One minute remained and his brain thumped for ideas. Did the Vertons know of the coming assault of his troops, or even the arrival of the Alza Ningh forces? The troops from Alza Ningh were to arrive in thirty minutes. Tiny could see now that all legions would be awake by the time they arrived; regardless of where they were in the quadrant.
15 seconds.
A lone soldier approached one of the attack craft in preparation to warm the compartments and to carry out his check of equipment. Tiny brought his weapon to his shoulder in decisive decision to drop him first. He opened fire and spectacular bursts of red light shot out from all weapons, his being the initiation, each hitting their targets well enough to cause death in wholeness as well as injury to the spirits of those that remained, the next target was then sought. The flanking macebearers stepped off of their departure lines 400 metres to either flank of Tiny’s line of firers.
The ten gunners turned to the tents and the splinter effect of each laser fired achieved the devastation required, each pulse of light splitting into five life shattering rays in a cone of fire, the cone of fire being characteristic of any machine gun of the twenty-first century.
Legion Millennium rained from their tents with weapons in the palms of their hands, only to be shot down before they could take five steps. Some yelled out, warning the others. Each soon learnt to roll out from underneath the sides of the tents, rolling a few metres before laying down some well-aimed shots.
The macebearers slowed their firing down now as new targets were searched for, the pickets on the perimeter no longer a concern. Several of the gunners now fired at four of the attack craft as little other target presented itself.
Macebearers with mace in hand came from the jungle, cleaning up the wounded Verton with a smash of their mace, converging on others that remained gasping for life. They didn’t believe in taking prisoners and anything breathing was a threat to their planet. The ground was soon won.
The small battle came to a close and only erratic firing came from the odd weapon as the field clearance of the battle zone came into effect.
Unarmed macebearers searched for weapons until a majority was armed with the new toys of destruction. The one remaining attack craft was approached by a search party of five was sent to clear it of possible hostility. Re-organisation was undertaken and the coming report of only 56 friendly dead was a welcome relief. The ship was soon cleared and Tiny boarded her. He headed for the communications and turned the panel on, manually searching for the frequency of the Alza Ningh force. Five minutes was the estimate for their arrival. He sat with worried seclusion for several minutes before a warrior entered the cockpit with the report from the other assault several kilometres away. “Only 43 losses.”
“This is good my friend. Go outside and send a force of one hundred, armed with three weapons apiece. Deliver those weapons to the force that rests in ambush along the track to the palace. We’ll not be marrying up with them. I feel that we should remain here to confirm our suspicions that the Verton have knowledge on the arrival of the forces from Alza Ningh. Inform the ambush commander to remain where he is for early warning of any Verton approach. If they need to obtain a closer field of view of any suspicious activity then they should do so by sending in a small reconnaissance party only.”
“Is that all, sir?”
“For the time being, yes.”
The man removed himself to set about his task. It was then that Tiny peered out into the night and a flicker on the horizon caught his attention. It became brighter by the second. Fire from the other assault, a homing beacon and possible signal to the Vertons that trouble had brewed – if they’d not already been alerted. It was then that he realised that his camp too was ablaze, an orange band of light encircling the camp area, the sky above alerting all for kilometres around that something was amiss. He’d have to move immediately, before the Verton sent ships to investigate.
PLANET EQUATIA.
SPACE.
The macebearers’ assaults upon the two camps were promptly reported to Muriphure. A small force of ten thousand were then given a change of orders and re-deployed in regard to the new information, to be kept from the oncoming invasion offered by the Alza Ningh troops.
The remaining fourteen battle cruisers had already been deployed to shield the approach upon Equatia from the eight-foot giants of Alza Ningh, along with the appropriate number of Vertons required to pilot the three-man Ellat fighters that were housed in the bays of his cruisers.
The small Ellat craft were ideal for close quarter combat, with outstanding manoeuvrability and electronic targeting sensors that out performed any other ship in the galaxy. Each battle cruiser housed only 50 such fighters, though many others had been deployed to the planet’s surface. The 10, 40, and 100 man ships on the surface of Equatia were to be kept from the fight – a reserve.
The sight of the ominous metal shield that the Verton forces had created by their cruisers shattered the Alza Ningh pilots’ minds and spirits as they came out from the QEM-gate. The portenium cruisers received a heavy bombardment of thrashing fire as the battle cruisers opened up with a wall of neutron pulse-gun fire.
The portenium cruisers now shifted axis as they drift forward and orders for battle stations pointlessly given, for all pilots were strapped in and prepared to move from the hull of the giant ships and towards the planet’s surface.
The Verton plan was carried out as the first volley of neutron pulses hit their targets.
It became evident that it was too late to change any Alza Ningh orders. Transporters were spat from the launch pads, each carrying 400 Alza Ningh troops, each representing nothing more than a large target and final resting place for those aboard.
The Tron fighters soon followed and joined the transporters for escort, confused as to the calling of battle stations and the sight that they saw as they exit the portenium bays. Confusion reigned as commanders wrestled with their communication devices, trying hard to bring some form of order to the threat ahead.
The large transporters reacted as best as possible to the awesome threat, Alza Ningh after Alza Ningh manning the small escape pods and assault ships aboard the large 400 troop transporters, setting about to emerge from the coffins in which they travelled, easy targets for the picking. The transporters were built for the ferrying of troops, not for close combat with battle cruisers.
Ellat fighters sprang forward into action for a melee of catastrophic proportion, neutron fire from the Verton battle cruisers continuing for a short time, bolts of light thrusting forward and past the advancing Ellats. This brought structural damage to the portenium cruisers and a shattering blow to the transporters as one by one they exploded in a shower of burning metals, putting to death an enormous number of Alza Ningh troops. The cold void of space extinguished the flying debris of colour as unrecognisable limbs and other parts of the anatomy sped off in all directions.
400 Tron fighters were soon 300, well before any order to organisation was successful. They charged in blindly, sticking to their groups and singling out small pockets of Ellat fighters. It was now a scene of unforgettable destruction, small and large fighters swarming around one another, Verton cruisers picking off the transporters, portenium cruisers retaliated with whatever target presented itself in the growing confusion. Laser after laser and pulse after pulse shot through the folds of space, many shots hitting their targets.
Landing procedure for the Alza Ningh was then aborted as communications began to break down and the larger of the Verton ships were targeted amidst the heinous fight. And the end of the fight was near.
The Alza Ningh had started out with ten transporters to each portenium, an average of eight from each of their mother ships being launched after taking into account the effects of the Verton fire from cruisers. They had lost 40 transporters – 24,000 men in the blink of an eye.
Small firing lanes now began to clear between the portenium and battle cruisers; shields were brought down on the Verton ships, and neutron pulses once again tar
geted Alza Ningh vessels.
One after the other porteniums burnt out of control, drifting through space with no escape manageable. One portenium saw its chance however and turned to close its bay doors, even in the face of their own transporters as they tried to board and shot off into the QEM-gate for retreat back to the QEM-gate fork and safety. It had left the Alza Ningh troops on board the transporter to bear the full brunt of neutron fire, to explode seconds later on being targeted by a battle cruiser.
Three porteniums managed an escape in mass with an estimated force or 6,000 troops and five transporters to each of their cargo holds, a leap back towards their own quadrant for the much-needed time out in order for them to lick their wounds. More smaller craft still continued with their struggle to break free of the fight however, a failed attempt to jump into the QEM-gate putting an end to their misery.
Orders continued to travel between call signs, orders for escape and evade. The Tron fighters were incapable of long distance parsec, but they did stand a chance for survival on the planet’s surface below. Unfortunately each of these was shot from the sky above Equatia by the forces there.
All told, five porteniums had escaped the clutches of the Legion Millennium with an overall force of 8,000 troops and 20 transporters. Losses to the legion were minor in comparison, the Verton force remaining the mighty fighting unit that it was.
The attempt to protect Quadrant Three from a Verton invasion was well and truly over before it had begun.
CHAPTER SEVEN
PLANET EARTH.
NICARAGUA.
5:00 AM.
The Nemo rest on the ocean floor, the scene outside televised through to all chambers aboard the submarine via the tele-visual.
1,200 dolphins could be seen as they swam off majestically towards the channel’s mouth, in an awe-inspiring vision of beauty, a perpetual line of contribution towards the cause.
The time it took the mammals to pass the great hulk of the Nemo was gamely employed. 200 divers and 20 barge submersibles were prepared, prepared for the voyage of their life. As the last of the checks was conducted – and double-checked – all vessels and manner of man pushed out into the order of advance, ready for the deployment through to the lake which sat beyond the channel.
Ten single man skimmers sat along either side of the barge submersibles, each attached securely. Brother Anthony was to accompany Doug in the lead barge once the last of the dolphin had disappeared into the mouth of foreboding darkness.
Levers were pushed forward on the control panels and a forward momentum was engaged.
Little was said between the occupants and voice communications lay dormant around the necks of each individual; helmets and oxygen would be rendered operable soon enough; hypoventilation was also to be held a close concern. Any degree of danger could arise at any time, and each man was pondering on the mission ahead, the unknown future to the earth and its occupants; the entire plan must surely be successful.
The first of many kilometres were passed and the headlights to each barge paved the way, the foremost group illuminating the powerful tails of the rearward most dolphins, as they maintained their steady advance towards the lake.
Anthony sat quiet, but not in meditation, his friends were fully aware of all requirements. Small pockets of air trapped inside the channel were used preciously by these creatures and could have been the only cause for alarm, but a small team of scientists had checked the stability of the air to support life, and had proved that it was indeed life supporting.
The last of the barges had disappeared from sight of the Nemo and the sonar aboard the sub showed the surrounding ocean as clear. The Nemo’s task was now complete. It rose silently and commenced the first of its navigational legs back to its docking bay in Acapulco, ready for an early retirement due to the planet’s preparation for evacuation. Captain Hammond made fond memory of these, the last few hours of life as a seamen; his last seafaring journey. He could only wonder if the remainder of the earth’s populace understood their true fate to come.
7:45 AM.
The dolphins continued to exit through the bars at the end of the channel and the crews behind blew the hatches to their barges. They now prepared the skimmers for the long and final leg that was to take them out through the bars and on a further one hundred kilometres to the far end of the lake itself, the most enduring, freakish, and fearful voyage of all.
They all moved hurriedly and breathed the first mouthfuls of oxygen from their tanks. They switched the skimmers on and depressed the acceleration levers that rest under each of their thumbs on the steering rail, pressing forward, towards the unknown.
Each packet of twenty rallied around into their groups and waited for their turn to leave behind the monotonous dark and lifeless, but natural formation of rock, the channel – it could one day be classed as the saviour of all mankind. The barges would be left behind, as too were the larger submersibles belonging to the marines.
The barge oxygen was somewhat tasty compared to what they were breathing now, an over compressed type that normally went stale and turned to poison gas after more than three days in storage; but it had its uses.
The first two groups emerged and split so as to be separated by a width of 500 metres. Dolphins were seen all around as the first of the teams shuttled off, seemingly playing in cheerful agreement with one another. A bearing was taken and adjustments made as the instrument panel took immediate calculation of the drifting currents and an accumulated metre by metre began to fall behind them.
The arrowhead formation of each group was soon adopted and the outside members constantly watched the flanks, although their scanners would have picked up any movement well before the human eye. They were scared, but wouldn’t admit it; not even to themselves. Visibility was down to 30 metres. The groups behind had no problem with spacing due to the active sonar, so the distance in metres between each of the following groups was easily maintained.
Anthony stuck in close behind Doug as he headed the move into the murky waters. Small schools of fish now came into view but far too small to be detected by the scanners. A few dolphins raced across the path of Doug’s vision, giving him a little fright as they snatched up the swimming morsels of flesh into their smiling jaws, disappearing again, quite suddenly. This act gave some assurance, as all well knew that the dolphin wouldn’t be feeding if a predator were looming close by.
He looked back down at the compass and maintained the bearing; they were making good progress.
8:00 AM.
Each group lay strung out, five groups of twenty, one behind the other in single file; each separated by a distance of 300 metres. The other five groups remained parallel and 500 metres out to their left flank.
They had barely begun their trek when it became evident that something was wrong.
The scanners lit up with flashing dots indicating a closing phenomenon. No dolphin could be seen but position anticipated. A few short minutes had passed before the dots showed a slower advance towards their position.
200 metres on either flank the dolphins were kept busy with the approaching evil. Sharks began to chase the annoying mammals that they outnumbered three to one. A soft nose hit the belly of a tiger, lifting it several metres in agony before the dolphin turned tail and commenced to propel himself through the water and away from the menacing jaws of the shark that now turned in anger. It gave chase but was too slow to close the distance.
Dolphin occupied more shark by bombing past their noses in the hope for a gamely chase, which they would surely win. But the overwhelming numbers of shark slowly gave up all hope for a fair fight, and the sharks’ instinctively decided to close the distance towards the slower targets, for the skimmers continued to call out their invitation like the ringing of a dinner bell – this only intrigued the monsters of the deep.
Doug saw the first of the approaching shark coming in from two O’clock, head on with his extended flank.
A command was given in the form of a hand signal an
d a plan employed. The group of skimmers slowed and a leapfrog movement of the rear most skimmers moving up to the point of the formation adopted. The method slowed progress but put a winning edge on the security of the group. One after the other the rear most man moved up to the point position, allowing the others to cover the move with their spear guns that were pulled from shoulder harnesses, a single shot weapon backed up by its more potent triple shot brother. Shots were fired with only a couple of the tranquilliser spears hitting their target, sending the shark into a conscious sleep that would prevent drowning, each slowly drifting far from the hectic fight for preservation.
More sharks closed in on the skimmers and were taken out by the poison tipped weapons against the wishes of the men who fired them. A few dolphin helped with this by racing in and hitting the shark hard, laying it momentarily motionless for another well-aimed shot to be taken.
More of the mammals came in to assist the divers in retreating a shark’s assault, the eyes of black death rolling back as another giant mouth opened in readiness to kill. One dolphin was too fast in its move and a spear penetrated its belly. A loud and sharp squealing noise flowed from its inside before its lifeless form floated aimlessly to the lake’s floor and the shark snapped onto the divers arm, ripping it from its socket.
Many schools of shark began their retreat from the divers, more and more slowly disappearing from the scanners; the dolphins were becoming more successful in their acts of annoyance. Many sharks were also seen to trail off behind the lines of divers as they continued their move, to bite at the men whom had already lost their lives, the blood attracting the killers of the deep. This brought relief to the remaining force and the shark swarm in their midst gradually grew thin. They soon returned to their top speed and glanced around in a mental count as to the numbers they’d lost.
Doug counted five dead from his group but refrained from talking over the radio silence that had been imposed, it was only to be broken in an extreme emergency, or when contact with the enemy had been made.
MILDRATAWA Page 19