Starflake (T'aafhal Legacy Book 3)

by Doug Hoffman

  There was nothing but static on the comm.

  Inuksuk's Fireteam

  “That thing isn't slowing down.” Panic was rising in Zippy's voice.

  “The 5mm isn't even affecting it,” Vinny yelled. “Switch to 15mm armor piercing.”

  The gray cyclone of flailing tentacles was closing on them rapidly. Before they could escalate their counterattack a familiar roaring came over the comm. Inuksuk was back.

  The armored bear emerged from the ruined store front he had flown through moments ago. He closed several steps on the splagg, which again altered course toward him. Raising his left arm, Inuksuk gave the rampaging creature a triple burst of 30mm HE, energy pumped for maximum explosive power. Seeing Inuksuk's actions Vinny shouted: “Cover!”

  The three humans turned and dove for the deck. From behind them came three thuds, so close together that they seemed as one. The splagg exploded.

  The explosions registered not as sound but a hammering felt deep within their chests. Shredded gobs of alien flew overhead, splattering the deck and far wall while the floor bucked underneath the Marines. Vinny rolled over and looked where the gray horror had been. There was a crater in the plaza floor with scorch marks radiating outward from it, a blackened starburst of destruction. Cartilage, viscera and shredded muscle tissue was strewn in all directions, some pieces still airborne.

  “That damned crazy bear could have killed us,” Zippy cursed as she regained her footing.

  “Where is Corporal Inuksuk?” asked Jimmy, doing likewise. Inuksuk was nowhere to be seen.

  Bosco's Fireteam

  Looking down from the balcony Bosco and company watched the huge gray creature from above as it whirled its way into the open plaza below. They saw Inuksuk's charge and subsequent flight ending inside one of the closed shops.

  “That's something new,” he said.

  “I have never seen anything with a nine-fold body symmetry.” Keti added. From above the segmented disk shape of the large alien creature was obvious, though counting the body segments was hard due to its top like motion.

  “Everyone fire on that thing before it takes out the others.”

  “Aye, Bosco.”

  But before they could unload on the beast Inuksuk re-emerged from the ruined store front.

  “Hold! Don't hit the bear!”

  Inuksuk raised his left forearm and let fly. The resulting explosion obscured the view of everything below for several seconds as bright flashes erupted within the hapless behemoth.

  “Cover!” Bosco shouted too late, as he and the others were pelted by globules of flesh and unidentifiable body parts.

  Between Walker and Davis part of a tentacle landed, still writhing. It did look vaguely like an elephant's trunk, except there was only a single opening in the blunt end of the appendage, lined with backward facing, needle sharp teeth.

  Grits' southern accent could be heard as he protested the impromptu shower of alien flesh. “Oh man, that is just gross!”

  As the explosion's aftermath settled, Fanni looked over the railing for their squadmates below. “Look, they are OK!”

  All around those in the plaza bright bolts of orange-red light began to impact from above. The voice of the Gunny came over the squad channel.

  “Incoming plasma fire from the balconies above! Get some cover; suppressive fire.”

  Bright streaks of light began falling on the Marines on the balcony as well. The plasma bolts blossomed into bright splashes of flame on impact, temporarily leaving the surfaces where they struck glowing cherry red. The Marines returned fire and the entire space was filled with green tracer fire and crossing streams of orange-red plasma—a festive, deadly light show.

  From the plaza below, Vinny signaled on the common channel. “Simba, Fanni! There is a group of hostiles in the small balcony twenty meters above you.”

  Simba turned and looked up, just in time to take a plasma bolt from above. Orange flame enveloped him as he yelled, raising his arm to cover his helmet.

  “Ayiiia!”

  “Got it,” Fanni replied to Vinny, spraying the enemy position with a torrent of flechettes. “You OK, Simba?”

  “Yes, just startled. My suit readouts say no damage done.”

  “Move to the wall, out of their field of fire.”

  “Aye.”

  The two dashed quickly out of the enemy's line of sight and pulled up at the wall. The bottom of the balcony was directly above their position.

  “Your turn, ET,” Simba said, pouring 15mm armor piercing rounds into the underside of the balcony. Impacts flashed above as the shaped charges created explosive geysers of flame on the balcony's upper surface. A few seconds later debris and bodies rained down as the small balcony drooped and then parted from the wall.

  “Run!” Fanni shouted, pushing Simba into motion. They took two steps and dove for the deck as the balcony crashed down, landing where they stood just moments before.

  Gunny's Party

  “Secure my ass!” shouted JT, shouldering his railgun. Pieces of building and alien body parts fell to the ground beyond the sheltering balcony. “We're in a fuckin' ambush.”

  “You figured that out by yourself?” the Gunny replied, sweeping a balcony five levels above the main plaza with 5mm flechettes. Firing 3600 rounds a minute at a velocity of 1800 meters per second, the targeted balcony melted away like a sandcastle hit by a fire-hose.

  Shanakta-fek yelped once when the plasma bolts began landing on the plaza. Nearby there was a freestanding kiosk that offered some cover from above. With a startling burst of speed the furry alien dashed across the deck and dove into the kiosk.

  The entire squad was now engaged, including those on the balcony above. Vinny, Zippy, and Jimmy had all found works of freestanding art to shelter behind while blasting away at the ambushers ensconced above. The glowing rose colored column Zippy crouched beside took two successive plasma hits and shattered, sending a shower of glass like shards in all directions.

  A considerable amount of fire was coming from a floor on the fourth level. The Gunny moved right and into the open to get a clear field of fire. We're not killing these bastards fast enough, she thought, sooner or later one of them is going to get lucky.

  Rosey raised her left arm, the one with the 15mm railgun, into firing position. On her helmet display a reticle appeared, showing the calculated impact point for the cannon rounds. She lased the wall next to where the incoming fire was originating to get a good range reading, bumped the range by two meters, and fired a two second burst. Sweeping her arm from left to right the rail cannon sent a dozen high explosive rounds into the building. Detonating inside the structure, rippling explosions blew out the entire section.

  “Nicely done, Gunny,” JT acknowledged.

  “I love this heavy armor,” she said with genuine affection.

  JT raised his assault rifle and sent a burst in the direction of an overhead walkway. Two slim gray bodies fell from their perch, tumbling to the plaza floor.

  “Not bad yourself, Army. Of course, my way is quicker.”

  The fire from overhead was abating as the Marines' counter fire took its toll. Across the open space Zippy and Vinny had moved from the plaza proper to the edge of the store fronts and were working their way toward the shop that Inuksuk had been thrown into. There was still no sign of the big bear. As they were doing so, JT looked around and said to himself, now were did Cmdr. Danner and Dr. Ogawa get off to?

  Small Balcony Overlook

  The Karf commander had avoided taking fire by not engaging the enemy itself. Using its keen eyesight the commander was able to assess the tide of battle and it had definitely turned in favor of the invaders.

  These interlopers are disciplined. They did not panic or try to run away. They destroyed the splagg in a most decisive way, seemingly with little effort. This was all definitely not according to the plan.

  Their return fire has been measured and deadly and they have taken out most of the warriors who were waiting i
n ambush. Across from the hidden commander another firing position exploded, sending several Karf to their deaths—if they weren’t dead already.

  And unfortunately, their weapons are quite powerful. Yes, time to send in the second wave. It activated its communicator. “Reserve force, attack.”

  “Yes, commander.”

  Evidently the Karf, though they thought themselves great warriors, had never learned one of the oldest military maxims. In the attack, a reserve unit can reinforce success; relieve an exhausted unit to maintain tactical momentum; maneuver to attack the enemy on his flank; or pursue a fleeing enemy force, but should never, ever reinforce defeat.

  Chapter 18

  Large Balcony

  Scattered fire was still coming from above when a new front opened up in the center, beneath the overhanging facade where the gigantic spinning beast started the attack. As plasma bolts began arriving horizontally, Beau took a hit on his suit shields but was unharmed. The new heavy armor was designed with plasma weapons in mind, since they were a favorite of the Dark Lord's minions. The Marines on the plaza level shifted their fire to deal with this new threat.

  Far above, a cantilevered glass balcony jutted out from the terraced structure. In a human building it would have been a restaurant or night club, but there was no telling what purpose it served here. Shadowy figures could be seen moving about within. Several transparent panels shattered outward as those inside rained plasma bolts down on the plaza below.

  Seeing the renewed threat from above, Bosco moved to the edge of the balcony. Smiling to himself he said, “I have been waiting for chance to try this.”

  Raising his left arm, a pencil thin beam of emerald light appeared from the device mounted above his wrist. The green thread linked the Marine to the glassed in overhang the hostiles were firing from.

  Sweeping the green laser across the enemy position, showers of sparks erupted as glass and building melted. The green laser was just a sighting guide, the real damage was done by a stream of picosecond pulses of far ultraviolet light. The beam was design to cause disruption of molecular structure, turning any matter into plasma. As a side effect bodies ruptured, blown apart by violently expanding superheated gases, and anything flammable was set alight.

  “Klasneey,” Bosco said, satisfied with the outcome. The entire enemy position was now ablaze.

  A long sinuous body lept from the conflagration, wriggling from side to side as it plummeted. It was shaped like a lizard, with a tail almost as long as its body, but was covered in hair. It burned as it fell, leaving a trail of black smoke.

  “Bosco, Acuna. We have a large force attacking from your left on the plaza level. See if you can find a way down and take the bastards in the flank.”

  “Aye, aye, Gunny. We are moving. Break. Davis, Walker, move into the main structure and look for a way down. Tseriteli go with them.”

  “Roger that,” Davis replied for the three.

  “Singh, Takala, on me.”

  “Coming to you,” Fanni answered.

  CIC, Peggy Sue

  “What the bloody hell is happening down there?” Beth cursed in exasperation. “Can we get someone to give us a sitrep?”

  “Number One, you know it's not a good idea to micromanage your commander on the ground in the midst of a firefight,” Billy Ray chided. “Besides, it appears that our people are getting the best of the exchange.”

  “Yes, Captain. Dr. White, do we have any casualties?”

  “Only one is registering, Cpl. Inuksuk's telemetry is showing significant trauma and probably some cracked ribs. I don't know if it was from that strange spinning creature knocking him through a wall, or from the explosion when he blew the creature up, which also knocked him through a wall.”

  “Will we need to medivac him when the battle is over?”

  “Depends on how bad the fractures are. We may be able to just partially immobilize them with his suit. We'll find out as soon as this is over.”

  “Sounds good, Doc.”

  “Uh, Captain? There is one other thing.”

  That doesn't sound good, Billy Ray thought, Doc never calls me 'captain' unless its something bad. “What's the problem, Doctor?”

  “I've lost medical telemetry for both Dr. Ogawa and Cmdr. Danner.”

  “You mean they're dead?”

  “No, I mean I have no telemetry signal. If they had been wounded or even killed I should have gotten some indication over their suits' status reporting, like I have from Cpl. Inuksuk. Their signals just quit right after the start of the attack.”

  “Christ on a crutch! As soon as they drive off these attackers we'll have to get the squad to search for them.” Billy Ray grimaced. I just knew things were going too smoothly down there, ambush not withstanding. Damn, I hope they are alright.

  Mizuki & Bobby

  “We are moving,” Mizuki reported, checking her suit's inertial navigation system.

  “They must be hauling us off some place to interrogate us.”

  “Or eat us.”

  Though Bobby couldn't see her face, he imagined her guileless look as she delivered that line—his wife had a very sarcastic, perhaps even strange, sense of humor. This helped raise his spirits even in light of their current predicament.

  “This foam encasing us must suppress radio communications, I've totally lost contact with everyone but you.”

  “Me too, Bobby. However I may have a way to let the ship know where we are.”

  “Really?”

  “I have been working on a neutrino signaling device, a sort of simplified mechanism like that used by the T'aafhal. It is very rudimentary—I can only send an identification code, no message.”

  “But the ship will be able to receive the signal?”

  “Yes, and track our position. Well, the ship's computer will be able to. The mechanism depends on the part of the computer's circuitry that is able to detect neutrinos.”

  “That's great, Mizuki-chan. Can you send the signal now? I'm sure the others have noticed we are missing by now.”

  “Hai, Bobby. I will send a signal, but it is a very crude device. It takes several minutes to recharge after sending out a pulse.”

  Brains, Grits & Keti

  “Hold up,” Davis called, out of habit signaling his companions to halt with a raised, clenched fist. “I think I've found a stairwell down.”

  “Great! Send your recon drone to see what's down there.” Behind Walker came the band-saw ripping wood sound of a 5mm at full cry. “Keti, do you have contact?”

  “Not anymore.” She rounded a column and joined the two men. “What have you found, Brains?”

  “It's some kind of grand staircase,” he said. “Ramps lead down from the right and left. They both curve around and end up at a landing about half way to the main floor. From the landing a single wider ramp continues down to the plaza level.”

  “Hey, my aunt Mavis has a staircase just like that in her house. They used it each year for the local Debutant Ball.”

  “The what?” asked Keti.

  “Debutant Ball. Every year the well-to-do held this big dance for their daughters, to introduce them to society. Basically it said the girls were in the market for a husband as far as I could tell, not that I was among that class of people.”

  “Then how do you know about this?”

  “I helped serve the canapes and drinks a couple of years. If you ask me, the only thing the Ball proved about those young women was they were coordinated enough to walk down the grand staircase in them long dresses without falling and breaking their necks.”

  “We're in the midst of a firefight and you are rambling on about some posh do from your childhood!”

  “Sorry, Bubba, Keti asked. So how do we skin this cat?”

  “How about one of us goes down each ramp and Keti can provide cover?”

  “Hardly. The platform is less than ten meters down and we have only one third normal gravity.” Keti placed one armored gauntlet on the guard rail and vaulted over the
side.

  “She-it!”

  “That bird is a couple cards short of a full deck!”

  “Yeah, I think I'm in love.”

  Keti landed on the platform below and was immediately under fire. She headed down the wide ramp to the plaza, weapons blazing.

  “Now she's makin' us look bad, Bubba. See you down there!” Walker repeated Keti's move and vaulted over the railing.

  “Bloody hell,” Davis muttered in exasperation. “Bosco, we found a way down, mark my current position.”

  Davis jumped the over railing.

  Main Plaza

  The Marines had the situation well in hand, with people on the left and right sides of the plaza. As the aliens attempted to rush them up the center they were caught in a murderous crossfire.

  “Take 'em down,” the Gunny commanded. Switching to suit-to-suit she talked to JT who was hunkered down next to her. “What the hell are they thinking, doing a banzai charge into overlapping fields of fire?”

  “Never interrupt your opponent while he's making a fatal mistake, Gunny.”

  At least a score of slender gray aliens rushed onto the plaza, carrying plasma rifles and nothing else.

  “The poor dumb bastards don't have any type of armor and them little plasma poppers won't even slow us down. This stinks of desperation.”

  “Agreed, let's just finish this and get it over with.”

  The Gunny grunted and raised her 15mm, sending a burst of HE rounds into the hallway from which the aliens had sallied. In the darkness beneath the facade bright flashes marked the arrival of the Gunny's barrage.

  High above the plaza the Karf commander was livid, its kind did not suffer failure well. Seizing its own plasma rifle, zhe exposed itself by firing on the aliens below. Its target was the remaining small invader, under the assumption that it was in charge.

  The first bolt struck JT on the shoulder, which caused his suit to stiffen for an instant to dissipate the impact. A single hit wouldn't penetrate his armor but multiple ones might. Seeing the Lieutenant light up next to her the Gunny stepped in front of him. Her armor could easily handle multiple hits.