January 16, 2055
The US announced that it had destroyed the launch base that the Japanese used on the moon. Japan claimed many civilian lives had been lost because of the US action. The US claimed that any Japanese civilians and military were given the option of leaving the base before the attack and that only a few of the more zealous Japanese military had remained.
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Lt. Danner looked at the video display of the hopper rocket, there below were the Japanese railguns exactly where he had expected to find them. The EM detection equipment he maintained had triangulated the location precisely. At first, he had been confused as to the cause of the large EM pulses he had observed but after hearing about the attack on the Battle Stars, he had suspected the pulses and the destruction of the Battle Stars were related.
He knew the order came from headquarters but at first Lt. Danner thought the Captain was crazy expecting him to find the rail-guns and the Japanese base and neutralize them. After all, they weren't really up here to fight a war, most of the men on the base were specialists. He had had only a short time to prepare but came up with a plan before liftoff.
The hopper rocket reached the spot triangulated and set down close to the rail-gun machinery. Lt. Danner explained to his men what he wanted them to do while he and Sergeant Norris inspected the rail-gun controls.
The guns were operated remotely from the Japanese base but had local controls also. Sergeant Norris used his somewhat rusty Japanese language skills to decipher the control panel. By the time the men had completed the Lieutenant's orders, Norris believed he could also operate the guns remotely using his Annie.
Everything was ready, Lt. Danner asked Norris to establish radio contact with the Japanese base and give them the ultimatum. They had one hour to surrender or suffer the consequences. The reply from the base was somewhat rude and vulgar if the Sergeant had interpreted it correctly. The Lieutenant was unperturbed; he would give them a chance and wait.
The hopper rocket had moved over the horizon about two and a half kilometers from the gun installation. The hour was up. The Lieutenant gave the Sergeant the order and his Annie sent the order to the railguns to charge. All six rail-guns tried to charge simultaneously. The Japanese power station hadn't been built to handle the load. Though automatic cutoffs should have kicked in the Lieutenant's men had bypassed them.
It was the first storm ever seen on the moon as the railguns disintegrated blindingly against the dark of space.
They would fly the hopper rocket back over the gun installation and the Japanese base to take pictures and pick up any survivors that had decided to surrender. But the Lieutenant knew from the visible display that millions of amps of current had accomplished the mission.
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Donner began asking his dad about his student flight license. Would they still be able to get it with the war ongoing? His dad assured him that as far as he knew the license was still being issued and Donner would get his on his sixteenth birthday in August.
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March 13, 2055
In March the US launched airstrikes on the Turkish army advancing into Poland. Casualties were high. In April the Germans moved against the Poles with the encouragement of the Turks. The Russians left weakened after years of a bad economy, refused to be drawn into the struggle. By May the British with an almost intact air force entered the war against the coalition, flying sorties against the advancing German armies in Poland.
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Amir Atakan held the rank of Ustegaman in the Turkish military, equivalent to a First Lieutenant in the US Air Force. He had been in his battle suit now for two days without relief. The attacks from the air and the supply difficulties had finally caught up with the Turkish forces.
Amir had watched in disbelief as the Poles had deliberately destroyed their power system. He could understand such actions from a military strategy point of view. But such deliberate destruction not only affected military combatants but also the civilian population. The Poles were willing to endanger the lives of their families, their wives and children. Would he have the nerve to do such a thing if Turkey were threatened? He didn't know. One part of him admired the Poles dedication, the civilized part of him was repulsed.
But he had more immediate worries. His battery pack was getting dangerously low. Without that power, he would be stuck in this field without defenses. He had called for a backup supply, but they were certainly taking their time.
Then he saw movement at the edge of the field. He saw the Polish soldiers emerge from the woods. But he relaxed when he saw they weren't carrying anything other than their assault rifles. The battle suit could easily handle those weapons, thought Amir.
He went to work.
As usual, the Poles were dropping with ease. The suit could take on more than two dozen targets at a time and coordinate the return fire. With Amir focusing on the battle he didn't notice the soft alarm as the battle suit begin to shut down. The bullets slamming the suit's bulletproof sheathing began to sound like a hard rain as the suit went silent.
Then the Poles stopped firing as they noticed the battle suit had stopped. Amir was feverishly working to extricate himself from the suit when he saw one of the Poles stand up and walk toward him. In the suit, he stood nearly six feet above the head of the approaching Pole. Amir could see the young man's face. He saw him detach a grenade from the grenade belt which he wore across his shoulder like a sling. Amir was transfixed as the young man pulled the pin from the grenade and gently laid it at the suit's feet. He then slowly backpedaled, all the while staring fiercely into Amir's eyes. Then Amir saw another Polish soldier approaching reaching for a grenade, then Amir saw the first young man and the approaching soldier hit the ground, then Amir felt the concussive force of the explosion at his feet and saw the field disappear in smoke and flying debris, and that was the last he saw.
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Donner began lobbying his dad to build a runway in the field. He pointed out that their plane would only need at most five hundred meters to take off at the altitude of the farm. And a hard-packed grass field would be excellent, and it wouldn’t take much to build a hangar for storage. His dad listened but pointed out the difficulty of creating a smooth enough surface for the plane. Donner argued that it would only take maybe a week with some heavy earth moving equipment and a professional that knew how to use it. His dad was noncommittal, but Donner noticed he didn’t say no right away.
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August 22, 2055
By August the Poles had deliberately destroyed their power generation capability plunging the entire nation into darkness. The Turks and Germans had depended on this power generating capability to keep their battery-powered highly robotic forces moving. Without the ability to easily charge the power packs the military advance stumbled as they frantically sought other ways to supply the troopers over lengthening supply lines.
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That August the runway was finished as was the hangar and Donner and his dad had flown their airplane into the valley. Donner applied for his student license and began to fly under his dad’s tutelage.
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