've built antimatter reactors to replace the sabotaged fusion plants, and we can bring them online. As a matter of fact, that's a good idea anyway." Syrus turned to the side and barked an order. Moments later, an ensign put up a readout on the screen, showing planetary shield power had risen by 50%. If the shield power increased to 200%, we wouldn't be able to breach it, even with the power we had at hand.
I tapped a control on my armrest, notifying Captain Jellico that the time had come to start the plan.
"I'm sure we can reason with each other, Syrus. After all, we're both reasonable men." That was the cue word for Jellico, listening and watching using the Tantalus Field, to kill one of Syrus's underlings. A moment later, one of the flunkies standing behind Syrus had been decapitated by the Tantalus Field, and bright arterial blood painted the ceiling before the body collapsed to the floor. Syrus turned and saw the carnage, then turned back.
My smirk turned cheshire. "Ball's in your court, Syrus. I can kill everyone around you. Gehenna, I can stop your antimatter power, through your shields, and you can't do anything about it." A moment later the readout on the screen showed planetary shield power dropping back down from 150%. Captain Jellico had used the ship's sensors to find the antimatter, and used the Tantalus Field to destroy the containment device. Conveniently, the plant had been located in an out-of-the-way peninsula, away from populated areas. Convenient, because the peninsula had been obliterated in the explosion and tsunamis were spreading away from the blast site.
"I know you're a man of peace, Syrus." I had done my research before saying that line. Flattery is only useful if you have facts backing it up. "If I have to get to my father with additional force, I will...but the longer this goes on, the worse the loss of life gets." By my saying another key phrase, Jellico executed another of Syrus' flunkies, this time using the Tantalus Field to remove most of the man's internal organs. The aborted scream behind Syrus let him know what game I was playing. Jellico then began using the Field to destroy the shield generators. Normally, they would have been difficult to pinpoint, but planetary shield generators aren't the kind of things you move without a reason...and without knowledge of the Tantalus Field, there would have been no reason to do so. Their locations were the same since I left Ishtar, and I could watch Jellico work by seeing the shield strength drop on the split screen. I turned to my weapons officer and said, "Open fire, all weapons."
Within seconds, Ishtar's shield strenth was down to 30%, and continued dropping. There were further screams behind Syrus, and it took a few additional seconds for him to make himself heard over the pandemonium.
"Alright, alright! You win! We surrender!" Syrus' face was white. I ordered the firing to stop, and moments later the planetary shields dropped. Our attack sleds moved in towards Ishtar's surface. I sat up in my chair.
"Bring my father to the throne room. I will be down momentarily. Cut connection." I tapped my combadge and asked for Captain Jellico.
"Jellico." His gruff reply held a note of pleasure. He was always happiest after he'd killed someone.
"Khan here. As you can see, we hold the planet."
"Good. Ready the Revenge. Let's go visit your father."
Our orbit was geosynchronous, over Shushan, the capital. They knew we were here...coming in system in attack formation using a bridge-docked Annihilator is a good way to catch the attention of anyone with sensors. Planetary shielding, while not up to Empire standards, was functional. We tested it briefly with the mass drivers (no sense wasting perfectly good antimatter warheads on it when kinetic weapons would do) and confirmed the shield strength. Their shielding was enough to make the fight interesting, but not enough to fully defend the planet. It was as I had remembered...not much had changed in the years I had been gone except the leader of the people.
After a few minutes wait, to let the full sense of our power sink in, I told our communications officer to engage communications. I wanted to speak with King Syrus. In a pleasantly short time, his florid face was on the bridge viewscreen. He was wearing a unhappy expression, which darkened when he recognized my face.
"You!" Yes, he recognized me.
I smiled indulgently and reclined in the Captain's chair. Jellico had scorned normal chair styles and found an antique of Earth manufacture, from a company called "La-Z-Boy". It was remarkably pleasant.
I smirked, then replied, "Yes, it's me. And you probably thought you'd seen the last of the Khans."
"I only wish," he replied peevishly. "I have to see your accursed father every day. I don't know what he did to the fusion reactor safeguard system, but if we don't get the codes from him regularly, thousands die."
My smirk widened. My father, Armannen, had not been a popular ruler. His experiments in cloning were unapproved of by the majority religion (ours is a minority religion) and he had boobytrapped the fusion plants around the world as a safeguard against public uprisings. He had been deposed in a bloodless coup by Syrus, who then discovered the trap when cities started being blown off the map. My father had not been a cruel ruler, but he wanted things his way, and got them.
"Sounds like you're in quite of a pickle," I responded. "I have a solution for you. Step down and restore him to power, and I won't kill you."
"Return Armannen to power? You're just as mad as your sociopath father if you think I'm that desperate. Not a chance. If we have to, we'll power down the fusion plants and run on antimatter alone. Yes, antimatter. We've built antimatter reactors to replace the sabotaged fusion plants, and we can bring them online. As a matter of fact, that's a good idea anyway." Syrus turned to the side and barked an order. Moments later, an ensign put up a readout on the screen, showing planetary shield power had risen by 50%. If the shield power increased to 200%, we wouldn't be able to breach it, even with the power we had at hand.
I tapped a control on my armrest, notifying Captain Jellico that the time had come to start the plan.
"I'm sure we can reason with each other, Syrus. After all, we're both reasonable men." That was the cue word for Jellico, listening and watching using the Tantalus Field, to kill one of Syrus's underlings. A moment later, one of the flunkies standing behind Syrus had been decapitated by the Tantalus Field, and bright arterial blood painted the ceiling before the body collapsed to the floor. Syrus turned and saw the carnage, then turned back.
My smirk turned cheshire. "Ball's in your court, Syrus. I can kill everyone around you. Gehenna, I can stop your antimatter power, through your shields, and you can't do anything about it." A moment later the readout on the screen showed planetary shield power dropping back down from 150%. Captain Jellico had used the ship's sensors to find the antimatter, and used the Tantalus Field to destroy the containment device. Conveniently, the plant had been located in an out-of-the-way peninsula, away from populated areas. Convenient, because the peninsula had been obliterated in the explosion and tsunamis were spreading away from the blast site.
"I know you're a man of peace, Syrus." I had done my research before saying that line. Flattery is only useful if you have facts backing it up. "If I have to get to my father with additional force, I will...but the longer this goes on, the worse the loss of life gets." By my saying another key phrase, Jellico executed another of Syrus' flunkies, this time using the Tantalus Field to remove most of the man's internal organs. The aborted scream behind Syrus let him know what game I was playing. Jellico then began using the Field to destroy the shield generators. Normally, they would have been difficult to pinpoint, but planetary shield generators aren't the kind of things you move without a reason...and without knowledge of the Tantalus Field, there would have been no reason to do so. Their locations were the same since I left Ishtar, and I could watch Jellico work by seeing the shield strength drop on the split screen. I turned to my weapons officer and said, "Open fire, all weapons."
Within seconds, Ishtar's shield strenth was down to 30%, and continued dropping. There were further screams behind Syrus, and it took a few additional seconds for him to make himself heard over the pandemonium.
"Alright, alright! You win! We surrender!" Syrus' face was white. I ordered the firing to stop, and moments later the planetary shields dropped. Our attack sleds moved in towards Ishtar's surface. I sat up in my chair.
"Bring my father to the throne room. I will be down momentarily. Cut connection." I tapped my combadge and asked for Captain Jellico.
"Jellico." His gruff reply held a note of pleasure. He was always happiest after he'd killed someone.
"Khan here. As you can see, we hold the planet."
"Good. Ready the Revenge. Let's go visit your father."