Invasion

by Jerry Shepard

  Noah turned to look around and noticed the lights flickering on and off. This was a sure sign that the mechs must also be attacking the generators that the Marines had hooked up to the wreckage when they arrived.

  Noah moved quickly through the corridors of the ship toward the bridge. He was certain that mechs had made their way into the ship prior to the carrier crashing through the inner bulkhead. As he turned the corner he barely ducked in time as a mech turned and fired on him. He slid on the floor and targeted the mech's center mass. The rifle kicked and the plasma shot melted the mech into slag. Noah thought that it was a good thing he took the painkiller, or that shot would've been the last thing he did before passing out from pain.

  Noah got up quickly and moved down the hallway checking entrances and ensuring that he would not have mechs circling behind him. As he approached the bridge he could hear shots fired and the sound of mechanized legs moving.

  Noah slowly peered around the corner of the wall and saw that Dr. Sarduun and Rig'nak were holed up in what looked to be a duty station. They had the wall for cover and Rig'nak was occasionally squeezing off a round to keep the mechs at bay. But there were too many of them. By his count, there were five mechs slowly advancing on their position. Noah switched the plasma rifle's selector to auto and ensured that it was recharged.

  "Reggie! Doctor! Stay down!" Noah yelled as he popped out from around the corner shooting at the crowd of mechs. He laid down a steady stream of plasma from his rifle as mech after mech melted under the onslaught. A few mechs opened fire on Noah, but their shots missed wildly as he moved in a zig zag pattern toward the trapped duo. In less than a minute he had dispatched the mechs and reached the doctor and his XO.

  "Am I glad to see you!" Liana said. "How did you get here?"

  As Rig'nak and Liana stood up, Rig'nak regarded the captain and spoke. "Yes, I would like an answer to that as well."

  "No time," Noah said as he handed Rig'nak the rifle he was carrying. "Give your pistol to the doctor and let's get the hell outta here!"

  Noah slipped the rifle from his back into his hands and proceeded to quickly move back in the direction of the carrier. "Move your ass doctor! Reggie, make sure you cover the rear!"

  "Watch out," yelled Liana. She dropped to one knee and fired off a round at a mech that had turned the corner behind them. The mech tumbled to the ground and ceased moving.

  "Nice shot doctor," Rig'nak said. "You must tell me sometime how you became so accomplished with a pistol."

  "I'd like to know that too," Noah said.

  "Boys, this ain't my first time dealing with treasure guardians."

  "What the hell are treasure guardians?" asked Noah.

  "When we're safely on the Titan, I can explain the concept to you. These mechs were apparently triggered by the object's removal from the surface. For now, as long as we're on planet and the artifact isn't, these guardians will attack us."

  The trio moved quickly with Rig'nak dispatching four more mechs on the way. In a few minutes' time, they were back in the carrier.

  "Having fun?" asked Samuels.

  "Loads!" Liana said, scrambling to her seat.

  "Everyone, get belted in! Get us out of here, corporal!" yelled Noah.

  "On our way, sir!"

  The carrier's wheels spun as it picked up speed in reverse. The Marine threw the wheel to the left and the carrier drifted around one hundred eighty degrees. He changed gears and they were suddenly barreling through the streets of the city toward the LZ.

  EXTRACTION

  The carrier weaved through the debris caused by the destruction of the battle. Brannock was enjoying the few times he got to run over the mechs with the shield on. They simply bounced off the carrier and disintegrated as they hit the walls along the narrow streets.

  He turned hard right to keep the speed as fast as possible and broke through the city's entrance into the clear. As the carrier cleared the entrance, its right side slid along the wall. Instantly, red fill the HUD in front of Brannock as he continued at full speed. Noah grabbed the communications microphone and connected to the LZ.

  "Johnston, you copy?" asked Noah

  "I copy! Go ahead captain!" came the reply.

  "We've just broken through the city gates and are on the way to the LZ. ETA is in ten minutes at our present speed."

  "Uh, captain? We've got a problem!" Brannock interrupted. "We lost the shields when we went through the doors!"

  "You gotta be kidding me!" Noah said. He looked at the screen. Sure enough, no shield.

  "Okay, son. Just keep going as fast as you can. Don't stop for anything..."

  Noah's instructions were interrupted by a blast from a mech cannon striking the wheels of the carrier. More red filled the screens and warning klaxons blared inside the small cabin.

  "We're losing the two front wheels on the left, sir!"

  At that same moment the carrier took a nose dive into the ground and its momentum slowed to a halt. The carrier twisted slightly to the left as the debris from the impact to the ground settled back onto the hull of the vehicle.

  "Everyone okay?" asked Brannock.

  "Just fine, corporal," came the reply from the quartet, almost in unison.

  The carrier continued to be rocked by the laser strikes on its hull.

  Liana unbuckled her harness and looked out the portal. At least fifteen mechs were converging on the carrier. "We're not going to last long like this!"

  "Corporal, raise the LZ again and tell them to get two carriers out to us, on the double!" Noah said as he rushed forward to the driver's section.

  "I can't! Comms are down, captain! See for yourself," replied Brannock.

  Noah looked up and could see that the communications equipment had been destroyed in the crash. He noted there were a number of other equipment that were no longer working. Fortunately the weapons and tracking systems were apparently still online.

  "Rig'nak, get the weapons ready, we're probably gonna have to make a break for it," Noah said.

  Noah watched the tracking hologram as the mechs approached carrier. The blasts from their cannons continued to pepper its hull. One of the blasts opened a small hole in the carrier and the bolt ricocheted inside the carrier until it exited out the co-driver's side window.

  "That was close!" yelled Liana.

  "Captain, we are not going to stay alive if we remain in this carrier," Rig'nak urgently relayed to Noah as he gathered the rifles and started to pass them out to the other four.

  "Corporal. How much power does this thing still have?" Noah asked.

  "We still have plenty of power, we just can't move!"

  "Is the EMP still functional?"

  "Aye, Captain!"

  "Okay. Good. The mechs are getting closer. Right now they are at forty meters. Once they get inside thirty meters, hit the EMP!"

  "You got it, captain!" yelled back Brannock.

  Noah turned to Rig'nak and Liana. "Once the EMP goes off, we will be safe from the blast inside. The mechs should be immobilized and we can exit the carrier safely."

  Noah looked around at the four faces. "I will go first, followed by the doctor and Samuels. Rig'nak and Corporal Brannock will take up the rear."

  "Thirty, captain!" Samuels shouted as laser fire continued to eat away at the hull.

  "Wait a second longer. As soon as they get inside that arc, fry 'em!".

  Noah turned to Liana. "You ready?"

  Liana holstered her pistol, charged the plasma rifle, and cinched her backpack tightly to her torso. "Don't worry about me, captain. I can take care of myself."

  "Okay, then. Reggie, you ready?"

  "I am prepared, captain," Rig'nak responded.

  As Noah turned to open the side hatch, he heard the magic words from the driver's cockpit.

  "Twenty Nine!" yelled Samuels.

  "Do it!"

  Brannock pressed a button on the console and the carrier was slightly lifted up and rocked to its side by the blast. There was a whoosh and a
loud sound of thousands of electrical circuits frying outside the vehicle.

  Noah tried to open the side hatch but it would not budge.

  "It's jammed!"

  "Out of my way, mere mortals," Samuels joked, brushing Noah out of the way. He took a step back with his artificial leg and then with a yell, he kicked forward with it and knocked the door open. It opened slightly and slammed back down.

  "It's free now," he said.

  Noah was the first to exit. He jumped to the ground and surveyed the immediate area. Four more sets of boots plopped to the ground behind him as he moved and visually scanned the landscape. All of the mechs inside the blast radius had been reduced to smoking hulks as a result of the EMP burst.

  "The tracks for the personnel carriers lead that way, captain." Rig'nak pointed toward the clearing in the brush.

  "Okay, we stay together right on my ass. We don't have time to waste. Let's move!" Noah said as he took off.

  The team followed closely behind with Liana, Samuels, Brannock and Rig'nak following him in that order. They ran for thirty meters before multiple laser blasts erupted around them.

  "The right! They are coming from the right!" yelled Brannock. He slowed down to return fire where the blasts were coming from, but the brush was so heavy on that side, the targets were hard to make out.

  Noah could make out a piece of the spaceship wreckage ten meters ahead in a small clearing to the left.

  "On me!" he yelled as he ran for cover with the team close behind. Laser fire following them as they zig-zagged to shelter.

  Once they had made it behind the temporary cover, Rig'nak pulled out the portable scanner that he carried. "Forty contacts, captain. All converging on our position from the East."

  "Shit! Options?" Noah said.

  "None. We are out of them," replied Rig'nak.

  "Okay, we need to keep trying to pick them off as they approach. With any luck, we can..."

  The ground shook as five large laser cannon blasts from the sky exploded on the ground to the East. Two more blasts were accompanied by the rapid reaction drop ship slowing down to hover over their position. Brannock let out a yell.

  "Nick of time. Thanks Kevin," Noah muttered to himself.

  The dropship slowly lowered down to the ground as it continued to fire on targets. The five ran to the open door where the door gunner was waving them in. In seconds they were airborne and headed toward the Titan.

  Noah could see the LZ and the two dropships there laying down fire on the mechs that were converging on the Marines.

  "Open a comm to the LZ," Noah commanded. He saw the laser towers in the LZ engaged in laying down a barrage of cannon fire as they flew overhead.

  "It's open, sir," the pilot said.

  "Johnston, you copy?"

  "A little busy here, captain. How can I help?" yelled Johnston into the receiver as explosions erupted around him.

  "Do you need any more help?"

  "Nah, we've got this, captain. We've been in worse situations. Don't worry about us. Just get the doctor and her research safely on the ship."

  "Copy. See you on the Titan."

  "Aye, captain. Drinks are on you."

  INTERROGATION

  Year: 2564 (Alliance Year: 7), Location: Ankarii IV Orbit

  Noah met Rig'nak outside of the medical bay. After testing the stasis fields around the object the previous day in orbit, they had both agreed, at Noah's insistence, to take on this next task.

  He had told Rig'nak that he wanted them to do it together so that the record could show that both a human and Xen were working toward resolving this particular issue.

  Noah had surprised Rig'nak by suggesting this tactic. On the heels of him using the Xen derived painkiller, he wondered aloud to Rig'nak if he was suddenly going soft. Rig'nak had assured him he was not.

  The door slid open and they both walked in. Noah saluted the ensign assigned at the front desk with his left hand as his right shoulder was in a sling while it healed. Noah and Rig'nak walked past a row of wounded, and sick crew members to the back room and turned to one of the side rooms flanked by two guards. Upon entering they witnessed Lur'vot sitting up in his bed, examining his healed, though not yet whole, hands.

  "Hello Lur'vot," Noah said.

  "Greetings, Captain Jameson! Greetings Honorable Rig'nak! It is a great day, isn't it?" asked Lur'vot.

  "It is indeed Honorable Lur'vot," smiled Rig'nak. "But what is great about today?"

  "Because we are all going home!"

  "Yes, we are," Noah said. "But I have quite a few questions to ask you. First, what were you doing near the control panel in the shuttle bay?"

  "We are all going home!" Lur'vot repeated.

  "Answer the question! Did you have anything to do with the shuttle bay sabotage?"

  "We are all going home!"

  "Yes, I know. We will be soon enough Lur'vot. We're spooling up the engines now and will be on our way momentarily. In the meantime, you are under arrest under suspicion of sabotage. You will remain either in the med bay or your quarters, under guard until we reach Earth. At that point, you will be handed over to fleet security for processing and trial."

  "It won't matter where this ship goes, captain. We will be going home soon enough," responded Lur'vot.

  Noah was a bit unnerved at the cryptic nature of Lur'vot's rants. He glanced at Reggie who was regarding Lur'vot with what seemed like curiosity.

  "What do you mean by, it won't matter where we go?" asked Rig'nak.

  "You'll see," said Lur'vot as his face expanded into a large smile. "We will be delivered again to paradise." Lur'vot looked down at his hands again and started speaking quickly in his native language.

  "What is he saying Reggie?" asked Noah

  "I don't know captain. He is not making any sense," responded Rig'nak. "It's mostly gibberish concerning a child's fairy tale about paradise."

  Lur'vot kept babbling in native Xen as Rig'nak continued to talk with Noah.

  "Captain, I think that perhaps touching that object must've caused what your humans refer to as a psychotic break. Lur'vot is not in his right mind, to use the human vernacular."

  "I agree Reggie. I don't think that Lur'vot is well. Perhaps it is just a reaction to the trauma and the pain medications that he is taking? I think we could..."

  "Wait!" interrupted Rig'nak as he held a hand up to Noah. He leaned in to listen closely to what Lur'vot was saying and he grabbed his chin and raised his head so that they could look eye to eye. "What was that you just said, Lur'vot?" he said in the human's language. In perfect Xen, he followed up with the question "What do you mean we are to be rescued?"

  Lur'vot looked dead in Rig'nak's beige colored eyes. He made sure that he spoke slow enough for Rig'nak to understand the magnitude of the situation.

  "They...have found us!"

  Rig'nak was transfixed on the spot at the mention of the word they. The one entity that turned every Xen into something reminiscent of a rabidly defensive animal was them. The Varak.

  "Yes!" offered Lur'vot as he looked at Rig'nak's confused face. "I made sure of it! That object served a purpose as a beacon and every one of their ships must be on their way here, now." He looked at Rig'nak, then switched back from speaking Xen and said in human, "We are all saved. We are going home! I will take us there!"

  Rig'nak's eyes turned a deep shade of purple as he stood there contemplating what he was just told. They...were coming. The Varak...were coming. His people were in danger. And so were the humans if they stood in the way.

  I have to warn the Ambassador!

  "Excuse me captain, but I need to ensure that I keep my report up to date. I have missed entries for the last few days and want to make sure that I am giving as accurate a report as possible."

  Noah saw how the conversation had changed Reggie. He could see that Reggie was scared now. Something Lur'vot had said to him had spooked him. But what?

  "Did he say anything useful in that language of yours?"


  "No, captain," Rig'nak lied, making sure to look directly at Lur'vot and not where Noah could see his eyes.

  "All he kept repeating was some children's fairy tale. Nothing more."

  "Okay. Dismissed," Noah said. "However, if you can remember anything at all about what he was talking about, let me know."

  "Will do captain," said Rig'nak, leaving Noah standing in the middle of the medical bay.

  THE RETURN

  Noah sat in his chair and looked at the datapad in his lap. He had already finished reading the high level reports of all systems on the Titan. But as was his custom, he double checked every system. The stasis fields, for the Xen object that they had extracted from the surface, were holding nicely. Ammunition was at one hundred percent, given that they had not yet fired a shot on this cruise. The ammunition for the drop ships was down to seventy five percent due to the hot extraction on the planet.

  Fuel was holding steady. The new fuel collection system was working better than he could have dreamed. Dr. Sarduun and her team deserved medals for this discovery. The extra room had allowed them to bring more food and potable water on board. It also allowed the engineers to obtain local water sources on Ankarii IV. Other than some minor wear and tear on the hull due to the stresses of hyperspace travel, the trip was turning out to be a economical one in terms of resources used. Which brought him to what he was most concerned about. His crew.

  The Marines had suffered no deaths on the planet but they had multiple wounded in the medical bay. From what the doctors had informed him, most would make a complete recovery in the next two weeks. The others would require more extensive treatment over a longer period. He made the entries for his recommended decorations for the Marines who battled on the planet, then closed down the datapad and turned toward the pilot station in front of him.

  At the moment, he was still unsure of what he witnessed in the interrogation with Lur'vot. He was sure that Reggie had seemed a little spooked by what the prisoner told him. And he let it go in order to ease Reggie's fears and get him talking. Noah was hopeful that Reggie would get comfortable enough to spill whatever it was that the Xen scientist had to say.