Battle Beyond Earth - Box Set (Books 6-9)

by Nick S. Thomas

“I must ask you to reconsider, Captain,” said Lieutenant King.

  She was the only one on the bridge who seemed remotely concerned about what was about to transpire. They were a motley crew. Their equipment a mix of human and Krys, just as their personnel were. They now wore a black patch on their armour that had a wolf’s head above crossed swords, reminiscent of the pirate black flags of old.

  “This is our job, Lieutenant,” replied CJ.

  “Not to attack a facility like this, and not to expose top secret technology,” she said.

  She looked terrified, as though her Captain were about to make the biggest mistake of his career, and yet he was oblivious to her concerns as he turned to look at the AR2 suit propped at the side of the bridge.

  “It’s time to see just what this can do,” he said with a smile.

  “That technology is dangerous. We have no idea what it can and can’t do, and its existence among the Alliance is supposed to be top secret.”

  “Wrong,” he snapped, “It was top secret. But the moment Taylor was spotted in it, the secret was out. Now we can do what we will with it.”

  She shook her head in concern.

  “I don’t like this at all, Sir.”

  “You never do. You worry too much, Lieutenant. But our job is to raise hell amongst the enemy ranks. Wherever and whenever we can, and that is just what we are gonna do.”

  “It’s no small target,” said Lieutenant Mirov in his thick Russian accent.

  “Not you as well?” CJ asked.

  “We’ve done some pretty ambitious things together, but that?” he asked, looking at the vast outpost orbiting a desolate gas giant.

  “What, you don’t think we are up to the task?”

  “With a few hundred more troops, sure, but we are too few for this. We are less than one hundred now. How many are aboard that thing? And what else is there? An important station like this could even be controlled by a Prince.”

  “Yeah? Sounds a perfect target to me.”

  “All due respect, but you’re crazy, Sir,” said King.

  CJ laughed out loud.

  “Maybe, but crazy is what this Alliance needs. Why else do you think I was woken up? And Taylor, for that matter?”

  “But this isn’t what our job is. It’s way more than we can handle.”

  “Come on, you saw the reports on what Taylor did with these things. He could never have managed it, if it were anything short of fucking awesome, and you saw the tests we did.”

  She still looked concerned.

  “If they are that great, why keep them a secret?”

  “I don’t know, and I don’t care. Taylor has had his moment of glory with these things, and now I am going to have mine.”

  “And if it isn’t all it’s hyped up to be?”

  “Enough with the negativity,” he said playfully, “If it isn’t up to scratch, then fuck it. You and this team of ultimate bad arses are all we need to nail those bastards.”

  “I don’t know. I’ve got a really bad feeling about this.”

  “Yeah, well, what don’t you have a bad feeling about? You didn’t want in on this from the start. Try as much as you like, but you weren’t made for this. All of us here were born to live on the raggedy edge, thieves, murderers, and criminals all. All but you.”

  “I don’t believe that. There is good in everyone here.”

  CJ laughed again.

  “Take us in, full speed. All power to front shields, let’s ram this ship right down their throats.”

  “Sir?” Kaner asked, as if he didn’t understand CJ’s meaning.

  “There is a landing bay there big enough to dock a battleship. Put us right there, and let’s have some fun with this.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  King had some hope for a moment that the Captain doubted CJ’s orders, but it wasn’t that at all. He just hadn’t understood.

  “God save us all,” she muttered.

  Not one of them shared her concerns. They either followed CJ blindly, or were too excited by the prospect of the assault to show any concern for their own lives. It was in this moment that she wished she had never gotten involved. This wasn’t the life for her. She had come to respect CJ for all that he had achieved, and he had shown more compassion than she imagined possible from such a brutal criminal. But that was still what he was, and now he was showing his true colours as she had always feared. She wasn’t comfortable at all, but knew she could do nothing but ride out the storm CJ was creating.

  “Oh, we are gonna have a party.” CJ clapped his hands and smiled with glee.

  “We have been spotted. They are locking onto our position,” said Kaner.

  “Just get us on the ground,” replied CJ sternly.

  He was unwavering in his intent to attack the enemy head on. It seemed crazy to King. She wanted to be somewhere else, anywhere. They saw flashes of light from the defence batteries of the station opening fire. A single ship in orbit also opened fire. A couple of the shots landed, but most soared past as they could not track the Phoenix fast enough as it headed towards the station at an alarming speed.

  “Woohoo!” CJ yelled like an excited child.

  Two more impacts rocked their ship, but the integrity of the hull held out. King wasn’t sure how much more of it they could take, but just one more pulse struck them before they passed inside the guns. Reverse thrust reduced their speed rapidly, but it wasn’t enough. They barely fitted through the opening of the docking bay and smashed onto the deck. King was thrown off her feet and smashed into the Captain’s chair hard. She felt one more impact as their ship hit something solid, and they came to a stop.

  She shook her head and tried to regain her composure, but as she got onto one knee, she noticed CJ step into the AR2 suit. It was clamping around his body. The excited smile still stretched across his face as if this was all a game to him.

  “Wait,” she called.

  She could barely get her words out; her voice was coarse and quiet. In a flash, he was gone. She stumbled forwards and ran into a table that helped right her. A rifle lay on the ground beside her. She didn’t know if it were hers or not. It didn’t matter. She picked it up, primed the weapon, and rushed on as quickly as she could to catch up with CJ. She didn’t want this fight, but now she was in it, she was prepared to do whatever it took to survive.

  She rushed off the bridge and found herself in a flurry of troops making their way for the exits. She was cast into the tide and could do nothing but roll with it. All the while the gunfire became louder and louder as she neared the battle. As she was herded to the door, she saw something amazing. A glimmer of light as someone darted back and forth, cutting enemy soldiers down faster than she could have hoped to pull a trigger. She could just make out the AR2 suit as CJ dashed from one to another. He carried one of the advanced extended Assegais and hadn’t even bothered with a shield. She gasped at the sight of it. It seemed unbelievable.

  “Impossible!”

  A shot narrowly missed her helmet, striking the edge of the craft behind her, and showering her with sparks. It was enough for her to get her head down and keep moving.

  “You see the Captain? He’s tearing them apart!” said the excited Scotsman as he thundered past. Private Ross stood almost as tall as the Krys in their unit. He was laying down fire as she reached for cover. All around her the enemy were falling, and only three of their own were down. It was remarkable. She saw a trail of bodies where CJ had surged ahead, hitting them with shock and awe where they had thought to ambush. King had envisaged a bloodbath getting down the ramp and out of the Phoenix. It was very much the opposite.

  Relief, and the euphoria of realising that she was going to live, overcame her. She was breathing heavily, sweating just as much and could barely concentrate, but as she caught sight of a column of Morohtan warriors entering through an archway in the distance, she took aim; finally joining the fight. The enemy reinforcements headed right for CJ as they saw him tear through their ranks. They got off a few
shots amongst the chaos, but they glanced right off his armour. He spun, cut, and thrust as he waded through them like an unstoppable force of nature. It was like watching a hurricane destroy everything in its path.

  The gunfire reduced as many of them stopped, watching in awe as CJ cut his way through as if he were Bolormaa herself. CJ faced a dozen Morohtan warriors at the entrance ahead, and he engaged them all simultaneously. He cut the legs out from one before decapitating another. He leapt onto the back of another and aimed its own weapon, opened fired to kill three more as they returned fire, and hit their comrade who shielded CJ. He launched his Assegai like a javelin, and it impaled one of the creatures, pinning it against the bulkhead.

  Empty-handed, he ducked under one of the enemy weapons as they fired a burst in his direction, but not one shot found its target. He rose up beside the creature and took its head in both his hands, snapping its neck in one quick action. The others turned to run in fear, but he picked up the weapon of his vanquished enemy, and gunned down three more as they fled, throwing the weapon down as they fled from sight. CJ turned back to face his people. The visor of his helmet rose so that they could see the huge smile on his face.

  “Well? You satisfied now?” he yelled at King.

  She shrugged, having no words for him. It was a brutal and bloodthirsty exhibition of the technology, but she was just glad to be alive, and she knew she had that same technology to thank for that.

  “I’ve got to get one of those suits,” said Ross.

  “Not before me, Private,” replied Mirov.

  “Are you ready for a little fun!” CJ shouted.

  They roared with excitement, all of them except King. She didn’t know what to do, but seconds later found she was caught up in a frenzied charge deeper into the station. She ran on with the others, but didn’t need to fire a shot. She never got to see another enemy that wasn’t dead on the deck until they reached what looked like the bridge of the station. She pushed her way to the front of the ranks where she found CJ. His hand was wrapped around the throat of a Morohtan officer. His Assegai was embedded in one of the creature’s arms and pinned to its own body. It was larger than any of the others they had encountered and looked powerful, but could do nothing against CJ.

  “What are you doing?”

  CJ said nothing and squeezed tighter, watching the life fade from his enemy’s eyes.

  “Captain!”

  He seemed to be in his own world. He either didn’t hear her or didn’t care. She sighed as she lifted her rifle and fired a single shot into the creature’s forehead, blowing a hole out the back of its head. CJ threw the body aside and looked at her with disgust.

  “We won. We don’t need to become like they are.”

  He had calmed a little, but was still not happy.

  “Sir, we’ve got incoming, boarding party at the dock,” said Mirov.

  “Is it the ship we passed on the way in?” King asked.

  Mirov nodded in agreement.

  “Don’t they know better by now? Didn’t they see what went down here?”

  “Let’s get this over with, and get the hell out of here. We don’t want to attract any more attention than we already have.”

  “I’m in no rush to leave. I’m having too much fun,” replied CJ.

  King sighed, as she’d feared he would say something like that. There was to be no reasoning with him.

  “I’ve seen you do some crazy things, but you are gambling with all our lives,” she protested.

  “If you don’t like it, you can leave, just as soon as we reach another Alliance facility. Otherwise, you stay here and do things my way,” snarled CJ.

  She shook her head in horror as he rushed off the bridge, and back the way they had come to take on the next wave.

  “I don’t get him. He had come so far,” said King.

  “What is your problem? This is our job. To hunt the enemy, and to cause as much trouble as we can, is that not what we have done here on an epic scale?” Mirov asked.

  She looked around to the others for some support, but found none.

  “We are fighters, not talkers,” said Kaner.

  They rushed on after CJ, leaving her alone and surrounded by the bodies of those that had been killed just moments before.

  “This won’t end well,” she muttered to herself.

  The room fell silent as the stomp of boots faded away into the distance. The peace was appreciated, even though it was overshadowed by the stench of death. She sighed in relief, realising that it was over. Her shoulders slumped as she relaxed, but a second after taking a breather she felt something grab her ankle. She looked down in time to see a wounded enemy soldier, but as she lifted her rifle, the creature pulled her off her feet. Her rifle flew from her hands, and her back smashed onto the deck. The alien crawled onto her. It looked weak and couldn’t use its legs, but the weight pinned her down. She reached for her pistol and almost got it in line with the creature before it was beaten from her hands.

  “Get off me!” she screamed. She pushed the creature away, but she couldn’t get enough leverage to get it off. The beast punched her in the face, and the impact caused her helmet to smash back down against the deck. Her nose burst open with blood splashing across her face, and she was stunned for a moment. She knew she couldn’t take another like it.

  Another hammering blow came at her, and she curled forward, dipping her head so that the rim of her helmet took the brunt of the impact. It was enough to save her, but the force still smashed her head back against the deck. The wind was knocked out of her, and she was already starting to tire as a result.

  The creature coiled up for another strike. She tried to reach for her Assegai, but her enemy’s limp and heavy legs smothered her hips, and she couldn’t get a hold of it. She had no time to think. The punch was coming whether she liked it or not. She had to do something else and pick her timing well. The blow came down at rapid speed, but she was more focused this time, and could slow the action down in her mind to seize her opportunity at the perfect moment. She twisted and rolled her right shoulder forward, slipping her arm between the creature’s blow and its head. The fist struck the ground beside her as she wrapped her arm around her foe’s neck, locking it with her other hand so that she held the beast in a chokehold.

  She held on for dear life, but the beast began to flail about. It struck her in the flank with blow after blow in a frenzied defence. Her armour held firm, but the impacts rocked her grip, and she still felt pain soar through her body. She thought she had done enough, but the beast wasn’t willing to go easy. It thrashed about even harder and finally in one snap launched her into the air. She lost her grip and tumbled to the ground, rolling several times before coming to a halt.

  King looked ahead for something to help her. She spotted her pistol a couple of metres away, and looked back to her foe to see that it had spotted it, too. The creature launched forward, dragging its limp body across the deck at remarkable speed. It was all she needed to see. She didn’t have time to get up. She scurried across the deck on all fours in a desperate panic, jumped the last part of the way, and took the pistol in hand. She rolled onto her back and rose up.

  The enemy grabbed both her legs, but she brought the muzzle of the pistol up to the beast’s head and squeezed the trigger. She let off five rounds in a panic. The first was enough, but the rest opened up its skull, splattering blood all over her until it slumped dead over her feet. She was breathing heavily and finally began to cry, overcome by emotion. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and she felt sick. She was under no illusions. She had been a split second from death.

  “What are we doing here? Why did I even come here?” she murmured to herself as she continued to cry.

  She knew there was no answer to it, but she regretted ever having volunteered for the task. CJ wasn’t quite the monster she had imagined, but she had been a fool to think he could be the hero she’d convinced herself he could be. She heard a creak to one side and spun around with his
pistol ready to fire. All the hesitation and fear was gone. Her survival instinct kicked in once more, but she was relieved to see Mirov standing in the doorway.

  “You okay?” he asked in astonishment, looking at the state of her face and the creature lying dead at her feet.

  She nodded in agreement that she was, but they both knew that wasn’t true.

  “What the hell happened here?” He rushed to her side and crouched down to check her wounds.

  “Just one of them half dead, and I…” she began to speak, but soon broke down in tears once again. She tried to cover her face as if she could hide it from him, but knew it was useless.

  “I don’t know what I am even doing her. I wasn’t made for this,” she said as she continued to weep.

  “I would say the evidence says otherwise,” he said, looking at the bloody mess of her vanquished foe.

  “I get by, but I am not a warrior, not like CJ, not like you.”

  Mirov took out a dressing from a medical kit on his belt and wiped her face down before helping her to her feet.

  “CJ is not right in the head, but he is the right man for this time and place. Just because you are not like him, does not mean that you do not belong here.”

  She was shocked by his words. It was a level of compassion she would not have expected from any of them. Not from the criminals and rejects that the unit was formed from.

  “He would never admit it, but the Captain needs you, and so do we all. You keep us grounded.”

  “Really?” she asked in surprise.

  She could see the sincerity in his eyes.

  “You ready to get back in the fight?”

  She was still surprised. Nobody had been as friendly with her since she had arrived. She had been accepted as one of them, but it was never a warm and friendly environment.

  “Look up, we’re still alive. CJ’s mad plan didn’t get us killed, did it?”

  “Not this time,” she replied as she began to laugh.

  She had to keep laughing to save herself from crying once again. She holstered her pistol and picked up her rifle, finally satisfied that she could put one foot in front of the other. She had felt incapacitated before the fight for her life, but it was different now. It was the wake up call she needed. Nothing seemed too bad now. Not now that she had faced death and shrugged it off. She could taste her own blood still dripping down into her mouth, and she liked it. It was the reminder that she was still very much alive.