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The Entar Chronicles by Locke
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The Entar Chronicles part 1
Date: 29 March 2003, 12:45 AM
"All warfare is based on deception"
-From "The Art of War" by Commander Sun Tzu
The war raged on across Colchis, and the violent Jihad of the dreaded Covenant continued. The assault on Colchis had been the Covenant's biggest triumph yet since the attack on Earth. Millions on both sides had been slaughtered. It was even said that there were hardly any Humans left who knew of a time when there was no Jihad, no covenant, and no interstellar war.
But memories of the past would be restored to the minds of Humans everywhere, once more, in a time when the galaxy would freeze in terror, fighting would stop, and new enemies would emerge.
Transmission record
Orbital surveillance: Natural Satellite: Argo
High orbit above the planet Colchis
Received approximately 2:45:15678 orbital time
>Commander, you should see this. It extends off every side of the radar screen!
>>Is it a covenant ship?
>>>Really, I think you should see it yourself.
-Image Transmit-
>>>>Oh my god! What the he-
-Transition lost-
-Contact lost with Argo at message end time-
-End of record-
Orbital covenant cruiser
Low orbit above the planet Colchis
The 3 covenant priests approached the table. The one in the middle held the sacred relic of Dannook high above his head. The other two bowed down, the folds of their red robes settling to the floor. "Oh Great Dannook!" The high priest spoke out loudly with careful precision. The council of prophets leaned forward. "We ask you to help us in our siege of Colchis!" cried the high priest. "Praise Dannook!" The council recited in unison. "We ask you to help us in our jihad against the soft-skins!" "Honor Dannook!" The council recited. "We ask you to help us in our existence in the galaxy, and that the glory you have placed in our birthright will shine upon us!" "Know Dannook!" "And most important of all, we ask-" a steaming but silent bullet streaked across the room, tearing swiftly through the high priest's robes. There was a THWAP! And a look of terror spread across the high priest's face. He clutched his torso, fell to his knees, and then he slammed down on the ground dead.
In an instant, the council of prophets rose to their feet, swords gliding swiftly from their belts. "DIE FOR DANNOK!" The council cried, finishing the high priest's prayer. "Warning!" came a grunts voice across the compute system. "Soft skins have barded the cruiser! Repeat, soft skins are on the cruiser!" The great arch collapsed like a sheet of paper, machine gun fire streaking through the gigantic metallic door, tearing it to pieces. A convoy of warthogs trampled over the metal ruins, firing at the council in the stands. With a battle cry, the whole council sitting in the arena seats swarmed down, slashing at the warthogs with plasma swords, and firing at them with rifles. Suddenly, turrets on the walls and ceiling of the massive arena like room hummed to life. The warthogs were blasted to smoking pieces. Cheers erupted throughout the stands. "TRIUMPH FOR DANNOK!" they all cried.
Meanwhile
Just outside the arena
Captain Genter waved to his team of Spartans, who gathered around him. "Alright men!" Gwen shot him an annoyed look. "All right Women!" he said instead. Everyone laughed. "Our decoy assault team of Spartans has ripped apart the main arch. We need to get into that temple, arena, whatever you want to call it, and get rid of the commanding prophets before they get that arch running again". "How would they do that?" asked Gwen, confused. "I thought the warthogs tore the metal gates apart!" "Yes" said Genter, "But they have a backup force field they could reactivate any time!" "What are we waiting for, then?" demanded Xavier. "Nothing" Genter said, but the Spartans were already sliding their helmets back on and arming their weapons. The Spartans ran on foot down the hall that would lead to the citadel.
Genter watched his team of Spartans tear down the hall, metal boots clanking on the floor. He turned around, facing a group of warthogs that would move in after his Spartans. Spartans and technicians were scurrying everywhere, updating everyone's AI, and loading Warthogs "lagg" guns. Suddenly, a message flashed on his HUD. Apparently, the captain of the battle cruiser currently engaged in combat above Colchis wanted to speak to him about an important matter. "Tactical technician!" he barked into his com-link. "Get me to the nearest Pelican. I need to get to the battle cruiser currently engaged in combat above Colchis". "Yessssir!" The technician replied automatically. "The battle cruiser your looking for is 'Cleopatra's' barge'! It's currently defending itself from a covenant boarding party! I'm sending you the coordinates for the nearest Pelican, docked in an invaded covenant hangar!" A dot and arrow began flashing on his HUD. "Follow these and you'll be fine. I'm sending order to the Pelican right now to arm MAC guns and prepare the engines!"
How do those guys do that? Genter wandered. "Good work, private! If I get to "Cleopatra's Barge" alive, I'll see that your promoted!" "Oh, I highly doubt that sir!" said the technician. "Banshees are swarming around that battle cruiser like wasps!" Genter frowned. "By the way, private, what exactly did the captain of the barge want to speak to me about?" "Well, that's classified!" said the technician, laughing. "But I wouldn't be surprised if it had something to do with the ominous metal spacecraft floating above Colchis!" Genter was confused. "Are you okay, private?" The technician laughed. Obviously this captain he was talking to wasn't told much. The technician shut of his com-link, to Genter's shock, and turned back to the bible in his hands. He was reading "Revelation".
Slowly, as Genter's Pelican departed safely from the covenant hangar, he had a shocking awareness of his surroundings. Clouds and formations of covenant spacecraft were zipping everywhere. Pelicans were fleeing for their airborne lives and making hopeless attempts to charge their MAC guns before covenant fighters blasted them to smoking remnants. If hell were in space, it would look like this. Genter had never seen so many Covenant fighters n one area.
That was the last thing he noticed.
Hovering ominously above the battle was a huge metal object, extending as far as he could see. Glowing blue lines and dots were marked all over the underside of the hull, if this was the hull. Genter could only see the bottom half of Colchis, as the top half was covered up by the "horizon" where the huge metal object appeared to end, and space began. The most bizarre thing was that the Human and Covenant fighters seemed to have no regard for the ominous metal object hovering above them. Occasionally, a missile would strike the underside of the huge spacecraft. It did little damage to an object of this mass. Hitting this spacecraft with a nuclear weapon would be like poking a creature the size of a planet, with a mass of, say, Threshold. It wouldn't be noticed. That didn't necessarily mean that the spacecraft could be destroyed easily without resistance, it simply meant that it would take more weapons to destroy than all Human missile plants could build in 1,000 years.
Genter laughed to himself. As a military captain, it was no surprise that his first thoughts of the object had been calculating a sufficient way to destroy it. He cast those thoughts aside. The huge spacecraft was not firing any weapons of it's own, it was simply there. Not interfering with the battle in any way. "Why wasn't I told about this thing?" Genter demanded to the pilot. "I wouldn't know, sir! That's classified information". Genter raised his hands, annoyed. "Does anyone on this crew know what that thing is?" Everyone shrugged, then "I do" said one man. "It's a huge ominous flying object hovering above us threateningly!" Everyone laughed. "Does anyone have any interesting observations? Ideas?" Everyone just shrugged and shook their heads. I'm gonna regret this! Genter thought to himself. "If anyone gives me any useful information about this thing, I'll see that that individual is given command of their own Pelican Tactical Strike team, with 20 of my pelicans" Genter said with obviously reluctance in his voice. The eyes of the crew all got wide. The pilot seemed especially interested. "I do" said one of the men.
"Ah, so you were hiding information from a CAPTAIN?" The man was obviously embarrassed. "Yes sir" said the man. He was actually very young. Probably about 19, Genter guesses. "What is your name?" Genter asked him. "Private Jason Aegeus, sir". "Very good!" said Genter. "When we dock with 'Cleopatra's Barge', you will come with me. The rest of will land on Colchis after dropping me off and I will see that you are all reassigned immediately. I can't have a crew flying around in my fleet with only one resourceful officer!" He barked loudly. The crew was shocked, but they did not argue. Then, they all saw Cleopatra's Barge move into vision clearly before them. Every time Genter had seen a battle cruiser before, he had thought of how big it was, but not this time. The battle cruiser was the size of a head of a pin compared to the huge ominous spacecraft. It was a weird feeling. "I've locked on to a homing beacon. Were docking in port five," said the pilot in a depressed kind of monotone. Genter felt a little sympathy for the crew, and almost considered taking back their re-assignment. But no, he had already bribed a low ranking officer for information. Genter had no desire to disgrace himself any more. The Pelican slowed as it moved into the hangar. Genter and private Jason hopped out. The Pelican rose back into the air and turned, zooming back out of the hangar. "Good luck" Genter mumbled. Suddenly a covenant plasma missile zoomed out of nowhere and struck the pelican. The back half exploded into flaming shards of metal, some which barely missed Genter and Jason. The front half, bent and scarred, spun out of control, dropping low and Genter lost sight of it. Then he heard an explosion as the remains of the pelican slammed into the hull of the battle cruiser at a nearly sonic speed. "Oh well" said Genter. "There are other Pelicans in the world".
TO BE CONTINUED
The Entar Chronicles Part 2
Date: 5 April 2003, 8:08 PM
It is a mater of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry, which can on no account be neglected.
-From "The Art of War" by commander Sun Tzu
The airlock entry door swished shut behind Genter and Aegeus. "Depressurizing" the word flashed on the control panel as the air was sucked out of the hangar they had just left. Air hissed into the airlock and Genter and Aegeus removed their masks. The control panel beeped and the next-door swished open, revealing a huge command bridge. Balconies lined the walls of the metallic room, as marines scurried everywhere. Two marines approached Jason and Genter, saluting Genter.
"Captain Genter!" The marines said after they saluted. "Welcome aboard the Cleopatra's Barge! Captain Antony awaits you now, please follow me". The Marines lead them through a blast door in the side of the huge control room. They walked through a door on the left, which lead to Captain Antony's office, where several generals were gathered around the captain's desk. To one side of his desk was an AI of beautiful woman scantily clad in Egyptian clothes and relaxing on a couch. Genter and Aegeus stood before Antony's desk.
"Captain Genter! I have awaited your arrival! I have summoned you to discuss our plans for the… uhh-ominous metal object floating above us threateningly". Genter nodded.
"I have brought private Jason Aegeus here for that exact reason, Antony. He claims to have interesting information about this thing". Antony turned to Jason.
"What do you know about this thing, private?" Antony asked.
"I had an old friend in the military that often told me of his uncle who told strange tales of a giant metallic spacecraft called the 'Leviathan' that possessed immeasurable destructive power".
"Do you know this guy's name?" Antony grumbled, obviously convinced the information was useless.
"His name was uh… Captain Hector" Jason replied confidently. "He went by his first name, don't know his last".
"This drunk idiot was in the military?" Antony demanded.
"Yes sir! He had an entire team of Spartans go missing on a clandestine assignment. Don't know anything else about his military carrier, though". Antony turned to the AI.
"Cleopatra, get me as much information about this former captain as possible".
"Already done," said Cleopatra in a voice that sounded like it should belong to a body too beautiful to exist. Cleopatra's hologram disappeared, revealing another not-so-pretty hologram of a man with terrible posture. Black stains all over his body and torn uniform made it look he had gotten stuck in an active plasma reactor core. His hair was matted and messy, mostly just sticking strait up in the air.
"Captain Hector was the former commander of an elite team of Spartans who owned a base in the solar system next to the Colchian system" Cleopatra began. "After his team of Spartans went missing on a clandestine assignment, he bombarded the military with strange tales of a powerful spacecraft called the 'Leviathan'. He told of two species: Forerunner and Entar, who fought violently over control of the Leviathan. The military believed him to be a crazed idiot, and discharged him immediately, and he later settled down on Colchis and became a doomsayer and private mercenary. He's likely still on the planet now!" Cleopatra finished. Antony was shocked.
"I don't now what I'd do without you" Antony mumbled. Genter turned to Jason.
"Private Aegeus, I will give you command of one pelican to take down to Colchis and retrieve this former captain, so that we may interrogate him. If you succeed, I will see that you a promoted".
"But you said…" Jason began, objecting. Genter stopped him.
"You will do as ordered! Go back to the hangar we entered through where a pelican will await your orders!" Jason scratched his chin.
"I wonder where this guy is now…"
Where this guy is now…
"DEAD OR ALIVE!" The audience chanted. "Dead or alive! Dead or alive!" The metal cage gate at one side of the battle pit started to slide open. Hector could see two glowing red eyes in the darkness. Steam hissed out of the cage bars as the creature breathed. Hector spun his pistols around in his hands and cracked his head to one side. The audience usually went wild when he did that. They did. They stopped chanting and erupted in screams and cheers, rising to their feet so that they could see as much gore and bloodshed as possible.
"Scum of Colchis, welcome to the 'DEAD OR ALIVE, BATTLE PIT!' the announcer bellowed across the intercom system. Hector backed up across the battle pit. The audience was packed into a ring of bleachers above the pit, an electric fence separating them from the chaos below. The cage door finished sliding open. Spotlights flicked on all over the room, pointing at him or the beast, which had not yet shown itself. The audience cheered even louder. Tired of waiting, Hector fired a single shot into the darkness with one of his pistols, aiming at the beast's eye. Hector knew he had missed because he could still see the glow, but he had obviously hit near the eye because the creature was roaring in pain. It stepped out of the darkness of its lair, denting the metal floor with six spider-like legs. Each leg came too point at its end, and they could cut through almost anything. The whole creature was red, which was funny because it had two large lobster-like claws, which it held above its waist. Hector had fought many beasts from many worlds and recognized this one at once, despite the fact he had never fought one before.
It was a Nahn-Kahn from the Chinese planet of Jia. It's abilities were an ironic combination, as it had the intelligence of a Grunt and the strength of ten Brutes. He knew that many rich merchants kept them as pets, from a safe distance at least. When he first joined the army, he had a Japanese captain who kept a pet Nahn-Kahn aboard his battle cruiser. He would capture Grunts and bring them back to feed to the Nahn-Kahn. All the soldiers would look forward to watching the feedings, which took place after lunch. However, one day a Grunt accidentally pushed the captain into the Nahn-Kahn's feeding pit, while trying to escape. The soldiers had shot the creature in a failed attempt to save the captain, and had lost heart in battle, as during every battle they would do their best, as they looked forward to watching the Nahn-Kahn feedings afterward.
Hector suddenly awakened from his flashback as the beast snapped it's huge claws in the air, raising his front set of legs in a "bring it on" gesture. It let out another roar and a series of aggressive clicking sounds. Without warning, Hector shot it about five times in the exposed belly. The creature roared and slammed its legs back down on the ground, creating a large dent in the floor of the battle pit. It snapped one of its huge claws forward in a blur of red; it's reflexes two fast to actually see the claw. Hector was five feet out of the way before the creature had withdrawn its claw. Hector rolled backward and hopped back up to his feet, dodging another blow from the claw. This time however, he shot the inside of the claw, as it was open. The creature creamed in pain and it's damaged claw detached from its arm and dropped to the ground. Skin grew instantly over the wound were the claw had once been. Of course! The Nahn-Kahn could willingly drop disabled body parts to make it more efficient in combat! Then it suddenly occurred to Hector!
I know how to beat this creature! He thought. He dodged another blow from the remaining claw and opened fired on three of the creatures legs, as it had three on each side of it's body. The legs fell off, and only three remained on the other side, making it impossible for the Nahn-Kahn to move. The creature roared and it's body collapsed on one side. Hector raised his hands in the air in victory. In a blur of motion, the remaining claw darted out from the fallen beast and struck Hector in the exposed torso. Luckily the claw was closed. Hector's rib cage cracked and he was tossed like a rag doll against the steel wall of the beast pit, breaking his back. It all happened in about a millisecond.
"Oooh! That's gotta hurt!" bellowed the announcer. Suddenly, the remarkable beast rose back to its feet on six legs. The three fallen legs had grown back under the creature's massive body. It let out a cry of victory: a series of aggressive clicks. It moved forward towards Hector, taking its time and denting the floor with each massive stride.
"Finish him! Finish him!" The audience cheered. They just wanted to see blood, they didn't care whose!
The creature raised its one claw and prepared to slam it down on Hector's limp body. Suddenly, the blast of MAC guns echoed across the walls of the open-air battle pit. The Nahn-Kahn exploded, and the audience was splattered with guts. A Pelican swooped out of nowhere and landed in the center of the battle pit. 5 Marines ran out and gently lifted Hector up over their shoulders, then ran back into the Pelican. As the Pelican started to take off, someone in the audience pulled out a gun and opened fire on the Pelican, angry that it had interrupted the bloodbath. The Pelican hovered above the battle pit and more people joined in shooting the Pelican. There was an echoing hum as the Pelican recharged its MAC guns, and then bombarded the audience. It blasted them all and then left the battle pit in ruins as it hummed away.
Bridge of the Covenant cruiser
High orbit above the planet Colchis
Admiral Guntu stood patiently, rotating a small gleaming sphere in his hand. Meanwhile, Grunts and Jackals were scurrying around the bridge. All could clearly see through the force field window of the bridge, at the giant metal spacecraft that made the covenant cruiser look like a grain of sand. The main section of the huge metal craft was a giant metallic hull, shinning blue lines dotting its surface. At what Guntu assumed was the "front" of the giant craft was a giant fin-like structure, sticking up from the main hull. Blue searchlights shinned out of a series of slits directly under the fin. The searchlights swept across the sleek surface of the covenant cruiser, and almost the entire covenant army on the cruiser was in panic. Despite this, Guntu stood there calm, and confident. Guntu was wise, the type who thought before attacking, and therefore, a bad example of an Elite.
A covenant pig slowed to a stop near Guntu's control station. 2 Jackals hopped out and scurried to a stop in front of Guntu. A large cargo freighter accompanied by several banshees flew out of the hangar and hovered in plain sight near the top of the bridge. Are we evacuating? Guntu wondered, but quickly fixed his attention on the Jackals. They stood straight and official before him, yet they were nervous and fidgety. One started to scratch the back of his head. Guntu laughed to himself.
"Have you the information I requested?"
"Yes Admiral" said one of the Jackals. "The council of high priests has concluded that the umm… the…. Big metal thing… is indeed Dannook, who has returned to shine his glory on the covenant and enlighten us once more".
"Which high council?" Guntu asked.
"The Red order, great admiral" replied a Jackal. Guntu laughed to himself.
"I suppose that there is risk in their decision". He told the Jackals"… But there is also a chance of a positive outcome as well! Their decision was based on evidence after all! The second scroll of Dannook does say that he will return in the form of a metal giant!" He laughed again. "But then again, prophet Akaisia believes it to be a stolen space craft, infested by deadly parasites far worse than the Flood!"
"They have their opinions, great admiral". "Yes…" said Guntu. "Now deliver my orders to the fleet! As the council of priests has spoken that thing is actually Dannook, we must prepare a warm welcome for him if he is to shine our long await glory upon us! Load up all troops and retreat from Colchis. I want the entire Covenant fleet within range of Colchis to line up in front of Dannook!"
"What about our cruiser?" a Jackal asked.
"We will stay in our current position, and will not line up with the fleet. You will not question that order. Now go deliver my orders I have instructed!"
"Yes, great admiral" the Jackals said in unison.
Location: Unknown
The creature gazed upon Colchis through a hologram. It hovered inches above the ground, and resembled a shapeless blob that was stretched out vertically, about five feet tall and only 1 and half feet wide. It was entirely blue and transparent, and had only two distinct features other than the fact it was a shapeless blob. Near the top of the blob, two transparent, solid blue fangs protruded from the creature, where a face might be. It also had two sagging blue tentacles that hung from either side of it's floating body. It turned and another of the creatures approached it.
"Issssssssss it rrrrccccc time?" It hissed in a language no sentient race could possibly understand.
"Yesssssss, it isssssssss time rrrrrrrrrc! Rrrrrrrrrrrrc hisssssssssss awaken the rrrrrrrrrc Mantassssssssssssssss!"
"They hisssssssss are rrrrrrrrrrc not grrrrrrrrown!" The hologram switched to show the Covenant fleet preparing to line up in front of the Leviathan.
"Then rrrrrrrrrrrc grrrrrrrrrrow them! We must strrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrike sssssssssssssoooooooooooooon hiiiiiiiiiiiiissssssssssssss!" It motioned to the hologram of the covenant fleet. "Our sssssssssssssingnal has rrrrrrrc come!"
TO BE CONTINUED
The Entar Chronicles Part 3
Date: 4 May 2003, 5:28 PM
Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.
-From "The Art of War" by commander Sun Tzu
The tribute to the Leviathan was truly a sight for all to behold. The massive Covenant fleet, with its many warships and fighters, ceased all fighting and retreated, then formed many massive lines before the giant steel giant called the Leviathan, each of immeasurable length. And then the signal came that all the prophets and priests had hopped for. The Leviathan stopped advancing on the planet just as the covenant fleet began to line up. Contact. Every individual on the planet Colchis and on the covenant fleet now knew that the Leviathan was aware. Either it was piloted, or it has a mind of it's own. The covenant fleet floated their motionless for a whole hour, until at last, the Leviathan responded.
But response is not always a good thing…
"Seal off the bridge doors, NOW!" the Elite scrambled as the door slammed shut. He fumbled clumsily for his weapon in the dark. Activating a plasma computer on the wall, he tapped into the surveillance banks.
"Oh crap, that thing is marking us, its preparing to fire!"
"What?" The priest demanded. That's impossible! Dannook is our god, our creator, he would never destroy us!" The Elite slammed his fist on the control pad and a new image appeared, a grid, displaying a dot for every ship in the covenant fleet. They were formed into a massive line, but one by one the dots were disappearing, like dominoes. "Dannook" has already marked every ship in the fleet and was taking even the heaviest cruisers down in one hit with some kind of blue laser turrets, mounted just under the fin on the huge craft.
"Creator, huh?" The Elite snarled. "I think you mean, destroyer!" The priest was terrified.
"We've got to get to a drop ship before that thing destroys us! It couldn't possibly be Dannook!"
"Quickly, the hangar is this way!" The Elite cried. He motioned to a Jackal. "And you, make sure the grunts stay in a strait line and don't wonder off! Have them hold hands or something!" There was a clash of metal and the clap of a plasma core explosion, as the cruiser next to theirs was destroyed. Flaming remnants pelted the side of their cruiser. On the plasma computer, the dot representing their ship began to flash, marking it as a target.
"Whoops". The Jackal mumbled. "Too late. We're all gonna die." The Jackal leaned over and hugged one of the Grunts. The Elite raised his plasma rifle and shot the priest in the head. A Grunt leaned on the wall and tried to fall asleep. The cruiser shook. The lights went out. Shockwaves blasted through the halls. A chunk of the cruiser on the side blasted off and exploded in a shower of blue. The gravity generator went offline, and the survivors started to float up into the air.
A Grunt looked around nervously.
"Is this heaven? Where are all the guns?" The Grunt felt someone punch him in the head.
"No, you idiot!" Came a Jackal's voice. Where still alive!" The Shot only destroyed half the cruiser and shut the power down. That thing must have used a lot of energy shooting those other ships down. I guess where the only survivors!"
"Why am I floating?" The Grunt seemed confused. An Elite's voice spoke up.
"Hopefully there is still power in the drop ships. If whoever's flying that huge ship is really smart, then that cannon was some kind of Ion weapon and everything the shockwaves came in contact with was shut down. Let's hope not!" The grunts all groaned.
"Alright everyone! Let's get to the hangar before those cannons reload and fire more shots! The Elite extended his legs to kick off the wall and move through the zero gravity to the hangar.
"Are we there yet?" asked one of the grunts.
Meanwhile on Colchis
The officer activated the control panel as soon as the transmission light flashed. Two holograms appeared above his COM station. One was of a beautiful woman, scantily clad in Egyptian clothes, probably an AI. The other was a sergeant in uniform, picking his nose. The sergeant pulled his hand away quickly as soon as the officer looked at him. He was wearing a nametag that said AEGEUS.
"Jason? Is that you?" The officer asked eagerly.
"It's sergeant Aegeus now!" Jason said proudly. "Got promoted for being 'resourceful'! Have my own little group of Pelicans!" The officer turned and looked at the AI with a sort of wonder. He found her amazingly beautiful. Could they really do that with an AI now, make the so realistic you found them beautiful? Jason suddenly dropped his proud posture and snapped his fingers.
"Private! Are you making eyes on my AI?"
"No, Jason", the officer grumbled.
"You will address me as sir!"
"Yes sir" the officer grumbled. Jason burst out laughing.
"Just kidding, old friend. You can call me what you please". Jason turned to the AI. "This is Cleopatra, my AI. She was a gift from Captain Antony". The officer turned to her and Cleopatra nodded in acknowledgement.
"Officer, this morning a group of biomechanical fighters departed from the Leviathan just after it decimated the covenant fleet, and we think they're heading toward you. We're putting your base on temporary lock-down so we can find out as much about this thing as possible, as this will be it's first attack on humans. The covenant made the mistake of worshiping it before they knew anything, and look were it got them!"
The officer nodded. "Of course I'll relay the order".
"The general who looses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand" Jason said in a wise tone of voice.
"Ah yes, ol' Sun Tzu!" The officer said, nodding. Jason's eyes got big.
"You've read The Art of War?"
"Read it! I live by it! I learned every reading from my previous commander, the one who owned a pet Nahn-Kahn! Just the other day I…"
Red lights flashed, and an alarm blared.
DANGER! UNIDENTIFIED AIRCRAFT APROACHING IN FORMATION! MAN TURRETS!
The officer smiled. "Our guests are here early. I'll go tell the coat check to stand by the door".
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