Darkest Hour 1: Their Darkest Hour

by Christopher Nuttall

  The British Army had considerable experience moving light armour around by air, but the aliens clearly had better technology than anything available to the Army Air Corps. Their tanks looked bigger and nastier than a Challenger II, although there was something funny about their design. It took him a moment to realise that they seemed to be lacking any treads, almost as if they were designed to be nothing more than moveable pillboxes. They hit the ground and bounced; Chris cursed as he realised that they were riding an air cushion, rather like small hovercraft. Each of the alien tanks started towards the defence line as soon as they landing, big guns rotating around with terrifying speed to challenge the puny humans ahead of them. They weren’t completely dependent upon the big guns either, he saw. The alien tanks carried what looked like small machine guns, four to a tank. They probably could engage multiple targets simultaneously.

  A streak of light announced that one of the antitank teams had engaged the nearest target. The alien tank stopped dead as the missile blasted through its upper armour and presumably killed the crew, but its comrades opened fire at once. Chris felt the building shake as they raked the windows with machine gun fire, while using their main guns to clear any large obstacles on the ground. The entire building seemed to be on the verge of collapse as a shell detonated inside; frantically, he scrambled backwards to the fire escape and started to slide down to safety. Judging by the noise, the aliens were responding to any attack with savage force. They didn't seem to have to worry about civilian casualties.

  Cursing, he ran towards the rally point, just as the Old Admiralty Building started to collapse into a pile of rubble. Other soldiers joined the retreat, falling back to regroup and reform the defence line – but would it be enough? They’d been warned to be ready to slip out into London and try to escape the alien dragnet. Perhaps the time had come to leave...

  A thunderous roar sent him falling to his knees. Behind him, the aliens were advancing, carefully. The rubble slowed their pace, but it also provided cover for their infantry. At least they hadn't yet realised just how small humans were, compared to their hulking forms. Humans could hide themselves in places no alien could follow. A handful of soldiers were taking advantage of the confusion to use grenades to set up makeshift IEDs. The aliens might take Westminster, but they’d take nothing more than a pile of rubble – and a very bloody nose.

  ***

  The’Stig ducked as a human bullet cracked just past his ear. He couldn't count just how many times he’d come close to death; the humans might have been small and puny, but they knew how to fight. If it hadn't been for the tankers, the Assault Unit might have been wiped out in the first hour of the assault. Even with the tankers, the humans were bleeding them hard. At least their backs were to the river, he told himself firmly. They'd have nowhere to run when the tanks closed in on their positions. Any rational species would have realised that the position was hopeless and sought terms.

  He wasn't sure who was in command right now, not after the humans had taken down the transport carrying two superior officers and their mobile command network. The threat of human-portable weapons had clearly been underestimated, part of his mind noted, cursing Intelligence under his breath. Several units had been shredded, leaving him as the senior officer within eyesight. He didn't even know half of the troopers who had been drawn into his orbit. All he could do was keep them moving forward and hope that the tankers sucked up most of the incoming fire.

  A pile of rubble allowed him a chance to slip under cover, just as one of the troopers saw what looked like a pile of metal discs on the ground. The’Stig was just a second too late in ordering him to stop; he picked the discs up and an explosion blew him into bloody fragments. Even their body armour couldn't protect them against such an attack. The’Stig scowled and inched backwards, eyes scanning the piles of rubble and peering through the smoke in hopes of seeing the humans before they saw him. The entire area could be mined, but he doubted that he’d be able to get a team of experts to come down and remove the mines safely. Reporting their presence to his superiors – once they were appointed – would only mean that they’d be told to be careful. They needed to take the human leaders alive.

  Something moved, right at the corner of his eye. Instinct sent him jumping backwards, just in time to avoid a knife thrown at him by a young male human. The human was wounded, he realised, and it had still attempted to take his life. Was the entire species insane? He fired a burst towards the human and watched bright red blood splash on the rubble. They looked so fragile and yet they could kill and kill and kill...

  And they could hide. Hindsight, always clearer than foresight, showed him just what had happened. He’d ignored the human’s hiding place because it was too small for one of his people. If he’d taken a longer look, he might not have been surprised so badly. And some of the other troopers who’d been ambushed might have remained alive, if they’d been more aware of what the humans could do to them. They’d have to learn quickly on this world.

  He motioned for his troopers to hold their positions. The tankers were coming up behind them and more reinforcements were on the way. Let the tankers take a few bullets – which would only glance off their armour in any case. His troopers needed a rest before they pushed onwards – and besides, the humans were trapped against the river. They’d have to break through the assault lines to escape and that wasn't going to be easy.

  ***

  “They’re sending in their tanks, sir!”

  Major-General Sir Alan Robertson nodded, sharply. After some thought, he’d established his command post in the Houses of Parliament, assuming that the aliens wanted to take Parliament relatively intact. They didn't seem to be that concerned about many of the other historic buildings in Central London, but it made sense. It would have been easy for them to take out the civilian government from orbit if they’d simply wanted them dead.

  But his force was in an untenable position – which, he admitted to himself, he’d known about long before the aliens actually landed. The aliens seemed to be bringing in more reinforcements and their supplies of Stinger missiles were running low; it seemed that the aliens did have some form of effective countermeasure. Besides, he didn't want to shoot down another craft and see it crash in London. The team he’d positioned in the London Eye had reported that fires were spreading out of control from where one of the alien transports had crash-landed.

  “Send in the Javelin teams and tell them one shot each,” he ordered, sharply. The British Army had ordered thousands of Javelin missiles, but most of them had been stockpiled in the countryside or deployed to Afghanistan. No one had thought to equip the Household Division with more than a handful of antitank weapons. Who in their right mind would have considered that they’d be needed? “And then tell them to head for the tunnels. They’re to get out of the city and link up with the rest of the army.”

  The ground shook violently as the aliens started bombarding Whitehall. Alan swore under his breath, realising that the aliens were clearly using orbital or drone surveillance assets to track his men. Their advance was almost unstoppable now, particularly not with what remained of his two companies. There was no point in getting more men killed for nothing.

  “Sound the retreat,” he ordered. He keyed his radio and issued the command. “Get the lads out of here...”

  High overhead, an alien drone detected the signal, locked onto his position and fired a single missile. Major-General Sir Alan Robertson died before realising that he was even in danger.

  ***

  “We’re to get out of here,” a sergeant was yelling. “Move, you stupid...”

  Chris picked himself up, just as the alien advance broke through one of the makeshift defence lines. He fired a quick burst from his SA80 in the hopes of slowing the aliens, just as he realised that they’d blocked him from reaching the tunnel that should have led down into safety. Before he had a moment to think about it, he turned and ran towards the embankment, jumping down into the Thames. The river woul
d carry him downstream and he’d be able to link up with what remained of his unit once he got out of the water.

  Behind him, London burned.

  Chapter Six

  London

  United Kingdom, Day 1

  “My God.”

  From his vantage point, Robin had been able to see some of the fighting – too much of the fighting. What he’d seen had left him silently grateful that he wasn’t close enough to see the rest of it. The aliens had landed in force – two of their transports had been shot down, including one that had crashed into the other side of the Thames – and taken Whitehall. God alone knew how many soldiers had been killed in an ultimately futile last stand.

  He looked down towards the streets. They had been emptying with remarkable speed as people fled the battle, heading towards their homes in the hope that they might find safety with their families and friends. Robin suspected that there was going to be no such thing as safety in London for the next few weeks, if not ever. What the hell did the aliens want? Part of him refused to believe that there were aliens, but the evidence was undeniable. The flames and smoke rising up in the distance suggested that the world had indeed turned upside down.

  “Sergeant,” one of the other policemen said, “what the hell do we do?”

  Robin silently cursed him for asking that question. In truth, he had no idea what they should do, because the Met had never seriously considered that London might be invaded. The last time the British police had considered the question had been back during World War Two, when – if he recalled correctly – they’d been ordered to maintain public order, but avoid giving any help to the Germans. But the Germans had never invaded and the plans had never been put to the test. What would the aliens do now they’d won themselves a city?

  His radio buzzed, suddenly. The jamming seemed to have stopped, suggesting…what? Logically, the aliens would have wanted to keep the police and military forces fragmented, but perhaps their own communications were affected by their jamming. Or perhaps they were going to be hunting down any remaining soldiers and hoped that some of them would be foolish enough to use their radios. Or perhaps…he pushed the thoughts aside as a cold voice, utterly inhuman, echoed out over the airwaves. The aliens were finally making their demands known.

  “Attention,” the voice said. “This is Ju’tro Oheghizh, speaking for the Eridian State. All humans are to pay careful attention to this message on pain of punishment. Planet Earth has been conquered and is now part of the Eridian State. Your leaders have been captured or killed; your military forces have been scattered. Further resistance is futile. Accept your new position in the universe or you will be destroyed.

  “All civilian humans are to remain within their homes until instructed to report to the occupation authorities,” it continued. “Any attempt to impede the passage of my forces will result in severe punishment. Human military and police personnel are to turn themselves in to my forces. All weapons are to be surrendered to the occupation authorities. Failure to report will result in…”

  “Severe punishment,” Robin muttered. The aliens didn’t seem to hide their intentions. There was no guff about coming to liberate humanity from human leaders; nothing, but naked force. And they’d already taken London. “And what happens if we report in?”

  The message came to an end and then started to repeat itself. Robin listened a second time, but there were no differences – and no clue as to the fate of police and military personnel. If he recalled correctly, Iraq had collapsed into chaos partly because of the absence of a proper police force, yet the aliens might not care about chaos on the ground. Their attacks on London had shown a frightening lack of concern for civilian casualties. He glanced up as another alien transport roared overhead, dropping what looked like heavy crates towards the ground. They’d probably start pushing out from Westminster as soon as they felt strong enough to brave the surrounding city. God knew it wasn't as if there was much in the way to stop them.

  “We go to the nearest police station,” he said, finally. Scotland Yard might be gone, but it was far from the only police station in London. “We take the weapons and we conceal them somewhere before they think to secure the stations for themselves. And then we wait and see what happens next.”

  He watched as the policemen leapt to work, grateful that someone had finally told them what to do. Robin shook his head as they started to run through deserted streets, avoiding crashed and abandoned cars, hoping against hope that they would find someone more senior to issue further orders. He didn’t have the slightest idea what to do next.

  ***

  Ju’tro Oheghizh stepped off the shuttle and onto Earth, looking around him with ill-concealed interest. The humans seemed to have built habitations suitable for smaller creatures than themselves, although many of their buildings had been levelled by the first wave of assault troopers. A handful of humans, several wounded, sat in the middle of the grassy park, watched by armed guards. It was difficult to read human expressions, but some of them were clearly watching his troopers and considering how best to escape. Others seemed to be completely unaware of their surroundings. The discovery that there were other races out among the stars was always a shock to planet-bound races, even ones who had conceived the possibility long before they reached into space. He doubted that the humans would be any different from the other races brought into the State. It would take time to hammer their new status into their heads.

  “The lead assault units were badly hurt,” J’tra Rahol reported, as soon as they exchanged salutes. “The humans fought bravely and well. We’re still finding traps left behind in the ruins – their small size gives them an advantage that cost many of our lives before we adapted.”

  Oheghizh narrowed his snout. “And the surrendered humans?”

  “Many appear to be in shock,” his subordinate reported, as they walked into the makeshift command centre. Oheghizh had hoped to set up in the human buildings, but if the humans had had time to leave surprises behind them, it would be unduly risky. “I do not believe that we have captured any truly important humans. Their leaders appear to have fled before we landed in their city.”

  “Unsurprising,” Oheghizh said. There had always been an awareness that the human leaders might have been able to get out of their city – London, they called it – before the assault force landed. Some of the Land Force Commanders had called for targeting the human leadership with strikes from orbit, but the Command Triad had overruled them. They needed to bring the humans into the State as quickly as possible and having their leaders alive would make that easier. It would take too long to rebuild human society directly. “Do we have any idea of their current location?”

  Rahol tapped the computer display. “The humans appear to be attempting to regroup their forces to the west,” he said. “A number of human military units apparently escaped destruction during the opening minutes of the bombardment, including a number of air defence units. We have targeted active sensor emitters from orbit, but they appear to have learned from experience and are keeping any remaining active sensors turned off. Their effectiveness will decrease rapidly as we have destroyed their bases and supply dumps.”

  He pointed one long finger at the human road network. “Our own forces are landing around the cities, trapping the human civilians within our grasp,” he continued. “There have been a handful of engagements between our forces and human military units, but most human units seem to be attempting to avoid contact. We have broadcast our demands for surrender on all human military and civilian channels. So far we have received no reply.”

  Oheghizh nodded, slowly. The humans were no doubt shocked by their sudden fall from power on their homeworld. Given time, they could probably regroup and launch a series of counterattacks that would cost the State dearly – and put a hold on his personal career ambitions. Logically, they needed to maintain the pressure as much as they could; practically, they needed to get set up on the ground before the naval forces surrounding Earth insis
ted on withdrawing most of the transports. The humans had managed to shoot down a number of shuttles, more than any of the planners had expected. Logistics were going to be weaker than anyone had expected when they’d drawn up the plans to invade Earth.

  But it wouldn’t last. The humans were just as dependent upon supplies to keep their forces moving as the State – and their supply dumps were flaming ruin. Their effectiveness would fall sharply over the next few days, leaving them without the ability to do more than harass his forces. And then they’d be in control and well on the way to turning Earth into a productive outpost. The humans were certainly more capable of labouring for the State than several other races he could mention!