The Infinity Chronicles Volume 1

Chapter Three, Act-18: The Defense of Marrok

Chapter Three; The Defense of Marrok

'Soft Growl', Forward Base/First Line of Defense, Marrok HomeSystem, 5-March-2329

Act 18: "Defending Marrok..."

Alex walked quietly along the newly paved flight line of the recently constructed airbase. The new Cutlass 2's would be arriving from their staging base on Marrok within a day or so, and it would be refreshing to see actual aircraft operating here, instead of just parking here. His report to Onrad hadn't been totally forthright, but it conveyed the basics of Marrok's defenses: There but not quite there.

It was oddly quiet here, but this time of the morning there was scarcely anyone up and about among the Marrokian pilot recruits.

It had been determined that Marrokian females had the 'right stuff' when it came to being fighter pilots. That suited the males' just fine, as they had taken an immediate liking to the new styles of powered armor that were becoming available this year from Goliath Weaponry. He had undertaken the role of Flight Instructor almost from the beginning and was having a hard time. He was trying to be impartial, since most if not all of these recruits were drop dead gorgeous.

Cygna, for the most part, supported her mate in this endeavor, knowing full well that he might end up in the sack with a few of the recruits, but, as a slave girl, she wasn't allowed to complain. Not that she would have, since Alex loved only her. Besides, she knew how he was, and he always seemed to have this boundless energy when it came to bedroom antics.

The Garshans had made an appearance early in the start of the new year, sending troopers through the one and only surviving portal, about 75km from the Imperial City. They came through armed with a weird form of laser rifle, that sliced through the powered armor the Marrokian troopers had with ease, and again, the Marrokians took heavy losses. The Garshans however, didn't escape unscathed, as the new weapons Alex and Kinsman had secreted away to Marrok came into play. The Garshans, expecting a race of spear throwers with limited psionic ability got a rather rude awakening, as Marrokians appeared in powered armor with Gatling lasers, pulse rifles and a few Kuritas. The Garshan forces lost more troopers in that one battle, then they had in all earlier conflicts combined.

The Marrokians for the most part, heralded their 'victory' over the Garshans, and a few of the more aristocratic among the nobility started to think they had the Garshans on the run.

How little they really knew...

Sitting at the edge of the southern end of the flight line, Alex concentrated, and contacted Ashia.

<Master? What's wrong?>

<Those mages. Any word on them? I haven't gotten back to Ichubirn so I thought I could check with you?>

<Nothing as overt as an assassin, if that's what you're concerned with. From the little information we have been able to get, they are unaware of your movements off of Center. They know you go to a place called Marrok, but have no idea where it is, or where to find it.>

<Well, I'll have to go back to Center eventually. Maybe I should just go to the Mage School and confront their ringleaders. Maybe I can offer up a better price.>

<I doubt they're in this for a monetary reward, Master.>

<Well, I'm not about to run and hide from this group. I need to find someone on the inside that I can talk to.>

<Good luck with that. From what we understand, this mage school is a very tight knit community. On another note, how goes the 'Soft Growl Project'?>

<Slowly, but steadily. Why do all the recruits have to be gorgeous? Gods, I'll never get any work done training them as fighter pilots because they keep coming on to me, and I keep accepting their advances, which leads to...>