Jesse's Starship 3: Joshua's Walls by Saxon Andrew Page A

warriors gathered around him started talking and he held up his hand. After a moment they became silent and he looked at them, “You are citizens of Sparta and enjoy the privileges afforded those that fight for her survival. You know that our Commandant will not send us out to worthlessly spend our lives. If we are sent into battle, we will be given the tools we’ll need to make our lives count for something.” Krusiev looked around and said, “You do know that, don’t you?”
    The warriors looked at each other and Shumoud said, “Then it may be that we’re never called on to fight, Sarge.”
    The others didn’t like hearing that. Krusiev nodded, “There is that possibility. However, I don’t see that happening. Be patient and work on your skills at using your weapons. I suspect we’ll have a chance to give it a go at them.”
    Yung tilted his head, “I don’t know whether to like that or not.”
    Shumoud said, “Get in line, Yung, you’re not alone.”
    • • •
    Alex looked at the displays on the wall and answered questions from the Company Commanders in the Second Army. He had talked with the Commanders from the First army earlier and knew their concerns. He looked at the video gathering and said, “For the moment, we are frozen in preparing our warriors for combat against the Weg. Until the Alliance engineers can come up with new tools to confront them, we are basically having to start from scratch.” He saw the dismay of his Company Commander and said, “The only thing we can do for the moment is get our warriors in shape physically and train them to the highest standard possible in the use of their blasters and sliver rifles.”
    Captain Loyd said, “Sir, our weapons are nowhere near as large as the ones used by the Gracken. It appears we aren’t in the same league as their warriors.”
    Alex nodded, “Size and speed does have advantages, Captain. However, we will do all that we’re capable of doing and we will do it to the best of our ability. It may fall to us to support their efforts and they will have to do the heavy lifting. However, don’t be so hasty at making a rash decision. I know the Alliance Scientists and Engineers are working on new weapons to use against this new Weg species and until they give us their new developments, we will continue to stay at the peak of our conditioning and fighting skills.”
    The video conference finally ended and Alex leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. He really didn’t see what could possibly stop the massive wave of flying Weg. The only thing that had allowed the Gracken to survive was distance. They were able to keep the Weg far enough away from their ranks to manage to escape in time. This new Weg was a difference maker. They could approach underground and be in the air in a heartbeat. The only warning was when they were on top of you. He knew the Weg had to know about humans helping the Gracken. He shook his head and finally determined that the only way to stop them was to destroy every planet they invaded as well as their home worlds. The Gracken were of the opinion that the defenses around the Weg home worlds were invincible. He rubbed his temples and hoped that his youngest General Officer would come up with the tools needed to confront this new species.
    • • •
    Tilly sat in front of a large monitor on the wall and raised the rifle and looked carefully at the desert landscape on the wide screen. Suddenly, she turned to the right and fired a quick three shots. Three large snakes flew up in the air, blown into pieces. Mike clapped three, slow, claps and said, “That was good shooting.”
    “Don’t distract me.”
    “Why?”
    “Real rattlesnakes can’t strike from two hundred yards away. It appears the engineer that developed this game didn’t possess that little piece of information.”
    All at once, four snakes came flying out of the desert and Tilly fired three quick shots. The fourth snake hit and the game ended,