“You're insane,” Resilient said, even though her tone was thoughtful. “I'll work on it and relay your plan to Rick.”
“Thanks, and tell him good work with the Destroyers,” I said, as I released by the re-loaders.
“Certainly.” She cut the channel, she had work to do after all.
“How bad is it?” I asked Bok Soo. My attention was on the battlefield now, my cannons hadn't stopped firing since I’d reloaded, there was little need to aim, my twin streams found Kalu wherever they went.
“Bad,” his tone grave. “The left flank is gone, we're using constant shelling and pushing whatever ship personnel we can pull to fill the gap, we're out of reserves. We're fully committed, but so are the Kalu, the numbers we're dealing with are just too many for even our massed firepower. Thankfully the Kalu are basically only fighting us hand to hand, with there being so many of them it's hard for them to shoot their lasers without hitting their own people. Foshunti is personally seeing to the mountain guns getting reloaded, they're battered to hell since their still in the Kalu's line of fire. The Fighters are getting hammered by the swarms, but they've had enough time engaging them to figure out what to expect.”
Rounds from the heavens hammered across the battlefield, cutting fighter swarms and Kalu racing towards our line apart like some kind of knife. The rounds tracked back and forth, turning the cut through the Kalu, into a wall.
“You beautiful bastard!” I said on a personal channel, overriding prompts.
“Thought you might like that,” Rick said, obviously happy and relieved to hear my voice as I was to hear his.
“A little rain from the heavens especially in this hell hole is more than welcome,” Bok Soo said, his grave stones cut with thanks towards Rick.
“Ah well hopefully we can put this hell hole to our backs,” Rick said, his own tone become serious and dark. “Resilient has relayed your plan, it's pretty... ambitious. But if we even do half of what you're hoping, I think we can take, if not whittle the remaining Kalu ships down.”
“Good,” I said, the simple word flat and dull with old anger. Just as Yasu's own team Samurai's revenge had tried to use honourable ways against me. I was going to bring the unholy and terrible power of the dishonourable Murphy down on the Kalu.
“I think it's time that we got the hell off of this rock,” I said, sending them both our escape plan.
“I believe it is Commander,” Rick said, his tone vicious.
“If I never see this planet again, I will be a happy man,” Bok Soo growled.
I pressed a button connecting Lifendi to our call.
“Alright Lifendi, we're getting the fuck off of Heija.”
“Very well commander, I will see to my ships and their people. I have no doubt Bok Soo will keep me in the loop,” Foshunti said.
“Good, in that case, I think we should create some room and get as many wounded sorted out as soon as possible. Shuttles would be the fastest I'm thinking,” I said.
“I'll see to it commander,” Bok Soo said.
“Good man. We have one hell of an operation to carry out, I don't want any fuck ups,” I said, my tone becoming hard, it wouldn't take much to turn our plan sour.
Everyone greened up and I cut the channel, firing two missiles from my right into a mass of Kalu.
Night was coming quickly, but artificial light from the heavens and weapons fire illuminated the hellish battlefield above and on Heija.
The Free Fleet crossed the Kalu fleet, coming in at breakneck speeds, braking as they got amongst the Kalu, their broadsides unleashing hell as the Kalu fought to turn, bringing their bows and weapons to bear on my ships.
Fighters fell on the Free Fleet ships. Thousands of lines of light reaching out from the Free Fleet ships to hit the swarms with their terrible fire power. Missiles arced into the swarms, there was enough atmosphere to create shockwaves and really fuck the Kalu Fighters up, throwing them into disarray.
“Come on you beauties!” I said, pumping one cannon in the air in salute to the fleet which plowed through the Fighters, cannon rounds sending Star Warriors and Destroyers into chaos, or down towards Heija. More than one had been ripped apart by the forces of even Heija's thin atmosphere.
The first ones to hit Heija had been too far away to feel much, now the ground was beginning to shake with every single one.
“Ammo!” Krom called out, firing missiles into the Kalu which had thankfully slowed their pace. Not without some liberal help of the PDS raining their pre-timed fletchette rounds onto the damned creatures.
Alerts came across my screen as a Kalu concentration broke through the lines to my right.
“Moving,” I said before Shreesht or Krom could. I took off with the odd ground eating slow lope of the HAPA. I lowered my cannons, freeing the missile pods, firing one multi from each. It flew over my people's heads and into the third or fourth line of Kalu trying to get into the trench system. Lasers sparked off of my armor as I moved, thankfully too fast for many of them to do much more than cut some hydraulic lines and, Shit, left cannons gonna be a bitch to use now. I grumbled, one of the main power lines got a lucky hit from a laser and shorted it out.
Thankfully the firing mechanism, cannon, and its ammunition feed looked to be still functional. I ran over a rise, turning sideways, braking myself with the HAPA's massive feet as my stabilized right cannon rose, a line of fletchette rounds spitting into the breach.
Kalu were literally blasted backwards as I stopped moving and jumped into the trench. I tossed my left cannon onto the edge of the crevass, firing it along with my left cannon, using my shoulder to move my stream of rounds, the edge of the trench acted as a pivot.
A Kalu hit my back, its claws digging into my armor. I checked my map for a second and kicked the forward wall of the trench, I smacked into the back wall, reinforced with armor plating, and crushed my Kalu backpack.
I swung my left cannon like a flail, close arming a Kalu with HAPA power. Gore went everywhere, the cannon's weight and the HAPA's force cracking the creature's armor and the skull underneath. Two more got a blast from my right cannon. The Kalu turned on me, forgetting the Commandos at their backs.
I swung and flailed, not firing for fear of catching one of my people as Commando's roared into battle, their plasmid swords burying themselves in Kalu armor and flesh.
The battle of the trench had been won, but the Kalu didn't know that.
I fired as I moved up to the front of the trench.
“Come on commandos!” I roared, slapping down my left cannon and firing with that as well, my missile pods erupting in flame as missiles leapt free towards swarms of Kalu Fighters in the sky, and their charging battle brothers on the ground.
I moved and fired, anywhere the Kalu seemed to be making ground I brought the delay fire of the HAPA down on them. Requests lit up my HUD as I shifted fire, rounds streaming through my auto loaders as my rail cannons opened up their coolant ports, heat waves came off of the things from either side.
There was no James Cook, no Salchar, and no Commander at that point. It was just a man fighting for the lives of those around him, as they fought for his.
The ground seemed to erupt and shake.
“Take cover!” Bok Soo barked. I had enough time to look up and see as the Free Fleet that had been in orbit had passed the Kalu formation, and dove into Heija's atmosphere, now they were coming in at an angle to the battlefield. The massive ships of the Free Fleet, my fleet rumbled louder than anything I have ever heard, it shook the marrow in my bones as PDS, cannons and even Commandos in the airlocks created thousands of streams of rounds.
I got down as bigger rounds than the PDS' hit the battlefield. I was rocked backwards on my HAPA as dirt and stones rained down on my form.
“The Kalu have taken the bait and are coming down in force,” Bok Soo said.
“Well then it's about time we got on those shuttles and got the hell out of here!” I said.
“Yes Commander!” Bok Soo said, even
the bone weary fatigue of fighting on Heija for months couldn't stifle his excitement, or his pride. He and his Commandos had come to Heija, probably expecting to die, yet they had smashed the Kalu, bathing the world Heija with the hellish creature's blood and armor.
They had rallied when we came back for them. But they had still thought that they were going to die on this planet.
Now, well now there was a chance to get off of this hell, and to take a hell of a lot of Kalu down.
Well that was something that would sit well with any Commando.
“All units this is Commander Salchar, begin movement to the ships. HAPA's will cover. Shuttles get your asses moving,” I said, pushing myself up as I stopped looking at the Free Fleet ship's that were now floating over the trench lines, clearing the skies of Kalu Fighters and hitting the Star Warriors that were descending. Free Fleet Shuttles came from those covering ships in a flood, landing on the front lines and loading up with Commandos.
It was time to get the fuck off of Heija.
Everyone had been briefed on the plan, now it was working, people just followed their leaders and commanders, most of them shocked as they piled onto shuttles and headed towards their awaiting ships.
I was up and moving to secondary lines through trenches, my mass taking up all of a trench as I took up the rear. A few Kalu followed but a couple of blasts killed even them.
Damned cockroaches, I thought as I stopped at the secondary line. The HAPA's stood as a line, pushing back any Kalu that had followed while the second line assisted, their fire dwindling as they too turned and made for lines further back.
“Holy shit,” Shreesht said, his words stunning me as I looked at where he was facing.
Tens of Kalu Warriors had arrived every few minutes up till now. Eight hundred had landed as they had got word from the enemy ships. The six hundred remaining in orbit were all coming down now in a stream.
The PDS of the fleet wasn't enough to keep what must have been over a hundred thousand Kalu at bay and they couldn’t slow the onslaught of six hundred ships coming down.
“All HAPA's mark sector and ready missiles, check for no overlaps. Green when ready,” I said, HAPA's coming back as missile pods moved into position. “Fire!”
HAPA's were hidden by a wall of missile propelled warheads as they rushed towards the enemy.
“Move it HAPA's!” Bok Soo called out.
The line dissolved, lasers reaching us at even this distance. We didn't take the time to go through the trenches, there were no defending lines anymore, just three hundred meters to the grounded ships.
Even though the lasers were faraway, and weak, there were a lot of them. Alarms quickly rose in volume as my rear armor took hits, I pressed on harder with my ground-lope as I saw, a HAPA stumble so I turned, braking as my legs wind milled, my HAPA almost horizontal from the spin.
“Eject,” I yelled over my close area frequency.
I saw the multi-missiles crash into the Kalu lines. They didn't even seem to stop as fresh Kalu leaped over their fallen, they were five hundred meters away and moving damned fast.
I turned my attention onto the HAPA, the pilot was cutting themselves free of their harness. I reached out a cannon, braking as they freed themselves of their HAPA and grabbed onto it like it was a lifeline, I wind milled my legs, using my other cannon to stay upright as I failed to take into account the extra weight of an armored commando.
I grunted in my armor while I kept running, the laser hits much more powerful. As PDS went live and HAPA's cleared their line of fire.
Four streams of rounds blasted past me, I looked up, my HUD connecting to the two's Identity tags.
“Will you hurry up boss?” Shreesht said in a mildly annoyed voice. He and Krom turned and started running with me.
Engines were firing all across the ship formations. The Kalu were just a few hundred meters from us now.
I could feel the heat from the laser strikes now. One got my back, my legs faltering for a second as my HUD flashed warnings and pain lanced down my back, and I couldn't feel my legs anymore.
My spine had just been severed.
I kept running, my neural implants that had made me scream in pain and terror on my first day being a recruit, now kept me alive as my armor was cut and sliced, my battle suit sealed over wounds. I could hear the Kalu behind me, not even needing to look at my HUD to see them.
A pod was cut in half, hydraulics started failing as the last three of us ran through the first line of ships, Kalu ran at the airlocks, scraping at them to get in as ships started to rise. Commandos were yelling and firing behind Krom, Shreesht, my tag along, and myself as we ran to the second line of Battle cruisers and carriers,
Just a hundred meters. I thought, another laser cutting into my ribs. It felt as if I was in vacuum, air seemed to rush out of me and try to escape my body as I kept running, my vision blurred and I stumbled.
No I was getting this person home. That was my job, to get my hanger-on home. I grunted, coughing with the exertion, blood was in my lungs, I tried to fight the coughing attacks. Anger fueling me as my right hand dropped to the grenades waiting there. I thumbed them, the strength leaving me as I dropped them on the ground, running, always running. Then I felt as if I was lifted off of the ground.
“Salchar!” Krom's angered, but oddly scared voice barked.
Why was he scared? He was never scared? Well there are Kalu behind you. I thought, I slapped a wakeup manual injector on my thigh, clarity came back, a little. Enough to see Krom and Shreesht throwing me, then jumping over me as other Commandos grabbed me. Kalu were at the door.
I had to protect them. I grabbed the shotgun, coughing as I fired. I cocked and fired again as I felt someone cutting at my harness.
It was getting hard to cock the shotgun as another Kalu got a face full of plasma.
This is pretty good. No wonder Bok Soo likes them. I thought, lucidly as I fired again.
The Destroyers tilted their engines to the ground as Kalu raced under them and towards the other ships.
A Kalu was using me to climb up into the ship. I was out of rounds. I tried to club them, but my shotgun was tethered to my HAPA. A massive figure came from outside my vision, grabbing the Kalu and shoving a plasmid dagger into its head before throwing it out.
He turned to me, I knew that armor.
“Krom,” I said as I felt the harness come apart around me. I was dragged out of it by willing hands. My HAPA, unceremoniously kicked out of the Airlock, the airlock sealing behind it.
I looked up, someone pulled my helmet off.
“James! James!” She screamed, the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. I looked up as Yasu, smiling.
Well some good things did come of being recruited, I thought, coughing racking my body as blood made its presence in my lungs known.
Pain lanced through my entire being.
I saw Krom's armor come into view, his shoulders moving people out of the way as I was lifted.
“Shreesht, clear the way,” Krom's voice like granite as I felt myself moving.
I was supposed to stay awake, but I'm tired, so tired, and it hurts. Goddamn lasers.
Another spasm of pain flooded my upper body and darkness claimed me.
Chapter Murhpy's minions
Xentar watched as the Free Fleet ships rose into the air, he had just missed the engines firing. They killed thousands of Kalu as they melted the ground and sent rocks, debris, and air at the Kalu ranks, throwing them back and killing a number of them before they raced for the sky, the other ships joining them as they fired on his ships that had been descending and were now targeting their own.
“To the Star Warriors, we will hunt them down like the cowards they are!” Xentar said, word passing as he charged back through the ranks, butting Kalu out of the way as he rushed towards the collection of ships.
***
“How are we looking Eddie?” Rick said, trying to keep the anxiousness out of his voice. Resilient had taken a po
unding from the Kalu fleet which he was currently having a slug fest with. There was no manoeuvring or room for anything fancy. It was down to his armor and guns against the Kalu's. Resilient's shields had bee wiped out a while ago.
“We're on secondary relays at least, the power plants are holding steady somehow. We're moving guns from damned storage to bring more firepower to bear. Missiles tubes are getting royally messed up and I've ordered the evacuation of the outer decks. I suggest that we depressurize up to the third.” Eddie's voice deadly serious as Rick looked at his screens, seeing the angry red areas which seemed to take up the outer decks.
“Do it,” Rick said, cutting the channel to Eddie, the Kuruvian was working hard enough keeping Resilient together without needing Rick over his shoulder and Rick had a ship and a fleet to fight.
“Vort send out that alert that we're going to depressurize the three outer decks.”
Removing the air from the decks meant that anyone that got a wound in the area would probably die, but it meant that things such as fires, explosive blow outs, and people being thrown out into space wouldn't happen. Rick just hoped that the injured were able to get into the pressurized areas.
“Fire any and all remaining missiles,” Rick said as Resilient shook with impacts, laser cannons plowed into her armor as Rick bared his teeth.
“Fight your stations as best as you can people, don't wait for confirmation,” he said, giving an order that no military on Earth would give. He was giving control to the commanders that ran the ship. Shields that had been stretched to fill his priorities now covered areas at increased strength. Milra and Ben worked as if one organism, moving the ship and the fleet while Marleen barked orders into her earpiece with the gunnery deck. She took off, Prev her second, and the rest of Tactical followed her to the gun decks.
“Taking over gunnery decks,” Resilient said in that metallic tone alerting Rick that she was using a hell of a lot of processing power.
Free Fleet Box Set 2 Page 70