The Planet 3.1

3.

3.1 Landing

The Shuttle Craft hit the landing gears while it hovered at twenty feet above the surface. The craft was twenty eight feet in length with a twenty by thirty feet in area was trying to keep it height with the rushing storm that was blowing hard on it sides. The shuttle craft was a rectangular shape with the pilot compartment that resembled a bug shaped design. The shuttle was fully automated and registered strong resistance to its structure during the landing. It began swerving in random direction and was bobbing down the descent.

“Compensating for the wind velocity.” The onboard system voiced out while the craft compensated for the wind condition. On the side of the craft, stabilizer fins protruded out and the craft compensated its elevation.

“Landing coordinates updated.” The craft went into a slower descent with the retro engines kicking it to slow the descent. It then stabilized to hover over the landing area. The winds had then slowed down to a breeze which was the unusual condition of the planet.

“Landing pylon launched.” A series of steel mesh pylons shot out of the sides of the craft and embedded into the surface. 

At the end of the pylon, it dug deep into the surface and then it flared out to secure the hold. Once that was in place, the shuttle craft was lowered to the ground. Once it was secured to the surface, the side wall of the shuttle craft slide open and a six wheeled surface vehicle rolled out on a side roll. The six wheeler was similar in design to the landing craft but it measured only fifteen feet in length and eight feet in width. The wheels rotated on its frame that allowed it to roll out diagonally. Once the vehicle had exit from the shuttle, the wheels rolled back into forward position and then gunned up its engine and then began rolling towards the mining plant. The front of the vehicle then lit up its six high beams that gave it coverage of fifty feet ahead and twenty feet across. The wind condition then changed from its breeze to a higher velocity at fifty miles an hour. The surface temperatures were high and coupled with the strong wind, we were not sure which will take place first; the wind tearing off our flesh or the heat melting it off.

“Moving to coordinates.” The onboard system on the vehicle lurched forward across the rough terrain. It was a short drive to the production plant. At about a hundred feet, the vehicle swerved to avoid an incoming laser beam that hit its front.

“Incoming attack! Compensating.”

The landing vehicle was fired on by the defense lasers system mounted on the eight towers on the perimeters. The lasers were system operated to fire on anything that was not recognized by its controllers. The vehicle defense system kicked in. It was a personnel tracker with a set of double cannons on the top.

“Weapons not activated.”  

“I thought we were cleared.”  Machete screamed out. “I hate to be shot like a hound here.”

“Nothing like a normal day for me.” Peggy One leaned back in her seat. She smiled while pulling at her seat straps. Her rifle leaned in between her legs while the Commander was in his seat trying to work out the codes that will prevent them from blasted to bits by the laser. The vehicle was still compensating for the attack with its evasive maneuvers but some of the shots were hitting the mark. The shield coating was holding well against it but the energy blasts were shorting out the vehicle controllers. One of it hit the stabilizers and the vehicle went bumpy on it ride.

“Damned!” Commander Duggan cursed and then slammed his fists on the control panel. “Those codes they have here are not working. We need to manually control the cannons.”

“Peggy manned the cannons.” The Commander gave the order. Peggy unbuckled the strap and placed her rifle on her seat. She then stepped over to the weapon console and hit the stick there. It held the trigger to the double mounted cannons on the top of the vehicle. She punched in the codes to override the system and then took over the double cannons. She looked at the display screen on the console. It showed the targeted laser beams cannons.

Peggy aimed and then pressed the trigger. She was good but with her implant bionic right eyeball, she was better. The double cannons began shooting the projectiles at the target. There were three lasers mounted on the tower marked ‘Five’ in a triangle layout. There was a gap of five feet in between the lasers.

“Hit the lasers on Five.”Commander Duggan hit the pedal and drove towards the tower. He hit the brakes at twenty feet before the tower. Peggy hit the trigger and took out the upper laser first before she shot the other two lasers. With that laser shot, there was a gap between the lasers, and there was where the Commander headed for. He stopped the vehicle at the tower.

“Jettison the drive.” Commander Duggan was out of his seat while grabbing his gears. “We got to get in before the lasers compensate for targeting.”

All of us rushed out through the rear exit of the vehicle which was lowered by the Commander. The wind had picked up then and the running was tougher than we thought. Duggan slipped but Peggy grabbed him by the left arm to pull him on. We were constructs and hence had the extra strength to run through the wind. Nguyen was struggling but he held hard to my back pack for leverage.

 We ran towards the perimeter tower and there the winds died down. It was the outer perimeter shield which prevented the wind from hitting us. It gave us some respite and that allowed us to pick up the pace. When we reached the tower, Machete went for the control panel there. He pried open the metal plate and then tinkered with the circuitry.

“Model G2025. The state of the art in their days but I am better.” Machete had to gloat whenever he went to work on the systems.

“Clam it, Machete. You got seconds to get us in.” Duggan called out.

“Hold your thruster there.” Machete soon got the circuits sorted out, and all the adjacent laser beams in between the towers dropped off. We did not wait for the command and rushed to the main production plant. There was a doorway there and Machete went to work again on the door panel. He got it working and we were in the plant.

“Close the damn door.” Duggan shouted to Machete. “It’s bloody hot without the heat from outside.”

The place was warm although such plants were mostly for it was mechanical and equipment. The lightings were all turned on at the plant but the cooling vents were turned off or the temperature controls were off their target. Most times in a battle, we expected the temperature to be unbearable but it was still bearable. We proceeded on past the doorway and found the place was littered with cables and conduits. . In some places, the cables were torn off their holdings. It was either a poor design or the engineers were in hurry.

“The cables were pulled out.” A sound observation from Machete but we just ignored him. He had the knack of making smart remarks and assuming all of us were his nitwits borne of his wedlock. We took our way onto the corridors and came to a halt before the corner of corridor. Three droids had appeared from around it. The droids were battle droids. They were the same models I encountered when I was with Mark. They stood twelve feet high droids which designed to look like menacing quarterbacks with then bend forward stance but instead of menacing biceps, these droid held a twin set of six barrels roller cannons. All of us pulled up our weapons and aimed it at the droids. The droids were programmed not to harm human beings as part of their core programs but we were not taking chances. We had our experiences with droids during other conflicts; they were non-participative in the fights but there were the other grades of these droids. The nasty ones were the battle droids like those hich were designed to be menacing and dangerous.

We knew that from others DOD Suzuka battle and other battles.

“Battle droids!” Machete called out the warning but we were battle experienced. All five of leveled our rifles and fired in unison. The firepower of the new rifles PH375-2 was double in penetration force and that includes its impact on those new projectiles. The combined shots tore the droids were not down in seconds. Well, it was supposed to do so but we can’t fault the designers. The droids were also upgraded. They took the shots on the chest and only staggered.

“Aimed at their limbs.” Duggan called out and we went to target aiming instead of point blank shoot out. I leveled my rifle at my targeted droid and fired off the loader limb before I took out the shooting limbs. I turn to the other two but noticed they were taken down by the others.

“Move it, you clowns.” Commander Duggan stepped up to the damaged droid which I shot. He aimed his rifle at the head and blew it off the droid chest.  “We got work to do.”

Tweet tweet 15/12.. System 32 error

No I was not shirking from my posting here but my notebook went into a crash with System 32 errors. She is in ICU now with the experts looking at the restoration. I am on my spare notebook but it was not recently backed up with my latest tales and postings.... hence no postings.

Its like you have done the home run and the lady ask you; did you use the rubber? Oops! It could be 28 days of anxiety if you are below 18 or 18 years of 'Hell Raising' with the repeated syllable; I told ya we could not afford "Episode 7".

And to Star Wars fan...may the Force be with you. I got tickets for this Friday evening show. It helps when you walk up the counter and whisper...."I am your father..." with the respirator mask and tank.
It would had worked better if the lady at the counter did not say; "I know its you, Dad. Now get back in the queue."

Damned! I should had come as R2D2 but one free size then does not freeze the fats into it now. If I did squeeze in, they would thought I was discarded by the Jawa Raiders at the dumps.

Honestly, I tried C3PO but the laughter won't stop when they saw my midriff. Some one asked; "Is that you Jabba in there?"

Well, Han Solo would had worked but the darned pants won't adjust to my posterior. It went 'seams apart' on impact. I doubt the Falcon will break that far wide.

Now Chewbacca won't work either. It was how I look when I emerged after cleaning my kids' room. They have more discard parts than the Death Star under construction.

Excuse me, as Leia? I think the Belly Dancers Union will file a WWW Protest and not limited to YOUTUBE. In the better words of lovable partner, "You looked like an alien with three breasts but the middle on seems to be sagging."

As Luke. I doubt so. The kids wanted me to do the daring somersault jump from the balcony once like in the Return of the Jedi. I told them I would had done it when I was in the Errol Flynn era but now I will use the stairs instead. More to it, the Land Speeder won't do beyond twenty on the flats. It was 'weighed' down by the driver.

That's all folks. And keep the Force with you, I will be back. I do need my other notebook back. With this one, I may end up as YODA teaching Luke how to yodel like Julie Andrews instead.

I shall be getting my lady ...oops, my notebook back tomorrow. May sanity prevail then..

The Planet 2.3

2.3 The crew.

“John, we are there.” I heard the commander. It was a long and boring flight with the company of four other officers which included the commander named Blake. I pushed myself out of the travel seat; a body meshed cubicle which encompassed the body like a cocoon with intravenous tubes that will fill the nutrients that the body required during the flight. The cocoon material pulled away from mine like a layer of liquid and yet warmth to the feel. I stepped out while reaching for my uniform. It was actually my blue overall and once I placed it on, I felt more alive.

“John, are you with me?” Commander Duggan raised the query towards me. He was not new to me but I have hardly served with any more than once except Kingsley. I have to make an exceptional on that with Duggan then. Commander Duggan was a hardnosed mercenary in his forties. He was already striding ahead to the Briefing Room. He was followed by the others; all dressed up in their uniforms which varies to their own desire. In the mercenary line, we hold no affliction to any branding so we wear what we like and carry what we need as weapons. During that task, we were given the re-modeled PH375-2 rifles which carried an extended pack of twelve shots and higher penetration power.

The Briefing Room was actually a holographic chamber where the five of us were given a whirlwind of the briefing at Kingsley Mining Station One. The plant had been in production for five months.

“In the last turn of the day, the planet rotated on a round orbit of twenty six hours per rotation, we have recorded three damages caused at the station.” The simulated voice from the Briefing Room System spoke out to the assembled, while holographic images showed the extent of the damages.  The equipments were mangled and in some cases, it looked burnt.

“The equipments were expensive state of the art designs. It was no random damages but key pickings. The damages have placed the Mining Station on hold for the third time since it started.”

“End Briefing.” Commander Duggan snapped in with the termination command. He then turned to the assembled team. 

“Kingsley Station One had only thirty percent productivity since it went back to production since last month. We are to check and ensure it does not fall below that percentage. Any lower on the percentage we lose out as their staff too.  And they also lose the opportunity of mining here.”

“Howzit!” A voice cracked out from the assembled. It belonged to Officer Nguyen; a seven tour Marine Officer with a penchant for carrying an extra incendiary rifle. The bald headed officer dressed in a camouflage suit snapped on the chest kit that will hold his double phaser side arms PH450 and his web of pencil type explosives.

“Are they shutting down the plant for good?” It was another officer by the name of Peggy One. She was top notch sniper class officer with the single pony tail tied at the rear of her head leaned on the long barrel sniper rifle modeled PH750-2 in her camouflage suit. It chambered seven explosive projectiles and held an effective range of one mile in its range. The five footer lady stared down the long barrel that reached her neckline. She was part construct like me; her upper limbs were constructs and gave her firm grip on her sniping skills.

“If you had listened, I don’t think they do that. We are the power shifter.” Officer Malone “Machete” One was the communications and medical officer. “And right now we are to stop that power from shifting to others. Like DOD.”

Machete was past his retirement age of forty but he loved nothing more than to bandaged wounds. It’s his specialties besides the cooking up a good meal. The paunchy man stood high at six foot smiled. He was patching on the foot long energy blade with the rubberized eight inch handle he had codenamed Machete. He was also a construct with part of his brain merged to the spine and his limbs. He was a walking droid but with those constructs, he was a walking interface to any droids.

I shrugged off the stiffness in my shoulders. It was my new arm that was recently implanted. I then looked at the Commander.

“Was it sabotage by DOD?” I had to ask. Rivalries between the Mining corporations were cut throat business, and this new element was priceless. And the mention of DOD gave me a bad taste in my mouth.  “Anything else we need to know? They hated us and shared the same dislike.”

“We are not here to speculate. We are here to stop it. That’s we are hired. If DOD had a hand, we will finish the task.” Commander Duggan voiced out. It was his reckless nature. It got me in the heat of near death with the Suzuka and yet I was there with him on more tasks. “So get out there and do your pieces. Get your gears and mount up into the shuttle.”

The Planet 2.2

2.2 The mining plant.

The freighter was cruising at the height of five hundred feet. It was not the desired height but the planet surface was not conducive. There were strong cross winds and with sudden buildups in its making. Not only was it sudden, its composition was also corrosive with high content of acid. An organic flesh being will have been torn off its flesh in seconds; if that does not kill you the various temperate of at the different layers of the surface will stifle any breathable environment.  

It was harsh but the surface did not reflect it. There were the sparse forestations though they are dense and formed their own walls of defenses. The terrain was not all flat but wind cut over the years with deep canyons and high vertical drops. The freighter was travelling between the canyons walls and slowly dodging the corners until it reached the designated spot for it to hover over.  The freighter then nosed upwards as if it was taking off for the safety of the skies but it stopped when its hull was vertically stationed upwards. The retro engines kicked in but it was on a slow burner while it eased the freighter downwards. At the height of twenty feet, the freighter held its descent and then the landing strut were lowered. 

There were sixteen main ones on the outer hull which formed the main fixture that will hold the freighter upright. Then the side of the hull began opening up, an exact eight pieces opened up like peeled onion sides and it dropped down to the ground. From it, eight oblong shaped at the height of two hundred feet with a radius of a hundred and fifty feet rolled out down the ramps with each occupying one ramp. It reached the surface and rolled on it wide double tracks to form a perimeter. Once it reached the designated circumferences, it stopped. At the height of fifty feet, the series of eight tubular rods appeared in a row with a space distance of one foot apart. The rods then began to energize and then it formed an energy field in between the eight oblong shapes. 

That was the first development.

Once the perimeter was formed, the area calmed down with the wind stifled by the energy field. It was then the next block of contents was released. There were three large components of a hundred and fifty feet with a radius of eighty feet in a hexagonal design. It rolled out down the ramp in turns. It stopped at the ground while the last component was lowered. It was wider in circumference at a hundred feet. The freighter engines then powered up and it rose up to the height of two hundred feet before the main thrusters kicked in.

Once the freighter had left the landing zone, the three hexagonal component will then formed into a triangular design. The sides of the components fell open and then rows of droids rollout. Those droids were designed with the shape of the human anatomy. When it was stored inside the component, it was kept huddled with the limbs close to its chest and the head lowered at the chest level. When the droids were released from its huddled form, the droids soon stood up to its height of seven feet. The number of droids were seventy in figures. They began working when more of the surrounding components began dislodging the machineries parts that will soon be assembled into workable equipments. On the sides of the assembled equipments, slots soon appeared and the droids attached cables to the sockets there. Once the connections were made, the cables were powered up and then equipment was placed into work to assemble heavier equipments.

Soon the assembly was complete and in place there was the main mining plant that was operational. The seventy droids began manning their positions and put their work on it. The condition of work was not suitable for the organic flesh.

Kingsley Mining Station One was ready. 

The Planet 2.1

2.

2.1 The descent.

‘DSV Madeson, we are confirming our descent in ten clicks.” That was the signal relayed to the fleet that was protecting M1098 from being turned into a battle field. The corporations that were not to be there were kept at the system boundary.

“KDS Kingsley Five, you are cleared for descent in ten.”

KDS Kingsley Five was a newly launched freighter with the capacity of a hundred tons in its cargo. It was shaped like an oblong airship with a length of a thousand five hundred yards and a radius of two hundred yards at its widest. There were the four engines that were built in the sides which powered the freighter. It was captained by Commander Sean Callow; a finer officer when he was wasn’t sober. He worked well with high content alcohol drink that he malted himself. He stood there in his unkempt uniform with the officer cap skewed to the left.

“We will descent with the speed of free fall to below fifty thousand. I want it fast and then at my call, we will hit the retro engines to slow the descent. During then, I want the nose leveled to twenty five degrees then and then we have five seconds to level it at ten thousand. All thrusters to blow open then and stabilizer set in on fast settings.” Captain Sean called out while his eyes were ticking down the countdown. It read as ‘zero; then, and the KDS Kingsley roared to life. His twenty five human crews with the hundred and five droids then went to work.

The freighter descended through the atmosphere; with the dense layer that soon erupted into a fierce thousand degrees of heat. The heat exchanger plates absorbed the heat but it was soon tearing away at beneath the third layer before the freighter reached the fifty thousand.

“Hit the retro engine.”

The command was not needed for the crews knew their works. They went into action with the firing of the seven retro engines to right up the nose of the freighter. It also slowed the descent with the rapid reversed force. The freighter screamed out its pain with the sudden moves but the structure was holding. The springs and suspensions went into maximum tolerance limit before the engines compensated for the contortions.

“All thrusters open.”

The freighter was sent into an orbiting line at fifty thousand feet, with the heat exchanger then over heated plates began cooling with the orbiting run. The stabilizer soon kicked in and then freighter was on orbit.

“Descent on my count.” Captain Callow called out. “Now!”

The freighter having its hull cooled was then descending to the landing area. It was a successful descent.

“Thank you, crew. Now let us rest and let the rest of the other damned crews do their work.”

The Planet 1.4

1.4.

Battle at DOD Suzuka Zentai

“You are getting old, codger.” I leaned back into the small protection space which had some beating. The sparse wall of stone was however able to accommodate the two of us then. I was with my other mercenary mate, Mac Duggan. He was a nut with the wilder streak that was the marks of a wild horse. We were Duggan Duds; the construct group paid for by the wrong side then. We were employed by DOD to steal some prototype at the Suzuka plant. It was a simple task but the whole task was screwed up from the start.

“Well, pull in your legs.” I replied while I cramped up my legs close to my body with the phaser rifle held around it. It was not the best but with the credits available, we got some mean model there.  Mining corporations pays well, for they demanded the best. And DOD gives you the best.

Well, it was until then.

“Remind me to get rebate on these models.” We paid good credits for the PH375 double shot phaser but the energies pack was unreliable. “They are good for the earlier batches but these last ones sucked. So you reckon we were played for pawns in the Mining game again. It happened before; the mercenaries were sacrificed when the corporations drew new conditions in their corporate games. It was then we were the last to get the revised terms.

I drew in my breath and hugged my legs closer to me. I wanted to discard the phaser but it was holding my legs close to me.

“You said to trust you.” Duggan was my commander and his words were sacred like in trust. I did and followed him here. For that, I was seated on my rear haunches and cowering behind some cover because of trust. I should have said I was fucked but that will be too harsh on my commander who was in the same predicament. Another literary term was we were both fucked. That felt nicer then.

“Clam it!” Duggan turned his body to fire the phaser over his shoulder. He must have read my mind. Besides mind reading, he was also reckless. I had joined him with fifty others to be part of the DOD Assault Team but from the moment we arrived, we were given the beatings of our lives. He did tell us then before we land that we were going in without much Intel. I wished I have backed off.

“Do you think we were played out?” I asked Duggan. The other nodded.

“It happens. We get screwed and get sacrificed. Who cares? We are mercs. They will stay pay us but it will be our beneficiaries who gets paid.”

I laughed. So the task had changed to a game of survival now. Both teams are now being teamed to fight for the entertainment of the corporations. And I was not planning to die that day.

I crouched up while firing my rifle phaser. One thing I was good as the shooter. Sometimes to get the best shots, you need to be exposed. And that means being shot. I rushed forward after I took down the fore shooter with a chest shot. By then the rifle phaser was a goner; the energy pack had jammed in the powering turn. It was useless to me then so I had it discarded. I grabbed my side arm with my right hand; the PH450 with the seven energy shots. I shot while running; it was not to kill but to give me some cover. It worked then for the fourth wound of mine appeared. It blew of my right shoulder and left me with a dangling arm. I was a construct there and I have no time for useless parts; I pulled out the useless arm by the socket and discard it. It was then a stump with exposed cables and circuitries. I jumped ahead and landed on my right side. It was there I retrieved the enemy rifle phaser. Damned, they had better models; PH375-2 Upgraded. I turned my body and took my aim of the enemy with the left hand. It was my organic arm and held a firm aim on the targets. I downed the second and third shooter with well placed shots. Then the rifle energy pack went dead. It was time to change the pack but I was one arm short. I threw the rifle and grabbed the side arm. Left or right handed, I was better at both. I took off the fourth shooter at fifty yards and then I was up running. I ran at random directions and thankfully Duggan was giving me god cover. I hit the far wall at running speed with my right side slamming the wall. With sixty five percent constructs on my body, the wall went down with a gap big enough for me to fall through.

It was a fully assembled droid. No wonder it could put in three shots into me. It was a four limbed model with each limb a built-in rifle phaser into three limbs, while the fourth was the loader limb. It was a Suzuka construct and it was deadly in the battle field. It had a rectangle upper body and it was rest on a double triangular shaped tracks. The head piece was an inverted round bucket with the red sensor slots. They were not built for looks but they held serious fire power. I did not stop there with a body slam into it with my body. Biggest mistake, the darned droid was three times my mass and heavier. It threw me off like a discarded toy but I was a persistent pest when it comes to close body contact. I like to pick the toys off bigger bullies.

I smiled.

The droid registered it late. The energy pack was armed and it was ticking. I had left it in the energy pouch there.

Bad place to leave an armed pack.

I ran and jumped out of the walled area just in time when the energy pack went off. The droid did not stand a chance of taking another shot at me. I laid there on the ground face down and with my organic body screaming for medical attention.

I guess I won the battle and downed the opposing squad. I stood up with my punctured holes. Instead of body fluids, I was seeping hydraulic oils. I guessed it pays to be half droid where the living anatomies are my brains, heart and my lower body. Thankfully the healers kept that intact, or I will be accumulating oils too.

“John, one of these days they are going to miss your mechanical parts and hit one of those remaining body parts.” Duggan stood by me and smiled.

“Isn’t anything the healers cannot replace?” I was sixty five percent mechanical inside me. That was how I kept on surviving. “So tell me are we winning?”

We did win eventually with half the team dead. We also blew the plant that cost Suzuka more pain. It was nothing compared to the reception which we had when we returned.

“You were to stand down.” Craig of DOD snapped at us. “We already have a stand down agreement with Suzuka.”

“And nobody told us. So we proceed with the task. Task completed and we are here.” Duggan replied on our behalf. “So pay up and clam it.”

“You don’t know what you had done.” Craig glared at us. “Suzuka is waging war on us. You are all responsible.”

We ignored the man and walked out. It was soon I found out that DOD had a contract on all of us who survived. Only five of us survived when Kingsley bought the contracts. We were saved by Kingsley but DOD never forgave us. 

The Planet 1.3

1.3

That morning, I had myself to blame for taking the steps into the Earth Office of the Mineral Rights. My name is John Smith; well that’s the name I chose to. I could not remember my real name but who cares. I had assumed many identities before; some in name of survival and most times given by others to me. It became so common that the name meant nothing to me unlike the ranks I once held. I was once in the unnamed division of the Marines, slowly climbing up from the Special Officer to the Special Commander before I ended it all. They meant nothing to me at all except to make me take notice of it when I am called.

Rankings placed you in the containment.

And I disliked containment.

I also disliked being called. I do make exceptions when the call was from friends.

‘The Earth Office of Mining Rights.’ That was the message.

There I was standing there. I came straight from work. I was working on my new battle suit that will greatly improve the soldier in the field. It was a prototype of Kingsley.  

“Hello, John.” I turned and saw the man I was to meet. “Can I walk with you?”

“Sure, Mark. After all you are my boss.” I nodded. Mark Kingsley, Junior was the senior executive officer of Kingsley Defense and Mining Corporation. He was also one of my ex-Commander from the Marines. He was dressed in the Chinese Mao design with buttoned collar but the material the suit was not eastern but more to the opposite. The executive was in his forties but his look was older. He was accompanied by his troop of six bodyguards; all burly and ex-soldiers. They were similarly dressed but the suit did not do much to cover the outlines of their weapons tucked beneath their armpits.

“I would have given you a suit if I knew you were coming in that … working overall.” Mark commented on my dressing. I looked at it and smiled. I did have on what he described; it was my working clothes and it was one of the six sets I had with me. It was blue overall with six zippered deep pockets. I brushed my left hand over the fewer and shorter hair there; I was self conscious of it decay there, although it was not hampering my facial hairs. My week old stubble was helping me recover some pride in replacing the above.

We stood there on the steps among the assembled; the news hounds and the corporate. They were all there; their reps to listen and await instructions but there were also the curious ones. Those were the unpredictable ones. They could be innocent bystander or at worst, the trouble rabble.

“Hey, there is Kingsley Mining.” It was one of the trouble rabbles. The guy was dressed in a silvery suit with a clean shaven head. His whole facial expression was devoid of any facial hair, but that was not all that was hideous. It was the sneer on the expression. The trouble rabble shout drew the attention of the gathered and among them the curious ones.

“They are mercenary constructs.” It was the key word for the curious ones to drop their pretense and reveal themselves to instigators of troubles. To them, all mercenary constructs’ were killers of the innocents. It triggered the required response. They rushed forth with murderous intents. They were not few but grew to hundreds when the hidden ones by the corners rushed in. The assigned guards to handle the crowd went into action and formed a cordon around us. They carried shields and powered batons. That did not deter the trouble rabble which came with their hidden weapons. They had their own batons hidden under their coats which they used to batter the guards.

The line of guards fell back on the impact but the Mining Office have prepared for such eventualities.

The skyline was soon filled with dark orbs that swamped down among the trouble rabbles.

“The dark ones! They launched the dark ones.” The trouble rabbles withdrew from the line of guards. The dark ones were armed droid in the shape of a two feet radius floating dark orb that hovered over the trouble rabbles. The orbs then launched its sonar weapon on the trouble rabbles; the sonar vibrations were so intense that it may ruptured the brain cells when in contact for over ten seconds within its track of twenty feet wide. That was if you are protected by the head gear, but most of the trouble rabbles were unprotected.

They could only bear it for five seconds maximum.

They screamed out in pain when the orbs hovered over their heads. For those who were stubborn to move or had fallen on the ground during the withdrawal, they will have blood pouring out of their ears and nose, and then the pain was so unbearable that the affected will reach with their fingers to pull at their pain through the eyes.

We were saved. I was soon meshed in with Kingsley and herded to the side. It was a clear area from the orbs but I saw the punch and moved my head. It was not by a trouble rabble but one of the personal guards of Kinsley. The punch missed me but I had my defense up. I lashed out with the right finger jab at the guard. He did not see it but the force of my jab ruptured his liver. The man keeled over but by then, we had moved on with Kingsley calling the move.

“Ignore him.” Kingsley called out to his head guard. “He tried to strike at John.”

We were forced marched into the doorway by the side of the building. There were three other groups there and we were protected by more guards.

“Sir, its Stane. He was part of your guards.” Michael the Head Guard questioned his employer.

“Michael, you are fired.” Kingsley glared at him. “Get out of my sight.”

With that Kingsley other guards pushed their ex-leader out. Kingsley ignored the pleading and joined the other groups.

“John, look like we are in the pick.” Kingsley motioned to me to the others. I scanned the group. They were all the same like Kingsley; mining corporations.  I saw Suzuka there. There was the eastern group; the Phoenix Foundations.  Heck, even the DOD was there. They aren’t the Defense Department but the Dart Ordinance of Defense. They were the top notch in the military supplies.

Then the final countdown came.

“Kingsley Defense and Mining.”

We were the selected. That threw a hue and cry among the others. I saw Michael speaking to the DOD while glaring at me. I wondered what I did to deserve the attention. I was only a mercenary after all.

“Kingsley Defense and Mining to move to the Chairman office.”

We were soon greeted by the large lobby area with long reception counter. The flooring was immaculate white and besides the reception counter, there was nothing there. I forget there were others there; they were so still in the background. There were four twelve feet high droids which designed to look like menacing quarterbacks with then bend forward stance but instead of menacing biceps, these droid held a twin set of six barrels roller cannons. We walked towards the reception counter which was staged sixty feet inside past those droids.

“Welcome, Mr. Kingsley.” The lady appeared from behind the counter. She must had been hidden behind it or I was getting blind. “The Chairman had finalized the successful bidders. Your organization was the one. Please acknowledge here.”

She handed over the tablet for him to approve

“Thank you.” Kingsley replied. He then turned to walk out. I was curious then and had to ask.

“Why did you made me come?” I looked sheepishly at the man. “And why me?”

“John, the final endorsement was to confirm our participation.” Kingsley smiled at me. “And as for you, I needed you for the task as my mercenary. Element L 391 is a very competitive mineral and it so rare that everyone will kill for that. If my plant hits an issue, I want you there as my recorder.”

I stared at Kingsley. One of my abilities was my eidetic memory; it was the ability to recall images, sounds, or objects with high precision.

“I trust you. You are special. I worked with you before. I need your special touch.” Kingsley replied to me. “I will your left arm updated with more sensors.”

My left arm did felt cranky on some days.

“I have expected trouble and more to it, Michael was under my scrutiny for some time. He works for the DOD and spied for them. I tolerated him because it’s better to keep my enemy close to me. If there were any of them trying to stop me, it would be DOD.”

“Okay, I am in.” I replied. After all security was my favorite task. “But tell me, what is L 391? Is that the installation?””

Kingsley did not reply until we were out of the building. He stood at the same spot where we met earlier. He waved his hands at the assembled. He then turned to look at me. His bodyguards made a ring around him and me again. He then began telling me what L 391 was.

“In simpler terms, Element L 391 is newly discovered composition which was ten times more durable than titanium and its military grade. It’s so rare that the only nearest alternative was at Tauzin Seven and that was in limited supplies. We are one of the few corporations that were authorized to mine it. You are on the Armed Response Team for any response. You will also work with Commander Duggan.”

Every mining corporation maintained an armed response team for resolving conflicts. It was the fall back when something went wrong like in the case of Tauzin Seven.

“Tauzin Seven? Wasn’t that where the DOD Suzuka Incident of four years that triggered the...” I was no expert on minerals but when it comes to conflicts, I was one. I was there. I recalled those battles’.

The Planet 1.1. & 1.2

Jimmy Loong     

15 Oct 2015

1.

1.1 The discovery

‘DSV Madeson, Z-100 proceeding to designation 101.’

Z-100 was one of the fifty exploration units deployed on the surface on Planet M-1098. The unit was a designed saucer top with a circumference of fifteen feet with four major tentacles extrusions that extend eight feet below it to the surface. Each tentacle at the end of its stand held the receptors. Each tentacle served as collectors on the surface and the data will be channeled to the seventeen processors inside the saucer main unit at the center. Located at the bottom, there was probing light that was the main probe which does more; it reads the underground composition as deep as five miles across a radius of five miles. It moved across the surface on it anti-gravity discs that were mounted at the bottom. The speed it was moving at was about forty miles per hour. It will then moved diagonal for ten miles and then resumed its return direction. It keeps on moving like that until it covered the assigned area of five hundred square miles.

Where there were high or obstacles in its way, it will hover higher and then lowered to the desired height after it is passed. It was programmed to register a list of minerals and on that occasion it found what it wanted to find. It was not east to move with the wind on the surface that could reach sixty miles on a normal condition to two hundred miles on those stormy conditions. When that happens, the probe will compensate for it by adjusting its height and speed. If the wind velocity moves too high for it to compensate, it will release a series of eight anchors on the hard surface. It will remain anchored until the wind was manageable before it gets retracted back.  When it’s anchored, the probe will cover itself with a magnetic field that will repel any physical items like stones that may be hurled by the wind.

The wind condition was not the only danger there. There was also the acidic rain which was rare but its corrosive nature had worn down one of the fifty exploration units coating and caused a breakdown in the unit. The experts then recalled the units to apply a new coating that managed to counter the corrosive rains.

There were no living creatures on the planet. Not even a microbe; only metal minerals.

It was the center probe that confirmed it the rare finding.

‘DSV Madeson, Z-100 reporting identifying a new element.’

That was the first report.

Three weeks later, the same area was surveyed and then more probes were introduced.

‘We have located the main layer.’

The center probe began relaying the data for further analysis.

One week ago, the probes were all removed. It was then the new element was given a new identification designated L 391.

It was not only rare but the element had unique properties that made it viable for some highly valued uses. It triggered off the mining corporations interest but the planet was off limit. It did not stop the mining corporations to begin their probing.

It was then the Earth Office of the Minerals Rights stepped in.

“The planet was off limit to all. Anyone attempting to land there will be subject to violation rule 104.” Violation Rule 104 was the harsh punishment of delisting and banishment from the mining rights. No mining corporation will risk that on normal conditions but element L 391 was very tempting.

1.2.

Rule 104.

The Earth Office of the Minerals Rights was a tall solitary tower that reached eighty levels high with a hexagonal design. It was the command center that managed the mining rights. On that particular morning, it was the center of furious activities, with the whole building under tight security. There were scores of securities personnel there, and they were maintaining a cordon around the building. A perimeter was maintained to prevent any intrusions but most of the assembled were not there to intrude but to see the one they seek will step out.

It was all about a data leak from the Earth Office that happened five hours ago.

The leak of the discovery caused the commotion with the mining corporations rushing in to verify the findings but they were all stalemated at the cyber doorstep. When that did not work, they went physical.

The Chairman of the Mineral Rights barricaded himself to the Office since then and refused to see anyone. The corporations tried all the options but they had not made any progress. Not even the cajoling or influences of the influential from the elite Councilors and Statesman.

The pursuit of the matter did not end there, and even some have gone further to retrace the Deep Space Vessel that could have launched the probe. It was the era of cyber data super links but the large data was not making much headway. There were a dozen of the Deep Space Vessel that were out there, and tracing the right one took longer. The search for the finite value soon discovered DSV Madeson.

It was all in the containment of the data server.

The DSV identified and an assorted of rag tag fleet of corporation’ was launched to intercept. With the advanced development in hyper warp, the planet was soon besieged but it was also protected since the discovery.

“Anyone breaching the line will be retaliated without warning will be a violation of Rule 104.” That was a fair warning but the arsenal behind the warning was more than fair. It was protected by the Mineral Rights Enforcement Fleet which was a formidable force of several heavily fortified frigates. No one dares to challenge the fleet.

 “You found the planet but can’t touch it.” Chairman Ian Finney of Earth Office of the Minerals Rights made the announcement to the mining corporations.  He was on the video conference screen surrounded by a half dozen guards.

 “I know all of you are keen to mine it but it will have to be by the rules. Within the stipulated rules, I am now opening the bid for the mining exploration of the new discovered named Element L 391 with immediate effect. The bidding process will close its bidding window in exactly one hour.”

Tweet...tweet....the latest is here...07/12

Hello everyone.

I am back with the new tale which finally got completed at 34,605 words. It was a hard journey but I completed it. Have a go at it.

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