by Ryk Brown
“Two Blue Leader! Two Leader!” Lieutenant Zelle replied. “Pursue and eliminate! Watch your friendlies! No grenades!”
“Roger that!” Sergeant Morano replied.
“Two Blue Alpha and Bravo! Two Blue Leader! Pursue unfriendlies into the hospital and eliminate with precision; no grenades!”
“Jesus,” Ensign Weston exclaimed as the lieutenant circled around. “Those fuckers are brutal!”
“Reaper Six! Tac One Leader!” General Telles called over comms. “Request immediate pickup at intersection five one, cold, for redeploy!”
“Tac One Leader, Reaper Six,” Lieutenant Haddix replied as he rolled his ship in the opposite direction toward the general’s location. “Thirty seconds!”
“Roger that!” the general replied.
Ghatazhak soldiers pursued the enemy into the hospital, firing with precision as each target presented itself. Unfortunately, the mayhem, caused by the indiscriminate slaughter of innocent Orswellans inside, created massive chaos, which slowed their advance.
Corporal Venezia ducked in behind a vertical support beam, avoiding the incoming fire that struck civilians behind him, who were standing out in the open. A glance at his tactical visor showed the targets had entered the stairwell and were heading for the next floor up. “Bandits heading up the south stairwell! Two Blue Alpha pursuing!”
“Two Blue Alpha, Tac One Leader!” General Telles called over comms. “Drive them toward the roof! We’ll be on top in one minute, and come down toward them to cut them off!”
“Roger that, Tac One!” the corporal replied as he headed for the stairwell, jumping over bodies, his squad hot on his heels.
“Half that ring is gone!”
Jenna Hayashi pulled her Gunyoki fighter up sharply, settling in behind one of the Orswellan cruisers desperately trying to defend what was left of the Agosti shipyards. As soon as she was in position, she opened up with her main plasma cannons. Her first shot brought down the cruiser’s already-weakened aft shields, and her next few shots slammed into its main engines, blowing them apart. “Woo-hoo!” she exclaimed, rolling into a spiraling dive to the right to avoid hitting the now-disabled cruiser. “That guy’s not going anywhere!”
“Maybe not, but he’s still shooting at us!” her weapons officer reminded her from the back.
“Details,” Jenna scoffed, pressing her jump button to escape the drifting cruiser’s attempt at retaliation. “Tekka One, Tekka Five! Target three is disabled and adrift. His stern shields are gone, but he’s still got main power and guns. Shall we continue our attack?”
“Negative,” Vol replied. “The section of the ring that target three can defend is gone, so ignore him. Do you have any missiles left?”
“All of them,” Jenna replied.
“Good,” Vol replied. “Feel free to take out another piece of that ring!”
“You got it, boss!” Jenna replied happily, pulling her Gunyoki fighter into a tight left turn toward the surviving section of the ring.
General Telles and his squad braced themselves against Reaper Six’s rocket wash as it swooped in and touched down in the middle of the intersection. All four Ghatazhak immediately ran out and jumped on board, the ship’s engines rising in pitch again as it lifted back up off the ground.
“Where to, gentlemen?” Lieutenant Haddix asked from the cockpit.
“The hospital in sector four,” General Telles replied as he sat in the opening of what was originally the Reaper’s weapons bay. “Put us on the roof.”
“You got it,” the lieutenant replied.
General Telles surveyed the area below as they streaked overhead. He could see pockets of resistance still battling his troops on the ground. Another Reaper jumped in from his right and opened fire on a group of Dusahn troops giving one of his Ghatazhak squads trouble. Radio chatter from the ground battle filled his helmet comms, but his subordinates were handling their teams just as he, himself, would.
“How’s it going on the ground, guys?” Ensign Weston asked the Ghatazhak.
“Not bad!” specialist Knaff boasted from the back. “The Dusahn can’t shoot worth a damn!”
“Then what the hell do you need us for?” the ensign joked.
“Unfortunately, they have really good fucking body armor!” Corporal Smida replied.
“Thirty seconds,” the lieutenant warned.
General Telles peered at the hospital while their Reaper circled around to the facilities rooftop landing pad. “Four floors, and they’re already on two,” he told his men. “We’ll have to move fast.”
“We’re a Tac Team!” Corporal Smida barked proudly. “Fast is what we do!”
General Telles smiled as the Reaper swooped down into a hover over the landing pad. “Let’s get this done,” General Telles announced as he jumped from the Reaper to the rooftop landing pad five meters below.
“The battleship is still intact,” Kaylah reported from the Aurora’s sensor station. “She’s lost all starboard shields and most of her ventral shields, but she’s still got power and weapons.”
“How did you know what they were going to do?” Josh wondered.
“If they haven’t left orbit in twenty years, there’s a reason,” Nathan said.
“You think they can’t?” Josh asked.
“They have never even left for maneuvers,” Commander Andreola stated.
“They should have left orbit to get maneuvering room for battle,” Nathan explained. “The fact that they moved closer to the surface and rolled their weak shields toward the planet confirmed it for me.”
“Like putting your back against the wall,” Jessica surmised.
“They left the Jar-Razza here because she isn’t space-worthy,” Nathan said. “She’s just got power, guns, and shields.”
“And maneuvering,” Kaylah added, “and she’s still moving toward the surface.”
“Her captain doesn’t give up easily, I’ll give him that,” Jessica said.
“Target is launching fighters,” Kaylah reported. “Gunyoki are vectoring to intercept.” She turned to the captain. “They’re launching escape pods, as well, and increasing their rate of descent.”
“With antimatter reactors,” Nathan realized. “Josh…”
“Turning toward the battleship, now,” Josh replied, anticipating Nathan’s orders.
Vol pressed his jump button, sending his Gunyoki fighter jumping ahead to resume his attack. The Agosti asteroid appeared before him and, once again, he pulled up sharply, skimming the surface as the few remaining surface defense turrets opened fire on him, yet again.
“I’m hit!” Dugan called from Tekka One Four.
“You’re trailing smoke from your starboard side!” Bran warned from Tekka One Seven. “Vent your starboard tanks!”
“Venting!”
Vol’s fighter crested the last ridge, and the surviving portion of the ring came into sight. “Good lock,” he reported. “Firing.”
“Firing,” his wingman, Dosne added.
Red-orange bolts of plasma streaked away from both ships, slamming into the ring, breaking it open. A massive explosion from deep within the structure lit up its interior, and the ring began to crack open, section by section, spreading around the last quarter of the asteroid.
“Holy shit!” Dosne exclaimed. “It’s coming apart! We did it!”
Vol ceased fire, pulling back on his flight control stick, causing his fighter to climb. “Tekka Squadron, disengage and jump to rally point Delta Two,” he ordered.
“What about the other three cruisers?” Jenna asked.
“They’ve got nothing left to defend,” Vol explained, “and by the time they make it to Orswella, the battle will be over.”
“But they’re such easy targets,” Suli joked.
“They’re victims, just like us,” Vol reminded them. “
We’ve just struck a serious blow against the Dusahn. We’ve done our job,” he added as he pushed his jump button.
The Aurora rocked as all the battleship’s guns pounded her forward shields.
“Message from Tekka One,” Naralena announced. “The shipyard ring around Agosti One Four Seven has been destroyed, and one cruiser has been disabled.”
“Man, what I wouldn’t give for a few jump missiles right now,” Nathan cursed to himself as the ship continued to rock with each rail gun slug impact against their forward shields. “How long will our shields hold?”
“Not more than a minute,” Jessica warned.
“I’ve got a lock, Captain,” Josh urged.
“Comms, send a message to that ship, all channels and all frequencies: stand down, now, and your crew will be spared. You have ten seconds.”
“Aye, sir,” Naralena replied as the ship continued to shake.
“Forward shields are down to sixty percent,” Jessica warned.
“How are the target’s shields?” Nathan asked Kaylah.
“Their starboard shields are at forty percent,” Kaylah replied. “Dorsal, stern, and port shields are all gone.”
“No response from the Dusahn battleship,” Naralena reported.
“Forward shields down to fifty percent,” Jessica warned.
“Forward torpedo tubes, full power, one round of triplets on all tubes,” Nathan instructed. “Fire when ready.”
“Oh, I’m ready,” Josh assured him.
“Then fire.”
“Firing,” Josh replied, eagerly pressing his firing trigger.
A single wave of four triple-shots of plasma torpedoes streaked out from under the Aurora’s nose, slamming into the battleship’s starboard shield, causing its emitters to overload and erupt in showers of sparks.
“Target’s starboard shields are gone,” Jessica reported. “She’s a sitting duck.”
“Kaylah,” Nathan called, “what’s under that ship right now?”
“On the surface? Mostly water,” Kaylah replied, “but the main inhabited portion of the planet will be coming around in about ten minutes.”
“What happens if we take them out, now?”
“At this altitude, there will be some interaction with the planet’s atmosphere.”
“How much?”
“Forward shields down to forty percent,” Jessica warned.
Kaylah took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “I cannot be certain.”
“I need a best-guess,” Nathan urged.
“All I can tell you is that if we don’t take them out, at their current rate of descent, and assuming their reactors don’t lose containment until impact, the results are going to be a lot worse.”
Nathan rotated his command chair to confer with Commander Andreola as the Aurora continued to shake from the incoming rail gun rounds coming from the doomed battleship’s main guns.
“Forward shields are now down to thirty percent,” Jessica pushed, her tone becoming more concerned.
“I don’t see that you have a choice, Captain,” the commander stated, anticipating Nathan’s thoughts.
Nathan looked at Jessica. “Prepare all forward tubes. Full power. Triple shots. All forward plasma cannons. We keep firing until they lose containment.”
“Got it,” Jessica replied. “By the way, forward shields are down to twenty percent, now,” Jessica reiterated.
“Helm, begin increasing our distance from the target, but keep all tubes on them.”
“Increasing distance from target,” Josh acknowledged.
“Loki, be ready on that escape jump.”
“Understood,” Loki assured him.
“Comms, tell Dota Squadron to jump to their rally point and stand by,” Nathan added.
“Aye, sir.”
“How much time do we have to safely take them down?” Nathan asked Kaylah.
“Five minutes, tops.”
“Our shields aren’t going to hold that long,” Jessica stated.
“If their reactors lose containment, we don’t have enough distance to be safe,” Abby warned, “not with our shields down to twenty percent.”
“Make that fifteen percent,” Jessica corrected.
“That’s why we’re going to jump before they lose containment,” Nathan replied.
“I wouldn’t cut it too close,” Abby insisted. “Don’t forget what happened last time.”
Nathan turned to Abby. “Good point. Jess, be prepared to channel all our energy to our forward and ventral shields as we jump, just in case.”
“Understood.”
“Captain, the closer to the atmosphere they get, the worse it will be for the planet,” Kaylah warned.
Nathan watched the image of the battleship as it continued to send streams of rail gun slugs into the Aurora’s forward shields.
“Shields at ten percent,” Jessica warned, feeling as if her warnings were falling on deaf ears.
Nathan studied the image of the doomed battleship once more, expecting to feel a sense of sadness, but did not. “Fire.”
General Telles and his team burst onto the fourth floor of the hospital and were immediately fired upon by Dusahn troops heading down the corridor toward them. The general ducked down low, firing as he ran across the corridor to the nurses’ station, striking one of the enemy soldiers in the armor plating at the man’s knees. The impact did not injure the man, but it did knock his feet out from under him, putting his face in line with the general’s next two shots.
Another glance down the corridor revealed multiple casualties, both medical staff and patients. The general signaled to his three men on the other side of the hallway, and Sergeant Spira immediately returned fire, dropping two of the six Dusahn soldiers at the far end.
As the sergeant fired, Corporal Smida and Specialist Knaff charged across the hallway to join the general at his position.
General Telles tapped Specialist Knaff on the shoulder as Corporal Smida joined the sergeant in sending suppression fire down the corridor.
General Telles crossed the nurses’ station, gesturing for the medical staff, huddled within, to stay put. He peeked out the other side, observing that the corridor was clear. He then proceeded quickly, but quietly, down the corridor on the opposite side of the floor, pausing at each doorway to his left to ensure that the room didn’t open up to the corridor on the side containing the Dusahn soldiers.
Sergeant Spira spotted a section of ductwork above the enemy combatants and got an idea. “I can force them to your side if you’re ready, sir.”
“Ten seconds,” the general replied cover comms.
“Be ready, Smida,” the sergeant warned as he took aim at the ductwork and fired, sending it crashing down upon the four Dusahn soldiers.
The sergeant and the corporal both stepped out from behind their cover, walking in a crouch toward the enemy as they continued to pour energy weapons fire down the corridor, while the Dusahn soldiers tried to free themselves from the rubble of the collapse. The first soldier up took several blasts to his chest armor and, finally, a blast to his exposed upper neck and chin, melting them away.
The second guard took multiple hits to his chest and torso, but managed to survive. As he attempted to scramble to safety, he stumbled over some ductwork, and took a blast to the side of the face, killing him instantly.
The remaining two Dusahn soldiers managed to escape through a door on their left, charging through a patient’s room and into the corridor on the other side, where they were met with more energy weapons fire coming from General Telles and Specialist Knaff, dropping the first soldier through the door.
General Telles charged forward, his weapon remaining ready at his shoulder and aimed forward, immediately rounding the door.
The general stopped dead in his tracks. Inside the room, the
remaining Dusahn soldier had a small boy in his left arm, holding him in front of his chest like a shield, shouting angry warnings in his own language, his sidearm held at the child’s head. General Telles stood firm, his weapon trained on the small portion of the soldier’s face that was not covered by the child’s head.
“What’s going on?” Sergeant Spira asked over comms.
“One goon, using a child as a shield,” General Telles replied quietly over comms.
“Take the shot, sir,” the sergeant urged. “He’s got a belt full of grenades he can still use to rip this place wide open.”
The Dusahn soldier repeated his angry demands, shaking the crying boy as he yelled at the top of his lungs.
“Stand fast, Sergeant,” the general ordered quietly over comms. “If he comes out your side, you can take the shot.”
“Understood.”
The soldier yelled some more, first pointing his weapon at the general, then at the floor, and then back at the child he held before him.
General Telles held up his left hand, spreading his fingers slowly, and then began lowering his weapon toward the floor, without saying a word, his eyes locked on those of his enemy.
“What are you doing, sir?” Specialist Knaff wondered from the corridor.
“Be ready, Knaff,” the general said in a low, confident tone.
“Oh, shit,” the specialist replied over comms.
General Telles took a step forward as he slowly lowered his weapon, entering the room. The Dusahn soldier yelled at him incoherently, again gesturing for the general to lower his weapon. The general glanced left and right, spotting at least six more children in the room—some in their beds, unable to move, their faces twisted in fear.
“General?” Sergeant Spira asked, getting nervous.
“I’ve got this, Sergeant,” the general assured him as he took another step forward, continuing to lower his weapon closer to the floor.