He rushed out down the ramp and through the mouth in the rock. It opened out into the spherical construction. It looked like no end of mechanical component parts sewn together with absolute precision. He couldn’t figure out what it was, but he knew it had a wicked purpose. He looked around in every direction, as if expecting to spot the enemy or some kind of ambush at any moment, but nothing came. All they could see were automated drones working on the build, and not one looked like it were armed.
“Okay, let’s get this done!”
He led them to the core of the structure. It seemed to drive into the ground and vanish deep below the surface, but they couldn’t tell for certain.
“You know I sure would like to know for certain what this monster is,” said Jones.
“Yeah, you and me both. Too bad we’ll never know.”
They placed the device down, and Taylor punched in the codes. There was a twenty-minute delay, just enough time to get everyone out. He watched the first few seconds count down to know for certain it was active. He then looked around the site one last time for any sign of the enemy. None of what he was seeing looking anything like the Amitad equipment. And although it appeared to have the technological advancement of the Morohta, it seemed out of character. He had seen one of their worlds and the kind of things they built. None of it looked like this.
“We really nailed them here, didn’t we?”
Taylor felt uncomfortable, and Jones could see it in his face.
“What is it?”
Taylor shrugged it off. “It’s nothing. Come on, let’s get the fuck off this rock.”
They rushed on back to the craft, slowing only occasionally to check for any enemy around corners as they past them. Alita fired up the engines, and once again they were lifting off the planet just as quickly as they had arrived. He checked the time, ten minutes until ignition. He looked back at the site, and still the weapon remained unopposed.
“Hey, you know sometimes it is allowed to be easy,” Jones said, seeing the worried look on Taylor’s face.
“Yes, I wish it could be, but it would be a first.”
“Then here’s to a first.”
Taylor grunted, and that made Jones smile.
“Can’t you just enjoy this?” he jested.
Taylor didn’t seem to see the funny side. Jones tapped him on the arm.
“Come on, Taylor, you are allowed to enjoy yourself occasionally. We have won a valuable victory here today. The Alliance is free of the enemy and can get back to the war effort. We might actually be ready when Bolormaa finally turns up.”
As they reached he docking bay of the Guam, the nuke went off and enveloped the target in a mushroom cloud that brought cheers from all aboard, all but Taylor. He wasn’t satisfied, and something at the back of his mind was niggling him. They put down and hit the deck running. He wanted to be back on the bridge. Alita reached in to kiss him, but he brushed her off and went like lightning. She looked disappointed as she watched Jones chase after him.
Taylor burst out onto the bridge. Lighting and power had all been restored, and Song looked relieved to see him. She began to clap, and the rest of the crew joined in.
“We did it!” she declared.
Taylor nodded in appreciation but closed the distance and approached her with a serious tone on his face. So much so that it brought silence to the bridge.
“Is it gone? Target destroyed? Definitely?”
“That’s what happens when you have delivered a nuclear weapon to a target, Colonel. There’s nothing left down there.”
He breathed a sigh of relief as she continued speaking.
“Nakbe is back under its own power, but she’s taken a real beating, a lot more than us. We are assisting with the recovery of escape modules now. All in all, we did well. Might take us a little while before we can head back home, but we pulled through.”
“Captain,” said Osborne.
“Excuse me, Colonel,” she said and walked over to the Lieutenant.
Taylor was still studying the sight of the impact. He half expected some creatures to arise from the ashes, or some other such horror. He finally smiled as he started to believe they had done it, but it was then that he overhead the two officers.
“…it might be nothing, but I have some strange energy signals coming from a nearby moon.”
“Why didn’t this come up before?”
“I guess it wasn’t even noticeable with all the ships in the area and the ground target. I am sorry, Sir. It might have passed me by.”
Taylor rushed to their side. He was naturally suspicious; the wars had made him that way. He had returned to a high alert status himself and looked around at all the monitors, as if expecting something or someone to arrive at any moment.
“Set alert stations. Launch fighters, ready our weapon systems,” he declared.
Song looked at him as if he were mad, as did the rest of the crew.
“But…Colonel.. the fight is over. We won.”
“Just do it!” he snapped.
She didn’t seem keen, but neither did she want to ignore his commands. She respected him, and he was in charge of the mission. She relayed the commands before turning back to him as if expecting him to change his mind and back down.
“This energy signature, tell me more!”
They both turned to Osborne for answers.
“I…we…”
“Just tell me what you know, damn it!”
“It’s pretty faint, Sir, on the far side of the moon. It could be nothing, just an anomaly. It’s probably just a glitch. Our systems are so blown to hell right now that there could be nothing there at all.”
“Probably? We are not in the business of probably, Lieutenant.”
“What would you have us do?”
“Send a wing of fighters to investigate, Captain.”
Song looked unsure, but she still relayed the orders and ordered the fighters to the moon. It was in this calm moment that Jones approached Taylor. He looked horrified.
“You know you are sounding a little crazy right about now? You do get that, right?”
“Indeed, Jones! Well, the crazy man ain’t always wrong.”
Something hadn’t sat right with Taylor throughout their mission, and he had a hunch this would explain why.
“You know it’ll be nothing. The computers get readings like this all the time, especially with the sort of interference we will be getting from that nuke and all the damage to our systems,” he said, leaning in close.
“Come on, Mitch, let it go. These people have had enough for one day. There is nothing else out here.”
“Do you want to get this job done right or not?” he asked and took a step back.
Jones was surprised. He wasn’t acting like a friend at all here, only a superior officer.
“All right, then, your call. But when this turns out to be a ghost hunt, you are buying us all a round of drinks for our troubles.”
“Happily,” replied Taylor.
He wanted to be proven wrong, he prayed for it. They waited and watched as the fighters closed. As they neared the moon, Jones himself started to doubt. He began to fear what they might find, and it was spreading. The crew had become accustomed to trusting Taylor, and even though they wanted to find nothing, they now almost expected to.
“Thirty seconds and we’ll know for sure, and we can get on with this rescue operation,” said Song.
Taylor didn’t say a word as he waited to know for certain.
“Sir, I am getting an…an engine signature.”
Oh, fuck, Taylor thought.
“What is it?” Song asked. She was starting to panic.
She looked to Taylor as if to apologise for doubting him.
Everyone looked to Nichols for answers as he studied all the information Osborne and the others were providing.
“I don’t believe it.”
“What?” Jones demanded impatiently.
“It’s…Aranui!”
Jon
es sighed in relief, but Taylor wouldn’t believe it until he could see it with his own eyes. He could see an energy signature increase as the ship powered up, and it passed out towards their fighters. Finally, it passed into view as the fighters rushed past.
“You see, Colonel, nothing to worry about. This must be how they provided the information on this target for us.”
“They could have at least given us a hand in the fight,” said Jones.
A light flickered before them, and a figure appeared. It was a projection of Irala. Taylor would recognise him anywhere. At last he was now able to relax like the others.
“My fucking word am I pleased to see you,” he stated.
Irala seemed to look around at all the crew before finally turning back to Taylor.
“Are you okay?” Taylor asked.
But the projection flickered once against and began to morph into something very different. Within a few moments, a Morohta Prince stood before them. They knew it was only a projection, but nonetheless it was a bad sign.
“No, not Irala,” said the creature in a deep voice, “Colonel Taylor. I have been so looking forward to meeting you.”
It was beginning to dawn on Taylor now just how bad a situation they might be in.
“What have you done with Irala?”
The creature only grinned to bare its gleaming teeth at him.
“Never mind about him. I am Tsetseg, Prince of the Morohta.”
“I’ve met your kind before, and ended two of you. It would be my pleasure to round it off to three.”
“Colonel, I am getting massive readings from the far side of the moon,” said Osborne.
Taylor snapped around and rushed to the screen. The fighters were close to passing by and relayed a feed. A massive structure that appeared to be dug into the surface of the moon itself was swirling around at high speed, much like a jump gate.
“That thing we destroyed wasn’t a gateway. It wasn’t anything of importance at all,” he said in amazement.
“No, nothing more than a piece of scenery to draw your attention, and draw it did,” replied Tsetseg.
Taylor did his best to ignore the creature, but he didn’t know of any way to end the transmission, for it was not connected to any of their systems.
“Captain, have our fighters target whatever that is. Hit it with everything they have.”
She relayed the orders, but it was already too late, as Tsetseg went on.
“You have delayed this long enough, Taylor. My Queen is longing to meet you. Let me welcome her magnificence, Bolormaa.”
Taylor’s heart sunk. It was the last thing he expected, and yet somehow deep down he knew that something awful would come of this mission. They’d had to do it because the enemy could not operate unopposed, and yet nothing was as it seemed. Tsetseg began to laugh in a deep and bellowing chortle that was off-putting to say the least. The crew looked terrified. Taylor wanted to apologise to them, but that emotion was overridden by anger.
“What the hell is this?”
“Judgement day, Jones. You know all this time we have wasted fighting amongst one another trying to hold the Alliance together. It didn’t come soon enough.”
“Such a shame,” replied Tsetseg, “You will not be as much sport as we had hoped.”
That got Taylor’s back up. He wondered if it were true.
I never understood why the Morohta did what they did. In time the Krys wars made sense to me. Earth was a mythical paradise to them, but what is this to the Morohta? Are we really just sport to be hunted for entertainment?”
They watched the fighters open fire with all they had, but it seemed to have no effect at all. The portal opened just as a gateway would. They watched in horror as a vast vessel almost as wide as the portal itself passed through into their space. It was followed by dozens more of the enemy craft. They glittered and glimmered in the light. Each one of them looked more living than machine.
“Get our fighters back!” Taylor ordered.
They didn’t hesitate as the enemy fleet formed up and approached. Every one of the ships was larger than they had, and the Nakbe remained inoperable.
“We can’t fight this,” said Song.
Taylor knew it was true. He knew how terrifyingly powerful the Morohta vessels were. But as if the odds were not bad enough, dozens more Amitad ships poured through the gateway to join their masters. Everyone looked to Taylor for answers, but he had none. They were screwed. He hoped for some miracle, but that it was foolish. Tsetseg began to laugh once more as he saw the shock and fear on all their faces.
“I thought we had more time than this,” declared Jones, “So much more time.”
“Here she comes now, Queen of all the universe,” said Tsetseg.
Taylor was waiting for their fleet to be blown to pieces, but the enemy fleet stopped one klick out. They turned to Tsetseg for answers, even though they did not trust him.
“You are in the presence of a God. Bolormaa. And she requests an audience with you, Colonel Mitch Taylor.”
It was the last thing he had expected to hear.
“Her magnificence Queen Bolormaa requests that you depart in a single ship to meet her at coordinates that will be sent to you shortly, and you will go alone.”
Tsetseg looked arrogant and supremely confident, but he vanished before anyone could respond.
There was silence for an uncomfortable ten seconds before it was finally broken by Captain Song.
“What do we do?”
Taylor took in a deep breath. He knew exactly what he would have to do, and so did Jones, which is why she began to weep.
“We do what she wants,” replied Taylor abruptly.
“What? You can’t do that. She’ll kill you!”
“What choice do we have? Look at that. They can kill us all if they wish. I am already dead unless I do this.”
Taylor strode off the bridge, leaving them speechless. As he left, many of the crew reached out their hands and brushed his armour. They were treating it as if it was his funeral, and he felt like it was, too. He reached the docking bay to find Alita blocking the entrance to her Stormer.
“I won’t let you go. I can’t,” she said as she cried.
He held her cheek in his hand and wiped away her tears with his fingers.
“You know I have no choice.”
He pushed her hand away and stepped up the ramp. As he reached the top, he stopped to look back at her.
“I love you,” he said.
That only made her cry more as he hit the door close.
“I love you, too!” she cried loudly to ensure he heard. As the door shut, she repeated it again, and she dropped to her knees.
Taylor moved to the controls to find the coordinates on screen. He punched them into the autopilot, and the engines soon fired up. The time passed quickly as he thought of Alita and Jones and all of the men and women he had come to think of as family. He hadn’t even been keeping time when he felt the landing gear settle on a firm surface. He went to the door and hit the release.
The ramp went down to reveal a dark and musky room. His console showed that the air was breathable, so he released the visor on his helmet. He stood at the door and waited the horrors he expected to face.
“Colonel Taylor of Earth,” a deep and raspy voice said.
He saw the glow of two red eyes through the darkness.
“I have been waiting a long time to meet you.”
“Bolormaa,” he replied in a disparaging tone.
He had already accepted that this could be the end, as he thought to himself.
If I'm not going to walk away from this, neither are you!
BATTLE BEYOND EARTH 4: INVASION
By Nick S. Thomas
Copyright © 2015 by Nick S. Thomas
Published by Swordworks Books
Prologue
Mitch Taylor had pulled out all the stops to keep the fragile Alliance together. He had finally managed to get all parties aligned against a single ene
my, but they were weak and demoralised. Four races trying to work together against the terrifying Morohtan armies and their God Queen Bolormaa, and ancient enemy who should never have been awoken.
The first waves of Morohtan armies had savaged the Alliance, and yet they were just the beginning. Enemy saboteurs and sympathisers eat away at the Alliance from within. Even while the Alliance Navy and armed forces grow stronger, the fabric that kept them together was withering away. Many had started to doubt Colonel Taylor and his ability to fight the Morohta. Surrender and capitulation seemed the way for many, but not Taylor; he knew what the cost of failure could be.
The Alliance thought it was at least safe for a little while after the destruction of the Morohtan navigation hub, but that assumption would cost them dearly. A deadly encounter with the savage forces of Bolormaa almost finished Taylor's closest friend and ally, Lieutenant William Jones, and that was just the beginning. Similar enemy craft appeared at random throughout Alliance territory. Facing utter chaos, Taylor took matters into his own hands and made unpopular decisions.
Bolormaa's plan to hurl her lesser subjects through space at random in the hope of finding some targets was a brash and scattergun approach, but it nearly brought about the downfall of the Alliance. But some in the Alliance stayed strong and fought back. The enemy were cornered and all but defeated by an Alliance fleet when the unthinkable happened - the arrival of Bolormaa herself.
Facing a vastly superior force, it seemed like it was all over. Bolormaa had requested Taylor come aboard her ship, and there was no one strong enough to say otherwise, so that is where he went. Into the mouth of the beast. Taylor had faced many terrifying foes before, but this was different. He'd always believed he could beat them, even when his chances were so slim, but not this time.
Chapter 1
He saw the glow of two red eyes through the darkness.
“I have been waiting a long time to meet you.”
“Bolormaa,” replied Taylor in a disparaging tone.
He had already accepted that this could be the end.
If I'm not going to walk away from this, neither are you!
Battle Beyond Earth Box Set Page 60