martinmoon0

[martinmoon0]

Mistilteinn

A short story by Martin Moon

A military general of an off-world colony recounts his losing war against an enemy clone army

General Curner of the Drakeford Colony Militia, Log Entry #051311.1:

It should be stated upfront that I am not a person who normally records their thoughts and the events of their life. Outside of paperwork and after action reports, I have never felt it was necessary nor a desire of mine. However, I have been recommended to do so by several of my advisors as of late and though none have explicitly stated why I should, I believe I understand their reasoning now: Our perspective in case of our potential destruction.

So, our perspective is this: As of 04/09/11, We are at war with the colony of Truss P-45 and have suffered a great number of losses and casualties. The Truss Colony, a neighboring colony here on P-45, has engineered an army of biological clones and has begun a militaristic campaign against us (The Drakeford Colony of P-45) after years of limited contact and trade. Our troubles began on 04/02/1, the commerce representative of Drakeford attended a meeting with the leader of the Truss Colony whereupon they attempted to negotiate a significant price drop in the sales of Food Matter to Truss. Being one of the primary Food Matter production colonies on P-45, Drakeford has a large hold on the trade and such meetings are not uncommon but the desired price drop was by over 50% from the original selling price. This was considered preposterous and were scoffed at. They attempted to intimidate our representative and warned of ‘grave consequences’ but our representative remained firm and left their colony without incident.

Obviously, we had expected some form of retaliation and had secured our outer settlements and checkpoints throughout the Drakeford region but we were unprepared for the massive assault they launched. Whole companies of armed troops hitting us from the north and east and the sheer size of the invasion collapsed our outer defenses in weeks and we’ve been forced onto the back foot since. They appear to have working cloning technology, either developed by themselves or secured from elsewhere, and were able to grow an army of yet indeterminable size. No doubt this is why they wanted such a substantial discount: to feed their newly grown army in what is the first step towards larger ambitions. 

We have yet to establish an effective defense or stopgap to halt the advance and pivot the war effort. The clones are ruthless and unending, tearing through settlements and cutting down our soldiers without remorse or care. Our troops have been unable to repel them effectively, being cut down and replaced by new recruits carted in to repeat the cycle. No better than trying to stop a steamroller by hand. Supplies and weaponry are in constant flux and in dwindling availability as our homes and people fall, though food is in steady supply at least (One benefit of being Food Matter production colony).

And yet we continue fighting. The enemy offers no mercy so we shall give them no surrender, lest we embrace complete eradication. 

General Curner of the Drakeford Colony Militia, Log Entry #051911.1:

We’ve encountered a fortunate (and unusually rare) break. Our forces managed to intercept a raiding party along the northern perimeter. The enemy, even outnumbered, almost never retreats and will fight to the last man as was the case here. However, one of the clones was hit by gunfire but not killed, saved from a glancing shot by their helmet.

In most militaristic engagements, Prisoners of War (POWs) are a common and vital aspect of war. However, it appears the Truss colony has decided the lives of their cloned soldiers are an easily expendable resource. All clones (as far as we understand it) are fitted with a ‘kill switch’ located near the base of the skull. We believe it is activated once the clone becomes consciously aware of the fact that they are captured, immediately deactivating all brain functions. 

That means in the event of capture, the clone is automatically terminated before any interrogation can be conducted and information can be gathered. There have been two previous occasions where a clone was detained and, by some unseen fault in the switch, were not automatically terminated. However it seems that the clones are programmed to self-terminate in these situations by whatever means necessary, such as using any available firearms or via defenestration (Leaping from a window) as per the previously mentioned.

Fortunes aligned this time though, as the clone was rendered unconscious by the shoot, the switch failed to activate possibly via a fault, and he was able to be properly detained, resuscitated, and transported to Drakeford in good condition 3 days prior and we’ve been undergoing interrogation since. The first few rounds did not yield much, the clone provided only his numeral designation and rank interspliced with various insults and comments that shall not be repeated here. A-053, as per his designation, gradually opened up to us more and more over the past few days in between all the jabs of our genetic inferiority and how our filth is unworthy to exist in light of their uncomplicated purity. In spite of his pleasant company, we have managed to gain information on our replicated foes.

We were able to pivot this righteous and ‘self-centric’ attitude in our favor, getting dear A-Oh to reveal some insight into the Truss cloning program. Of note, the clones are using a refined strain of genetic stock from one Deck Reichardt, a spacer mercenary who commonly worked within the Saturn regions. I was not familiar with this Reichardt but after some perusal through our news archives, it is not hard to see why he was chosen for wide-scale replication. His body of work is quite extensive and ... vicious.

However, I refuse to be shaken by this. I’ll not be beaten by a lab grown army of some spacer thug who’s never eaten food that didn’t come out of a freeze-dried tube. We will be pressing forward with interrogations and with hope can uncover some advantage over the enemy. 

General Curner of the Drakeford Colony Militia, Log Entry #052011.1:

The prisoner is dead. 

He was found this afternoon on the floor of his cell, face swollen and unresponsive. Internal Affairs is currently running an investigation but so far no possible explanations have been found. Assumed cause of death is asphyxiation but method of administration is unknown. The most plausible theory would have been a chemical agent either pumped in through the air ventilation system or laced with in the prisoner’s food. However, ventilation purifier systems detect no trace chemicals during the period between last meal deliver (i.e last contact with prisoner) and the discover of the body. The meal poisoning theory is proving equally unlikely, as all meals are prepared within the food matter recomplier then hermetically sealed within a secure container equipped with breach detection alerts. Neither the recomplier databanks nor the meal, a sirloin cut of steak with a side of green beans and complimentary peanut butter and jelly sandwich, show any such tempering but investigations continue so as to find any evidence of tampering.

I must confess that my anger had gotten the better of me when I learned of this. We had been granted a small insight, a little victory amidst a series of losses, only to have it ripped away from us for God knows what reason. I had lashed out then at the medical officer which I now regret. I let me composure be shaken and now everyone under my command will feel its aftershocks. I cannot give into the despair, not for a moment. What shall become of them all if I do? They would become quite few or nothing at all.

General Curner of the Drakeford Colony Militia, Log Entry #052011.2:

There’s been a development, of a sensitive and promising nature. The medical personnel presented it to me after a thorough autopsy of the prisoner. I cannot, for the sake of Drakeford’s security, speak on this matter further but it presents a most fortuitous change in our favor.

General Curner of the Drakeford Colony Militia, Log Entry #060611.1:

The first deployment of Agent Paris has proven to be an astounding success. 

Four days prior to the writing of this message, the Truss army invaded and overran Outpost Victor and established a forward operating base atop of it. This proved a dangerous loss as Victor was only a little more than 116 kilometers out from Drakeford and as such become the primary test site for the field deployment of the newly developed chemical agent codenamed Paris. 

We developed a 3-part counterassault plan to A. devastate the leading clone battalion, B. reclaim the area, and C. push the war front back. Step one involved scouting the area to find a defensible position that would allow our forces to entrench in with high walls and no more than two identifiable and easily accessible entrances, of which a valley along the southeast of the enemy FOB was chosen. Following that was the mobilization of a fighting capable force of soldiers, specifically with mortaring equipment, to the aforementioned entrenchment along the south entrance of the valley.

Step two was a stealth operation in the early hours of this morning to seed a liquid form of Agent Paris into the FOB water supply (A river that ran from the northwest and through and out of the outpost that the base is built upon. Early scouting reports showed that they were utilizing the outpost’s previous systems for food and water and, for reasons that shall be explained later, we were absolutely certain our water filtration systems would not detect Agent Paris in the water supply. They began with a low amount of the Agent and gradually increased the dosage to create a build-up in the FOB’s water supply. 

Step three began with several skirmishing parties being sent to engage the occupying forces at the base. It has been shown in previous encounters that clones will use overwhelming force against skirmish parties, often chasing the retreating parties and destroying them with extreme prejudice. That observed behavior held up here as well, as the major bulk of their troops pursed the skirmish parties. Our skirmishers lead them along a coordinated path back to the valley, making sure to periodically hold their position  and fire on them to keep their attention on them if they started to lag. It worked like charm, as the skirmishers returned with the majority bulk of the Truss front line army. Normally, strategies such as this against an overly aggressive force would be quite effective but previously we were not able to capitalize on it before due to our own lacking resources and the sheer size and zeal of our enemy. Not this time, however. 

As the clones poured into the valley, the mortaring teams rained down canisters of aerosolized Agent Paris. As the mortars impacted, the soldiers were engulfed in thick rolling fogs of the agent and all of them began experiencing the effects of the gas. Almost all of them fell instantly like a house of cards and those with the strength or the luck to be standing were cut down as we advanced on them. There were no survivors among the clones. 

It is here I now can reveal what the miraculous chemical that proved to be the loose keystone in Truss’ clone army is, namely a mixture of compounds such as Cupin, Prolamin, Profilin, and several others that are conveniently found within a single plant, the Arachis hypogaea. However, most will probably know it better by its more common name: The Peanut. 

Yes, in selecting the sole basis for their clone army, the colony of Truss failed to consider that their genetic benefactor , Deck Reichardt, may have had an unknown allergy. They more than likely consulted his medical files in their interviewing process but if I had to hazard a guess as to how they missed it, it was either due to him not being aware of it due to a limited diet as a Spacer or, if he was aware of it, him refusing to disclose that when he sold his genetic code. Being a mercenary would mean having enemies and putting such a noticeable weakness out there would be for your life expectancy.

Scouting reports have shown that the FOB is now starting to experience the effects of the Agent and we are now preparing to move out from the valley to reclaim our lost outpost and from there, our land and homes. With the spearhead of their army destroyed, it’ll give us good time to retrieve what has been taken from us and to gain some recompense for Truss has done to us. With good time, we’ll put Truss to the sword and be back before dinner.

Incidentally, I have heard many of soldiers begin to refer to this valley as ‘The Peanut Valley’. I have very little doubt that the name will end up sticking, after such a quint experience this all has been.

-General Curner, Drakeford Provisional Militia, signing off