“Recently a class-three task force was sentto this planet to bring it back under control. This task force wasled by Lieutenant Tom.” I was surprised to see a look ofrecognition on some of their faces. Good, that would make the nextpoint all the more powerful. “The Magi defeated the class-threetask force before they could get a foothold. As far as we know,there were no survivors.”
The Dark Knights were a stoic bunch bynature. If not for my training in intelligence gathering I mighthave thought they did not react at all to that news, but I couldtell they were all shocked. Again, this was good because I neededto keep them just a little off-balance so I might be able to gain adegree of trust from them.
“The Magi have two primary weapons that weknow of. Both of them have already been brought to bear against us.The first is a plasma cannon. I will not waste our time with allthe technical details; just be aware that it is a weapon muchgreater in power than anything in the fleet. Indeed, one shot fromit could potentially destroy the Dark Talon.” The Dark Talon wasvery heavily armored, and it was hard to imagine anything powerfulenough to take it out with a single blow, so that made it a perfectexample.
“The second weapon is far more subtle, and inmany ways far more deadly. This colony used to house a secret squadcalled the Black Adders. They were trying to develop a new weaponfor our arsenaclass="underline" psionics. Their progress with this is unknownbecause we lost communication with the colony over a year ago. Webelieve the Magi have wiped out the Black Adders, but it ispossible that they are one and the same. If they are, it will meanthat you might be required to terminate all of them.”
I paused a moment while I let themcontemplate that. No one liked the idea of turning our weapons onour own people; but if they were the Magi, they drew first blood,and we have no choice but to fight back.
“Now, the logical question is: What ispsionics? The honest answer is that we do not know. However, outhere even when we were still days away from the system, we began tofeel its impact. You must all have sensed it, that scent of fear onthe ship and the crew; that gnawing specter of doubt in your mindsthat you cannot shake off. It is not at all natural for hardenedwarriors to feel this way, but nonetheless you do. That is theimpact of the Magi’s weapon. It is becoming more intense the closerwe get to the planet.
“Fear will cause you to hesitate, to doubtyour own judgment and senses. Fear will cause you to underestimateyourselves, and overestimate them. You are all battle-hardenedwarriors. You know how to deal with fear, and this is no differentexcept in its magnitude. You will have to force yourselves to fightit. We do not know how this weapon works, and have no defense forit, so you must steel your minds and deal with it in your ownmanner. Remember it is not a natural fear; it is far more dangerousand crippling. You were chosen for this mission because GeneralZalith believes you are the best of the best. I assure you no oneless than that will survive this mission.”
I paused to gather myself for the next order.This was not an easy command to give, as it meant complete trust inthese men, whom I had never served with before. I looked each oneof them over and was impressed again with the power they radiated.These truly were the best the Empire had ever produced.
“The Empire has good reason to be worriedabout this colony. As of now, they believe the Magi are all on thisplanet. Two weeks after we launch the captain will destroy theplanet, whether we make it off or not. We simply cannot risk themspreading out. This could be our only chance to eliminate them. Whywait two weeks? Well, that is where we come in. Officially we aregoing to make contact with the Magi and attempt to make them partof the Empire. Obviously that is not the real mission, at least notthe orders we will be operating under. Our primary objectives areto learn how they are able to control fear as they do, and to stealone of their plasma cannons. Anyone, alien or not, who gets in ourway is to be eliminated. No attempt at communication will be madewith them. I must stress that these orders are extremely secret.Only the Emperor and ourselves know of them.” I could tell theywere very unhappy with that. They were hard-core military, and tothem the chain of command was sacred. To bypass it completely musthave left a foul taste on their forked tongues.
Now for the hard part. “As you know, I am ina position which gives me access to extremely sensitive informationthat could be very dangerous in the hands of a hostile force. If itshould happen that I am taken prisoner and you are unable to rescueme, you must kill me, even if you have to give your own lives to doit. We cannot risk even the slimmest chance that they mightsuccessfully break me and gain access to what I know.” This broughta look of respect from them.
Now I had to test my shocking little speechto see if it worked. “Men, I know that all of you have more combatexperience than I, and I will have to lean heavily on your skillsand knowledge. However, I must have your one-hundred- per-cent,unconditional loyalty. We are about to leave to penetrate intoextremely deadly territory, and I cannot have anyone questioning myorders at a critical time, even if they seem foolish. If you cannotgive me this loyalty, I will release you from your duty to thismission. I will fly it alone if I must. I will not allow anynegative marks on your records should you decide not to come, butby accepting this mission you are giving your word to follow me,into certain death if need be. I intend to complete our primaryobjective, regardless of the personal cost, and I will acceptnothing less from you. If you are leaving, this is your onlychance. We will be under total communications blackout until wereturn.”
Here I stopped. I knew none of them would bewilling to back down from such a challenge. They were warriors, andhonor was their life. To back down after such a speech would implyfear and weakness. It was a bit of a gamble maneuvering them likethis, but I needed them completely on my side or this really wouldbe a suicide mission.
The squad’s sergeant came forward.Surprisingly, at just over two meters tall he was the smallest ofthem, though not by much. He locked his steel-grey eyes on mine. Imatched his fierce gaze and said, “Speak freely, Sergeant.”
He said, “Sir, the Dark Knights were hesitantabout this mission when we were first briefed. We did not like theidea of following a green leader to try and negotiate with theMagi. Now that the mission parameters have changed to includewiping out the Magi, we no longer have those hesitations. You neednot worry about us; if by death or life we can serve you, we will.”With that he stepped back into place with the rest of theKnights.
“Thank you.” I was very pleased by thatresponse. It was better than the begrudging reaction I hadexpected. “Then, men, complete your preflight. We leave the instantyou’re ready. Operation Quiet Storm is now officiallyunderway.”
“Yes, sir!” was their reply, in perfectunison, and they immediately went to work. I took what little gearI had, stowed it on board and did my best to stay out of theway.
Chapter Eleven
The Dark Talon was a Kessler-class vessel,often referred to as a mini-battleship. It had an impressive arrayof weapons and tactical sensors. It was specifically made for thiskind of solo penetration mission. The bridge crew was made up of amission leader, pilot, tactical officer, and gunner. Each positionoverlapped the others so that there were at least two crewmen ableto handle any given function at any given time. Their stations werefanned out in a half-circle with the mission leader’s position inthe center. This allowed the mission leader to keep on top of whatwas going on and communicate freely with his crew. Once I hadboarded, I took my seat in the mission leader’s chair and asked,“Is all ready for departure?”
“Yes, sir,” was the pilot’s reply.