Final Conflict

by Raymond L. Weil

  Thomas agreed as he drew his energy lance and turned it on. “Energy lances,” ordered Thomas over the comm. “Corporal Coyle, keep your squad back and pick off whatever Zaltule you can with your assault rifles.”

  The Marines drew their energy lances and waded into the Zaltule swinging the deadly blades. The lances cut through the Zaltules’ battlesuits. Arms, heads, and torsos were being hacked off. Black blood was everywhere as the Marines fought a desperate battle.

  Thomas found himself facing two Zaltule. He swung his blade cutting the head off one and then found himself flung to the floor as the other Zaltule slammed an armored fist into his battlesuit. Thomas raised his energy lance just as the Zaltule swung his in an attempt to drive it through Thomas’s chest. At that moment a series of armor piercing rounds struck the Zaltule, killing him.

  Thomas stood shakily back up and waded back into the fight. Looking toward the tunnels Thomas saw more Zaltule flooding into the chamber. “Corporal Coyle fire some suit explosive rounds down all those tunnels. We have to stop the Zaltule from coming into this chamber!”

  Moments later massive explosions began going off deep inside the tunnels. The explosions continued until the flow of Zaltule stopped. For several long minutes the fighting continued until finally the last Zaltule was dead.

  Thomas stopped and looked around. The floor was covered in dead Zaltule as well as some of his Marines. He turned off his energy blade and put it in its sheath at his waist. “Sergeant Bixt. Station some Marines in front of each tunnel. If they detect any movement they’re to fire suit explosive rounds down the tunnel.”

  “Yes, sir,” Bixt replied as he hurriedly sent Marines to stand in front of each tunnel entrance. “I’m a little worried. Did you notice the energy lances the Zaltule were using could penetrate our suits? The ones the Kleese have cannot.”

  “I guess we shouldn’t be surprised,” replied Thomas. “These are the Zaltule and they’re more formidable warriors than the Kleese.”

  “Thomas, Leah’s been injured,” reported Kinsley.

  Thomas looked to where Kinsley and Brian were standing next to Leah who was leaned up against a wall. Her battlesuit was covered in black blood from the Zaltule as well as red blood flowing from a wound in the side of her suit. Thomas hurried over to where they were. “How bad?”

  “It hurts like hell,” replied Leah, sitting down. “The suit’s injecting pain killers and some medical nanites. I don’t think I’m going to be able to move for a while.”

  Sergeant Bixt came up to Thomas. “We lost eighteen Marines in the Type Seven suits and eight in the Type Nines. We have another ten who are too injured to move.”

  Thomas turned to Kinsley. “Scan all the tunnels and see if any lead downward. Sergeant, assign two squads of Marines in Type Seven battlesuits to remain here with our wounded.”

  Turning back to Kinsley, Thomas saw Brian was speaking to her. He had his hand on her armored shoulder. “Brian, why don’t you stay here with Leah.”

  Leah shook her head, wincing from the movement. “You might need Brian. I’ll be fine here with the other injured Marines. Most of us can still fight if we need to.”

  Thomas ordered some of the Marines to clear out an area for the wounded. He also had them pile some of the crates and boxes up around them for a protective barrier.

  “There are three tunnels which go downward,” reported Kinsley. “However, one of them is wider than the other two.”

  “Let’s clear a path for our hover tanks. I want to leave two here and the others will go with us.” He had kept the tanks back in the tunnel as the fighting inside the chamber had been more hand-to-hand and the tanks would have been useless in such combat.

  Thomas turned back toward Leah. “We’ll be back as soon as we can. We’re all getting out of here.”

  “I’ll be waiting,” said Leah with a grimace. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  “You’ll be safe here with the hover tanks to help take care of any Zaltule,” said Brian. “If they detect movement in any of the tunnels other than the one we’re going into they’ll fire their big cannons. That should take care of any Zaltule.”

  Leah nodded. “Be careful Brian and come back.”

  “I will,” promised Brian squeezing Leah’s armor encased shoulder gently.

  “We better go,” said Thomas.

  “Go kill a Queen,” said Leah.

  A few minutes later the Marines were ready and began descending once more.

  -

  Leah watched them go. Her eyes lingered on Brian as he disappeared into the tunnel. She sat up a little straighter and took a drink of water from a tube in her helmet. The pain in her side was subsiding and she knew that in only a matter of a few hours the medical nanites would be finished mending the wound.

  “How are you feeling?” asked Corporal Haley. She had been left in charge of the two squads detailed with protecting the wounded. She had parked both the hover tanks in the center of the chamber where they could use their cannons to fire into any of the tunnels. Marines were stationed in front of each tunnel listening for any signs of movement.

  “Better,” replied Leah. “I just hope they all make it back.”

  Haley nodded. “So do I.”

  -

  Thomas and his Marines had gone deep within the hive. Twice more they had to fight off Zaltule who were not wearing battlesuits and were unarmed. They reached another major junction to find one of the tunnels barricaded with armed Zaltule behind it. Thomas called one of the hover tanks forward and they used it to destroy the barricade and explosive rounds to take out the Zaltule.

  “That tunnel does not go downward,” reported Kinsley. “I wonder what was so important that they were defending it?”

  Thomas eyed the tunnel. It was too small for a hover tank to fit into. “Sergeant Bixt, I want you to stay here with the Marines in Type Seven battlesuits. I’ll take the ones in Type Nines and check out that tunnel. If we’re not back in thirty minutes proceed down that one tunnel which still seems to be going downward.”

  “Thirty minutes,” replied Sergeant Bixt. “Should I keep the nuke with me?”

  Thomas looked over at the Marine who had the nuke. It was a small one with an explosive force of about ten kilotons. It was in a small pack strapped to the back of the Type Seven battlesuit. “Yes, for the time being until we determine for sure where the Queen’s chamber is.”

  Making sure everyone was ready, Thomas led his Marines into the tunnel. After a few moments he sent two scouts ahead just to be on the safe side. For about ten minutes they continued down the tunnel until it opened up into a wide and long chamber.

  “It’s full of eggs!” exclaimed Private Stout as he stepped over to examine one of the meter long oblong objects.

  “There must be thousands of them in here,” added Corporal Coyle as she gazed about in awe.

  “Lieutenant, I’ve found something you need to see,” reported Corporal Hasher. He had his squad standing next to another tunnel entrance. “This opens up into another chamber and the eggs inside are much larger.”

  Thomas walked over to where the corporal was and looked inside. There were about a dozen eggs lined up neatly in the chamber. However, these eggs were nearly double the size of the other eggs in the larger chamber.

  “Queen eggs!” said Kinsley, stepping around Thomas and walking over to use her sensors on the eggs.

  “We need to destroy them,” said Corporal Hasher, pointing his assault rifle at the eggs.

  Thomas thought for several moments about what to do. “I want to secure one of these Queen eggs and take it back to where our wounded are. If we have one of these eggs, it might make the Zaltule hesitate before attacking if they think we might destroy it.”

  Kinsley looked at the eggs and then turned to face Thomas. “It’s going to be heavy but I think we can make a rigging so two of our Marines can carry one back.”

  “Do it,” ordered Thomas. “Then I want some explosive charges set to blow this c
hamber.”

  “What about the larger chamber?” asked Corporal Hasher.

  “We’ll back out to the opening in the entry tunnel and use our explosive launchers to take them out. Once that’s done we’ll fall back to where we left Sergeant Bixt.”

  Explosive charges were set and the Queen eggs were destroyed except for the one Kinsley had secured. Thomas then had his Marines use their explosive launchers to destroy everything in the large egg chamber. Explosions rang loudly as the blasts blew apart the eggs. Once the explosions stopped Thomas had several squads walk through the smoke-filled chamber making sure all the eggs had been destroyed.

  “We got all of them,” reported Corporal Hasher.

  “Then let’s get out of here and back to Sergeant Bixt and our other Marines,” ordered Thomas. He didn’t like splitting up his forces. There was no telling what the Zaltule might be planning next.

  -

  It didn’t take long to get back to the chamber Sergeant Bixt was waiting in. Sergeant Bixt walked over and looked at the large Zaltule egg two of Thomas’s Marines were lugging.

  “Is that what I think it is?”

  “Yes,” replied Thomas. “We found a large egg chamber and in a small side chamber we found what we believe were a dozen Queen eggs. We destroyed all the eggs except this one.”

  “Why not this one?” asked Sergeant Bixt, pointing his assault rifle at it.

  “A bargaining chip,” replied Thomas. “It might be our ticket back out of here once we find and destroy the Queen’s chamber.”

  “If we find it,” replied Bixt.

  “We will,” replied Thomas. “It can’t be too far from the egg chamber.”

  Sergeant Bixt gestured toward the egg. “What do you want to do with this, take it with us?”

  “No,” replied Thomas. “I want to send a squad back to where Corporal Haley is. I think the Queen egg will be safer there.”

  Kinsley walked over to Thomas. “I checked all the other tunnels. The larger one still leads down and I thought I could detect movement at the far end of my sensor range.”

  “They’ll be waiting for us at the Queen’s chamber,” predicted Thomas. “We’re going to have some heavy fighting ahead of us. It may be necessary to use explosive rounds to clear the tunnel in front of us as we get closer to the Queen.”

  After getting everyone organized Thomas started the Marines down the tunnel. He still had nearly three hundred Marines in Type Nine and Type Seven battlesuits.

  They progressed down the corridor with an entire squad of Type Sevens serving as scouts with two hover tanks supporting them. About fifty meters back the rest of the Marines and remaining hover tanks followed.

  “They’re bound to be waiting for us,” said Brian as he checked his assault rifle.

  “Why have so many we’ve encountered been unarmed?” asked Kinsley.

  “They’re young,” replied Thomas. “Probably recently hatched and not full grown warriors. That would explain their lack of armor as well as weapons.”

  “I thought we would encounter some pop-up weapons by now,” added Brian as he looked around at the smooth tunnel walls. “We haven’t seen a single one.”

  “I suspect they never thought they would need them inside one of their hives,” answered Thomas. “However, that might change when we reach the Queen’s chamber.”

  “Maybe Captain Adams has already found it?”

  Thomas looked over at Kinsley. “Maybe, but I think if she had we would have heard some weapons fire by now. It echoes pretty well down these tunnels.”

  -

  The Marines continued their descent and soon the tunnel began to widen. Suddenly the leading squad found themselves in the largest chamber they had found so far. Over a dozen other tunnels were visible with one covered by a large sealed metal hatch. From the tunnels armed Zaltule suddenly swarmed.

  The two hover tanks began firing explosive rounds and blowing huge holes in the ranks of the attacking Zaltule. In moments the lead squad was overrun and the Zaltule began attacking the tanks.

  -

  “We need to get down there!” ordered Thomas, fearing for the lives of the lead squad. The Marines hurried forward, entering the chamber to find hundreds of Zaltule waiting for them with more coming out of the tunnels. The lead squad was down and both hover tanks had been smashed. “Get the rest of the tanks up here,” yelled Thomas as he began firing his energy rifle into the massed ranks of the Zaltule. Thomas ducked as an energy beam struck the wall just behind him.

  Fighting was heavy as both sides were using energy rifles and explosive rounds. It seemed as if for every Zaltule Thomas’s Marines killed two more took their place.

  The flow of the battle ebbed back and forth with the reserve hover tanks helping to hold back the Zaltule. The floor of the cavern was becoming covered in bodies and blood, both Zaltule and Human.

  Thomas had his energy blade out with Brian and Kinsley at his side. They hacked and stabbed at the Zaltule who were trying to kill them. Occasionally an energy beam would penetrate the battlesuit of a Zaltule, driving him to the floor. Thomas could hear the screaming and yelling as both Humans and Zaltule fought to kill one another. The Zaltules’ voices sounded more like piercing shrieks unless the suit’s translation software was activated.

  Thomas realized they were fighting a losing battle. Over half of his Marines were down. “Attention hover tanks,” said Thomas, switching frequencies. “Fire your heavy cannons down the tunnels. We must seal them off or were lost!”

  Almost instantly powerful energy beams flashed into the tunnels, vaporizing the Zaltule who were exiting. The tanks also fired heavy explosive rounds into the depths of the tunnels. In moments the flood of Zaltule entering the cavern slowed to a trickle and then stopped completely. The battle rapidly wound down and soon all the Zaltule lay dead on the floor of the cavern. Bodies were piled waist high and a Marine could not move without stepping on the dead.

  “Clear a path to that sealed hatch,” ordered Thomas. He was convinced the Queen’s chamber had to lie behind it as it was the only sealed entrance they had found.

  Marines in the larger Type Seven suits hurried to do so while the hover tanks kept their cannons pointed down the tunnels. Reaching the hatch they found it sealed tight.

  “Put some explosive charges on that hatch,” ordered Thomas. “We need to get in.” Thomas wanted to hurry as at any moment he expected the Zaltule to renew their attack. Checking his HUD he realized he had fewer than one hundred Marines left and some of those were wounded.

  Two Marines hurriedly attached the charges and then stepped back and set them off. Several loud explosions rang through the cavern but the charges had served their purpose. The massive door was left hanging by its hinges. Several Marines stepped forward and using the extra strength of their battlesuits tore the battered door off its hinges.

  “Well, let’s go inside and see what’s there,” said Thomas as he started walking toward the now open hatch. Reaching the hatch Thomas stepped inside followed by his Marines

  The open hatch was too small for a hover tank and they would have to remain outside. Stepping inside Thomas and the other Marines came to a stop. They stared around in amazement. The inside was like a tropical jungle. They were in a large chamber with artificial sunlight and very high humidity. Lush tropical plants were everywhere with winding paths where the Zaltule could walk. There was even a small stream flowing from one end of the chamber to the other end to vanish beneath a wall. On the far side of the chamber was a massive dais and on that dais stood the largest Zaltule Thomas had ever seen. It was easily four times the size of a regular Zaltule and its multifaceted eyes were focused on the Marines. Standing in front of the giant Zaltule were six normal-sized Zaltule. All were unarmed and looked confused at seeing the Marines.

  “Is that the Queen?” asked Brian, raising his rifle and pointing it at the large Zaltule.

  “I’m guessing so,” replied Thomas as he began walking toward the Zaltule. The ot
her Marines followed him keeping their eyes peeled for any other Zaltule who might be hiding in the foliage.

  As they neared the dais one of the unarmed Zaltule stepped forward.

  “Stop!” ordered the Zaltule in a cold and harsh voice. “This is the Queen’s chamber and no member of the lessor races is allowed entry. To come any closer will result in your death.”

  Thomas had his translation software on so he could understand the Zaltule. “Who are you?”

  “You dare to speak in my presence without permission?” said the Zaltule, stepping closer. “If I had a weapon you would die for such sacrilege.”

  Thomas activated his energy lance and held it menacingly before him. “I will ask you only one more time and then you will lose your head. Who are you?”

  The Zaltule eyed Thomas’s energy lance and then replied. “I am one of the Queen’s attendants. There are many of us. We remove the eggs and have them taken to one of the egg chambers.”

  Thomas saw movement behind the Queen and noticed a number of Zaltule only slightly smaller than the Queen. “Who are those Zaltule behind the Queen?”

  “They are the minor Queens.”

  “I wish to speak with the Queen.”

  The Zaltule looked confused. “The Queen does not have the ability to speak. She is a Queen and her sole purpose is to lay eggs and create more Zaltule warriors.”

  “Are you saying she is not intelligent?”

  “She has rudimentary intelligence. But her entire life is devoted to laying eggs. She has no other purpose. Why would she need intelligence?”

  Thomas shook his head. He was finding it difficult to believe what he was hearing. All this time they had thought the Queens ruled the Zaltule. “Are there other Queens in the hive?”

  The Zaltule shook his head. “There is no need. Our current Queen and her minor Queens are sufficient for our needs. You must go. I shall answer no more of your questions.”

  Thomas turned toward Sergeant Bixt who was standing next to him. “Kill them all and then set the nuclear warhead. Give us thirty minutes to get back out of the hive.”

  Bixt nodded and gave the order. Energy beam fire and explosive rounds quickly eliminated all the Zaltule and the Queens.