The Star Chronicles: Book 01 - Battle for Earth

by Rod Porter

  Finally there was Taylor ‘L-Man’ Lance, and Nick ‘Eagle’ Dodds. Taylor was the resistance top sniper. His accuracy with a sniper rifle had been tested for miles, and Nick was his spotter. They were known as Delta’s broadsword. This meant that they doubled as two teams. They were the sniper team and the bazooka squad. Much like Dodds spotted for Taylor when he was sniping, Taylor reloaded and spotted for Nick when he was blowing up aliens with his bazooka.

  These seven soldiers made up Delta squad, and they were the specialists for the operation. When they finally donned their wetsuits on the sub that was ferrying them closer to the kill zone, Troy’s anxiety began to subside a bit. Once they were suited, they were released through a hatch into the ocean depths. It took what felt like an hour of swimming underwater before they finally came upon the sewage drain. The intel had been correct. They would need to burn through the grate, enter the drain, and swim up to the storage facility. It was a relief that they had not encountered any aliens in the water. There was no telling what type of evolutions the invaders had made since the prison break. It took a few minutes for Balls to burn through the grate with a blowtorch. Then they entered the drain and swam up. The offensive was underway by now, and they had a job to do.

  Delta burned through a second pipe and emerged from the water weapons drawn. Intel had indicated that the storage facilities were empty, but they were wrong. Delta exchanged gunfire with a single soldier alien that happened to be in the storage facility. The squad killed the lone soldier alien in seconds, but not before it managed to shoot Commander Rollins in the forehead, killing him instantly. Delta secured the room and shed their scuba gear and wetsuits. They put Commander Rollins corpse on the ground against the wall. Doc Patterson examined the fallen commander.

  “He’s gone,” Doc confirmed with Delta looking on. This was not a good start to the mission.

  Corporal Mac Roberts was in command now, and the squad all looked to him.

  “We go on with the mission as planned,” Mac said.

  With that, Corporal Roberts got on the radio. “Command Delta, we’re in position.”

  Nothing.

  “Command Delta, I repeat, in position and good to go. Over.”

  Why wasn’t command responding?

  “Command, this is Delta. Come in, God damn it.”

  Mac’s voice was drowned out by a huge roaring thunder that shook the structure. Gunfire and screaming followed even more thunderous explosions. The offensive was underway. There was no time to wait for command to respond.

  “Let’s go.” Mac motioned to open the door to the outside.

  Delta squad was shocked by what they saw when they exited the small storage structure. The entire complex was situated high above the shores of the oval island. The compound’s main structures were connected by a series of long, interchanging walkways. There was a fifty-foot-high gate surrounding the six stairwells to the elevated compound’s landscape. This gate had high levels of electricity running through it. Delta hustled to shield themselves from view in one of the passageways. They might have been hidden, but they looked down onto the shores of the island in disbelief.

  The beach was a picture of total anarchy. Hundreds of Unconformed soldiers were scattered about. There were three enormous, crablike beings on the shores. The beasts had aliens atop their backs that no human had ever seen before, human-like in physical anatomy, but clearly alien, and about three times the size of the standard soldier aliens. These riders were situated on the giant crabs in makeshift saddles. The three mammoth crabs were in a frenzy, using their enormous claws to thrash the endless throngs of resistance fighters. Saddled atop their claws were more riders like the ones saddled in the center, only the ones on the claws sat behind mounted flamethrowers. The flamethrowers, along with the giant crabs’ pincers, and the scorpion-like stingers they possessed at their hindquarters, were killing the Unconformed. Delta seemed to view it all in slow motion. It was a massacre. There were dozens of human bodies lying on the beach. The ocean water was more red than blue as it lapped the shores.

  Delta noticed that there were pockets of soldiers that had made it past the crabs. The only issue was that they were pinned down by enemy fire that was coming from elevated spots on the compound walkways. This was something they could take care of!

  As ranking officer, Corporal Mac took control. “Okay, look. We’ve got to take out those crabs. L-Man, Eagle, I want you to cut through those things. Balls, I want-”

  “Wait.”

  “Williams, you keep your mouth shut and follow orders.”

  “We can’t do that,” Troy continued, unfazed.

  “Excuse me? I’m ranking officer. I need to remind you of the punishment for mutiny?”

  “No, you don’t, but if we take that action we’ll be killed. Quickly. Followed soon by everyone on that beach.”

  The horrid sounds of war resonated through the air as Delta went silent.

  Mac was receptive but still unbending. “And what’s your plan, trooper?”

  “We can’t do anything about those crabs from up here. Well, we could, but it would take too long. We need to neutralize those mounted gunners that have our units pinned down. Those units that are already off the beach have made it past the crabs. We split up, take out the enemy gunners that have them pinned down, and take out the electricity. That way the compounds are stormed, the remaining aliens neutralized, giving us more firepower to take out those crabs.”

  More silence.

  “He’s right,” Trigger Jenkins concurred. “We engage those things from here, it’ll just let the roaches inside the compound know we’re inside their defenses and give away our position. If we can quickly take out the mounted gunners laying down that suppression fire, and disable the electricity, we can get the battalions in here faster. Then the roaches will have what’s left of an entire regiment in the compound to deal with instead of just the six of us, which will buy us time to deal with the crabs.”

  They pondered what had been said.

  “God damn it.” Mac looked at Troy. They did not have time to be cavalier about the situation. The way the crabs and their riders were going at it, if they didn’t act soon, there would be no troops left to save. “You heard Williams. Let’s neutralize those gunners.”

  There were four enemy positions on the compound that were dispensing fire that had pinned down the advancing resistance fighters, and with the electric fence still active, they had no choice but to find cover and pray that Delta had not been killed or captured because if Delta could not get that fence down they were all going to die. Delta split into four teams. Mac and Balls, Trigger and Doc, Troy by himself, and of course L-Man and Eagle.

  Troy was the first one to reach his target. He had crept stealthily along the gate walkways completely unnoticed. There was no alien activity on the compound, save for the gunner around the corner. Troy checked his weapon and said a silent prayer before turning the corner and opening fire. His bullets struck the back of the soldier alien. It was the exact model that had raided his home colony. He was fortunate that it was not the evolved model that was riding the crabs. An entire clip from his rifle and a frag grenade dispatched the alien. Troy advanced to the lookout spot to take in the alien’s vantage point. He waited three minutes like Delta had agreed and then radioed to the rest of them to find that they had taken out the other marks as easily as he had.

  “All units, all units, this is Delta.” Troy switched over to the primary channel that the regiment was using for the operation. “I say again, this is Delta squad. Battalions read? Over.”

  The gunner positions had been neutralized, but there was still the thunderous noise of combat from the beach. By now Mac, Balls, and Doc were heading for the generator that powered the electric fence, while Trigger, L-Man, and Eagle were headed to Troy’s position. “I say again, this is Delta squad. Acknowledge. Over.”

  “Delta, where the hell have you been?”

  “Identify yourself.”

  “T
his is Major Cartwright. Sixth battalion, fourth regiment. We’re getting hammered out here. What’s the status on the fences? Over.”

  “Never mind the fences, Major. I’m sure you’ve noticed you’re no longer under suppressed enemy fire, nor are the other battalions. I need a sound off of all battalion commanders now!”

  “You’re talking to the last one!” Major Cartwright yelled over the chaos. “No accounting for the others. My squad barely made it through. The plague got themselves these huge crabs and some kind of super soldier breed now. Just one of those two legged bastards took out the entire second battalion, soon as the ramp dropped on their boat! Took out the whole-”

  “Stow it, Major.” Troy shocked even himself with that statement. Trigger, L-Man, and Eagle had made it back to him. He was pleasantly surprised to see them smiling.

  “Hell of a call, Williams,” they said.

  Troy was grateful for the statement, but he couldn’t let on. He got back on the radio. “Listen to me, Major. That fence is going to be down in a matter of minutes, and when it is, this compound will be crawling with roaches, maybe even these super soldiers you’re talking about. So you and your troops need to haul ass, and storm your assigned compound, maybe even some others. You got me?”

  “Yes, sir! My people are ready.”

  “Glad to hear it. Meantime-”

  Troy was interrupted by a deafening explosion that caused dozens of resistance fighters on the beach to go flying through the air. As if the fighters on the beach weren’t busy enough with the crabs, there was now a lone soldier alien positioned far away on a rock cliff with some kind of rocket launcher. It fired a second salvo, dispatching dozens more of the Unconformed.

  “Major!”

  “I see it, Delta. There’s nothing we can do. That roach has got perfect cover and is too far out of range.”

  “Damn it!” Troy kicked the ground. “L-Man, think you can take him out from here?”

  “I can try. Sniper caliber bullet probably won’t do it though, and it’s too far a distance to hit with the bazooka.”

  Suddenly, and without explanation, there was an airplane circling the island. It came out of nowhere and headed straight for the lone rocket-launching soldier alien. Once positioned, it ejected something from its undercarriage. Whatever it was landed on the alien and blew it to pieces. The rocket launching ceased.

  “One of ours, Major?”

  “Negative, Delta. We don’t have any planes.”

  As soon as it destroyed the soldier alien, the plane had three sentinels in pursuit of it. The pilot put on an expert display of maneuvers, such that two of the sentinels crash-landed on the rocks trying to keep pace. The third sentinel fired three rockets before it crashed as well. The plane outmaneuvered the first two missiles, leading the third to crash into one of the crabs on the shore, blowing it up, but not before the crab’s claw swiped the plane’s right wing. The pilot climbed back into the sky and headed further above the island mountains, but could not control it. The plane went down in the wooded area of the uncharted island. Troy’s heart sank. There was no telling what was in that section of the island, and he did not want the brave pilot falling victim to the enemy.

  Trigger nudged Troy. “Williams, that’s Corporal Roberts on the wire. The electric fence is down.”

  One problem is fixed, and another one presents itself!

  “Major Cartwright. I’ve got good news and bad news. The fence is down. But I need you to send a troop to secure that crash site. We got to get that pilot out of there. The roaches will roast him alive.”

  “Negative. That is not a mission priority. My troops and I are coming in.”

  “Major, that pilot just might have saved all of our lives, unaffiliated with the resistance, most likely. We need to secure that site and get him out of enemy territory. Now, you can lead the charge into the compound, but you organize a small team and you send them out to that crash site! Or you can explain to the soldiers whose lives he saved why you sacrificed his!”

  “Copy that. A small squad is headed there now. There’s a steady plume of smoke; it shouldn’t be hard to find. As for the rest of us, we’re coming to join you, Delta.”

  There was not much of a struggle to destroy the remaining two crabs and their riders, with all the other chaos and confusion put to rest. It was troublesome enough that the beasts had dismantled practically an entire regiment. The fighters reported that the super soldiers had done most of the damage. The alien upgrades had apparently taken out two whole battalions on their own before the crabs even emerged from the waters. The aliens had definitely evolved, and it did not bode well that six upgraded alien soldiers had dispatched hundreds of resistance fighters. But the Unconformed had braved the storm. They were inside the compound and heading toward their target buildings. There were no more aliens left, just the bio-chemical weapon, and the technology in these compounds that was going to tip this conflict in humanity’s favor.

  ***

  Mac was the first Delta through the door. The initial plan had not anticipated such heavy losses and had designated each battalion one compound to raid. At Troy’s command, the organized teams raided each compound. Delta was accompanying what remained of third battalion. Intel had put massive amounts of alien technology, weapons, explosives, and possibly even human prisoners inside, but when Delta and the remnants of third battalion kicked in the door, they were looking at nothing but one big empty room.

  There was nothing: no weapons, no prisoners. Nothing except a small disc-like piece of plastic in the center of the room.

  Troy got on the radio. “This is Delta with battalion three. We got nothing. I repeat, we got nothing. I need a situation-report.”

  In a matter of moments, there was a reply. “Battalion two. We’re in compound two staring at nothing but heaps of scrap metal, sir. Not a weapon or prisoner in sight.” It was not long before all the remaining battalions radioed similar messages.

  “Looks like we’ve been had, sir.” It was clearly an irritant to Major Cartwright, the only ranking officer remaining in the assault, that even his own soldiers were addressing trooper Troy Williams as if he was their commanding officer. But if not for Troy, they would all be dead.

  Troy gave the room a last once-over. “Let’s get out of here,” he said. Delta and third battalion turned to follow him out.

  “Greetings…”

  The resistance fighters snapped around with their weapons drawn at the sound of the voice. They were greeted by a holographic image. It was projecting out of the disc that was in the center of the room. The projection was that of a human woman. She was plain in appearance and she appeared to be in her fifties.

  “You are the ones known as the Unconformed. The human resistance?” the projection said, adding a mocking undertone to the word “resistance.”

  No one appeared ready to exchange dialogue with the hologram. There were varied superstitions when it came to the aliens. Everyone in the room naturally looked to Troy. Suddenly Major Cartwright was not so irritated by Troy being perceived as the leader.

  Troy stepped forward. “We are the resistance.”

  The hologram regarded him for a moment. “You have seen the futility of your efforts firsthand this day, have you not?”

  “We’ve seen nothing.” Troy was not the only one surprised at how fluid and natural his response was. “Save more proof that your kind must be fought. You have become more dangerous. Evolved…”

  “Processing…” The hologram twitched for a moment. Something about the word “evolved” had thrown it off. “Yes, we have…evolved. And we will continue. This is the nature of your futility. You cannot advance yourselves as we can. You cannot defeat us. Soon the day will come when our evolution, will render you obsolete. Humanity is near extinction. It is simply a matter of time.”

  Troy held that thought. “What the hell are you?”

  “I am the hive.”

  “You’re the queen,” Troy reasoned.

  “Process
ing…Yes.”

  “You’re human?”

  “No.” The projection grinned. “I have simply chosen to project myself in a form that you are familiar with.” “You’re the one in charge, then. The alien leader.”

  The hologram let out a bellowing laugh, then regained its composure. “What arrogance to think we would grant you audience with our leaders. The mere sight of them would strike you dead with fear. No…Processing…You must earn that right.”

  Troy glanced behind his shoulder, making certain that Balls was recording this entire exchange with his camcorder. “So you are just a pawn. Why should I even listen to you?”

  “Because I bring a message. This will be our first and final offer. Lay down your arms and your organization will be spared. Reveal the location of the hidden city of Jade. Pledge your allegiance to help find our remaining human enemies. Do this, and Jade and its inhabitants will be spared. You will live in a comfort and solace your race has long forgotten. Do it not, and you will all live your end days in pain and suffering. This is our only offer.”

  “And this is ours!” Troy stepped forward. “I’m not here to strike a backdoor deal with some lapdog. Clearly you are nothing among your own people-one of many lowly queens. In command of nothing more than several hundred hives?”

  As Troy had hoped, he read rising anger in the queen’s features, including heavier breaths. He continued, “You run back to your masters, and you tell them that they have not yet seen the full level of our resolve. We have assembled and unleashed a fraction of what we are capable of. Not only will you not get our surrender, but our demand for yours.”

  “Your arrogance is folly, human,” the hologram hissed, clearly irritated. For the first time, it bared its filed teeth.

  “Wrong. The Unconformed have managed to kill dozens of your soldiers in the past months. You have responded with the first known offer to a human resistance. You tell your superiors to return to their ships. Release all human prisoners of war. Hand over the treacherous colonies and their agents. And leave Earth. If you do this, we will not have to continue killing your kind.”