Star People

Side Story 6

Prisoners of War

Second Day of Operation Star Point, 0850 hours…

Lieutenant Lurdo Markens was a bit confused as he watched the Free Land engineers destroy the wreckage of his Zodera jet. Why were they doing that? Wasn’t his fighter a marvel of aviation engineering? He would think that the enemy would salvage the wreckage for study and reverse-engineering.

He had only bailed out of his fighter an hour ago and had been captured by Star Alliance infantry. They immediately disarmed him and were now transporting him in a strange vehicle that glided across the ground by some unknown force. As they passed by the location where his fighter had crashed, he looked out the window and saw that the Free Land engineers using some strange devices that emitted beams of light. Every time the beams hit a piece of his fighter, the debris would vanish.

“What are they doing?” Lurdo asked in confusion.

The soldier sitting across from him shrugged his shoulder and answered nonchalantly. “It’s nothing. They’re just disposing of the wreckage. It’s not something to be concerned about.”

“You’re not trying to salvage it?”

“What for? It’s basically worthless to us. They probably already did a full scan on one, so there’s no point in keeping a piece of junk like that.”

“Piece of junk?! It’s our most advanced fighter plane!”

“You were shot down by one of our fighters, right? As far as our pilots are concerned, your most advanced fighter plane is nothing but target practice to them.”

Lurdo became silent as he remembered back to that time.

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Flashback…

Lurdo’s adrenaline was pumping as he pulled his Zodera into a tight turn and barely managed to evade short burst from a Byatta’s positron cannons. The strange-looking fighter was absurdly fast and maneuverable. In less than twenty seconds, nearly all of his squadron had been shot down.

In her cockpit, Third Lieutenant Ardali was bit surprised that her opponent had actually evaded her attack. She chalked it up to simple luck on the Zedan pilot, adjusted her angle of attack and fired again.

Lurdo winced as his jet shuddered from the impact. The positron bolt tore through the rear fuselage and caused the entire tail to be blown off. Seeing he had no hope of keeping his fighter in the air, he reached down and activated another new innovation, the ejector seat.

The canopy was immediately blown off as small rockets beneath the chair ignited. Lurdo’s spine was compressed as the chair shot out of the doomed aircraft. Once he reached a safe distance, his chair fell away and his parachute deployed. He could only float and watch helplessly as his jet tumbled toward the ground. Two seconds later, the Zodera hit the ground hard and exploded, causing a small fireball to erupt and setting some trees ablaze. Then he looked up and saw that the Byatta fighter that had shot him down was coming toward him.

Lurdo trembled as there were rumors that the enemy shot at pilots who had bailed out. Although this seemed to be a cruel act to shoot at an opponent when he couldn’t defend himself, the Zedan lieutenant could see the reason behind it. Shooting down an enemy parachute meant that there would be one less pilot to deal with later if he managed to rejoin his forces. He shut his eyes and waited for the end.

However, the end never came as Ardali had no intention of killing him. She simply wanted to make certain that he would land safely, and notified the Star Alliance ground troops of where to pick him up. Her fighter banked away to rejoin her squadron, leaving Lurdo in stunned silence as he continued to float downward. The one thing he did notice was the Byatta’s insigna emblazoned on its sides.

It was the image of a snakelike beast with wings.

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 End of Flashback…

“It… only took them a mere minute to wipe out my entire squadron.” Lurdo said with despondence.

“Yeah, let me guess. The fighters that shoot you down, they looked like mantas or oddly-shaped fish, right?”

Lurdo’s head snapped up. “Yes! How did you know?”

The Free Land soldier shrugged again. “Yeah, I kind of figured. I knew that some squadrons from the 251^st Heavy Fighter Wing were patrolling this sector. Your jets stood no chance. A single Byatta could take down five hundred of your fighters and the 251^st pilots are among the best. Did you get a good look on the fighter that shot you down?”

“Yes, it had a symbol of a snake with wings.”

“Ooh, then you were very lucky! That was my wife’s squadron, the Toranbans. I wonder how Ardali’s doing right now?” Commander Scott Wilder wondered.

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Fifty miles north of Sword Beach, 0920 hours…

Captain Argit Laymes and his crew could only stare in amazement. They watched from open area as a Scrapper tore apart the burned-out hull of their Xaranto tank as if it was tearing though newspaper. That was 120 mm of steel armor at the front alone!

“You’re destroying our tank?” Argit asked.

“Tank? What tank?” Commander Juan Mercedez asked. He was one of the leading officers of the POW camp stationed there. “All I see is a pile of scrap metal being cut down into raw materials.”

“You’re calling our most powerful tank as just scrap metal?!”

“To be honest, compared to a Battle-Mech, yeah. I mean a single Scrapper tore your whole tank squad to bits, right?”

Argit and his men stood in silence. They couldn’t argue. It only took one of those Mini-Mechs to smash through a dozen Xaranto tanks.

“Follow me now. I’ll show you to your quarters.” Mercedez said as he gestured to the POWs.

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Prisoner of War Camp #15, Port City of Grevel, Merdov Continent…

1050 hours…

“Good morning to you, Admiral. I trust you and the rest of your shipmates and crews have all settled in?” Captain Macus Vern greeted as he stood up and saluted the Zedan officer and gestured him for him to sit down at a chair next to his desk.

“Yes, we have.” Admiral Logran Vattos returned the salute before taking the offered seat. “Although, we were a little surprised to be taken a POW camp, in the Merdov continent. We were expecting to be taken to the Alder continent.”

“Nah, you don’t want to go there. Well, unless you want to spend your days fighting off Behemoths in the countryside.”

“Behemoths?”

“They’re overgrown magical creatures that inhabit the Alder continent. The place is crawling with them. One Behemoth is enough to take down an entire army of soldiers. The Empire of Sath tried to colonize that place more than a century ago, and nearly everyone there ended up as Behemoth food. They would have shredded your metal ships like parchment. Nobody ever approached the Alder continent, until the Free Landers settled there a year and a half back.”

“If these Behemoths are so fearsome, then why did Free Land settle on the Alder continent?”

“You’ve seen Free Land’s power haven’t you? As I recall, you saw your biggest battleship go up against the Missouri, right? So how did that commander do against Captain Delan? Did he managed to damage the Missouri, or did he get his backside handed to him?”

Logran became quiet as he recalled the battleship duel between Delan and Rommet. It had been a completely one-sided affair. No matter what Rommet did, the Missouri was just too powerful and that defense barrier turned away every attempt to damage the ship. And it was obvious to everyone that the Missouri’s captain held back his ship’s full power. In the end, Rommet admitted defeat and scuttled his ship while committing suicide. It was through his sacrifice that his remaining fleet was able to unconditionally surrender and be taken as prisoners of war.

“I’ll take your silence as a yes.” Vern remarked. “Let me tell you something, Free Land is a nation that you don’t want as your enemy, ever! Those Behemoths I was talking about? They’re just simple pest control to Free Land. They live on the Alder continent because they’re the highest power. The Empire of Sath made the mistake of trying to subjugate them, and Free Land crushed them like ants in just under a week. And they weren’t even half-trying.”

“But our reports tell us that the Sath are an underdeveloped nation! They would have never been able to stand up to Zedan and its superior technology! So it would make sense that a slightly more advanced civilization would be able to conquer them!”

“Uh huh. So how are your forces doing against Free Land with your superior technology?”

Again, Logran became silent. He had already read the reports of the Zedan navies being blown out of the water before they could even sight the enemy. Submarines were sent out, only to never return after being sunk or surrendered. There was an appalling decrease in the naval fighter wings. And in all of those reports, not a single casualty was reported among the Free Land forces.

“Yeah, I’ll take your new silence as you saying, we got our asses kicked in. I’m not at all surprised. From what I heard, just about everything Zedan put out to sea got sunk, shot down, blown up, or had to surrender. Right now, Free Land and its allies are kicking down the front door to the Zedan homeland. I don’t expect them to take too long to defeat it.”

“What?! They’re invading the Zedan homeland?!” Admiral Vattos stood up suddenly, only to have the Free Land guards point their AC-MAG rifles at him. Captain Vern signaled to them to back off, and then motioned the admiral to calm down and take his seat again.

Once the admiral sat back down, Vern continued. “Yes, I suppose this is very sudden, and you and your men probably had no communications with your HQ since your capture and internment here. I suppose we can tell you what’s going on since you can’t really do anything about it. Yes, Free Land and its allies had begun the invasion of the Zedan continent just yesterday. And right now, they’ve pushed aside most resistance, and several of your bases have either fallen or have surrendered. Everyone on Merdov believes that Zedan will surrender by the end of the week or so.”

 

“It can’t be… our land forces are… undefeatable…”

“Yeah, if you thought your navy and air forces were undefeatable, then I’m guessing that Free Land shot down that notion pretty fast, right? The Empire of Sath thought that they were unbeatable, and they couldn’t even stop Free Land from stomping all over them. And from what I heard so far, the Zedan land forces are taking a bad pounding.”

“I… don’t believe it…”

“I’d like to say that I’m sorry, but considering that your nation started this war, I find it very hard to show any sympathy for you. However, you can take heart in the fact that Free Land won’t be taking over your land after they conquer it.”

“What?” Admiral Vattos with surprise.

“That’s how they are.” Captain Vern shrugged his shoulders. “After they flattened the Empire of Sath, they didn’t annex any territory or subjugate any citizens. And the people of Sath are more beholden to Free Land then they ever were to the previous ruler. They even helped the Empire rebuild. Unlike most of the nations on this world, including yours, Free Land does not wish to conquer, even though they could easily take over.”

“But… why? I don’t understand… If they have all that power…?”

“Perhaps that is the most amazing thing about Free Land. They have no wish to conquer. From the day they first appeared at this port town of Grevel, they’ve always extended their hand out in friendship. There was something the captain of Missouri once said to me…”

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Flashback…

“No matter how many times I see it, I can’t get over how majestic and powerful your ship is, Captain.” Vern remarked as he and Mark enjoyed some ale and watched the sunset over the docks. The light reflected off the Missouri’s sides where she was moored.

“Thank you, Macus.” Mark said as he took a sip. “However, I prefer to use that firepower as a last resort.”

“Why? I mean, you could probably take over the world with that one ship alone.”

“Yes we could. But that’s not the point. There was something I learned from an instructor during my self-defense courses. Something about power and how it should be wielded.”

“What did he say?”

“He said that the ones who are truly powerful, almost never needed to show that strength. It was the ones who were fearful and uncertain who showed their strength the most. It was considered a waste of good energy.”

“Huh… I never thought of it that way.”

“We could have come in with pulsar guns blazing when we first arrived here, but would that give us any of the good results we are enjoying now? We’ve got a secure port in Merdov and have opened up trade routes, while you get access to Instant Ration Packets and other Free Land products that have greatly enhanced your lives. Do you think we could have achieved that with gunboat diplomacy?”

“Gunboat diplomacy?”

“Gunboat diplomacy is a foreign policy that is backed up with the threat of war or dire consequences if the nation does not accede to the aggressor's demands. It is also used to describe a nation's desire to show off its military might to cow lesser nations into submission. Basically, it’s me telling you to give up before I say hello.”

“Ah, that’s basically how the other superpower nations handle foreign policy. I suppose they don’t take you seriously if you don’t show how strong you are at the onset.”

 “Yes, well you saw what happened when the Sath tried to use gunboat diplomacy against Free Land.”

“Yeah, I’d hate to be the idiot who made Free Land his enemy.”

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End of Flashback…

“And there you go.” Captain Macus confirmed. “If you had used the handshake against Free Land instead of the gun, then your military wouldn’t be in such pitiful shape right now.”

The Zedan admiral was taken aback at Vern’s little tale. Was it really that simple? If they hadn’t blindly followed their Emperor’s ambitions to conquer all the other nations, perhaps they could have learned just how powerful Free Land was. They had ignored one of the most basic rules of all military stratagems; to know one’s enemy.

Macus then emphasized that point by saying, “I also recall something else the Missouri’s captain told me. I think it was something that one of his generals said before. Let’s see… I think it went somethin’ like this… Number one, if you know yourself and your enemy, don’t worry about the next hundred fights, you’ll win. Number two, if you know yourself but not your enemy, for every win, you’re gonna have a loss. And Number three, if you don’t know yourself or your enemy, get ready to lose a lot. I’m thinking you’re number three.”

Vattos winced but couldn’t argue with that quote of Sun Tzu. He didn’t know of Free Land’s capabilities or how inferior his weapons were against theirs. And there was no denying the fact that every battle against the Star Alliance had been lost. And he couldn’t help but feel that the entire war was hopeless at this point.

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Prisoner of War Camp #10, five miles northeast of the Kilgari Plains, Merdov continent…

1200 hours…

“LUNCH!” The head chef shouted out as his assistants were serving a huge variety of Instant Ration Packets on the main buffet table. The Zedan POWs were all lined up and eager to get their noon meals.

In addition to the naval officers and enlisted crews who had surrendered after Rommet’s defeat, there were also airmen, tankers and infantry. As each person selected his or her preferred fare, he or she would go over to a water dispenser to add to the Ration Packet. They were also given a choice of water, juice or soda for a beverage. As each meal expanded and cooked itself, each POW would then move over to sit at one of the many long tables to eat.

“So what did you get?” Petty Officer Ikert Verse asked his friend.

“Something they call Wonton Soup.” Second Lieutenant Largi Conri replied. “It tasted so good yesterday, that I wanted to get it again.”

“What kind of soup is it?”

“It’s a really thin broth, but it’s got these meat dumplings and vegetables. Good stuff. What did you get?”

“I’m having this thing called pasta. Looks like it’s made of flour noodles… tomato… meat and… onions… I think?” Irket sniffed the open top of his bag and nodded in approval. “It smells pretty good though.”

“It’s a lot better than what we’ve been eating on the ship.” Largi said as he began eating his soup.

“Yeah. Eating the same rations for weeks and months can get really boring.” He then took a fork and sampled his linguini. “Hey, this is good! If I knew I was going to be eating this well, I might have surrendered sooner!”

“Don’t let the higher ups hear you say that. They might think of it as treason.”

“With food this good, I may just defect.” He said with a smirk, indicating that he was just joking.

Even though his friend’s comment was said in a playful manner, Largi couldn’t help but think more seriously about it.

Actually, surrendering to Free Land might not be so bad.