Chapter 21
Royal Palace, New Capital City, Earth Prime.
Maiha Nakatoma walked through the hallways of the Royal Residence on Earth Prime with a heavy heart. She hated this place. To her the Royal Palace on Earth Prime was a waste of credits. Yet she understood the need for the Palace as a symbol. Ryuk maybe the true seat of power, but the Palace would always be the symbol of that power for the citizens of the Empire.

She and Alice were not here on Earth Prime by choice. They were here with a mission. A mission to root out the cancer that had crept in and was slowly killing the Empire from within. It had taken the Empire’s Secret Intelligence Police Force to weed out the clones in both the Hall of Lords and Parliament. The sickening part was the number of planetary Representatives and Lords that were compromised. It had taken all of Maiha hard learned patience to keep from killing them all outright. As much as she wanted to do exactly that she had to wait until this afternoon’s State of the Empire Address before she enacted her plan.

Maiha stopped and looked out one of the many windows in the southern wall of the hallway. Unlike the hallways on the northern side of the palace the southern hallways look down into the private courtyard of the palace. In the center of the courtyard was a large fifty-by-fifty sandlot. The Corpse of Engineers had put that in for her, Alice, and their family to use as a practice area. Maiha, and Alice spent a good deal of time on the sandlot going through their morning katas. Even though it was supposed to be there for her use, Maiha let the palace guards use it for their morning and afternoon PT. Even now, the on coming guards were going through their PT before reporting for duty. Maiha smiled knowing that three times a day the sandlot saw use for more than just decoration.

“Wishing that you were down there with them, love?” Alice’s voice brought a smile to Maiha’s face. Her wife of thirty years knew her so well.

“You know that I do, love.” Maiha sighed before turning to hug Alice. “There are times I wish that I could just put James on the Throne and disappear into the frontier or go home to become a simple teacher again.”

“You and me both dear. Why in the name of all that is holy and unholy did you ever let Daniela talk you into staying on the throne?” Alice double checked that they were alone before talking about one of the greatest secrets in the Empire.

“I didn’t let her talk me into staying on the throne. She flat-out refused to return to the throne. In her words ‘The Dan family is dead. Let them rest in peace.’ I doubt that even mother could have talked her into returning to the throne. That woman had a real hard-on hate for ruling.”

“Have you decided on how you plan to flush the traitors out of hiding yet?” Alice practically spit out the words in her anger. When she found out that more than a full third of the Parliament and a quarter of the Hall of Lords were now clones, Alice spent the day blowing targets apart on the range. Not even Dai Etsu had been able to calm her down after they reviewed the report. Not that Maiha had been much better. The Range Master had to request all new target stands and hard targets after the royal couple left the range that day.

“All is in readiness Alice. When I give the signal the Palace Guards will arrest the traitors where they stand. If the traitors resist the Guards have order to kill them where they stand. They will not be given the chance to escape their fates.” There was something in Maiha’s voice that had Alice worried.

“What has you on edge, Maiha? We’ve faced worse situations on the battlefield. I’ve never seen you this unsettled before.”

“It is the report that Captain Eastlee presented this morning. We still have at least another possible eight unknown enemies in the Senate and six within the Congress of Parliament. The only good news in that report is the confirmation of the number of clones in the Hall of Lords. It still unsettles me that the Amazons were able to clone and replace so many of our Legislative Branch of Government. We still haven’t figured out how the Amazons were able to make the switches. Until that mystery is solved none of us are safe.” Maiha let her real worry show.

“Have faith in the Hand of the Empire, dear. Of all our counter intelligence operatives they are the best. They will get to the bottom of the mystery.” Alice said trying to ease Maiha’s worry. “They have never failed us in the past.”

The fact that Alice was even hinting at turning loose the most secretive of organizations at her command let Maiha know just how pissed off her wife was. In the twenty years since their formation the Hand of the Empire had only been used nine times to solve a problem. Each time the heads of the trouble makers were delivered to the throne room. Always without a clue as to who put them there. Maiha and Alice had no clues to the identities of the mysterious operators. All they knew was that the loyalty of the members was unquestionable, and they operated totally in the dark of the Government, including the War Princess and Empress.

“I know that Alice. I just wish that they weren’t needed. As much as I dream of a time when I can just turn over the running of the Empire to the Parliament and the Prime Minister I doubt that will ever happen. The more I try to move us away from a total monarchy to a constitutional monarchy the greedier the High Families become. The Amazons are just the newest pain in my ass.” Maiha gripped.

The sound of running feet drew Maiha and Alice’s attention towards the far end of the hallway. A young Death Dealer just barely out of Basic Training and AIT came charging toward them both. “Your Majesty! Urgent news from the New Texas battle!”

As the Private came to a stop Maiha held out her hand to take the message from him. Maiha took the next few minutes to read the report before handing it over to Alice. “Private report to First High Lady Starr. You are to inform her that she is to release the eighth, ninth, tenth, fifteenth, twentieth, and twenty-five Death Dealer Battlegroups. Their target is the Amazon home system. Tell Lady Starr that the Battlegroups are cleared for Total War. No restrictions. Understood?”

“Yes, your Majesty.” With that the young man turned and ran as fast as the confines of the palace hallways would allow. Maiha knew that the young man was pushing the limits of his Death Dealer upgrades.

“Damn, Maiha. If this report is only halfway true, then I doubt that six battlegroups are going to be enough.” Alice had just finished reading the report as the Private turned to carry out his orders.

“Those six will be more than enough Alice. As it stands right now, a rather large portion of the Amazon military might is on New Texas. As it is I may have to send another full battlegroup to the NCS. Just to even out the odds. What I want to know is how in the name of all that is holy and unholy could the Amazons build a military with over seventy-five heavy armored divisions, and one-hundred and twenty-five light divisions without us knowing about it? That doesn’t even consider the massive Navy to move those divisions.” Maiha was beyond pissed off. Her Intelligence organization had failed her.

“The same way that the Amazons have been able to infiltrate the Parliament to the point the way they have. Clones. Remember, Maiha, the Amazons believe the next step in evolution for humanity is cloning.” Maiha had to accept what Alice had pointed out to her. It was the truth after all. The Amazons could produce a thousand fully grown and trained clone soldiers in eighteen months. Alice drove this point home with her next words. “Just look at the size of the birthing factories. The smallest of them can produce a thousand worker clones in ten months. It doesn’t take much imagination or a DD-AI to figure how fast they can turn out soldiers.”

“Well they had their time in the sun.” Maiha growled out through clenched teeth. “Dee Dee, open a connection to Major General Howard.”

‘Opening now, Maiha. You should have full security with Mark.’

‘Thank you, Dee Dee.’ Maiha waited for Major General Mark Howard the commander of her personal bodyguard units, The Hellhounds. “Mark, are you people in place?”

“All set, your Majesty. The First Squadron is in position to arrest the suspected Parliament members. The Second Squadron will take down the Lords and Ladies of the suspect High Families. I have the Third and Fourth Squadrons at the Great Hall to take down the other suspects.”

Maiha sighed and gave the order. “Hound One, you are clear for Operation Valkyrie. I say again Valkyrie is a go, Hound One.”

“Understood, Wave Dancer, Operation Valkyrie is a go. Hound one out.” With that the connection went dead.

That one simple command set in motion a series of events that would culminate in the Great Hall of Parliament. The first of which was the coordinated arrests of forty-two members of the Parliament, and twelve members of the Hall of Lords. All of which were members of the Amazon Collective. Through all New Capital City, teams of Hellhounds surged out of hiding and over walls, through gates. Whatever it took to surround and arrest their assigned suspect. Each team of Infantrymen was supported by either heavy IFVs and tanks, or Armored Power Suits. The lightest of which as the namesake for the Regiment. The new eighty-ton H8-1H Hellhound. The heaviest of the new Armored Power Suits in the raids was the new one-hundred-ton E3-P1 Empress Assault Class APS.

Over the next hour, the Hellhounds carried out the orders of their Empress. Much to the displeasure of the Amazon Representatives and High Families. With less than an hour until the State of the Empire Address Maiha and Alice headed for the Great Hall. The Parliament, along with the Lords and Ladies of the High Families, had already gathered in their respected seats awaiting their arrival. The Empyreal Herald, Sir Raymond Fitzhue bowed to first Maiha then Alice. Turning to face the gathered members of the Legislative body. The Herald pounded the ceremonial Staff.

“ALL RISE! Her Honorable Lady of Starport, Duchess of Hades, Baroness of Hells Gate System, First High Lady of the Death Dealers, Defender of Empire, First Knight for the Temple of Ida-ten, Grand Dragon of the Space ways, Blood Sister to the Queen of High Winds, War Queen of the Elves, the Royal Empress, Maiha Mana Owens-Nakatoma.” When the Herald reached the end his announcement of Maiha’s titles he started in on Alice’s. Much to the Royal couple’s annoyance. Thankfully it was over quietly.

As the gathered members of the two halves of the Legislative branch applauded their arrival Alice and Maiha walked towards the front of the Great Hall. Alice could tell that Maiha’s already bad mood had been worsened by the Herald’s longwinded and over the top introduction. Then again, Maiha wasn’t known for standing on ceremony and every time she was forced to hear all of her titles read off Alice had to hold her wife’s hand to keep Maiha from killing a Herald doing their job.

Maiha stepped up to the dais and looked at the gathered Representatives. There were more than a few empty seats in the auditorium. All of which were in the Amazon Collective sections. She also knew that there were about to be a lot more empty, or blood covered seats. Maiha hoped it would just be empty seats. Taking a deep breath Maiha adjusted the microphone and placed her hands on the stand.

“Lords, Ladies, Senators, and Congressmen, I come before you this day with grave news. A situation has arisen within our Empire that threatens the very foundation of our existence. A situation that has never happened in our long and storied history. Revolt, and secession. As many of you have already noticed the empty seats the perpetrators of these vile acts are the Amazon Collective. Over the last month they have openly attacked members of the Empyreal Military on more than one planet in more than one system. In all but one instance the Collective has been beaten back. I most stress that at no time did the Empyreal Military’s Death Dealer Units initiate the confrontations.” As Maiha address the assembly members of her Personal Bodyguards, the Hellhounds, slowly moved into place for the second part of her plan to cut the heart out of the Revolt.

“The actions of the Amazon Collective has forced my hand in a matter that should have been handled in our Courts. Instead of bringing their grievances to this august body they went to war. Even now as I speak to you. The Death Dealers Twenty-second Battle Group have entered the New Confederate System to engage the Amazon forces on New Texas. The following Death Dealer Battle Groups have been sent to the Amazon Collective territories to quail this revolt. The eighth, ninth, tenth, fifteenth, twentieth, and twenty-five.”

A collective gasp of shock ran through the assembly at the idea of six full Battle Groups descending on three systems. With thirty-six combat divisions of Death Dealers to each planetary system the words ‘over kill’ were redundant. Six Battle Platforms, twenty-four Super Carriers, forty-eighty Texas Class Battleships, ninety-six destroyers, one-hundred and ninety-two frigates, and over three hundred Corsairs supporting those, one-hundred and eight combat divisions was enough to drive the fear of all that’s divine and demonic into the most ardent of fanatics.

The gathered assembly of Lords, Ladies, Senators, and Congressmen knew that soon those very Battle Groups would be raining down hellfire and brimstone on the Amazon Collective home worlds. Maiha kept her eyes on the representatives that she suspected as being compromised by the Collective. There were two Senators, and five Congressmen for each planetary system. Making for a total of eight-hundred Senators and two-thousand Congressmen. Twenty-eight-hundred men and women watched Maiha’s every move. That did not include the two-hundred Lords or Ladies that represented the High Families. A few of which were already missing thanks to the arrests of the Amazon High Family reps in New Capital City.

The total political might of the Empire in one Great Hall. Corrupted with a cancer that was choking the life out the august body. A cancer that Maiha was going to rip from that body with a simple act.

“It is with a sad heart that I must ask for your oaths of loyalty to the Empire.” That one request set in motion the trap that Maiha had set for the traitors. When the one-hundred and forty-eight Senators, and three-hundred Congressmen rose up in protest the Hellhounds moved in to arrest them with military precision. The Hellhounds covering the High Family Lords and Ladies struck with far more decisive action. Thirty-two cloned Lords or Ladies were cutdown were they stood or sat.

All through the Great Hall there was pandemonium. As Hellhounds took down the Amazon controlled clones. A few of them tried to get to Maiha and Alice in a vain attempt to either kill them or force the Hellhounds to negotiate. Those few were killed by other Senators and Congressmen. Maiha may not be one of the most loved Empresses, but she was the most respected. Maiha had expected to use her own personal weapons at one point but that point never came. In a way Maiha was greatly disappointed by this turn of events, as she really wanted the chance to putdown a few of the traitors herself. It has been over thirty years since she last got to put a life altering beat down on someone.

Three of the loyal Senators dragged one of the clones in front of Maiha. She looked down at the man who had at onetime been one of her most ardent supports. “Tell me where the real representatives are clone and I will spare your life.”

“They have all been Recycled for the greater glory of the Collective. Not even you and your freeborn scum Death Dealers can stop the inevitable conquest by the Collective. We have agents in all levels of the government. Cannot hope to smoke them all out before it is too late.”

“Oh, that is where you’re wrong. Even now, the Death Dealer Battle Groups are moving to put an end to the Amazon Collective. They are operating under Total War Orders. By this time next month nothing will be left of the Amazon Collective and its way of life.” Maiha looked up at the gathered members of her Parliament and Hall of Lords. “For the past twenty years this august body has tried and failed to pass legislation to end the practice of cloning. The reason has behind this failure has been the slow infiltration of clones loyal only to the Amazon Collective. No longer shall such perditions be tolerated. From this day forward ALL members of the Hall of Lords and Parliament shall be subjected to DNA isotonic testing, Loyalty Oaths, and Conditioning tests. Failures of one shall result in that individual’s removal.”

“By what right do you believe that you can subject us to such measures?” One of the Lords called from his position among his number.

“By the Lawful Right of Royal Succession, Lord Rockefeller. If you wish to Challenge my claim to the throne feel free to step up to the Circle of Equals.” Maiha smiled as she pointed at the circle in the middle of the Great Hall.

“I see no reason to Challenge you, Empress Maiha. I only wished to know under what law you can call for these measures to protect our Empire. As a member of this august body, I would be remiss in my duties if I had not challenged your decree.”

Maiha had to give the man credit. With a bow of respect to the man, Maiha smiled. “Lord Rockefeller, of all the Lords or Ladies, your loyalty has never been in question. You and your Family have always strived to uphold your duties to both the crown and to the people of your systems. I only offered you the Circle of Equals as a way to show those here that ALL are welcome to question my decrees. That I do not use my authority lightly. As much as I wish to leave the running of our Empire to you and the Prime Minister this is not possible. Not that I haven’t tried.”

“Empress Maiha, of all those present, I can honestly say that you do not shirk your duties to the Empire. I too, wish that you didn’t have to take so much of the governing of our Empire onto your shoulders. May we know what will happen to the individuals that were arrested?” Rockefeller asked of Maiha.

“As I stated they will be subjected to DNA isotonic, and Conditioning testing to prove they are not clones. Should they be proven to be clones they will be summarily executed. If they are proven to be who they say they are they will be released to return to their home worlds. There they will spend the rest of their lives as free citizens of the Empire. They will never again hold public office though. As their loyalty can no longer be trusted.” Maiha looked around the massive chamber before continuing. “As for the Amazon High Family Lords and Ladies. They along with their Delegation to Parliament. They shall be imprisoned until such time that they can be tried in a court of law for war crimes and High Treason.”

When no one raised an objection to her declaration Maiha bowed to the assembly. “I bid you all a good day. I have a war to win.”

As Maiha headed for the door to leave the Herald called out. “Long live the Empress Maiha Mana. Long may she reign.”

Once outside the Great Hall of Parliament Maiha breathed a huge sigh of relief. “Well that went better than I expected. Now, I just hope that James can hold on long enough for the relief force to reach him.”

“Don’t worry love. If there is one thing our son is good at. It is making the enemy pay for every inch of territory with body bags and blood.” Alice answered grimly.

“I have every confidence in him love. It is the enemy that I don’t trust. The Amazons are soon to be on the defense. They are already a wounded animal. They may well just decide that New Texas is not worth conquering and drop a planet killer.”

“I doubt that it will come to that love. The Amazons are a prideful people this is true, but they are not stupid. They will soon realize that their only hope of survival will be surrender. Despite the power of their military, they cannot stand up to the full weight of our Empyreal Death Dealer Battle Groups. Not even on their home world of New Brazil.” Alice stopped talking as they neared their transport back to the Palace. Once inside she picked up where she left off. “Never before has six full Battle Groups been deployed at one time. Have a little faith in your troops.”

“Oh, I have Faith in our troops Alice. And it is a full ten Battle Groups not six. Parliament may have been fighting me over the military budget, but I have been able to slowly build our forces up considerably over the last thirty years. They believe we have only thirty-five Battle Groups. The truth is we have far more than that. Sixty-five more Battle Groups to be exact.” Maiha gave Alice a sly smile at the look of shock that crossed her wife’s face. “Remember love, I never gamble with my money, only my life. Just because I let them think that our military is smaller that what it is doesn’t mean I holding something back.”

“Once again, Maiha, you have shown your mastery of warfare and politics.” Two hours later the Royal Couple's shuttle lifted off heading for Ryuk. Little did the those in the Hall of Lords and Parliament know that they were on their way to help in the relief efforts of New Texas. Once again, the ancient Battle Platform Ryuk was stepping onto the battlefield.

Amazon High Command, New Texas
Supreme Commander Victor Von Bencher, stormed through the halls of his Command Post heading for the post hospital. His mood was darkened by the reports coming in from the Panhandle, Franklin Mountains, White Sands Desert, in short, the whole Western front were depressing. The greatest blow to the Western Campaign was the destruction of the bridges over the rivers and gorges of the region. Of his twenty-eight divisions he had already lost three of them to rebel forces. One them on the bridges over the Greater Reo Grand gorge. The massacre of five regiments of mercenaries in the Bounty Hunter county region was an ever heavier blow to his forces wellbeing. The worse report to reach him though came from the assault on White Sands.

There were only two usable passes through the mountains that surrounded three quarters of the plains. Both of which were through the northern half of the mountain range. The Southern end of the plains was the only direct access to the White Sands Desert region. The problem was to reach the Southern end you had travel down to the coast then south along the coast for three-hundred miles. Then you had to turn north and march for another hundred miles before reaching the White Sands Desert. The only other approach was from the east across the Big Catfish River Delta and marshes. Not an easy approach by any means. There were spots in the marshes that were deep enough to swallow an Assault Class APS whole. That didn’t even take into account the wildlife that was deadly to unprotected Infantrymen.

What truly angered Von Bencher was the delay caused by those new fighters of the Empire. Their attack runs through those canyon passes had not only closed them but had forced the fourteen divisions assigned to that attack to halt in place. Without those divisions holding the Death Dealers attention on White Sands his forces would be slowly cut to pieces by the rising number of insurgent forces across the planet. He needed time to secure his rear areas and supply lines. Time that he did not have and was rapidly running out for his command.

Their whole plan for conquering New Texas had revolved around speed, firepower, and movement. They had obtained all but one of their initial objectives on the first day. Sense then his command had struggled for each new objective. The rebel forces and Death Dealers had slowed his forces down to the point that they were still trying to reach day seventeen objectives, let alone the planned objectives for the Eastern continent for day thirty. The plans for the smaller continent had been completely abandoned until the insurgent movement on the Western continent could be put down and the one Death Dealer Division had been either forced to retreat or was destroyed. Everything was coming apart and Von Bencher could do nothing to stop it. He was helpless, and he knew it.

The only good thing he had received a report on was the recovery of Emily Calisto. Her fighter was a total loss, but it could be replaced. They had plenty of fighter aircraft but were woefully short of pilots. He had read the reports of where the Empyreal pilots have been intentionally targeting his own pilots. The Imperialists were showing no mercy to the pilots of his force. For every two of his aircraft that were shot down, one pilot was killed in the exchange. He had no clue as to the reason why the enemy was targeting his pilots in this dishonorable way. That was why he was on his way to the hospital of his command post. Calisto was there, and she would have the answers he needed.

As he approached her room he heard the characteristic rant of the he-bitch when she was forced to deal with doctors. “I SAID GET THE FRACK OUT YOU ASSHOLES! I DON’T NEED YOUR HELP! I’M FINE! JUST GET ME A NEW FLIGHT SUIT AND LEAVE!”

The yelling was punctuated by the clatter of a steal bedpan rang out as it slammed against an unyielding wall. Von Bencher just sighed. “She is in rare form today. I wonder what set her off this time?”

Von Bencher just sighed and walked into the room that held his biggest pain in the ass, Emily Calisto. “Time to calm down, Flight Leader. Let the medics do their duty. That way you can get out of here all the faster.”

“No offense Supreme Commander, but they can go to hell. All I need is a fresh flight suit and a new fighter. That Claymore bitch destroyed my Marybelle. I want revenge. Just get me those two items and I’ll be fine.” Emily didn’t consider that she was addressing her Commanding Officer in a snipped manner.

“Before you get your wish Flight Leader I need answers. What the hell happened out there today? Your squadron outnumbered the enemy by almost three to one.”

“You want to know what happened? I’ll tell you what happened! WE GOT OUR ASSES HANDED TO US BY JUST FOUR OF THOSE NEW FIGHTERS! THAT’S WHAT HAPPENED!” When Emily started to scream Von Bencher knew that there was more to the action than just her being shootdown. All he had to do now was pry it out of her.

“You will control your tone Flight Leader Calisto or be recycled.” The threat was enough to get Emily to calm down. “Now, take me through the mission step by step.”

Emily took a deep breath. “We were providing close air support to the First, Second, and Fourth Armored Divisions as ordered. When the fighters from White Sands started making bombing runs on the Northeastern canyon passage. Those two bomb runs shut the door on using that passage by dropping walls of the canyon across the roadbed in three places. Group Commander White order my squadron to breakoff and to attack the Imperialist Fighters. As we approached the area over the second pass I split my squadron in half. One half to deal with the two fighters flying escort, and one half to deal with the bombers. By the time we reached the second canyon it was too late. They had completed their mission of closing off both canyon passes. As both fighters were still a threat to the Third Army Group I gave the order to engage. After that it was nothing more than a knife in the air. I watched as Harlequin was blown to pieces before my eyes. That bitch didn’t even respect the code between pilots by allowing Harlequin to eject. Hell. She would have turned her guns on me if she had the chance after I ejected.”

“About that Flight Leader. Why are the Imperialists targeting our ejected pilots?”

Emily sighed as she looked her Commander in the eyes. “Those four cities you ordered to be nuked. That’s why they are targeting us when we eject from doomed fighters, and bombers. In their eyes we don’t deserve mercy or honor. I warned you that this could happen when you gave the orders for that attack. Now, we’re paying the price. We’ll keep paying the price of your stupidity until one of two things happen.”

“And just what are those two things, Flight Leader?” Von Bencher snarled at her condemning comments of his acts.

“We either blow White Sands off the map or we surrender the planet. Not that it will matter in the long run. That missing Death Dealer Battle Group with its eighteen combat divisions will be here shortly. Once they arrive, we will have lost our gambit here. I warned you Supreme Commander that we needed to push for the second day objects when we had the momentum.”

“That you did Emily. It was my fault that I didn’t listen and now we are paying for my mistake. How long do you figure we have before that Battle Group shows? Can we do anything to lessen its impact? And do we stand a chance of stopping the Ogre class dropships?” Von Bencher laid out what he thought was the important points.

“We might have a day to two days before that Battle Group shows up on our door step with eighteen pissed off combat divisions. As for trying to stop those Ogre class dropships. Forget about it. They’ll be coming in with a full carrier escort. And our only chance at lessening the impact of those carriers and their fighters is for us to use freshly hatched clones as suicide pilots. Those factory dropships can produce three fighters an hour. We may not have enough trained pilots, but they don’t need to be able to land. Just take off and crash.” Emily figured that the truth would be the best answer.

“Damn. Is there any other way Emily? I hate to waste valuable clones on suicide missions. They are another resource that we are fast running out of by the way. At last report a full third of our reserve force of clones has already being used. Much more and we’ll have to start accessing the new clone material before shipping.” The clone ship was sitting on the tarmac over at the spaceport. The very ship that had arrived two months ago carrying nine-thousand clones in sleep tanks. That nine-thousand clones were now down to just over sixty-five-hundred. Those clones were slowly being woken and were his only reserve personnel.

That dropship was more than just his lifeline. It was his only hope of winning. The dropship had already been attacked twice by the rebels. The rebel attacks on the airfield at the spaceport had reached such a height and frequency. That Von Bencher had been forced to place a full regiment of Light Infantry on guard duty for that dropship and the factory dropships. Another draw on his limited resources.

Emily gave Von Bencher a harsh look. “I won’t lie, Supreme Commander. I gave you the truth of our situation. Just as I told the truth when you ordered the bombings. And the consequences of those bombings. All I can do for you now is to go out there and climb into a new fighter. Then find that bitch Terresa Cole and kill her. Before she kills me, and a shit load of other pilots.”

“Just how deadly is Terresa Cole, Emily?”

“We have fought twice now, Supreme Commander. I have one win, and one tie to the woman. The next time we face each other will be the last. She is the only pilot that I will fear in the air. She is truly that deadly.” Emily told him.

Von Bencher wanted to tell Emily that she wouldn’t get her third chance at Terresa Cole but knew that it would be pointless. He would need every pilot he could get his hands in the coming days. This point was driven home by the arrival of a Communication Tech carrying an urgent message.

“Sir! This just in from Fleet Command. A full Death Dealer Battle Group has just entered the system. E.T.A. for planet fall is just under one day for eighteen Ogre Class dropships with their Super Carrier escorts. They have engaged and destroyed our entire fifth battle fleet sir. Admiral Klaus has scrambled the third and fourth fleets in an attempt to intercept the Ogres and their escorts sir.”

Emily just snorted. “Supreme Commander Von Bencher, if you want some advice I’ll give it to you freely.”

“Just tell me already Calisto. This time I will listen. There is no need for your insolence.” Von Bencher snapped.

“Have Admiral Klaus cancel the orders to scramble the remaining fleets. Especially orders concerning the remaining carriers. We’ll be needing their squadrons to fight the Death Dealers here on New Texas. If he has to send something to attack the incoming Death Dealer Dropships, send our destroyers, and frigates, but keep the battleships and carriers grounded. They will be our only hope of winning this war.”

Von Bencher thought over what Emily had just advised him to do. It all made sense. Von Bencher just sighed and turned to the Comm Tech. “Do as the Flight Leader suggested. Get a move on Private. We only have a short amount of time to stop those fleet carriers and battleships.”

The Comm Tech just saluted and ran from the room. “Any other advice Emily?”

“Just one more piece Supreme Commander.” Emily smiled up at him. “Get me a flight suit and replacement fighter. Now, not later.”

“Done.” Von Bencher turned to walk out of Emily’s room but stopped at the door. “And Emily, I have a piece of advice for you.”

“What is that sir?”

“Kill that bitch Terresa Cole this time, or don’t come back.” With that Von Bencher left Emily Calisto to think about the unsaid threat. If he had stayed to hear her answer he would have just chuckled.

“Don’t worry about that sir. This time, it will end differently. This time one of us will die. There will be no walking away from this one. For either of us.”

High Orbit over White Sands Desert
The eighteen Ogre Class drops were coming in on a high-speed burn assault burn. The lead dropships had already entered the upper atmosphere and were lighting up the night sky with their exhausts. Before long all eighteen divisions would be setting down on New Texas and they would begin their rampage to reclaim the planet. Carol Davenport stood outside of her command post looking up at the survival of her small force. The sight of the two Super Carriers in escort let her know that her extremely small force of pilots and fighters would finally get some rest.

Not that is would matter to one of her pilots. Nope, Terresa Cole was beyond pissed off at losing her pride and joy FB-11A1 Claymore. The only ray of sunshine in Terresa’s hell raising bitch fest over the destruction of her fighter was the news Chief Daily had her a replacement. That and she had been able to shootdown the Black Witch during their last engagement. The fact that it was an even trade did not go unnoticed to Carol or to Prince James.

She was more than happy to look the other way as Prince James took the young lady by the hand to drag her off the runway. This was one, time Carol Davenport was going to ignore the Regulations concerning fraternization between officers. Of all her pilots, Terresa Cole had done more for the war against the Amazons than anyone else. When she cornered Chief Daily about the number of air victories Terresa had Carol was shocked. In little more than one month of combat Terresa Cole had racked up fifty-three confirmed air-to-air victories. More than any other pilot in the Empire, save for a very small few. Most of whom were in the First Death Dealer Battle Group and the Empress’s Personal Bodyguard unit, the Hellhounds.

It had taken both the Prince and Chief Daily to calm the very volatile young Flight Lieutenant down enough to go see her new FB-11A2. Even Carol was interested in the upgrade design of that very deadly fighter. At first Carol couldn’t see any difference between the two aircraft. It took Chief Daily pointing them out to her. Carol had to admit that Chief Daily really had improved the Claymore.

Gone were the four PPC’s and ten PPL’s mounted in the central nacelle. In their place was two 40-millimeter, six-barrel Gatlin cannons. The 120-millimeter autocannon had also been replaced. In its place now was a 105-millimeter gauss rifle. These changes cut down on the heat buildup during intense combat operations. The new fighter was now armed with ten PPC’s all mounted in the wings increasing the fighters combat efficacy. The new fighter also had larger fuel tanks. Thus, giving it a greater rang and long staying power. The engines had also been given a nice boost in power. Making the new fighter faster than its predecessor. With these minor changes the Claymore went from being a solely Air Superiority or Attack fighter to a solid multirole role combat fighter. A fighter that could do more than just turn the tide of battle for New Texas.

Carol saw the new upgrade fighter and gave the order for the factory to produce them in mass. Before leaving the factory, she told Chief Daily to keep tinkering with the FB-11 design. The way she saw it was simple. If he could come up with the original design and the improved design, then he owned the design. He would also be the one responsible for any improvements to the new design. Then there was the surprise that she, Colonel Cole, and Major Cole were about to hand the incoming Death Dealer pilots. The solution to AI-burnout.

Four full squadrons of pilots would soon be given the chance for an upgrade to their AI and to put the fear of AI-burnout behind them. The second gen pilots were already showing that they were faster, stronger, and better equipped to handle the high-speed combat of an aerospace fighter or bomber. The latest exchange between just four of the new pilots verses eight of the enemy had proven this. The slowest recorded speed during the fight was 5.5 Mach. That fight had also pointed out the greatest weakness of the Claymore.

While the Claymore was faster and better armed it could not turn with the slower aerospace fighters. That was something else that Chief Daily had addressed with the upgradevA2 model of the Claymore. He had increased the control surfaces to allow for tighter turns and faster recovery from dives and climbs. In short, the new A2 model could turn tighter, bank harder, dive cleaner, and climb faster than any fighter in production to date. In Carol Davenport’s mind the FB-11A2 Claymore was the final evolution of the apex predator in the skies. And she was about to hand over four full squadrons of them to some very pissed off Death Dealer pilots.

“The Grim Riper is truly coming to breakfast. And he is bringing the hosts of Hell with him as his guests.”

-----tbc-----