Rise of a Valkyrie

Part 21

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Gilah tapped another button, and a cutaway image of a starship appeared on the screen. The vessel resembled a pile of bricks, with antennae arrays sprouting along its length. The interior section looked brutally spartan, and uncomfortable for human habitation.

"One of the many warships you may one day have to secure," she explained. "As you can see, it has a labyrinthine and claustrophobic design, which an assault team would have to enter and secure compartment by compartment. As well as the obvious targets like the weapon magazine and power plant, there are onboard defense systems. These include automated turrets, laser barriers, and combat drones. A Ranger team would have to disarm or destroy all defensive systems, so that cleanup drones can dismember the structure and dispose of it."

"Why don't you just put a bomb inside it?" Kayla asked.

"That can be sufficient for smaller ships," Gilah said. "But some vessels were built to survive a planetary collision. They have internal shielding that dissipates or redirects energy. The only safe way to dispose of them is to break them apart piece by piece. These ships are powered by fusion cores, which can last millennia, and if they detect any hostile attack, they will defend themselves."

She clicked another button, and the starship was replaced with a mechanical spider. "This is one of the most common combat drones. They can range in size from a few feet wide to several yards. A big one can manage as much as forty miles an hour, off-road."

Kayla's mouth went dry. The memory of the monster that killed her father surfaced in her mind, along with the never forgotten fear and helplessness. Now the fantasy was dissolving into reality, confronting a stronger, more powerful enemy didn't seem so easy.

"How many drones would you expect to see on a ship?" Thandi asked.

"That depends on the ship." Gilah hesitated and looked to the back of the class.

"Several thousand on the capital ships," Mckinnon said as heads turned. "They can be armed with industrial lasers, as well as conventional firearms and explosives."

"A team brought one in with an acid spray weapon last week," Gilah said.

Mckinnon nodded. "I remember seeing those around old population centers, well away from the frontline. They were weak compared with the usual war machines, and we suspect they were designed to kill civilians. One of many indicators we received of a large-scale genocide towards the end of the conflict. Your colleagues in the History division would know more about that."

Gilah nodded gratefully.

"Did you ever find a weapon that can make crazy animals?" Kayla asked.

Mckinnon thought for a moment. "There are chemical weapons that can trigger panic or rage in animals, particularly herds, but those effects are not long lasting. The creatures you saw in the zoo were genetically modified, but aside from elevated levels of aggression, they live as most animals do. I wouldn't call them crazy."

"What about creatures created to attack humans?" Kayla said.

Mckinnon shook her head. "No, I've never heard of anything like that."

In the back of the class, Rose laughed.

Kayla's face reddened. Was this something else they wanted to hide from her? "But on Caldera—"

"I'm afraid I'm not current with events on Caldera," McKinnon said. "I do believe it was cleared before human colonization began, per standard practice."