Con-Red: Recourse

by Feinstein, Max

  DUNTAN’S entire body shook as the hypervelocity cannon balked against his armored shoulder and sent another 55mm slug of ultra-dense alloy at the large enemy Thumper. He watched it strike the already wavering shields surrounding the walker before the tip pierced through and struck one of its heavy legs. The armored animal staggered awkwardly as that leg joint disintegrated upon the slug’s impact, causing the support to grow useless. Being already in motion at the moment the Thumper failed to compensate in time and fell to the forest floor, sending up a shower of dirt into the air.

  Looking out of the modified cargo transport’s open side hatch the colonel observed the final remaining Centaur IFV from Alpha Company, 2nd Platoon escape into the distance just above the treetops. He wished them much luck in their evacuation and refocused the heavy cannon held in his hands at the fallen enemy unit below. Through the falling debris he could already see the vehicle starting to stand back up on its three remaining appendages. With the crosshairs projected in his field of vision sliding over another knee joint he squeezed down on the trigger again.

  This time it took only two rounds to shatter that leg. Like a helpless creature the Thumper dropped back to the ground with the damaged limb detaching from the rest of the body. Its other limbs stabbed and ground into the thick soil beneath in a futile attempt to rise once more. Even heavily injured, though, the walker would not give up its fight, sending a pair of high speed missiles into the air from its backside. These warheads ascended quickly and he gripped the side of the open hatch calmly in anticipation just before the Buzzard transport tilted quickly. It banked into a tight turn under evasive action, all the while discharged a pair of interceptor missiles of its own. These small interceptors ejected from the rear of the vessel and quickly locked onto the incoming projectiles. One of these exploded early as it made contact with the Buzzard’s own missile, while the other continued unabated.

  It was only thirty meters out when a stream of bluish plasma bolts intersected with it and burned through its body. The rocket engine within that section now destroyed, the weapon pitched over and tumbled down towards the forest. Turning his head slowly, Duntan saw Broke, Sergeant Zawelak, standing beside him with his rifle stretched out against his left shoulder. Giving his teammate a nod of appreciation, Duntan turned back towards the still moving Thumper.

  “Ready?” he questioned Echo team and quickly received two green lights in his helmet display.

  “Light them up!” Duntan exclaimed a second later as he sent another pair of hypervelocity slugs at the Thumper, this time directed at its body.

  Throughout the whole engagement he had been using the Buzzard’s sophisticated sensors to monitor the alien walker’s power generation and distribution. It had noted the various surges in energy usages as the Thumper was engaged by the Centaur IFVs and through its own responses with weapons fire. With all of this information Duntan was able to use his own deductive reasoning to estimate the approximate location of the walker’s shield generation unit. It was only a guess, but it proved fruitful when the shields around the unit disappeared as one of the slugs detonated inside the Thumper’s hull.

  Upon this direct hit the entire surrounding forest lit up with a rising wall of fire as multiple munitions dropped from the modified transport exploded. They had dropped seconds before from weapons pods hanging on hardpoints throughout the Buzzard’s fuselage and wings. Since their drop, the plasma dispersal devices had been slowly loitering the airspace above their targets, waiting for the command to strike. Upon receiving such a command all six of these autonomous bombs retracted their glide wings and dropped from the air. They all detonated within close proximity for enemy soldiers, killing or maiming many of them as the intense plasma vaporized everything within its path. To keep other alien units at bay and away from the Thumper for a short period of time, other weapons deployed from the Buzzard and scattered dozens of mines throughout the area of operation.

  With phase one of the mission complete Duntan gave the all clear, “jump!”

  Under those orders Stripes and Joker ran towards the double open side hatches and leapt through them. There was no hesitation or second thoughts as they hurled their heavy bodies from the drifting cargo transport as it slid over the downed enemy walker. Sailing through the air the pair descended rapidly on top of the unshielded Thumper’s main body. At ten meters from their target both soldiers activated their repulsor fields, which almost instantly decelerated them to a desired speed. At such a rate of decent they were able to drop on top of the walker directly on their feet as if they had jumped from only a few meters up.

  Duntan kept his eyes on Stripes and Jokers just long enough to watch them cut a large hole within the top armor and jump into the vehicle itself. Their mission was to get as much technical data as possible from the downed beast. It would hopefully prove effective and provide some assistance in beating this alien invasion force. Praying they find something of use Duntan turned away from the open hatch and allowed it to seal up behind him.

  “Proceed to Howler One,” he ordered and the craft quickly took off towards the site of General Stelle’s downed Centaur.

  RAZOR One banked sharply starboard as another beam of defensive fire reached out towards him and his wingman from the damaged alien ship now moving slowly away from its previous position. His partner, Griz, rolled the opposite way in time to avoid another barrage. Both Serti and Griz were starting their second run at the damaged ship, trying to destroy it before it was able to meet up with enemy reinforcements. These incoming gunships and fighter craft had been detected only seconds before the connection to the TechNet was lost.

  The area wide link had lasted just long enough for the waves of Adino missiles to drastically reduce their numbers. At the moment only approximately a handful of the small craft remained. That act alone had sealed the fate of the missile batteries that had launched the Adino’s. With each subsequent launch they had revealed their locations and as such had been destroyed from orbit or through counterstrikes by the remaining fighters. Each batteries command vehicle and staff had escaped, however, thanks to their separation from the missile launcher sites since the first orbital strike on Crossbow Three.

  As he brought the Cyclone around once more Serti studied the rear of the large enemy ship that now appeared in front of him. Much of the hull was now scared and cratered from the many Adino missile strikes that had descended upon it in the first wave. The second barrage of warheads would have finished off the vessel, but all of their tracking data had been lost as soon as the orbiting satellite stopped functioning. He had watched them separate wildly almost immediately in all directions before detonating in midair when no other targets were located. While they hadn’t been able to destroy the craft, the first missiles had damaged it considerably. It was then that Serti realized that the ship was linked to the mental assault he had been sustaining. He noticed that as soon as the lower dome section had taken a direct hit all of the headaches and tragic thoughts he had been experiencing ceased.

  Mentally and somewhat physically drained, but now with a clear heads One and Nine had dove in on the enemy like angry hornets. What they quickly found out, however, was that the large ship, termed Kilo by Serti, was well designed and could take a considerable amount of damage. Their first pass did nothing except create more incisions in the Kilo’s hull and probably cause some damage to the dorsal dome array. What he did find out on that single pass was how the enemy beam projection worked. Their defensive fire helped him locate the narrow reflective-like strips that ran horizontally around the ship’s body. Each time the Kilo would fire a series of lights would ignite along different sections of each strip before coming together as a certain point to discharge that energy into a solid beam of deadly light. Before completing their first pass, Serti and Griz had targeted some of these projector sections with their particle cannons, disabling some of the ones that curved towards the rear of the vessel.

  It was thanks to this that the beam fire directed at him and
his wingmen almost completely ceased when they both settled in directly behind the damaged ship. A trail of dark smoke from multiple locations flowing out behind the Kappa engulfed his Cyclone as the interceptor drifted slightly from side to side. Serti quickly stabilized his craft and looked out towards the two rear engine banks facing him, one on either side of the Kilo. He knew the only way to bring down the large ship would be to disable its thrusters.

  “Beams and missiles,” Serti ordered and triggered his own particle cannons.

  He held down the trigger and let a continuous barrage of particle beams lance out at the Kilo. These beams slammed into the rear shields without pause, deteriorating the already weakened shields further, while Griz in Razor Nine did the same to the other side of the craft. At the same time he activated the interceptor’s missile system, which instantly brought up a new circular reticle in his vision. The semitransparent reticle followed his eyes and moved over the bank of three engines on his own side of the ship. He held it there for a second and only had to form a single thought to activate the target lock. Another thought triggered the launch sequence and Razor One’s last two missiles dropped down from their internal bays.

  These two projectiles raced forward, following a pair of targeting lasers emanating from the Cyclone’s nose. Serti watched the missiles pass straight through the heavily strained shields flickering over the rear of the vessel before striking the areas right between two of the thrusters. Each warhead punched through the minimal armor plating in that area and fragmented inside the ship itself. He released the trigger on the particle cannons as the entire engine bank exploded from the inside out. All three of the engines detached from their mounts and fell away from the alien ship, greatly decreasing its rate of climb.

  “Direct hit, sir,” Nine reported as another shudder ran through the ship.

  A large fireball at the edge of Serti’s visual field confirmed Lieutenant Kovolanchuk’s statement. He eased off the throttle slightly and let the enemy’s inertia carry it forward just a little further. After a moment, however, the ship slowed its ascent to a stop and pitched down at the front towards the ground. It was then that the entire aft section fragmented into multiple pieces as tremendous blast blossomed out from inside the ship. The stricken ship began to slow twisting spin during its descent with a thick cloud of black smoke trailing behind it from the gaping hole that now occupied its aft.

  Serti pulled back on the control stick and brought the interceptor back around, pointing it towards the center of what used to be Secturo base. Over top of him flew Razor Nine, lazily rotating around its axis, before settling in at the colonel’s port side. Together they flew on in order to provide as much fighter cover as they would for the remainder of the retraining army units. As they continued on their course Serti watched a number of enemy shuttles lift off the forest and proceed to accelerate at high speeds towards the sky. His ground scanning sensor array displayed dozens of Federation vehicles moving through the dense forest away from the base as more orbital strikes touched down in different areas, sending up large columns of smoke and fire. Judging by the number of army units evacuating Secturo Serti guessed that the majority of the military manpower assembled at the base was on its way to safer ground. Griz and he would stay in the vicinity for another few moments before flying off to rendezvous with the rest of the Razors and their two dropships.

  VIII

  December 25, 2486 S.E.D – Post Invasion Day 5

  TelSec Regional Dept. 2

  Silicis Harbor, Telcore

  The Imtera Aeromotive Corporation IC-7 came in at high speed, but slowed to a complete stop in midair with extreme precision before drifting down into one of the many empty parking spaces. There was a second of pause before the security clamps engaged underneath the sleek aerocar. With that the large blue and green Express TransCo colored driver side door popped out from the body, distorting the flowing lines, and slid out towards the front of the car. Out of the cabin Xander Wietzhausen finally stepped out and adjusted his uniform while look up at the tall twisting tower that was the regional headquarters of Telcore Security Force.

  His training kicked in instantly and Xander’s eyes quickly scanned over the twisted, triangle shaped build, and over the surrounding rooftops. Ever vigilant he assessed the threat level around him with each forward step and heard the soft sound of his aero’s door locking closed behind him. As he walked his eyes took in everything around him. No small detail was overlooked and all of it was instantly put away into his memory. Surprisingly there were very few people around. Only approximately a dozen individuals could be seen walking in and out of the building’s multiple front entrances. Xander also noticed a pair of uniformed TelSec officers standing outside conversing with each other.

  Being a government and more so a law enforcement building, Xander had to walk a small distance from the parking lot in order to reach the tower itself. Above him traffic flowed at a less than usual pace because of the holiday, with a minimal amount of aerocars speeding between the surrounding building in neat lines and corridors. A siren went off somewhere over his head before receding into the distance as a Security vehicle took off in response to one call or another. The world around him disappeared a moment later, however, when he entered the immense lobby of the TelSec tower and the blast-proof doors closed behind him. Without needing to be told he knew that already his face and body had been scanned even before his entry into the building; his face in order to compare with a database of past and current criminals, as well as for any signs of criminal intent that the programing could recognize and his body for weapons, explosives, and felonious mannerisms.

  “Mr. Grissom,” someone called out to his side when he was halfway through the expansive Yolinos marble lined lobby.

  Xander made a small smile and turned towards the sound. He watched as a tall man dressed in a striped navy colored suit strode out towards him and out stretched his hand.

  Shaking hands firmly he looked up straight into the taller man’s eyes, “Detective Baskier, thank you for meeting me in person, especially on Christmas Day.”

  “No problem, I had a few minutes to spare and I don’t really do holidays,” the detective said and turned to start walking towards one of the building’s secure gravlifts, “oh and don’t worry about your sidearm. I’ve cleared you to carry it inside the Department.”

  “Much appreciated, thank you,” Xander expressed and lightly touched the pistol holstered on his right hip.

  The Detective nodded and reached out to press his palm against the lift activation switch, “so you really think you’ll find something we missed?”

  “I’m not entirely certain,” Xander said as the double doors on the lift opened, “but I know a fresh pair of eyes on a stale case is always helpful. If I find something, great, if not at least I tried. The victim and his family deserve that I think.”

  “Yes, I agree with that. It never hurts to have someone with a new perspective help out. Who knows, maybe you’ll find something we missed and we can catch the bastards.”

  Baskier motioned Xander forward into the gravity lift and followed him inside. The lift was smaller than others in the building, but had much tighter security inside. In order to use it the detective had to punch in a special code on the holographic number pad that appeared on the left hand side, this one happened to be for the fifteenth floor. The whole holographic image turned green with the last number entered and the doors quickly shut in front of them. Xander barely felt the downward force as the lift’s dampeners engaged and it accelerated straight up.

  “What made you get into private security Mr. Grissom? You file says you were a rapidly rising star at the IDA. You could have been leading an entire team within a few years,” the detective recalled as he turned his head towards Xander just as the lift came to a soft stop.

  Smirking slightly at the mention of his cover history at the Intelligent Directorate of the Army, Xander paused while the lift doors slid open, “I guess I just got tired of d
ealing with the bureaucracy built into the system. It’s very hard to get some things accomplished when you have a lot of people breathing down your back and watching everything you do. Things had a way of becoming very complicated, as I’m sure you know. Plus, the pay incentive of the private sector doesn’t hurt either.”

  Together they laughed at the last part of the statement and walked out onto the hallway in front of them. In front of the lift doors Xander noticed a security symbol hanging on the light green colored wall. The symbol let everyone know that this was a highly restricted area and it was for authorized personnel only. To Xander the warning was somewhat redundant as there was almost no way for ordinary citizens to wonder onto the floor. There were only two gravlifts that stopped at this floor and both were for authorized security officers only.

  “This way please,” Baskier said and waved his hand to the right, “I agree about all of the hoops they place in our ways and still expect us to get the job done as fast as possible. Perhaps I will look into contracting when I retire.”

  Xander smiled and nodded at the detective as they continued down the slightly curved corridor. Unlike other floors in the building this one had very few doors, all of which were also windowless and unmarked. Another thing he noticed was there they were alone in the whole hallway. There was not a single soul visible along their whole walk, but that didn’t mean that people weren’t keeping track of them. Having been technologically modified during his service to the SIS, Xander’s internal receivers quickly picked up signals from cameras hidden throughout the entire hallway. Many of these surveillance devices were hidden inside the flat ceiling or situated within the curvature of the walls. Every movement and sound either of them made were being monitored and recorded for security reasons.