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Grass Eaters 3 | 91 | Reinforcements III
🕑 Added 2025-05-23 15:47:01 +0000 UTCSRNS My Other Ship, Spofke-4 (1,000 km)
POV: Telnokt, Znosian Dominion Navy (Rank: Ten Whiskers)
There was a sour expression on the Ace’s face, and Telnokt knew something was up.
Something extremely unpleasant.
“What’s— what’s wrong?” Telnokt asked nervously. “Is it my people? Maybe this is a misunderstanding? I did instruct them not to—”
“No. It’s the damn Reps. They’ve arrived. Always perfectly on time to ruin our fun.”
“What are you going to do?”
The Ace ignored her, directing her people around her. She called out to one of her heavily scarred pirates. “Get the guys downstairs. It’s time they earn their pay.”
++++++++++++++++++++++++
TRNS Crete, Spofke (25,000 Ls)
POV: Carla Bauernschmidt, Terran Republic Navy (Rank: Rear Admiral)
“On screen.”
The scarred face of the infamous Resistance Ace appeared on Carla’s main screen, presenting in her usual unpleasant snarl. “Where’s your fleet admiral? Bring mommy on so the adults can talk.”
Carla stood up insistently. “I’m in command here. Whatever you need to say—”
“There’s nothing I need to say. I just wanted to remind her she owes me ten credits; her Thunderbirds lost to my Storms last week. Two runs to four. We’re going to the playoffs.”
“I— What? I— I’ll give her the message for you. But—”
“What are you doing here, Rep? I thought you were done with your raids a few months ago. Didn’t you guys sign something with the—”
“Relax, Ace. There’s nothing nefarious going on. No secret plots or dastardly conspiracies. We’re just passing through,” Carla said as she waved her hand dismissively.
The Ace’s eyes narrowed further. “Passing through,” she repeated. “I’ve been hearing a lot of that lately.”
“Yes, the Znosian Grand Fleet you’ve got bottled up near the other side of the system. We have some plans for them too.”
“You can’t have them!” the Ace shouted, the stomping of her foot audible in the transmission. Apparently, the cultural contamination with the Znosians worked both ways. “They’re ours! They’re in our system. We got them fair and square!”
Carla sighed. “Come on, Ace. Be reasonable. We agreed to guarantee their safe passage. Plus, we’re hundreds of light years from Sol. There’s no need for senseless violence here. Don’t you guys have your own planet now? Isn’t this what you wanted all along?”
“Yes, and if you fuck off, in a couple of weeks, we’ll have our own space fleet too.”
“You already have one.”
“We’ll have another one!”
Carla looked at the hundreds of ships in the former glorious Grand Fleet, sitting pretty like a flock of sheep being prepared for slaughter. “And what will you be doing with… your new fleet?”
“None of your business, Rep!”
“Come on, we both know you aren’t going to be able to get enough ships to pose a threat to the Republic,” Carla explained patiently. “And…”
“Exactly! So why are you so worried?! We should be able to get our own fleet! We agreed to no limitations on the number of Znosian ships in our fleets back in Sol!”
“That was with the number you had at the time— Anyway, we’re less worried about what you might do to us and more worried about what you might do to your neighbors.”
“And why do you care about the little cretins?!” The Ace pointed an accusing finger into the camera. “We get the news here. Even with your little ceasefire, you’re still officially at war with them. And don’t forget, we’re not like them; we know you Reps. We know you guys are just waiting out that armistice timer before you can have another go at them!”
“Yes, but you know they don’t generally distinguish between your actions and ours, and we’re not interested in a… misunderstanding while our armistice with them is still in effect. At least not until their Grantor withdrawals are past the tipping point. And… there’s the Granti right across the border; we can’t have you doing anything stupid back there either.”
The Ace rolled her eyes. “Alright, I’m done talking to you. There’s nothing for us to discuss. This is our system. We get to do what we want here.”
“Ace, seriously, we need you to release their fleet commander. You told her you were going to let her go too, or are you going back on your word?”
“No, I specifically only told her I’ll guarantee—”
“Really?! You’re going to play language games with literal aliens here?”
“Fine. You need something? What’s in it for me?”
Carla considered protesting more, but decided against it. Out here, as they did back in Sol, the Resistance only spoke two languages, and one of them involved lots of people dying. The other… She sighed. “Sure, I… could be authorized to negotiate some more chartered shipments through Malgeir and Granti territory. What do you want this time?”
“Don’t you have some more of those Bun prisoners you didn’t give back to them? Transfer some of them to us, we’ll take care of them—”
“Not a chance.”
“Fine, fine. Ships. I heard you still have some of the Bun ships you captured back in the day.”
Carla raised an eyebrow. “So you can reverse engineer more of their tech?”
“Their tech? What would we want to do with their tech— ah, you mean the dinosaur-killer engines,” the Ace replied gleefully.
“Not how I’d put it, but yes.”
“Well, it’s too late. We already have those. We don’t need their tech. What we need are more spaceframes to build out our orbital infrastructure. For— for projects.”
“Projects,” Carla repeated skeptically. “Like… infrastructure projects or…”
The Ace dared her to object. “Projects.”
Carla hesitated for a long moment. “There… may be an exchange ratio we can discuss depending on how many of them you let get through here — demilitarized ships, of course…”
“Lame… Oh, and we’ll need industrial-scale construction robots. For our surface colonies.”
“We can discuss that too. But, first, release your… guest.”
The Ace gave her an odd expression. “Flopsy? Sure, no problem. She’s already on her way back.”
“She— she is?”
“Check your radars.”
Sure enough, on the Crete’s data-linked sensors, a singular shuttle separated itself from one of the Resistance ships and began to thrust toward her own fleet.
“Alright,” Carla said reluctantly, wondering what the trick was.
Maybe it’s not her on the ship? Maybe the shuttle’s packed with explosives? What is she up to?
She put her skepticism aside… for now. “So… captured ships and construction robots, eh? How many are we talking?”
The Ace smiled. “Come over to my ship. We can discuss the specifics over dinner. I can guarantee your safety and—”
“I wasn’t born yesterday, Ace.”
“Heh, was worth a try. Fine, I’ll get my negotiator on the phone. You can talk to him. I’ve got other business to attend to.”
Other business to attend to?
++++++++++++++++++++++++
“Their Ten Whiskers Telnokt has arrived back at her flagship,” Speinfoent pointed out on the sensor display. “ZNS 0312. Our Alligators hidden near them report that there has been… no significant anomaly so far.”
Carla had half-expected a squad of pirates to pop out of the shuttle, or something roughly as stupid. “What about the Resistance ships and missile sites deployed near it?”
“Some increased radio traffic,” he said. “And they’re on high alert. But no significant movement. This is about what we’d normally expect of them.”
“Something’s not right,” Carla said, feeling a shiver run up her back. “The Ace… they’re— they’re…”
“Too reasonable?” Speinfoent suggested.
“Exactly.”
“Maybe they’ve changed. That’s been known to happen to some people, right?”
“Maybe. Maybe they have.” Carla took a long look at her console. “But we’re not about to start making assumptions about that, are we?”
“No, Admiral. We are not.”
“Alright.” Carla took a deep breath. “Now, connect me to that ten whiskers. Let’s feel her out. See what she’s thinking about this… about recent events in the Dominion.”
++++++++++++++++++++++++
ZNS 0312, Spofke (23,500 Ls)
POV: Telnokt, Znosian Dominion Navy (Rank: Ten Whiskers)
“Which one are the Reps?” Telnokt asked her computer officer, with her newfound knowledge of internal predator politics.
“The uh—”
“The regular ones. The more reasonable ones not occupying this system. The ones Znos negotiated an armistice with,” she clarified.
“We haven’t categorized their signals differently,” her computer officer replied. He pointed at a triangle on the screen showing the other side of the star system. “But that’s them. Troop carrier. The one they call the Crete. That was the one that landed a planetary tug on Znos-4-C and threw it into the Znosian star. Is that the ones you were talking about?”
“Well… I said more reasonable, not totally reasonable. Any other of their ships here?”
“None that we can really see right now.” He gestured around the room, pointing at nowhere in particular. “We know they’ve got about a squadron of hiding ships near us. We catch glimpses, shadows of them on the sensors from time to time. They’ve been following us all the way from Grantor. But nothing we can do about that.”
“Right, and our fleet… are we ready—”
A series of beeps on her console interrupted her next question. Her computer officer reported, “Speaking of predators, they are hailing us on FTL.”
“Which ones?”
“The— the Reps.”
“On screen.”
The face of one of the Great Predators appeared on her screen. From her weeks in captivity among them, Telnokt had gotten better at identifying their facial expressions. This one looked… surprisingly calm and sane.
“I am Rear Admiral Carla Bauernschmidt of the Terran Republic Navy. May I speak to your commanding officer, Ten Whiskers Telnokt?”
“I am Ten Whiskers Telnokt,” she replied carefully. “What do you want, Rep?”
The predator seemed taken aback for a heartbeat. “Uh— ah. Right. We are here to escort you through this system to your destination. However, before we do that, we do have a few questions for you.”
“Questions? What kind of questions?”
“Some rather sensitive topics regarding your Dominion. These things are best discussed in person,” Carla said. “Would you care to come aboard—”
“No, thank you. I think I’ve experienced enough of your predator hospitality recently. However, we will accept an escort from your ship out of this system if you are here to honor your agreements with our people, as you say.”
“I— I don’t blame your skepticism, Ten Whiskers Telnokt. Do you— are you aware of recent events in your Dominion?”
“Are you referring to your propaganda and lies about how there has been a massive schism in our homes?”
“It’s the truth,” Carla insisted. “We can provide you with documentation and witnesses from—”
“Whatever. I’m not interested in more of the same. What do you want from us?”
“We want to know what you think. Whether you’d be favoring certain… factions over others.”
Telnokt hesitated and looked around her bridge at her officers. After a few seconds, she swallowed. “We are the Grand Fleet. If what you say about the schism is true, we will have to side with the legitimate authority of the Znosian species, of course. That is who we swear our oaths to. That is who our lives were forfeited to.”
“The legitimate authority. And who exactly would that be… in a schism?” Carla pressed.
“That— hmm—” Telnokt stuttered, unsure what the correct answer was. Such a scenario had not happened in centuries. She settled for a cop-out. “That is none of your business, predator. This is an internal matter. Even if you are not lying about the schism thing.”
“If you will transfer your fleet to a certain faction based at certain systems, we can provide… a variety of options for you,” the predator said. “Perhaps even some form of less tangible forms of assistance.”
“Ah, let me guess.” Telnokt rolled her eyes. “You have a favored winner in our internal schism, naturally.”
“Well, we do watch our threats — and potential opportunities — carefully.”
“You scheming predators are all the same. Now, the Ace over there.” Telnokt pointed angrily at her screen. “They’re more blatant about it. But you— your people must be behind the schism somehow, and you’re here to offer us the cure for the very disease you’ve spread among our people!”
“Maybe. But our cause is more just. We are better.”
“Says who?” she challenged.
“Says we don’t enslave your people. Says we don’t kidnap your representatives. Says we follow our agreements with you with the best possible faith,” the predator retorted. “We treat your prisoners with dignity and respect. And we—”
“And you destroyed our Navy moon.”
“After we let your people evacuate it. It’s not our fault that your own government left some people behind and executed a bunch of conscientious objectors that—”
“Does that make it that much better?” Telnokt sneered. “Or is that merely a distinction you draw for your own benefit? For your own weak-willed people?”
“It’s— it’s— billions of Znosian lives that we spared. Your lives.”
“Their lives were forfeited to the Prophecy the day they left their hatchling pools,” the ten whiskers replied bitterly. “And what you destroyed that day was worth far more than mere Servants of the Prophecy.”
“How can mere weapons and buildings and land be worth more than your lives? Billions of them? How?” the predator almost begged. “Just think about it!”
“They are. They… just are!”
“Even yours?”
“My life is—” She stopped herself mid-sentence. “That’s totally different. I am a ten whiskers. I am worth far more than the average Znosian. Besides, in the case of my own life, my objectivity is in question.”
“Isn’t every life worth something?”
“Sure, as long as they aren’t abominable predator life,” Telnokt snarled. But there was something wrong. She couldn’t muster enough venom in herself for her insult.
“Come on, Ten Whiskers. Think of your people. Wouldn’t you want to find out what you are? Wouldn’t you want to find out what you can do if you escape the iron grip of your State Security overlords? If you think for yourself? Fight for yourself?”
“No, human.” She shook her head. “You aren’t going to incite me against my own people.”
“Incite? We don’t need to do that. Your people are already at each other’s throats. But maybe you should find out who’s in the right before— before you commit to throwing away your life for the wrong people.”
“Who’s right? You mean who benefits you predators the most?!”
“Peace is in the interest of both our peoples,” the human insisted. “Long-term peace. Peace based on mutual understanding and respect. Which is only possible if your people aren’t rooted — bred and bathed — in an ideology of permanent hatred against us.”
Telnokt stared at the earnest-looking face of the Great Predator, indecision roiling her inner thoughts for a moment.
“Besides,” Carla continued. “Even if you buy their line, you can’t possibly believe your current crop of leaders is the best your species has to offer. No one that delusional should be responsible for a fleet in your navy.”
“Maybe,” Telnokt conceded. “But I don’t trust you. And I don’t see how I can help you, even if I wanted to. Even if the schism is real, as you say—”
There was some chaotic activity on the other screen. Carla cleared her throat, and she quickly interrupted Telnokt. “Ten Whiskers, I’d love to continue this conversation, but something urgent came up. We’ll be in touch.”
Her connection cut out.
Telnokt turned to her computer officer. “Huh. That was— odd. What happened?”
Her computer officer turned back to her, his expression one of utter confusion.
“What’s wrong?” Telnokt asked.
“There’s— something has happened with the predators,” he said.
“Specifics?”
“It’s one of the predator ships near us on our sensors… but— but—”
++++++++++++++++++++++++
TRNS Crete, Spofke (25,000 Ls)
POV: Carla Bauernschmidt, Terran Republic Navy (Rank: Rear Admiral)
Carla stared at the main screen, a sizeable chunk missing from the side of the former Resistance ship. Its entire bridge hemisphere was exposed. Domesticated Znosian spacers spilled out a two-story breach in the hull into vacuum. A few escape pods ejected sporadically. An active fire raged in one of her magazines, and even as the ship’s damage control teams began desperately launching drones and tugs to do their jobs, she could see it was going to be a doomed effort.
“Which one is that—”
“SRNS Gravy Train,” Speinfoent reported. “One of the Ace’s original fleet that came out of Sol. Engine loss. Reactor loss. She’s dead in the water. She was… the closest one to the Bun fleet.”
“Why didn’t we detect the Znosian missile launch?” Carla demanded. “Is it some new weapon type? Maybe a particle weapon hitting a weak spot?”
“Nothing on any of our sensors. It just— it appears as if it just blew up.”
Carla looked at the battle map. “It just blew up?” she repeated. “An accident?! Our best guess is that someone was just… cigarette smoking near the missile magazine?!”
“They were the closest to the Grass Eater fleet so… that does seem too coincidental to be likely,” Speinfoent started saying, then seemed to change his mind. “But not impossible. They aren’t nearly close enough for kinetics, so it would have to be some kind of long-range missiles. CIC has gone over it multiple times — we saw nothing, not even a flash of a signature. Possibly some kind of new deployed mines, maybe? They have been near-stationary here for a few weeks other than a few orbit adjustments…”
“Who is— Connect me to the Ace again. Maybe her sensors saw something— something we didn’t.”
“Yes, ma’am— wait a second…”
“What is it?”
“The Ace’s ship… she’s beginning a broadcast to her fleet. Her entire fleet.”
Carla’s heart sank to her stomach. “FTL link back to Panoptes and break the encryption. Get us into their loop. Now.”
“Done. On screen.”
The face of the Ace appeared on the main screen. And as it did, as she saw the savage expression on the old pirate’s face, Carla figured it out. “Oh. I see. Oh, no.”
“What is it, Admiral?” Speinfoent asked urgently.
“Contact the Alligators. All ships: battle stations, now!”
“Connecting you to the—”
“And jam their FTL. Jam the entire system now!”
“Yes, ma’am. Broad spectrum jamming active… What’s going on?”
On the main screen, the Ace cleared her throat and spoke into the microphone with perfect clarity.
“Brave and loyal spacers of the SRN. Without warning, one of our ships has just come under surprise attack by the treacherous alien ships in the outer system. They have made their intentions clear: they are here to invade and take our new homes. We can’t let that happen! We won’t! All ships, fighters, and batteries: launch, launch, launch! Vive la Résistance!”
Comments
Bayliner1980
God everytime the ace is in a chapter I just hope she gets what's coming to her. She's a two faced slimy liar, a homicidal psychopath who puts her own agenda above the lives of her people. She probably doesn't even care about the resistance she just has a bone to pick with the Republic and see's the bloodthirsty maniacs, who idiotically put their trust in the biggest tactical idiot in history, as a means to score some kind of petty revenge. She goes on and on about freedom but when it comes to managing her own colony she immediately begins enslaving znosians. If she wanted to do her people a favour she would hang herself from the nearest tree cause then the resistance can elect an actually competent leader if there even is one among them. She's as bad as svatken and thats saying something.
EclipseDragon96
That slimy snake. May her end be here.
