Chapter 3: Science for its own sake

The science department was busy trying to make heads or tails out of all the enemy technology they gathered over the years. They had several experiments set up and running with little to no results and the group leader knew this was making them look bad. They needed a breakthrough and he was determined to find something that everyone else had overlooked and as he stood there, putting power into a dozen different pieces of tech, a small light came on and flickered for a minute as he rushed to see what happened. There was no sign why it suddenly came on and went off, but it had and he moved it to a separate area and had it watched 24/7 to see if it did it again, and what had happened either around them or on the planet that could have any connection to it. If he was right, then he had accidentally picked up some enemy signal, or interference from one of their other devises and anything was better than having nothing to show, and he was certain that something, somewhere had happened when that light came on, and he set out to prove it.

The search ran on while he sent all the info and the time of the incident to the terminals and asked for anything that might have happened around the same time, it took a while but slowly he got reply’s and he wasn’t sure he could believe what it was saying. The little signal happened just as enemy reinforcements arrived during a battle, and he thanked them for their help and asked to be informed when reinforcements came in again, and they agreed. Now if it did recur, then he had something and he set up a system to find the source of the signal, when it finally returned.

Nothing happened for a while and a week went by, but he was determined and finally the light came back on and stayed for a few seconds and he searched the planet for the source and found none and he was totally upset that he had somehow missed it when the light went back out again. But he studied the scans and the signal that he got this time and soon he saw it wasn’t a coms link at all but a source of interference from something big working, and he hadn’t been able to find the source on the planet so maybe, just maybe, it was from space around it, and he started thinking the enemy had spy satellites or some type of com that they didn’t use, and he sent his primary report to the Commander saying the research was ongoing, and they waited for the next signal to come.

A day later he got a call from one terminal and he called back to see the terminals science officer standing there all smiles.

“It's about time someone else noticed,” he said as the man nodded, it seemed he wasn’t the only one who saw the signal.”Phil Harris, science officer in charge of technology here on ICS Alpha.” he stated with a small bow as his friend nodded and smiled.

“John Collins,science officer in charge of all research on the Alpha orbital,” he returned as they both stood there looking happy, they seldom talked since they were in direct competition to find new things.

“So, Phil what made you call today?” John asked.

“This signal you asked about, we've been watching it come and go for a number of months, we're trying to detect where its coming from then we can safely say we have the bases location locked.” he said all smiles as John nodded.”I want you to scan the entire surface next time and pinpoint where the signal originates.”

“Tried that this time,” John said waving Phil's idea away,” there was no signal from the surface anywhere, that’s what upset me.”

“Impossible! If it came from space you'd have seen an orbital a long time ago, unless they have some seriously powerful cloak of some kind.” Phil said looking thoughtful suddenly but John informed him that scans of near space showed nothing, and even a cloak made some interference somewhere and he had to agree.

“Lets both scan for it, I'll turn my attention to space and you watch the planet again. If they make that call again we'll get a lock for sure.” John said as Phil smiled like he knew something John didn’t. “What?” John asked.

“Its not a coms signal we know that, its interference from their teleporters system, we see it here when reinforcements come in, they beam them right to the battle sight, so we've heard it many times before.”Phil stated as John looked surprised, he hadn’t thought of that yet but it made sense.

“Either way, working together we'll lock it down and then science departments wont look so useless for a change.” John said as Phil said an amen of his own and the link went down. Now all they needed was for the signal to return and they'd be ready.

Chapter 5: The Answer

Subspace was how the colonists got to Nia to start with, and it was how the Nians sent their reinforcements so quickly right to battle areas. So that’s how the return signal was sent and the Commanders of all the terminals waited to see, and made sure they were ready if the result wasn't what they hoped for. They asked for peace, and the land they already had taken, in return for trade and technology exchanges between them. The Nians might not learn as much as the humans, but you never know, their science was different and their robots and the salvaged parts proved it, but they might never have researched some things the humans had, so they felt it was a fair exchange. The signal traveled outward and made the trip very quickly as the Nian Leader sat, shocked they had figured it out after all this time.

“They are asking for peace, that’s a good thing.” His Second said as the bigger reptile looked thoughtful.”And, they're willing to exchange technology samples with us and scientific information, we might learn a lot about who they are and where they came from, not to mention, what their science is all about.”

“I understand that,” he heard as he looked subservient to the bigger creature as he sat there, mulling over the agreement.”but if we let them keep the land they already hold, we'll be admitting defeat, and every race we meet from now on will see this as a reason to oppose us.”

“What about a compromise then? We ask for half the land back, they have to act submissive to do it, and we get to stop the war and save all those wasted resources.” His Second said and he nodded thinking it.

“If we can show we're are in charge there, and they bow to US then maybe it'll work. But word it carefully, so they don’t see the true meaning.” he said finally as the other creature slid quickly from the room. If they could convince these new people to stop fighting, then they might just learn something new and that would go directly into their science and military productions. Then if they got out of line again, they wouldn’t have a chance.

A return message came a week later and in it the Nians admitted they wanted peace and the colonists cheered from one end of the planet to the other. But there were conditions, and that made a few angry to see. First they wanted the withdrawal of half the land they had taken from them in battle and that made a few more radical Commanders upset. They had won that land fairly and they refused to give it up, but the majority was against them and soon they agreed that maybe some negotiations might be in order.

Second they wanted the release of scientific information, about where they came from and how they got there. That was also a sticking point, if they knew the exact coordinates of Earth they could send wave after wave of robots there and conquer the planet while the colonists sat back watching it happen, and that wasn't going to be the case no matter what.

They also wanted biological information, about what species they were and what their make up was like, inside and out, and that alone was something no one was worried about, so in exchange they sent a message saying they agreed to some of the plan and they sent a scan of a human with full medical workup and ask for the same in return and got it a little while later. It surprised them they had never seen a sentient reptile before but this is space, and seeing new things was what it was all about. They seemed to be a split, part human like, with arms and hands, but also from the waste down, they had the body of a snake, or the Nian equivalent of one. They very much looked like some of the legends around Earth, of strange snakelike creatures that had been there before, especially in the Greek legends about visiting gods, but everyone was sure that was purely a coincidence and the negotiations went on.

The humans totally refused information about their home world, and the Nians decided that was the best they could get. They forced them to remove their people from 2 land masses they had previously held, and made two Commanders very angry, but they did it and soon the Nian forces stopped attacking the humans where ever they found them and peace was a reality for the first time in over 2 decades.

There was a big celebration, and even though some people didn’t like the agreement, for that one day they all partied and had a good time. It had been a long time coming and they knew, eventually they'd get more land back and even the terminals that were now sitting empty, but that would be later and they smiled and went about having a good time as the Nians watched from a distance and said nothing else.

“It appears their as good as their words,” The Second said as the vids came in of Humans partying over the new agreement.

“Perhaps for now,” The Leader said as they both watched on. The humans were a stubborn race and small and unimpressive to see, but they had a strong sense of self and their courage in battle was impressive, so he gave them this time, as his scientists worked to see if any of their science could benefit them, and then he'd decide how long this peace would last. In all their history, no one had negotiated a truce with them, and they had expanded their holdings out from their home world slowly into the galaxy, but now they had, and that alone stuck in his throat as a failure, but he held his tongue for today and waited to see what, if anything they gained.

Chapter 7: The Other Side

Meanwhile, other Nians were not happy that things were changing. The head of the Osmoth Corp, the leading corporation on Nia was getting more upset by the day. The Leader had taken these newcomers to heart and anything they thought would help them was being made possible. What a catastrophe! After all these years of being the only major corporation on the home world new corps were popping up, using new technology that came from the humans on colony 12, they were being backed by the government and given massive amounts of funds to get started, and gained on his company instantly. How dare they, after all the decades it took to gain nearly as much control over the planet as the Leader himself, now they had real competition for the first time, and his profits were dropping like a stone.

He had a meeting with the Leader and tried to explain that the old ways had seen them through for many,many years and that no matter what any scientists said, the pollution from the stations and factorys had nothing to do with the low birthrate. In fact, the extended lifespan was a direct result of the technology they helped create, and after some time even the Leader had to admit they had helped them gain technology in many fields for many years, but he stopped short of removing the new corps or reversing his decisions about their new technology being added to their own. Try as he might,Koros couldn’t get what he wanted, a full rollback to previous times, and that angered him beyond  sanity. If that was the way it was going to be then he'd do something about it, and he looked towards the planet with those troublesome humans on it and started making a plan. If they weren’t there, or if the Leader thought they had turned on him, then they would no longer be listened to and things would return to normal, and he started planning on ways to make the humans look unstable and to restart the war.

It was true even he knew, that their technology had changed their way of life. Where they used to live 80 years or so and there had been over a million people on the planet, now they lived for 300 years and their numbers had dropped to a hundred thousand. As far as he was concerned, that was fine. It left all the land and objects anyone could want for each of them and everyone seemed happy, so it wasn’t so bad they had less young, after all they lived almost forever, and new people weren’t needed like they once were.

The average age of maturity had raised from 20 years old to 50 and marriages between families had adjusted to the new standard. He himself had just gotten married after these many years and his new wife waited patiently for their first born, but so far it hadn’t happened. It was all his fault, he decided and he apologized to her for being so busy with his worries and business and she said she understood. But they tried again and she waited again, and he started wondering if she was somehow sterile, and he convinced her to see a doctor and get a full workup, and she agreed, if he did as well, and he saw no choice and went in and had it done and they awaited the results.

According to the report they were both in good shape, but their reproductive systems were strained to the breaking point. The doctor stood there, going on and on about the bad air and the polluted water and Koros couldn’t stand it any longer and he jumped up and screamed at him. It wasn’t true, he personally saw to over a hundred plants and they were no more polluting now then before and the doctor looked shocked and told him the facts were irrefutable, in better conditions they would have been fine, but here and now, like hundreds of others he had seen, they were lucky to EVER have a child, and Koros saw his empire sitting waiting on his death so the government could just take it over and his family would disappear from the history books.

NOT TRUE! There was no way he'd ever believe that he was in even a small way responsible for this. It was all a government plan to remake the planet into what the Leader wanted, and he stormed out of the doctors office with his wife in tow and rushed back to work. If they were trying so hard to convince everyone it was his fault then he'd stop them and show them he was right.

The pollution, the businesses even the water they drink were all studied and he wrote his OWN reports saying the previous were fabricated to make businesses look bad and force them out of business all together, and his fury was fierce to see and even his wife looked on from the shadows shocked and scared of what he had become, and she wondered if her family had made a mistake, joining with his, when he obviously was unstable, and she secretly made some recordings to show her family and ask what she should do next.

Now he had the public’s eye, and he made use of it. He asked for hearings into why the government was willing to change their very way of life to suit these strangers, on colony 12, and what they had ever done to make themselves trustworthy. He demanded the Leader himself come forth and explain it, and he waited as many started worrying he had gone too far, and he saw himself being followed by men he didn’t know but he persisted, and the Leader did make an appearance, and made him look the fool, showing his failed attempt to have children as an example of the truth, their world was dieing and the people with it, and Koros flew into a frenzy, and knew he had no chance, right now of getting to the Leader, so he sent wave after wave of new robots to the frontier, to the worlds where they had control for so long, and he started his own war, against all that lived, and his corporation went into battle mode, and manufactured robots and weapons and sold them to anyone who believed as he did, and a secret Alliance was formed with the sole purpose of taking over the frontier and with it the resources that the home world needed, and eventually to force the Leader to remove these restrictions, and restart their economy the way it had been for so long. It was a far reaching plan, and many were involved now, but he saw that in his own time, he just might be the Leader, and then things would return to normal.

Chapter 9: Back to Work

After a quick meeting explaining a few things the base went to alert status. The maintenance department made sure the bots they had were working and stocked and the weapons on the station were ready to go. Everything was checked and rechecked and as they started seeing their safety getting assured, the away team left for the surface and another run to help supply them with whatever they could get.

“Land at the coordinates we gave you, the alpha base is sending us some supplys, mostly gifts from some of their members to help protect the people here, so wait until they get there, get the supplys and whatever else you can get. If they aren’t there when you arrive, start gathering materials to bring back, just like before, anything and everything, but keep an eye out for weapons, this might be a long war.” They heard as Jake agreed and they dropped down to within a mile of the site and scanners showed enemy bots in the area and he wasn’t too happy about it.

“Enemy forces are holding the handing site, we can not land.” Jake called back as the Commander looked upset. But just then a second signal was heard and they both smiled.

“We'll get them hold on..” was all they said and even from a mile away missiles could be seen streaking from the bots that came running over the hill from the terminal.

The battle didn’t last long and Jake set the shuttle down right where he was told to, and three bots stopped along side to drop off their supplys and make sure they were alright.

“:Nice job good fast work.” Sam said as he picked up one of the cargoes they dropped for them.

“I'm piloting a Castel, from longer range these little bots with cannons cant touch me.” The pilot said as Sam nodded approval and Jake thanked them for their help. “The Commander said we'll help when we can but if things get too bad here, it might be a while between.”

“We understand, thank the Commander for us, we'll also be around getting whatever we can.” Sam said as they all nodded they understood.

“Make sure you loot those bots, we get paid a bounty for each one, so anything that’s left here you can have, that one there...” he said pointing the bots arm,” had a missile launcher, hope its still good, I'm sure you could use that.”

“Absolutely,” Jake said as Sam walked over to look and looted some small missiles and a slightly dented up launcher from the wreck.

“It's not in good shape, but we know some really good maintenance people on board.” Sam said laughing as Jake joined in.

“With the new war, anythings better than nothing.” Jake said as the terminal team waved and walked away and Sam made sure they had everything sorted and held down before they launched.

“Anything on radar?” Sam asked as Jake said there was none.”good I'll do some gathering while we're here, there’s a group of plants right here along side.” he said and walked back off as Jake watched the scanners for enemys again. Nothing happened and Sam got them another two loads of plant material and all the loot from the enemy bots, and even Jake agreed they had done pretty well considering they had started out badly.

“Lets go home,” He said as Sam agreed and the shuttle lifted off and disappeared from the skys for another day,while a small scout drone stood by just over the hill and watched them until they were out of sight.

“It wont be hard to destroy the humans on the orbital at all, they need to gather food regularly, so we can cut them off and let them starve.” Koros said watching the recon footage and he smiled. That meant they didn’t need to actually attack the orbital at all so he set up to keep harassing the bases and he saw one in particular that seemed weak and he sent some heavier bots there and their supply’s and defenses started to weaken, as his plans for the conquest of colony 12 went on and got even stronger.

The Leader looked at the report sadly. Koros was getting in some good hard shots and one colony was now under his control. That gave him an escape plan and even the Leader didn’t mind that. If he lost this war then he'd take his family and escape to that colony to avoid execution, and that made things easier for him. Even a traitor has rights and the legal issues would go on and on but once he left the planet, they could cut him off from return, and in time he could start his own colony there and he might just see, that they were right, and that getting away from all the pollution might be the savior of their people, and his family itself. Seeing the truth would take time, but Koros might just come around eventually, and he'd make a good representative for that colony. He knew he was being a little too considerate, but if your a true leader you need to see all sides, and he thought he was doing that, and he smiled as orders were given and his counter attack on one colony got under way.

Chapter 11: Stepping Aside

Commander Sampson saw the report and dropped his head into his hands with his elbows resting on the desk. He was exhausted and his whole body ached from his many ailments that had taken hold of him around his 50th birthday but he refused to quit even now when things were getting worse and worse.

“That was too close...” he whispered as his aid nodded agreement.

“You need some rest,” she said putting a hand on his shoulder and he smiled and took her hand in his and thanked her for worrying about him, and she smiled back.”you cant keep going on like this.”

“Even I know that, but who would replace me, its not like I took the time to train anyone.” he admitted as she laughed out loud.

“You did, you just didn’t realize it yet.” she added as he looked up and saw her meaning and finally smiled. She had been with him for years now and she knew him inside and out. If there was anyone on board that could follow in his footsteps it was her and he could see that many would agree instantly, and that the change as little as it was, would be seamless.

“And what would I do for the rest of my life?” he asked smiling as she leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“Whatever you want, you'll still be a consultant of course and its not like I'm going to escape and you'll never get to yell at me for things you didn’t like.” She added and he nodded he agreed. It took her a long time and she was much younger than him but they were man and wife now and they would see each other every day so he would still keep his hands in the operation of things even if he retired.

“Under those conditions, I agree.” he said finally as she smiled and nodded she too agreed. “is this why you stayed with me all these years? To replace me when I got senile?”

“You are NOT senile, your minds as sharp as ever, its your body that’s having hard times.” she said as he laughed.

“Well, if you'd let me get some sleep...” he started, chuckling, as she lightly slapped him and then gave him a kiss.

“When we have a child, you can rest, and not before, but starting tomorrow you can sleep all afternoon if you want.” Thinking about a nap in the afternoon after all these years seemed like heaven and they got together and made the announcement on the coms and pa for all to hear and there were very few that were surprised, and even less that disapproved.

“So, Janie is now in charge, that’s not much of a change.” Sam said as Jake and the girls laughed, that’s the way it was supposed to be. They knew each other intimately, and she had seen and helped with many of his most important decisions, and now she was the one making them, when he left her. But it was more for him to rest more and that alone might stretch out his Life and bit.

“She knows whats going on, we're in good hands.” Sherri said as everyone agreed.

“But the Commander will be going nuts.” Sam mentioned as everyone laughed. He had been in charge and up earlier than anyone for years and now, suddenly, he would be sitting around 'resting' and they all agreed he had some serious adjusting to do.

Nothing really changed much things went on as usual, and the away team got more work. They did well on the last one, and things got done. They manufactured a load of missiles and added the launcher to the station itself, to the disappointment of Sam who wanted it on his bot.

“If they ever get past the terminals, we'll need all the help we can get.” Janie said as even Sam agreed.

“I get the next one,” he argued as everyone laughed and she said she'd consider it.

“There are lots of good weapons we haven’t gotten yet, so keep an eye out but be careful. That assault bot nearly ended your trips that one time, so get off the planet the second you see something coming. We cant afford to lose you.” Janie said as Sam nodded and Jake agreed too.

“AND,” Sara said giving Sam a serious stare,”if I find out you drug your feet and got yourself hurt, I'll kill you if they don’t.”

“Yes, oh wondrous and powerful wife.” He said with a deep bow and the room burst into laughter.

Chapter 12: Stockpiling

Sam and Jake were away a few minutes later and they dropped to an area where a lot of plants were found before. They were within sight of a large field of useable plants when the door dropped, and not a single enemy bot was on scanners so far.

“Clear scanners, go for it,” Sam heard as he stepped out and was nearly beside a good bunch of plants without moving and the harvester started working at max speed.

“Keep an eye out, these plants are really close so we can stock up a lot if they stay away.” Sam said, as Jake agreed, Sam brought in  the first load a little later and went out for another ,when the coms came on.

“How's it going?” Janie asked as Jake smiled wide.

“Sam's out harvesting now we got a load already and there’s lots close by.” Jake reported as she smiled.

“Get everything you can, and keep an eye out, there have been a lot of fights all over, so there are new wrecks every few miles.” she added as he nodded they understood.

“We're in pretty good shape right now but lets not kid ourselves, they can change that any time they want. With their beaming technology, and bots they might even beam something right into weapon range outside the base and open fire on us here. They haven’t thought of it yet, but nothing will surprise me.” she said as Jake looked thoughtful, that would be a bad thing, since the base wasn’t meant to take damage from outside.”If we get enough metals, we'll see about reinforcing the hull in critical places.”

“Yes Commander,” Jake said as she smiled and the coms went blank again.

“I heard that, I'll bring in this load and then check around maybe we can find something.” Sam said as Jake agreed. The load was dropped off and he was away again in a few minutes.

“I'll make a small circle around the shuttle to see if there’s anything nearby.” Sam said as Jake nodded.

“Make it fast, we've been lucky so far.” Jake mentioned as Sam agreed. And the bot went to high speed as he ran down a small gully and around a set of small hills.

“Found one,” Sam called a minute later and Jake saw the vid of a wrecked bot, a bigger one than most and Sam went about salvaging it. “EM cannons, two of them and some scanning equipment.” Sam said all smiles.

“Great, get back here we need to go.” Jake called but Sam was having too much fun.

“In a minute let me look around that was a bigger bot so if there was a fight...” he stopped and Jake saw him starting his old habit of not wanting to leave until he was satisfied. “ah, another small wreck probably part of the group that killed this one.”

“Sam...come on, its been too long they know we're here.” Jake said as Sam nodded but went on salvaging anyways.

“Wow, this thing was loaded, 15 units of plasma, and an auto cannon and some ammo.” Sam said with a chuckle as Jake saw him not listening a bit, but a second later there was a scream as Jake jumped to attention.

“What? Whats going on?” Jake called as he saw the plants and scenery streaking by the camera on Sam's bot.

“They were coming back to check on their loses,I think.” Sam said as the camera showed the bot taking hits.

“I told you... wait until Sara finds out you'll be sorry.” Jake said as Sam swore and Jake could see the scanner showed he was taking damage, and he started the shuttles engines to be ready the second he arrived.

“Their EM bots, those cannons don’t fire really quick but they do some damage.” Sam said as he wove through a group of plants and trees, getting all the help he could.

“Your one kilometer out, just make a run for it.” Jake said holding the controls with all his might but Sam wasn’t coming straight back and he called again.

“The hills too steep, have to go around then up this side.” Sam said as another volley hit him from behind.

“Damn you Sam,” Jake said without even thinking as the bot came bouncing over the hilltop and towards the shuttle, now within sight.

“I'm here,” Sam called as the shuttle shook from his sudden entry,” lets go.”

The shuttle took off immediately but it took a few hits too as they escaped and as they returned to the base Sam rode the bot off while it was still smoking out the back and called for maintenance and the crew ran in and Sara's face went white.

“I took a hit,” Sam said with a sheepish grin as Sara nodded and as she walked by to see the damage she punched him not at all softly in the guts, and he nearly doubled over but caught himself and tried to look unaffected.

“Was it his fault?” She asked as she walked up to Jake who was getting a big hug from his wife who was nearly in tears herself.

“Not really, he was close enough to the shuttle but the hill was too steep, so he got stuck running around a little too much.” Jake said as Sam smiled, he was covering him a little at least.

“Liar,” she said seriously as she walked by and joined the crew looking over the damage and only then did anyone see her wipe her tears away as she saw the damage the cannons had done. Sam walked over quickly and took her in his arms as she finally started to cry.

“You ***, you could have been killed.” She said as the crew all smiled, as mad as she was they knew she loved him more.

“They came running in faster than I thought, I was salvaging and they just caught me by surprise.” He admitted as she smiled, she knew as much.”Never again, I promise.”

She agreed and the men walked away to do their report while the maintenance crew looked the bot and ship over carefully. The shuttle took a few hits but not much damage but the bot was hurt badly and would take a lot of repairs.

“I hope you got something good after all this.” Janie said looking upset and they handed her the cargo list and after a minute she heaved a sigh and nodded. It was pretty good, but again these two had come too close. “This will last us a while so no more trips until all the damage is repaired, and Sam, while you did well getting these new weapons and equipment, you waited too long again, one more time like that and I'll relieve you of away team duty.” And with that, she walked away as Sam's face went white and Jake smiled. Janie was a married woman too, and she'd be damned if she'd let him die over sheer stubbornness.

Chapter 14: Gathering Friends

They dropped down within sight of the terminal and as they opened the door, a team ran over with their supplys. They loaded cargo after cargo and when they just thanked them and got ready to go, another bot came running over and called them.

“You guys wouldn’t want to buy a mining machine would you?” he asked as Sam smiled at Jake and stepped out the door to look around, but Jake was quick to let the man know they didn’t have any money with them and they'd need the Commanders ok.

“What mining machine are we talking about?” Sam said without a pause as the man smiled.

“This one, the one I'm in.” he said almost laughing as Sam walked down the ramp and started laughing himself.

“That's not a mining machine, its an Arkhe MK II with mining beams.” he said laughing as the man looked upset.

“If it looks like a miner, acts like a miner, and does the job of a miner, its a MINER.” he said seriously as Sam laughed some more.”Besides,it's not a MK II, it's a converted Yagel, I just didn’t need a light combat right now so I used it to gather for my manufacturing business.”

“It looks like it's barely moving, its been shot up pretty badly.” Sam went on as Jake kept trying to butt in.

“We have to get back, Sam, and you know no matter what we don’t have any money right now.” He added as the man looked sad to hear it, but Sam wasn’t ready to quit just yet.

“How much, as it sits?” He asked as the man saw a faint chance and he said he'd take 150k for it, as is.

“Please....” Sam said looking disgusted and the man looked shocked.”What are those beams on there, they don’t look worth much to me,and the legs and body are shot to bits.”

“Those are the best beams Syn-tech has to offer.” The man said, looking serious and crossing his arms with his nose in the air.

“Ah, Syn-tech, I thought so, aren’t those used for training for new pilots? They're a dime a dozen and slow as hell.” Sam added as the mans face grew tight but he didn’t argue about it. “75k and not a credit more.”

“What!?” the man declared as Sam stood tall and waited, he didn’t think for a minute he'd get it for that but he was having fun.”100k and I'll throw in a few miner charges for titan ore.”

“And I get to use it for a few days to mine enough to pay for it.” Sam added as the man agreed and they shook on it, and Jake sat there with his mouth hanging open. Sam was buying a bot, and had a deal done before he could stop him.

“I'll buy all the titan ore you mine, until you get it paid for, then you can sell anywhere you like.” The man said as Sam agreed, and the man handed him the codes for the bot and went back the way he came with his friends as Sam got all smiles and walked over to check it out.

“How are you going to do this?” Jake asked as Sam laughed, he had a plan that even Jake didn’t know about.

“Go back without me, I'll stay here and do some mining to pay for the new bot,” he said and looking at the controls and the weird repairs he shook his head, “ well the bot anyways, but it wont take long. I have the equipment, and enough miner charges to get started and since I'm a local businessman now the terminal will accept me there, and the bots id has already been registered here.” He said with a wink and Jake started to smile. This gave them access to a terminal, and after a few days working there Sam would be accepted as one of them and Jake knew how well he got along with new people and he just shook his head laughing.

“Sara's going to kill you.”Jake said as Sam laughed but he gave Jake a wink that made him smile even wider.

“Tell her I'll bring her something nice, and something  good for the station as well.” Sam said as he waved and the bot started towards the terminal and Jake closed the door and lifted off into space.

“He did WHAT!?” Sara demanded as Janie started to laugh.

“He bought a light combat craft, a Yagel that was converted for mining.” Jake repeated as Janie shook her head with a huge grin.”He said he could mine and pay it off in a few days then he'll call and I'll go get him.”

“It's not a bad deal,” Janie added as Sara looked shocked she could say that,” after all, we have just enough parts to keep the gathering going and no real combat machines at all. If this works out then it'll add a good amount to the bases equipment.” she said as Sara looked sad but she agreed.

“And,” Jake butted in as they all looked his way,” he's making friends inside the terminal, and when he returns he said he'd bring back something good for the station, and you.” he added looking towards Sara who just smiled and nodded, she wasn’t happy with it but she could forgive him this once.

“New contacts within a terminal, that’s not bad at all.” Janie said with a grin and walked away. She hadn’t given Sam enough credit. That smart-alike attitude of his hid a brain that actually did some work and she smiled and went back to her office to wait.

Chapter 16: Christmas....In July

Sam was up early the next day, got a good breakfast and ran into the brush looking for everything and anything he could sell or he thought the station could use. He found a small scout patrol and with the duel cannons made quick work of them. He looted more ammo, and another mining beam and some good quality scrap, and went on. It took him some time but he completely filled the cargo bay and ran back to sort through it as he watched the time. He did well, and he sold the generic plasma and bought some higher grade, then he bought several cases of welding wire and a good assortment of tools, just like Sara had demanded. He topped his buying spree off with another armor repair, and he had a freight scanner he found in loot repaired to take back to the base. The scanners they used were decades old and barely left you know that a ship was approaching, so this had to be an improvement, and he smiled to think that he might have to make more than one trip when Jake came to get him.

He just left on another trip when he heard a call, another patrol was attacking a convoy running towards the base from another terminal, and every bot in the area was asked to help. He ran that way and soon saw the fight, as the convoy tried unsuccessfully to run past the enemy bots, and Sam ran in and attacked the closest as it dropped EM cannons on the convoy. He caught them with their backs turned and one blew up in a minute, and he started on another. By then a second bot reached the scene and they dropped missiles onto the enemys and working together, they managed to save them from destruction.

“That was some fine work,” The convoy commander said as the team both thanked him,” there’s going to be a nice bonus in your accounts, for this, thanks again.” he said as he got the convoy running again towards the base and Sam started salvaging anything he could find.

“That was good shooting for a gun runner,” The other bot said as Sam laughed, it seemed using cannons was frowned on by his new friend.”I'm Chris,who are you? I don't remember seeing you around before.”

“Sam, and thanks, they were a little bigger than I first thought but it worked out ok.” He said as the other man nodded he agreed.

“There’s a good business in convoy protection, maybe we should work together on a few.” Chris said as Sam smiled, making a living here would never be a problem but he had a place to work, and he needed to get ready to leave.

“I'm not from around here, and need to get ready to go, but I'll keep the offer in mind.” Sam said as he finished his salvage and ran back towards the base. He got back and sold some more stuff and checked his account, the convoy commander wasn’t kidding and he had more than enough to buy some more stuff for the base. He even got some things that were just for personal use, like good quality fragrances for the women and some better entertainment equipment for everyone to see and use. He topped it all off with parts, all kinds even a few of something was better than nothing, and maybe it would help them from having to salvage as much from existing systems for a change.

He definitely had more than one load for his bot but he knew no one would complain, so he made the call, and Jake left a few minutes later to get him. Sam was fully loaded and waiting as the shuttle dropped within sight of the terminal and a few people looked on in shock as Sam went on board and got unloaded and came back for some more.

“So, your a space jockey,” He heard as he laughed and Chris sat watching as he came out of the base with the rest of his parts and materials, and started back towards the shuttle.

“We all have to live somewhere,” Sam said as they both smiled.

“Come back anytime, there’s lots of work to do,” He heard again as Phil called over and Sam thanked him for the call.

“I'll be back, maybe trading will become a business I can do between the bases and orbit, we have lots of needs.” He added as Phil seemed interested to hear that and Chris laughed. Sam all but invited half the traders in ear shot to come up and deal, and he wasn’t sure it wasn’t on purpose.

“Later then,” he heard as the door went shut and the shuttle lifted off.

They returned to orbit and Sam made his report as the dock crew got a good look at his 'new' Yagel and many were smiling pretty wide. It was definitely bigger than what they had been using, and while it wasn’t a big hauler, it had good defenses and a little offense too. The Commander looked the cargo manifest over carefully and with some emotion. Sam was as good as his word, he made them all as happy as he could, and they unloaded a lot of new materials and Sara and her crew were right there looking for the new tools he promised them and he didn’t disappoint.

“So, you did get me something after all,” She said looking the tool kits over as Sam laughed and those nearby looked their way.

“The real present is in my bot, and it doesn’t need to be seen here.” he said softly as a few started to laugh, and Sara's face went red and she gave him a soft little slap, but everyone knew she didn’t mean it. The cargo was unloaded onto the docks and started getting inventoried as Janie stood by smiling at it all, the assortment was great and she knew Sam had thought seriously about some of these things.

“I'd like permission to go to the surface every two weeks,” He asked as even Sara smiled, and Janie agreed as the dock crew and maintenance people cheered for him.”I think I can set up a little trading between the bases and us, and we can get all the money we need by working the surface doing missions and gathering salvage, then the base can get resupplied with things like this...” he said waving his hand as everyone smiled.

“Jake and I both have fighting experience and working as a team we'll be twice as successful.” He added as Jake nodded he agreed and they all laughed.

“I'll let you operate under the bases name, and Jake can make runs with you, but I expect you to make a little something for yourselves as well, not just to help set up a trading account for the base.” Janie said as Sam nodded agreement.

“Already done,” Sam said as even Janie looked impressed, and he handed her an account book and she opened it to see the base had a small amount of money already. The book was for an account on the surface under the name 'Orbital Inc' and she smiled. A new corporation in the bases name and they got a percentage of anything the men did while on the surface, she couldn’t have asked for more, and she thanked Sam for thinking ahead as everyone cheered.

“Did you even sleep while you were there, this is a lot of planning and work.” she asked as he laughed and everyone smiled widely.

“Not much,” he admitted and they started moving the materials to their needed areas and Sam  went back home to get some badly needed sleep.

Chapter 18: Getting Noticed

The Leader saw the renewed battles too, and sent his own machines to help. It was an unusual sight, seeing human and Nian machines sitting side by side in battles but no one was complaining. They helped a lot and they pushed the enemy back from a few places and they cost them a lot in destroyed machines. This was as serious as the war had ever been and slowly it waned back and forth, sometimes the humans gained and other times they died, and when a human machine died, the pilot with it, and even Koros was impressed that they'd fight so hard knowing their own lives were at stake.

The Nian machines were just robots under AI control, and they lost no one, and he saw their true power, the power to give more, even their lives for others to live and he finally saw the world around him as it was, with people having less and less children and using machines for defense because they lacked the will, and numbers, to defend themselves. For a day he moped around and the thoughts of killing living beings rather than machines bothered him, and he knew they're numbers were not much better than here at home, but they gave willingly, and he pulled back a little to consider, that with all the other worlds getting colonized, that maybe leaving just this one wasn't so bad, and his forces got shifted more towards other colonys and colony 12 slowly started getting less hostile as the forces there were slowly eliminated.

Slowly the Leader saw the shift and he didn’t really understand it. But he smiled and did the same, getting machines to other colonys to keep the war going there while letting the humans patrol their own world and not needing his help as much. With all their help and courage, he had already decided that colony 12 would be abandoned, and that he'd leave it for the humans that fought so courageously beside his AI troops in the war. If Koros learned anything with all this, he showed everyone... including himself, that the humans were worthy friends and he finally saw that’s why he was slowly withdrawing his forces, or not reinforcing them on colony 12, fighting each other ,this was a civil war for them but the humans weren’t involved with that, and the costs to fight on two fronts was high, so Koros withdrew from colony 12 and went to other, less populated colonys to exert his will, and he left the humans alone, perhaps thinking he'd return later, but the Leader silently thanked him, they were not Nian and so this war didn’t need to include them and he sent a message to the humans saying that the war had shifted, and that they would be safer for a while, and everyone rejoiced and they finally caught up on all their repairs and their defenses went way up.

In a few months, things got a lot better. The war was mostly on other worlds now with a few enemy patrols still around that had managed to survive all this time. But it was nothing like before. The repairs on all the bots was done and very few new repairs were needed daily and the terminals could handle those easily. They got lots of mining done and gathering and salvaging was back up and running smoothly. Everyone had what they needed but they had learned an important lesson, and they stockpiled many weapons and ammo, for future use, and they'd never let themselves be caught short again.

And in the middle of all this, new life came Sherri and Janie both got pregnant and the station rejoiced for them and they delivered their new children just 3 weeks apart, one new son for Jake and Sherri and a daughter for Janie and her husband, the former Commander, James Sampson.

The base cheered for them all, and many others that were on the way, and everyone saw the truth, that humans were here to stay, and that even the previous enemys were giving them room. Room to live and grow, and a message was sent back home, saying that when other people were ready, Nia 2, the new name for colony 12, would be here and waiting, and the colony went about setting up more terminals and their focus shifted from war to peace, and trade all over the planet, and missions with good pay, made the new world a better place, and the new economy  made things easier for everyone,while they raised their children and waited for news from the old home-world that other colonys had been discovered or that other people were on the way.

But they didn’t care about that, just so long as they lived happily here, and they were, and generations of people remembered the first ones and a holiday was made in their name, and a hundred years later,colonists again left for another world, as humans took their place among the stars.

Thanks!

@ ville - cynic