President Glau stood at Oasis City’s control room and stared at the consoles. The battle had been raging for hours. The city’s defences had taken a severe beating but they had held. The force field protecting the innermost parts of the city had borne the brunt of a ferocious attack but the shield held. Their shield generators had merely reached a 70% stress point at the fiercest attack. And the enemy had not thrown anything else at the protective dome.
General Reynolds stepped into the CIC.
“Madam President, we have been receiving reports from our frontlines requesting for more reserves to be thrown into the fray,” he said.
“What does the council of strategists say?” she replied.
“That we cannot risk sending out any more troops. We do not know how many of the enemy remain in reserve or whether they have thrown their entire force into the battle.”
“What about the OSS? What do they say?”
“The Secret Service has nothing new to report. The Reavers existed 1000 years ago. They engaged in a pitched battle with government forces and were wiped out. But these things happened so far away from our system. Travel from there to here takes a lifetime. Nearly 50 years at Warp 8. Hyperspace might be shorter but no ship carries enough fuel to make that kind of jumps. Certainly not technology from 1000 years ago.”
“How do you know they were wiped out?”
“Because my ancestor was there. He piloted a firefly class craft in that action.”
“Really? Your ancestor?”
“Yes, Malcolm Reynolds, Ma’am. But nothing much is known about him except that he was probably military trained and involved in some clandestine operation that resulted in that confrontation between the Reaver fleet and the government fleet.”
“You mentioned technology from 1000 years ago. Why is that?”
“Because our sensors indicate that we are battling craft designed 1000 years ago.”
“Then why aren’t we winning? Surely a 1000 years of development would give us an edge?”
“That’s just the problem, Ma’am. They were 1000 years ahead of us then. That’s why we were nearly annihilated. Today, we find that we are on par. It’s just our force field is something that we have developed and they haven’t. At least, they do not appear to have developed.”
“That’s just great! We have the history of the Federation, the Alliance and the Empire and you tell me our technology cannot give us an edge?”
“What we know is, our shield system works. It is based on historical Imperial technology but their system had flaws. The shield generators were obvious and could be taken out with concentrated attacks. We improved on that somewhat by hiding the shield generators and shield emitters and spreading them out. Federation technology seemed to be weaker when it came to shields but also gave better protection where projectile weapons were concerned.”
“So what has this got to do with our reserves?”
“Ma’am, the reserve units held within the force field are meant for a last stand defence in case the shield fails. Secondly, the force field protects us from the ground up. We hope the enemy does not know that. The biggest flaw in our defence is that the shield only works from the ground up. If we wanted to send troops out, we would have to either switch the shield off or use a tunnel that leads from in here to out there. And our reserves actually make sure that no enemy is sneaking in by that route.”
The President started laughing. “That is the silliest thing I’ve ever heard! We are only protected ABOVE ground. That’s what you’re telling me. Surely the enemy is not THAT STUPID?!”
“Well, ma’am. For all we know, they do not move underground.”
“We know nothing! That’s the truth. Nothing. There are four tunnels that lead under the shield. I know that. And that means whatever units we have in here are guarding those four tunnels. We know that the last time, they left when the storm abated. Let’s hope the storm abates soon.”
“There’s more, ma’am. The OSS would like to broadcast a signal. A short burst of communication to one of its own that may be on a ship due to arrive today.”
“I see. It carries our hopes for the future. Operation Planet Garden. But then our enemies might pick up that transmission.”
“That is the risk. However, it is almost time for the ship to arrive. We should warn them that we’re under attack.”
“And if that causes the enemy to locate the incoming ship, what then?”
“If we detect enemy ships breaking off toward space, we will redirect our forces to interdict.”
“There are many considerations involved but I am going to make an irrational decision. Send out that flash message and let’s hope that it does not being us further catastrophe.”
“Yes, ma’am.” General Reynolds stepped out of the CIC.
