The Province Of Terrans

A Starshatter adventure

Today is Sci-Friday!

In this chapter, our cuddly jokesters will demonstrate their engineering skill. Also, during their very first attempt to do battle, the green militiamen and their leader are forced to deal with one rather thick, grav-engine outfitted pickle…

Enjoy this chapter and keep voting, my friends. As you see I have written a number of Tanka for Terran-Tuesday. The more and longer your comments, the more ammunition I have for said poem.

For those of you new to VYOA, this is a story of interactive nature, where you, the reader, choose one of three paths standing before the main character. Your vote is the guiding force of this adventure!

With one week between the chapters, there is more than enough time for you to make your decision. Share the story with your friends on Substack, see if they support your choice or vote a different way. Voting cycle will end each Thursday so I may have enough time to complete the chapter.

Those who like can discuss the protagonist’s options and I promise to answer your questions concerting Terran culture, philosophy, and worldbuilding to the best of my ability!

If you like what you read, consider buying any of my published works.

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Index: Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15

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Chapter 9

To ambush or not to ambush

Once safely huddled in the cozy forward Ops dugout, Sergeant Blam and Lieutenant Pews cold-started their handmade sensor array. To utilize every tiny bit of computing power, they linked their personal computers to its mainframe. The two would wait for another star-hour, watching Zhur's star warriors tiptoeing around the desolate village, stepping on mines and tripping one booby-trap after another.

All types of grenades began blowing up, lighting the village in red, yellow, and orange. Plasma fires crept all over molten pirate spacesuits, their gear fried by EMP charges. About a dozen were heavily wounded by shrapnel, coloring walls and floors in their innards. Though the traps weren't everywhere and not overwhelmingly numerous, the combination of failing scanning gear and the wails of their fellow crewmates further intensified the Clanners doubt.

More, these otherwise skilled star warriors were beginning to fear for their lives.

Of course, the deathly jokesters did not fully obstruct hand scanners and other devices. Chuckling and snickering, they gradually increased the sensor array's output. They'd meddle here and there, yet did not project any jamming fields. Muddying the scanning frequencies of a few devices was all that they sneakily allowed themselves to do, lest they got caught. Yet, in the aftermath of Vinson's flawless word strike, 'twas more than enough.

Pirate Rangers, the scouts of Zhur's crew, were some of the first to die. Indeed, those men and women had much higher skill than others and that is why they led the way, clearing one building after another. The hamsters, true to their Terran nature, allowed them a couple of small victories. It gave the reconnoiters a false sense of security, which was promptly and viciously exploited.

Six star-hours and another dozen wounded pirate warriors later, Captain Zhur lost four of his priceless Rangers. Two died while clearing the village's biggest storage building, their organs squished by a detonating grenade bundle. Their fellows tripped two of the ten anti-personnel mines that the engineers had set in close proximity of the village. Lieutenant Pews made sure to lead the intrepid Rangers into the mine field by enticing them with the sensor ghosts of a Terran weapon cache.

The engineers' decision to focus their meddling on pirate scouts was due to their extensive battlefield experience. Ideally, you wanted your enemy blind and deaf, walking straight into your ambushes. Since the hamsters weren't gifted with eagle sight themselves, they always made sure to poke the baddies in the eyes and stick things in their ears, preferably of the 'sploding kind.

Blam and Pews packed their nearly overheated sensor array and sneakily snuck their way back to the nearest concealed tunnel entrance. Being furtive was something that one shouldn't overdo, for there was always some brainy enemy waiting around the corner, ready to whack ye. Many of those Clan star warriors had the annoying habit of pulling marshal batons out of their backpacks...

One star-day passed.

Zhur's Rangers managed to successfully clear all remaining mines and booby-traps without taking casualties. The pirates established their field camp within the confines of the abandoned village, regular patrols screening its outwards perimeter. After securing all of their wounded and unloading five dropship cargo-holds full of supplies and fuel, they deployed three shuttles on the surface.

Modified for ground support, each carried a team of three heavily armored star warriors. If any of their units required reinforcements and extra firepower, the shuttles would immediately fly over and blast everything with guided missiles and particle-beam cannons. These machines were of the same model that Vinson and George shot down earlier, and they knew all that was to know about them.

Strapped with more armorplating and heavier guns, the craft's speed, maneuverability and crew capacity was severely diminished. Moreover, all that extra weight meant they'd guzzle fuel like mad wozzies. Because of the anomalous nature of this planetoid's magnetosphere, they couldn't float around on their grav-drives for too long. Flying over just one anomaly was enough to win them a not-so-very-cozy “landing”.

However, this intel was gathered via visual observation.

The engineers theorized that these shuttles may sport a regular shield generator instead of a cloaking one, but that had to be tested first. Nevertheless, a craft like this could be shot down with a few of the Wire missiles or their shoulder-held heavy laser. Blam advised Vinson to attack using Wires and the laser in order to overwhelm the assault shuttle's defenses.

Alien over-reliance on sensor guided munitions was, on the other hand, an opportunity to be exploited. Lieutenant Pews was rather experienced with overwriting long range munitions friend/foe protocols or outright hacking them, if these were piloted via wireless link. Of course, all of this required that the hamsters' portable sensor array and they themselves were present on the battlefield.

Regardless, a chance to pull off an ambush soon presented itself. On the third day of the pirates' arrival, one of their patrols was poised to take a high ground position. The latter perfectly overlooked a gorge, one which the pirates aimed to transform into a road, and possibly deploy ground vehicles to bolster their forces with.

Vinson had organized the militia platoon into four eight man squads. Each had two female paramedics, backpacks full of emergency medisprays and bio-bandages, carrying a light-weight folding stretcher. One heavy weapons team of two men who trained with the shoulder-held laser was ready for action; with the possibility of forming three more, had the engineers had enough time to craft a few machine guns or something else.

Combat rotation was of paramount importance in Terran infantry doctrine. Thus, with two squads fighting on the field, one was kept in active reserve to be deployed wherever needed via underground tunnels. While the fourth squad recuperated, they patrolled the base and performed other, mundane tasks. The rest of the villagers, older folks and pregnant women, would take care of the babies, the wounded, cook and clean.

The Morale Officer wanted to be sure that their ambush was successful. Therefore, he ordered two of the squads deployed, bolstered by the laser-armed heavy weapons team and the two combat engineers. Vinson led squad one together with Noln and Lieutenant Pews would be in command of squad two, Sergeant Blam acting as his second. George and the heavy weapons team hid nearby, ready to unleash their firepower when needed.

While squad one would pounce at the pirate patrol, squad two's orders were to lay low among the ravine's mossy rocks. They would block any would-be reinforcements and, in case squad one experienced trouble completing their goal, assist them.

In but one star-hour, mostly thanks to the underground transport tunnels, the two squads took positions. Everyone dug themselves in, crawled under the shrubbery or ducked behind the gnarled, leafy trees. Just in time since their adversaries loudly announced themselves, landing nearby.

Glowing spacesuit engines spewing needle-like trails of plasma, seven Clanners deftly assumed a position atop the rocky ridge. Their spacesuits protected by extra slabs of armorplating, most of them were armed with particle-beam carbines. Vinson knew that these were designed for boarding and their thick, focused beams, deadly in short-range.

Of course they were vile, not daft, and that is why there was a Ranger attached to their squad. His suit did not appear augmented and he carried a long beam rifle, maglocked on his back. This man activated his hand scanner and after a long, wide search arc, the device ended up pointing straight at squad one's position!

Vinson lay low, nigh motionless under a spare chameleo-cloak. First, he made a careful hand sign, ordering the militiamen to hold fire. His laser pistol was already aimed, yet instead of pulling the trigger, again, ever so careful, he tweaked the controls of its integrated scanner. Set on passive mode, he attempted to hamper the pirate scout's scans without getting his squad noticed.

At first, the Ranger appeared puzzled when he saw the result of his first scan. With sparing motions, the pirate asked two of his comrades to cover him and moved away from the cliff's edge. They slowly crept forwards, a course of action that would lead them straight to Vinson's foxhole. If that wasn't bad enough, the two who backed up their Ranger friend carried snub beamguns.

He'd changed his aim, targeting one of the two, nudging Noln to take the second if they were found, when suddenly, the pirates stopped dead in their tracks. Vinson could see every dint and scratch on their spacesuits – they were mere five feet away!

One of them tapped the Ranger's forearm, pointing at the ridge. The second probably said something, because the scout shook his hand, slapping the device.

Seconds turned into minutes, as the pirate Ranger continued to tweak his scanner's settings. Sweating, the Morale Officer recalibrated his own scanning beams wavelength and area of dispersal. At one point, his left hand nearly left the chameleo-cloak's concealment, but Noln covered it with his own.

Looking at the treeline their snub guns aimed and ready to fire, his two helpers appeared to be increasingly annoyed. Despite their apparent disagreement, the Ranger made yet another set of changes, trying to compensate for the beam dispersion. That was the hallmark of a stubborn warrior and if not for Vinson's sharp word blades earlier, he'd keep at it.

Even with faceplate closed shut, the Terran easily imagined the look of anger and doubt plastered all over the Ranger's face. After all, his fellow scouts failed in their initial attempts to disarm the village's booby-traps; they had even strolled inside a mine field!

Finally, the pirate gave up, switched off his scanner and moved back to his position.

Vinson almost let a sigh of relief; he wasn't a scout and definitely not computer whiz. All he was able to do right now was made possible by his careful deliberations, Lady Luck, and the help of a green militiaman. Though lurking in the shadows wasn't his modus operandi, he was a Terran and all Terrans had to be furtive to an extent or suffer death.

He was almost ready to order the attack, when he heard Sergeant Blam report:

“Vehicle! I repeat, we see a troop-carrying vehicle in the distance!”

“Type and speed?” – Ever so carefully asked Vinson, his voice lowered to a barely audible whisper which his throat comm-speaker picked up with ease.

“One infantry fighting vehicle; this IFV is a slow, thick boy.” – squeaked the sergeant, adding an extra bit of detail following a few seconds of observation – “It is modified to carry extra supply and at least eight troops. The main turret is replaced with a heavy beam repeater and there are three armored ports on each side, for the passengers to shoot from.”

Lieutenant Pews chimed in, his words interrupted by a quiet slurp – “Sir, if I wasn't born in my Homehole, I'd assume they can't move and use their energy shield at the same time. They'd probably fry their systems if they tried...”

“Could this be a holo-decoy?” – Vinson asked, giving his militiamen another sign to remain still.

They could hear the loud cackle of overcharged grav-engines and were probably confused, maybe even scared. This was to be their very fist fight. Even regulars were weary of a vehicle, let alone green troops who've never shot or got shot themselves.

“Visuals confirmed! Orders, Sir!”

The IFV rumbled ever closer, its audibly boosted grav-drive traversing the rough terrain with some issues. From the looks of it, the turrets covered most angles, and there was jury-rigged armor bolted onto its hull. Scary as it was, the bulky vehicle couldn't float up the cliff side, nor chase the militia when they ran into the forest. However, it offered its crew solid protection and could lay a literal torrent of beamfire.

Vinson did not have the luxury of twiddling his thumbs and, a few seconds later, he whispered his orders.

Dear reader... what, in the Terran Minarchy's name are his orders?

(One) This could very well be a clever ruse, a trap within a trap planned by Captain Zhur. The enemy was trying to restore his crew morale by proving that he could outsmart the slick “War Liar”. Which probably meant that the assault shuttles (or at the very least one) were fitted with cloaking shields. That right now, there was one floating nearby, maybe even over their very heads! Vinson would order George to perform a scan from his Enfield's short-range sensor and try to detect the stealthy ground attack craft. He would wait for that IFV to get closer, in range of squad two's Wire launchers, and then fire the heavy laser at the no longer invisible shuttle. With her shield switched on cloaking mode, the deadly craft would be nigh defenseless against the heavy laser. Even if they couldn't detect a shuttle in the immediate vicinity, they'd have taken down both the pirate patrol and their grav-vehicle. Bold and quite dangerous, but if successful, the pirates would suffer a devastating blow.

(Two) Of course, they could simply trigger the supposed trap. That he'd do himself, by ordering squad one to open fire and wipe out the patrol. This would force the pirates to act, deploying whatever surprises they've got hidden on the battlefield. George and the heavy weapons team could try to shoot down the assault shuttle, or at least damage it heavily. While retreating, squad one would draw in the shuttle's and the IFV's fire. Lieutenant Pews and Sergeant Blam would then ambush the grav-vehicle's troops before they too slink back into the forest.

(Three) Zhur had engaged Vinson in a game of furtiveness. A game which Terrans were quite apt at playing since they knew when... not to play. If the other side dictated all the terms of the engagement, it was far better to remove oneself from the battlefield and strike another target, fight another day. Inaction now, however, could spell the doom of Vinson's deft planning, striking a harsh blow to morale.

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Dear reader, please do not forget to post your pick in the comments below, and elaborate upon why you think our protagonist should do so.