by Sean Robins
This part of the operation was mostly his brainchild. Kurt was a genius when it came to guerrilla warfare, but as a US Marine, Matias was more qualified to plan conventional battlefield tactics. The Commandos had set up three small invisible force fields behind the ridge, and in the past two weeks, they’d moved the Leopards one by one late at night under cover of darkness inside the force fields. The human security forces protecting the city didn’t do any recon beyond the city limits because they didn’t expect a full-frontal assault—they were there to stop the Commandos from infiltrating the city.
Matias had four tank battalions, around two hundred and forty armored vehicles, under his command. The fleet base was located three miles from the southern limits of the city. When Operation Royalty started, the Leopards were supposed to enter the fleet base and destroy as many space fighters as possible on the ground.
Time passed very slowly, and with each passing minute, Matias’s tension increased. Somewhere out there, Oksana, who as a member of Kurt’s strike force was one of the first people entering the Xortaag city, was risking her life, and Matias could do nothing but wait.
His proposal was still fresh in his memory. Oksana had told him she wanted children. They had, half-jokingly, discussed if they should have six kids or seven.
Our kids will be gorgeous.
He giggled for a second and then wondered why that thought had passed his mind this particular moment, right before going to war.
At 02.45 local time, the tanks left the force fields and moved up the hills, stopping just before the top. At exactly 03.01, Tarq announced, “All units, Operation Royalty is a go.”
Matias’s heart started pounding, and his breath became fast and shallow, but he tried to sound calm and confident when talking to his units. “It’s showtime, everyone. Let’s go kick some Xortaag ass.”
Engines roaring, the giant Leopards rolled down the hill, moving fast toward the enemy fleet base, a trail of smoke and dust behind them.
SH-1 - 21.00 EST
Bored out of her wits, Arminaa was sitting on a wooden chair on the twelfth floor of one of the newly constructed buildings in Kingdom of God, idly shining her Crimson Deathbringer Medal.
The injuries she had sustained a few weeks ago were mostly healed, but she was still not cleared for duty. She had been hanging out in barracks with the rest of the fighter pilots until three nights ago when General Maada had ordered all pilots to be on a red alert until further notice, which meant the pilots were practically living and sleeping in the hangars next to their Deathbringers. Arminaa had the highest respect for the general, and the fact that the two of them had stood shoulder to shoulder against a swarm of enemy ships and survived had elevated her admiration to worship; still, even she thought the twenty-four-seven red alert was too much. Maybe the general was paranoid after what happened during the last enemy attack.
Since the barracks were now empty, Arminaa had decided to spend the evening with some of her friends who had just moved into one of the new buildings in the city. She had found it difficult to sleep in a new bed, which is why she was sitting here in the middle of the night, trying to kill some time, wishing to be cleared for active duty as soon as possible.
And all of a sudden, she saw missiles shot from a neighboring building’s rooftop.
Her mouth gaping, she jumped out of her chair and tried to get a better look. From where she was standing neither the shooters nor their target was visible, but missiles fired at the middle of the Kingdom of God meant only one thing: The same people who had surprised them in the other fleet base were here right now. Rage pulsed through her with such ferocity her hands started trembling.
This time they won’t get out, she grimly thought, baring her teeth.
Arminaa ran out of the balcony, shouting into her PDD, alerting the rest of the Xortaags.
SH-1 - 21.03 EST
Eric Green was having a good night, just like any other time spent serving the gods.
He was standing guard outside a hangar in the fleet base, along with three other guards. Protecting the gods and their machines was a great honor, one which had been bestowed upon him several times in the past few weeks. What more could a humble servant want from his life?
In the blink of an eye, everything changed.
Into his calm consciousness crashed horrible images of an alien invasion, with Earth burning and millions of dead bodies, including women and children, everywhere. Along with the images came a clear command, “Tear them the fuck apart!”
He exchanged a look with the other guards, cocked his assault rifle, opened the door leading inside the hangar and walked in.
Hundreds of Xortaags, pilots and ground crew, were sleeping on the hangar’s floor in sleeping bags. A few were awake, playing a card game. They turned and looked at Green and his companions with surprise in their faces, feeling no danger.
Green opened fire and sprayed the Xortaags with bullets.
The Xortaags he had targeted had no chance. They all died without being able to draw a weapon. Green turned his attention to the ones just waking up and trying to get out of their sleeping bags.
Green and his companions threw a few grenades inside the closest Deathbringers and moved forward, leaving scores of bodies behind.
SH-1 - 21.04 EST
Lying on the hangar’s floor in a sleeping bag, Maada was trying to fall asleep.
He had had a bad feeling for a couple of weeks. His warrior instinct kept telling him something was wrong, and a threat was imminent. The last time he ignored his instinct, thousands of Xortaags had been slaughtered. He was not a man to make the same mistake twice.
He had spent hour after hour obsessing over their defenses. The city was surrounded by two hundred thousand heavily armed human soldiers, and both the fleet base and the laser turrets were under heavy guard. The human security experts the Xortaags had brought in assured him there was no weak point for the enemy to exploit and a repeat of the surprise attack on their other fleet base was impossible. Maada had ordered a thousand Deathbringers, accompanied by another thousand human jet fighters, to fly over the city at all times. This was definitely overkill: The strength of their aerial defense was in the laser turrets operation. The Deathbringers flying overhead were likely to get in the way. He was still not satisfied, so he had demanded the fleet to be on red alert until further notice. For the last three days, the pilots and ground crew had stayed by their fighters. True to form, Maada himself had joined them.
He was beginning to doze off when the sound of gunfire jolted him out of his sleep. He scrambled out of his sleeping bag, grabbed his sidearm, and with eyes wide in horror saw their human security guards shoot at the pilots and ground crew.
What the fuck?
All around him, his pilots grabbed their weapons and started shooting back. There were several hundred of them and only four assailants, so this particular encounter had only one possible outcome. Maada hid behind a Deathbringer and pulled out his PDA. Reports of attacks by human security forces were pouring in. They were in deep trouble. He opened a channel to fighter pilots and shouted, “Get off the ground now!”
Only one assailant was still standing. Maada shot him in the head and hurried to get on his crimson Deathbringer, fury vibrating through his being.
SH-1 - 21.04 EST
Mushgaana was doing what he had done most nights since arriving on Earth except when he had female company: sitting in his private movie theater in his residence, lost in a world of crime thrillers, sci-fi or fantasy stories. He had just discovered vampires and werewolves.
These humans had such vivid imaginations.
He was thoroughly enjoying himself when the sound of gunfire and explosions interrupted him.
He reached out with his mind, and what he found made his jaw drop all the way to the floor.
After the last attempt on his life, his residence was surrounded by human security forces, just like all the vital locations in the city. Right now, there was only one thought in tho
se humans’ minds: to kill him and all other Xortaags. They had surprised his Xortaag guards and made short work out of them, and they were approaching his location. Mushgaana tried to stop them using his mind, but just like the last time, it was no use. He counted a couple of hundred humans moving towards him. He wished he had had a secret exit built in this house too, but after killing the members of his security force the last time, there would be no way to keep it a secret, which would defeat its purpose.
I’ll fucking kill them all! He sent a mental command to the team in charge of the Voice of God. Nobody answered.
So this is it. He thought of his favorite courtesan back home. He thought of his brothers, fighting over his place. He wondered how the vampire movie ended. Then he calmly went to his office, which was adjacent to the theater, opened a hidden panel and pushed a button. After a minute, he chose an assault rifle out of his gun collection. The gun was also equipped with a grenade launcher.
His PDD started buzzing. It was Maada, probably trying to launch a rescue attempt. With the humans massing outside his office door, it was way too late for that. He sent him a telepathic message. “Goodbye, old friend. I hope you get out of this triumphant, whatever this is.”
Remembering a scene from a movie he had watched a few weeks ago, he smirked, cocked his gun and yelled, “Say hello to my little friend!”
He shot a grenade straight at the office door, killing a bunch of humans standing right behind it. Then he walked into the smoke and dust, fire and bullets pouring out of his gun, mowing down the assailants left, right and center, killing dozens of them.
My mental powers might not work, but I am still the crown prince of the most fearsome kingdom in the universe, you cockroaches!
SH-1 - 21.10 EST
Kurt and his team were still running down the stairs, just approaching the ground floor, when Tarq contacted Kurt. “Your presence has been noticed. Two small Xortaag patrols are converging on your location. Nothing you can’t handle, but…oh no!”
Out of breath after running down so many flights of stairs, Kurt didn’t bother to ask what Tarq meant. The alien continued. “A large group of Xortaags is coming out of a nearby building, moving straight towards you.”
Kurt asked, “How large?”
“Unknown, because they are still running out of the building, but at least several hundred,” answered Tarq.
This complicates our situation, Kurt thought. He told Tarq, “Oh, good. For a moment there I thought we were in trouble.”
“You should really stop hanging out with Jim,” said Tarq. “That boy has a bad influence on you.”
Yeah. Everyone keeps telling me that.
Kurt stopped at the building’s main entrance and scanned the area. The streets were empty. He sprinted out of the building, followed by Oksana, Sergei and the rest of the team. Less than two minutes later, a laser bolt passed by his head. A group of Xortaags was shooting at his team from inside another building. Adrenaline pouring into his bloodstream, Kurt reacted by diving to the ground, aiming his STG 666 and shooting two Xortaags, one in the belly, the second in the head. The sight of the Xortaag’s head exploding gave him a slight satisfaction. The rest of the Commandos returned fire too. Kurt got up and darted toward the river, shooting as he ran, followed by his team.
Winterfell - 21.11 EST
Tarq had just finished talking to Kurt when Barook announced, “The Xortaag fleet is getting off the ground.”
Tarq’s antennae stiffened. If Maada and his fleet managed to fly off the fleet base, it would all be over, regardless of how the ground battle went. Biting his fingernails, he said, “How the hell did they get to their Deathbringers so fast?”
“I do not know but let me see if I can do something about it,” said Barook.
SH-1 - 21.12 EST
John Taylor was hiding behind the remains of a destroyed truck, shooting at a group of Xortaags in a building in front of him.
He’d been recruited into the human security force to fly jet fighters over Kingdom of God. He was off duty when the call to kill all the “gods” came in. He initially joined the fight using his sidearm but later grabbed the assault rifle and ammunition of a fallen soldier.
He suddenly saw an image of a laser turret in his mind and a new order. “If you see one of these, try to get inside and shoot at the enemy ships leaving the fleet base.”
The message was followed by images showing how to operate the turret once inside.
Taylor had seen one of those things. He ran towards the giant weapon’s location. A few minutes later he joined a group of soldiers already gathering next to the turret.
The turret had a metal hatch which the soldiers opened using explosives. They killed the four Xortaags inside. Taylor and three other soldiers slid behind the weapon’s controls. He looked at the laser turret’s targeting scope and saw hundreds of Deathbringers getting off the ground in close formation.
The humans brought the weapon to bear and started shooting at the Deathbringers. At such close range and with the ships flying next to each other, the results were spectacular. Enormous laser bolts hit the enemy ships, destroying dozens of them. It was like shooting fish in a barrel.
Revenge is a dish best served cold.
Taylor had no idea where that thought had come from.
Shooting at close range turned out to be a double-edged sword. The Deathbringers fired back. Taylor knew he was a sitting duck, but he didn’t leave his post and kept killing enemy ships until a brilliant explosion destroyed the turret.
SH-1 - 21.12 EST
Moving at the maximum speed of sixty miles per hour, the Leopards approached the Xortaag city. Matias, following the feed transmitted by the Akaki spy ship in orbit, saw how the human security forces turned on the Xortaags. The Xortaags didn’t have any anti-tank weapons. This will be a walk in the park, he thought.
Tarq’s voice squawked in his headphones, “Be advised the Xortaag fleet is leaving the fleet base.”
Matias cursed under his breath. I shouldn’t have jinxed it!
They were still a couple of minutes away from the city’s outer limits. He contacted his people. “Time for plan B. Fire at will.”
The Leopards carried duel-purpose mid-range munitions. These rounds could be shot directly at line-of-sight targets; they could also be fired in a ballistic arc and seek their own targets, in which case they had an effective range of fifteen miles.
Matias’s gunner used the tank’s fire-control system to fire the main gun. Each Leopard carried fifty-five rounds. With a rate of fire of nine rounds per minute, the three tank battalions unleashed their wave of death.
Looking at the information transmitted by the spy ship, Matias saw the destruction their bombardment caused, and he burned with a fierce joy. Several Deathbringer hangars went up in smoke, taking the space fighters still inside with them. Hundreds of enemy ships were hit while still trying to get off the ground. The Leopards’ crew whooped and cheered excitedly.
Matias still wished their original plan had worked. The tanks’ main guns would be a lot more effective at close range and shooting directly at targets, not to mention the damage their heavy machine guns and grenade launchers could inflict. If they’d entered the base with the Deathbringers on the ground, chances were very few would’ve been able to fly off. Still, destroying so many enemy ships felt really good. It was the first time in history that a fleet of space fighters was destroyed using tanks.
I followed the battle using the spy ship feed. At first, everything went according to plan: Kurt’s team hit the installations under the force field, Barook hacked into MFM, and the human security forces turned on their previous masters, killing scores of them.
I watched a short and brutal dogfight unfold over SH-1. A thousand F-44s and an equal number of Deathbringers were patrolling the Xortaag city’s airspace. The jet fighters suddenly fired on their Xortaag counterparts, flying very close to them in visual range. They caught the Xortaags by total surprise and brought down mo
re than half of the enemy fighters. The remaining Deathbringers fired back using their deadly laser cannons. The F-44 pilots didn’t even try to run away. They kept fighting until every single one of them was dead.
I thought, at least now there are a couple of hundred fewer enemy space fighters to worry about—and immediately felt embarrassed for being so selfish. I murmured, “A thousand pilots just died, you moron.”
Venom muttered, “In the grand scheme of things, that’s really nothing.”
One of these days, I’d get a Swiss Army knife, get in front of a mirror, open my skull open and pull Venom out.
Less than fifteen minutes into the battle, the Deathbringers started getting off the ground.
I didn’t know how they managed to do that so fast, but I had no doubt Maada had something to do with it. It gave me extreme pleasure to watch so many Deathbringers shot down by their own laser turrets, and so many more destroyed by our tanks’ artillery fire.
Tarq’s voice was somber. “Jim, we estimate some fifteen thousand enemy ships made it, and they are coming straight towards you.”
“I have eyes, you know,” I snarled.
Grinding my teeth in frustration, I glowered at the image of the fast-approaching enemy fleet on my monitor. Despite our meticulous planning and flawless execution, our ground assault had failed for all intents and purposes. The Xortaag fleet still outnumbered us two to one. How could we beat a Xortaag force twice our size and walk out of it alive?
This had just turned into a suicide mission.
“You don’t have to do it, you know,” said Venom.