Choking clouds of dust filled the air, but with the night vision in our helmets and respirators we could make out our surroundings. All around us were racks filled with exotic medieval weapons of all sorts. Swords, axes, maces, spears, and a hundred other unnamed objects of torture, pain, and suffering were shoved onto every shelf.
We all looked about in awe at the exquisite craftsmanship on display all around us.
“What do you make of this sir?” One of the soldiers asked me.
“It looks almost human,” another added.
“Maybe every civilization goes through a phase like this,” I put forth the guess, my eyes tracing over the hundreds of razor sharp blades. “However, I don’t think this is the place we would find a museum of ancient relics.” I picked up a heavy sword with my free hand and swung it hard into the stone floor. It kicked up bits of stone dust, and I examined the blade. There was not a scratch, nor a blemish, on the polished surface, and it retained its edge.
“These were made for fighting. If I had to make a hypothesis, I’d say they still have tactics that make use of these.”
I slung my rifle and picked up two crossed axes that had been mounted to the wall. A thousand tiny carvings and engravings were etched into every surface. I turned them about in my hand, feeling the rest of the world fall away. For the first time, I felt an odd chill all around. Elaborate script wove its way around their sides, but left a mirror-smooth finish on the blades.
“These may be useful . . .” I said, my voice trailing off as I swung the weapon in the air. It was perfectly balanced and required no effort to send whistling in a great arc around my head. I turned to the squad.
“Get these out of here and issue them to all the men. Let’s go!”
I attached the two axes to my belt, then filled my arms with as many identifiable weapons as I could carry. The others did the same and followed me back to the surface. I got back and found most of the armor lined up at the north gates. I dropped my armload of weapons in the closest transport and climbed up to the top of the leading tank. The column revved up and crashed through the gate, roaring off into the darkness of an alien wasteland.
Even from my vantage point, I could barely see a hundred feet ahead and left it to the driver to navigate correctly to our destination. I had little intel on the approach to the bunker and assumed that we would need to assault the front with all the forces we had remaining and use a charge to blow the station away. I kneeled down to check with the driver. “ETA?” I asked.
“At this rate, under thirty minutes. We’ve still got another six hours before sunrise.”
The column made its way through the countryside and into the rough wasteland surrounding the bunker. Behind the final hill, I brought the group to a halt and gave my orders to the unit commanders. They again circled around the map of the area.
“Gentlemen,” I began, “The best way I can figure to pull this off is to break through the front gates. We will use the artillery for fire suppression and to weaken the walls of the compound. The rest of us will form up in a spearhead in the armored transports and run the field. Any questions?” I looked about the group. “Then let’s get going. We don’t have much time to pull this off.”
My army saddled up in their vehicles and positioned themselves for the charge. The cannons opened fire on the gate, and we took off with me navigating from the lead transport. We continued to gain speed as we rolled down the slight embankment leading across the plain to the bunker.
“Gunners, prepare to give suppressing fire,” I ordered.
Explosions flickered all about the base as the first wave of shells landed. The surviving turrets spun about and opened fire on my column. Smoke trails streaked across the battlefield as our vehicles came within range. The nearby impacts rocked the transports back and forth as we raced toward the gate. One round slammed into the truck to my left and threw it into the air in a massive fireball. All of our passengers were tossed against the right wall from the concussion.
“Support, concentrate all fire on the guns before we get pulverized!” I radioed back.
More shots impacted other transports and sent their burning remains sailing into the air. The other men behind me were holding on for dear life, gritting their teeth, preparing for the end.
“Dammit, hurry up on the fire!” I shouted into my mic. “We’re not gonna last much longer out here!”
The heavy guns complied and focused their fire within moments. Shells impacted all around the gates, taking out multiple defensive guns as my column barreled past. My lead transport slammed full speed into the gate, shearing it clean off of its massive hinges and sending it spinning into the air. My gunners fired down from the turrets into the few scattering aliens as we moved toward the bunker’s entrance.
“This has to be it,” I told the driver, pointing to an inner wall well behind the initial defense perimeter. I spoke into my radio, “First three transports, we’re breaching the building ahead. Everyone else, defensive perimeter around us.”
“Where am I aiming?” The driver asked.
“Straight at the wall,” I ordered. “We are going straight through.”
The driver floored the gas, and the transport gained speed. “Everyone hold on!”
The transport speared the stone wall with the force of a fully loaded tractor trailer, easily blowing through into the yard beyond. The other two trucks smashed through right behind us.
All three immediately dropped their loading planks, and my soldiers deployed, driving away any enemies. I ran out as well.
“Everybody out! Clear the area! Find the bunker entrance!” I shouted.
It didn’t take long for us to find the single, most well-guarded structure in the base. Battlements surrounded its perimeter, and the aliens fought with a grievous determination that I had not seen from them before. With the building located, the scouts radioed in the remainder of the forces to convene on the site, and I coordinated an airtight siege farther out.
From my position on a neighboring building, I took quick measurements of the battlement’s coordinates, gave my troops orders to keep up covering fire, and brought in a quick artillery strike which flattened most of the outlying buildings. Through the fire, smoke, and flying debris, they moved in and cleared the building.
On the lowest level, we found a large vault door which was completely sealed shut. I gave the order to blast it open, hoping our objective would be beneath. Several soldiers laid explosive compound around the edge of the door and blew the seal away, letting the remains fall into the space beyond.
More defenders waited below for my soldiers as we descended into the depths of the hillside. I lead the way carrying a warped section of the door as a shield, shooting over its edge with my sidearm. After several close encounters, we reached our destination: the control center of the planetary defense network. We unpacked a nuclear charge and prepared to detonate it right on top of the most vulnerable section.
It only took moments before my radio exploded in furious chatter from the surface. I could barely make out a word, so I left my men to finish arming the bomb and went back topside to find out the problem. When I got there, I was greeted by several massive columns of smoke on the horizon.
“Sir, we’ve got multiple targets inbound from the west!” A soldier shouted as I ran up. “We already lost the artillery. They didn’t stand a chance!”
I glanced around. Multiple other soldiers were running about. Twenty more stood around me waiting for an order.
“All right, we’re going to need defenses. Park the transports outside parallel to the holes in the fence. We can use them as cover. Make sure to leave space to retreat behind.”
The five remaining drivers ran off to move the transports. I directed each group, tracing my plans in the air with my hand.
“Snipers, spotters, intel, get on the walls. Get us any information you can on their movements. Don’t open fire. The rest of you, grab all the charges we have; we are going to blow trenches acr
oss the plain.”
My squads worked as quickly as they could. Runners ran spools of explosive cord across the field outside and detonated them, creating a network of trenches nearly five feet deep to give us some measure of protection. It only took minutes before the spotters began to see forms appearing on the horizon. I called up all of the remaining soldiers to take positions on the trucks or in the trenches. As I took my position in the center trench, the nuke technician approached, having wired the device for a remote detonation.
“Sir, it is ready,” he stated to me, handing over the radio transmitter. “Everyone has evacuated the bunker.”
I took the device from him and held it up between us. I flipped up the safety and looked the other man square in the eyes.
“All men, take a knee and cover your eyes,” I spoke into my radio. I took a deep breath, and my finger descended on the trigger. I was about to hit the switch when I saw a glimmer in the visor of the technician that caught my eye. I went cold on the switch and turned about.
From behind the mass of enemy forces, a single charge lifted up and streaked forward.
“INCOMING! Take cover!” I shouted and dove to the floor of the trench, covering my head with my arms and bracing for the worst. The other soldiers followed me without pause. The blast exploded overhead, but did not supply a massive concussion or a wave of heat. I took a chance and looked about, noticing no damage.
My equipment was a different story. The screen on my HUD was nothing but static, and my rifle was dead to the world. I pulled the cocking arm back, trying to chamber a round, but got no response. There was no power to cycle shots or ignite the charges. I pulled the voice box out of my helmet and shouted into the air, “EMP blast! Mechanical weapons only! Prepare for contact!”
In a wisp of hope, I flipped the switch for the bomb. Nothing. I felt my heart sink and pointed to the technician who was pulling himself to his feet.
“Blow it,” I ordered. “I don’t care how or what it takes, blow this place or we are all going to die for nothing.”
The technician nodded and ran into the base, knowing that certain oblivion awaited him.
I had my own problems. From the enemy lines, a dozen more rockets lifted off and arced over toward our lines. At the same time, the aliens’ lines broke and they charged forward. I saw the waves of forces approaching and the incoming shots above.
“Everyone out of the trenches!” I yelled as I scrambled to get out myself.
We sprinted forward, clearing our trenches as most of the charges impacted behind us, all while the aliens ate up the ground between us.
“Throw grenades on my command!” I shouted. “Charge with melee weapons only!”
With that, I drew both the battle axes I had recovered the night before and sprinted down the hill to meet the enemy head on with the rest of my soldiers close behind.
The aliens drew similar weapons and charged ever faster toward us from their lines. I thought it was strange that they didn’t just start shooting, but it was not the time to ask questions.
“RELEASE!” I bellowed as they got closer.
While maintaining a quick pace, my soldiers heaved whatever grenades they had left before ignoring every instinct and running straight into the blasts. Moments later, and fewer than twenty yards ahead, dozens of explosions tore apart the aliens’ lines.
The first one didn’t even see me coming. Before it could even raise its blades, I shoulder-checked the alien right in the head, knocking it flat onto the ground. I drove the leading edge of my axe straight into its face and tore it away, leaving the creature’s face an awful bloody mess. That was only the beginning.
Without a moment’s pause, I charged in, hacking away at the nearest group of aliens as they approached. My ferocity and speed was far beyond anything they had ever experienced, and they couldn’t even slow me down. I felt no fatigue, felt no pain. I felt as if my hate was burning with the power of all the furnaces in hell.
Before long, I found myself ahead of the now-thinning line of humans and nearly surrounded, despite leaving a mountain of disfigured bodies in my wake. I felt a sharp crack as a blade landed across my back. Although my armor absorbed the razor edge, I choked under the blow as several of my ribs splintered from the force. Grinding my teeth, I fought on, immune to the excruciating pain. I didn’t stop, I couldn’t stop. I knew the end was coming, and I felt darkness coming, but wanted to take as many others as I could with me.
Taking a chance and wanting to hold them back, I brought both of my axes squarely down on the heads of two aliens who approached together. I drew both of my mechanical pistols, emptied both magazines into several others beside me, and ditched them before withdrawing both axes from the still-collapsing alien corpses. The gambit paid off, and I regained some space. Without missing a beat, I continued in another direction, continuing on my ravaging assault.
The mass of fighters continued to dwindle, and there was soon only a dozen or so left on either side. I was barely able to continue on. My muscles felt like they were on fire. All I could taste was blood and bile. Every breath and every straining strike sent a stabbing pain through my chest. More blood flowed down my face from a blow to my head, forcing me to squint from behind my tinted visor to be able to see.
In that moment, my technician pulled the trigger on the nuke. An earth-shattering explosion erupted under the base, sending all of the soldiers, human and alien, to the ground. As the base disappeared in a mushroom cloud and collapsed down into the valley, I breathed a short sigh of relief, at least knowing that our mission had been accomplished.
As long as even one ship in the fleet was still flying, we would be vindicated. We only had to hold out until our backup arrived.
6
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw an alien preparing to lay a killing blow on one of my men. Without thinking, I heaved an axe straight at the alien’s back. It killed the creature instantly, and the soldier took the chance to continue fighting. I now found myself battling multiple enemies with only a single blade. Four charged in unison, attempting to overpower me.
I held one of them back with a strike from the axe’s blunt edge and another with a swift kick. One more approached, and I brought the leading edge’s spike straight down into the alien’s shoulder. It immediately went into some kind of shock, reflexively grasping at the blade with shaking hands. I didn’t give it a chance and spun it around 180 degrees by pulling back on the axe’s handle. With one swift move, I reached over its head, took a firm grasp of the creature’s upper jaw, and pulled back, tearing the head from its body.
The savage execution made the others recoil in terror even as I pounded away at them, using the axe alongside a head-turned-brass-knuckle. It only lasted a few strikes before I mashed it into bits by mercilessly beating one of its compatriots with it. Blood and particulate matter covered most of my armor already, and this last attack sent another shower of alien viscera across me.
My attacker crumbled as I knocked its consciousness into a quivering mess of neurological impulses. As it dropped, I suddenly felt alone, as if the battle was all but over.
I looked about and saw that I was the last human alive, with the last alien in similar fashion decapitating a fallen human soldier. His back was toward me at first, but he slowly turned back around and heaved the man’s severed head in my direction in an effort to call me out. It rolled to a stop at my feet, but I didn’t let the gruesome spectacle sway me.
In that moment, our two species stood on equal ground. Across the bloodied ground stood a creature familiar, but at the same time so very different. The gray skin of its face was streaked with blood like mine, while its two soulless eyes were waiting for my attack. Even leaning forward, the bipedal alien had a few centimeters on my height, but I wasn’t about to let it win.
We faced each other down and began our duel. Each of us held our own for a short interval before I found an opening. In one full swing, I severed the alien’s armed hand, leaving it defenseless. It roar
ed in pain as I swung my axe forward, aiming for its stomach.
The alien saw the blade coming, and using its one remaining hand, caught the axe’s shaft inches from its skin. I groaned under the resistance and forced the blade with all my might with no result. Looking into my opponent’s face, I could almost see it smile. We remained locked in that pose for a moment, neither one of us wanting to give up. The alien growled and snarled at me. It pushed back on the blade even while its stump of an arm poured a biological disaster. I knew my strength would not last.
I felt death approaching, and I no longer cared about the result of my actions. I took one final deep breath and jammed my heel down on the creature’s foot. It roared in pain and loosened its grip on the axe. I pushed the alien back to keep it off balance and pulled off my armored helmet, revealing my bruised and bloodstained face. I heaved the mask high above my head, feeling my loose ribs shift around in the torn up mess of my chest. In a defining move, I brought the helmet down square on the alien’s brow, splattering its head into pieces.
I scanned about as the last body fell away. Nothing else was moving, anywhere. I turned to look about, but the blood finally fell from my head and I collapsed onto the ground beside my fallen comrades. As my vision dimmed, I saw the leaden outline of a federation ship far above me blocking out the stars.
7
Bright light filled my eyes as every nerve in my body rocked from the shock. I plunged back into darkness. Again a flash, and another shot of pain. I floated back into consciousness and heard voices all around me.
“We’re clear! Give him another shot!” I heard a medic command. “Where’s the adrenaline?!”
MissionSRX: Confessions of the First War Page 5