Battle Beyond Earth: Retaliation

by Nick S. Thomas

  He looked over to the five casualties. They were relieved to stay put.

  "But we can't spare anyone to take care of you. You keep your weapons in hand and be ready to defend one another, you hear?"

  "Got it," said Wilcox.

  She didn't look bothered at all by the prospect and lifted one of the wounded women's rifles into her hands.

  "Okay. We have a lot of ground to cover, so we do this in five-man fireteams. You know what to do, and Babacan, you're with me. Spread out, sweep and clear."

  They were vague orders, but he couldn't be any clearer. He had no idea where the enemy really was. He rushed to the main access door and punched in the code, half expecting to find the enemy standing there, but the bodies of three crewmembers slumped out from where they had been cornered.

  "Poor souls," he said as blood seeped out across the deck and encased his boots. Seeing the enemy’s blood made him uncomfortable, but this turned his stomach.

  "Let's get these bastards," he said to the others.

  He understood how Taylor could be so cold towards the enemy, all of his enemies. Seeing the carnage created by the enemy made his blood boil, just as it always had done for Taylor. He wanted blood now. He wanted revenge, and he didn't think any less of himself for doing so.

  "Whoever sent us there really screwed up, didn't they?" Antos asked.

  Jones shook his head.

  "I'm not sure anyone could have predicted we would find any enemy resistance, let alone this kind of trouble."

  His mind was already trying to calculate how and why they were able to strike there, but the puzzle was starting to hurt his head, and many of the possible answers were terrifying.

  "Let's just deal with what's in front of us, and go from there."

  They carried on and reached an elevator. Two crew, one an officer from the bridge lay dead inside, and the power was out. One of the enemy was slumped dead beside them. He wanted to stop and study the fallen enemy at his feet, but he did not have time, and his blood lust was not yet fulfilled.

  He rushed on without another word and soon heard screams from crewmembers fleeing towards their position. Jones took a fork and then another bend. Three of the crew were running towards him in a panic. They were unarmed. One was cradling a wounded arm, and another was covered in someone else’s blood.

  “Move, move, move!” he bellowed at them, but he needn’t have.

  They were running as fast as they could. Two made it past him, but the last was still blocking his line of sight. Before he could get past, the crewmember was raked in the back by a burst of gunfire and collapsed forwards. This was Jones' opportunity. Three of the enemy were ahead and rushing towards him in a frenzy. He fired two shots into the head of the nearest.

  A hail of return fire bounced from his shield. Two more shots and another dropped, but a lucky burst of gunfire from the last clipped the barrel of his pistol and ripped it from his hands. He could have stepped aside and let the others deal with the final enemy for him; instead he reached for his Assegai, letting out a war cry and running full speed at the creature.

  Jones smashed into the charging alien with all his power, and they both crashed to a halt as if completely matched in strength and mass. He didn’t want to think what that would have been like without the power assistance his suit gave him. His shield smothered the creature, and he quickly reached around and thrust his Assegai into its flank. It roared in pain and anger, smashing down its primitive blade to strike him. But Jones lifted his shield aloft and drove the upper edge into its arm. Almost all the strength of the cut was taken out of the impact as it hit the surface of his shield.

  With the creature’s lower body exposed, he drove his blade down into its right leg. He then drew it out and thrust the blade into its stomach, pushing until he drove it back against the far wall. The creature was pinned and losing strength. He drew out the blade and thrust it through the side of the warrior’s head. Blood poured out of his shield and left arm. He drew back the blade, and the creature fell to his feet. There were just a few seconds of silence before the snarling cries of the enemy rang out, and a group rushed around the corner ahead.

  Babacan lifted his Hydra as Jones turned and slammed into the wall to clear the line of sight. A devastating hail of fire rushed past him. The multi-barrelled machine gun rained death down on all who were attacking them. Less than ten seconds and all were dead. Smoke rose from the super heated barrels of the weapon, and Babacan looked and marvelled at his work like an artist would his canvas.

  "Thanks," said Jones.

  He looked down at the blood dripping over his gloves. It was thicker than human blood, almost congealed.

  "Disgusting," he said and knelt down, wiping it off on the body of his victim.

  He picked up his pistol. The muzzle had been damaged from the shot. He threw it aside and carried on with just his Assegai in hand.

  "Antos, lead the way."

  The hulking soldier moved forward. He was larger than any of the humans in their unit, halfway to the size of the Krys. The rifle looked like a toy in his hands. They could hear gunfire echoing in the distance, but were glad to recognise the sound of familiar weaponry.

  "Those are ours," stated Jones as he went forward at Antos' back.

  He recalled the number of accounts where Taylor had found himself in similar circumstances, all the way back to his first encounter with the Krys at the Lunar colony. He remembered how invincible the enemy seemed in the combat reports, and he appreciated just how lucky they were now. However bad this was, it could be a whole lot worse.

  They reached another sealed door, and Jones punched in the code from over Antos' shoulder. The door swung open, and they found themselves looking at a column of the enemy soldiers rushing past. Antos immediately opened fire at two of them. Another stopped to return fire but was riddled with shots. The next ducked back for cover.

  Jones pulled out two grenades and launched them out each side. A single enemy leapt out to attack them rather than die at the hands of the grenades. He came out guns blazing, but just two shots hit Antos' shield before he was cut down by another burst. Antos was slamming in another clip as the grenades blew, and Jones rushed past him to get stuck in. Babacan was close behind. Jones took a right and Babacan a left. The Hydra roared at Jones' back as he surveyed the scene before him. One enemy stood along the corridor, trying to clear a weapon jam. Another lay wounded and barely breathing just a few paces in front.

  He rushed ahead and didn't even break stride. He stamped on the wounded soldier’s head so that he crushed the skull and rushed onwards at the other. The enemy could see the speed at which he was advancing and threw his weapon down, swinging a heavy cut with his blade. Jones' shield took the full force of the impact. It forced him to veer off to one side and crash into the sidewall, bouncing off and tumbling into the enemy soldier.

  They both landed hard, but the creature’s weapon lay pinned while Jones' nimble little Assegai was free to strike. The soldier hissed and brandished its teeth in defiance. He had no doubt it would rip his throat out given half a chance, but it was immobilised firmly under him. He drove his Assegai into the warrior’s chest and up towards the throat until it lay dead.

  He pulled back the blade. The sound of the Hydra was still roaring at his back as Babacan slew a dozen of the enemy. They carried onwards. Gunfire rang out ahead, once again from their people, but a series of heavy impacts brought them to silence. They were not the sounds of explosions. It was if the ship was being rocked by some external source that was vibrating through the decks.

  "What is that?" Antos asked.

  Jones' had no answers. They led the way side by side now, and the thunderous noises were getting louder. Jones stopped them, and they waited and listened. Whatever it was, it was ahead and getting closer at a rapid pace. They looked at one another with astonishment, for they could not understand it. The heavy echoes were like the sound of something huge stomping and threshing around, but it made no sense. And then
all of their questions were answered in the blink of an eye.

  A huge four-legged creature with scaly skin and thick steel armour burst out around a corner. It crashed into the wall before getting its footing and rushing on towards them. It had thick hulking muscles and a jaw almost as high as its body. A head that seemed too large for its torso and a metre-long spike sticking out from an armoured plate on its nose. The skin was a dull black with haphazard red striping, and the armour was dulled and rusted.

  "What on Earth is that?"

  Jones shook his head at Antos in disbelief. It looked like some kind of prehistoric dinosaur that had been armoured up for war. There was no rider or seemingly any way for it to be controlled, and it was coming at them with speed. Had it been in the open air they might have laughed, for as dangerous as it looked, it was also a little comical. Yet in the confines of the ship, they all knew how terrifying the hulking beast would be if it reached them.

  Babacan pushed them aside and quickly lifted his Hydra and opened fire. A hail of automatic gunfire rang out, but the creature kept coming. Many of the shots were bounced from its thick armour, and even the rounds that hit its skin didn't seem to penetrate. It was covering the straight distance between them quickly.

  "Come on, move!" Jones screamed.

  He pulled Babacan away down a side corridor, and the others quickly followed. It opened up into crew quarters. The door was wide open, and a few bodies lay on the floor. Babacan turned at the choke point. The creature clumsily crashed into the corridor but rushed onwards, and again Babacan opened fire. He began to roar as he stood his ground, but it seemed to have little effect. The creature smashed into him and ran right over him, crashing into a wall on the other side of the room.

  Babacan wasn't moving, but there was nothing they could do for him yet.

  "What the hell do we do, Sir?" Antos asked, as they stood circling the beast, and it looked at them with murderous intent. It stood two metres tall and twice as long with broad shoulders. It opened its jaw to show its long sharp teeth and barbed tongue. Jones looked down his Assegai. He had no doubt it would penetrate the creature’s thick hide, and yet he had no clue how to without being mauled or gorged.

  "Nice beastie." Antos drew out his blade. They all knew their guns would do nothing, so he let his hang by his side.

  "Really, what do we do?"

  Babacan coughed and spluttered to life, but he looked stunned and unable to get up, and the creature was already taking an interest. Jones had to get the creature away from him.

  "Stay here and look after Babacan.

  "What are you going to do?"

  "I don't know."

  He quickly took flight and looked over his shoulder to check the creature had taken the bait. It couldn't help but chase him. He went back the way he had come. At first he seemed to outrun it, but as he sprinted down one of the long straight corridors, it began to gain on him. He took another turn and rushed past an enemy fighter without even attempting to strike him. The huge creature smashed into the warrior who bounced off the ceiling and was then trampled under its feet.

  Jones was terrified, and he ran for his life now more than anything else. It had seemed like a good idea at the time to draw the creature away. He thought he would figure the rest out along the way, but the monster wasn't giving him a moment’s breathing space to figure something out. So he simply ran on, and as he took a bend, a most welcome sight came into view. Up ahead was an airlock. The inner door was open and the outer seal shut.

  The creature was gaining on him again as they made a straight-line dash. He flicked the switch to lower his damaged visor as it had almost reached him. He got to the air lock and quickly leapt to one side. His forward motion was too much to stop as he veered off and crashed into the bulkhead. The creature could not stop or turn quickly enough as it barrelled onwards. Its head turned a little and snapped at him. Two of its teeth just skimmed the armour on his arm before it crashed through into the airlock, and with all its weight and momentum blasted through the outer door into space.

  Jones was pulled quickly towards the opening as air vented to space. Several containers and bodies rushed past, but his boots locked down to the deck and held him firm. He reached up for the switch to close the inner door, but he felt his upper body being pulled away. He fought through it and with all his energy managed to reach it and smash his hand down on the button.

  As the door sealed and pressure returned, he fell down onto the deck, the wind knocked out of him. He released the visor and gasped for air, utterly exhausted by both the run and oxygen starvation. He winced as he tried to get up, feeling the pain throughout his body. He stopped for a moment, as it was too much. He looked down at his arm. Blood was still pouring from the wound. He heard gunfire, and his head snapped up. One of the enemy stood before him with a gun pointed at his face. It was just out of reach, and he had no energy to try anything that would be quick enough.

  A burst of gunfire rang out, and he closed his eyes on hearing the crack of the weapon. But he soon opened them, realising he was still alive, and that it was the familiar sound of their own rifles. It was like music to his ears. The enemy soldier slumped down dead. Alita and her team were now standing in front of him.

  "What was that thing?" She looked through the glass of the airlock doors at the smashed inner air lock. Parts were hanging off with jagged edges.

  "You don't want to know, just hope there aren't any more."

  "Really, what was it?" she asked again, extending her hand and helping him to his feet.

  "Something big, ugly, and powerful. I don't think you'd believe me if I told you. Best wait to see the photos for yourself, what is our status?"

  She stopped asking questions, despite desperately wanting to know what he had encountered.

  "We've swept eighty percent of the decks. The bridge is still sealed. We should have comms back up any moment now."

  "Casualties?"

  "Difficult to tell yet, but we've seen a lot of bodies along the way."

  "Yeah, same," he replied wearily.

  "And our own?"

  "Nothing with us, you?"

  "Let's go and find out."

  He led them back to where he had left his team. They passed through several of their people until reaching the point where Babacan had been flattened. They found him propped up against the bulkhead and breathing faintly. Bailey was by his side.

  "Thank you," he said softly as he saw Jones approaching.

  "What for?"

  "They said you led it away, saved me."

  "All I did was run," he added with a smile.

  Babacan smiled back, but it caused him to cough and splutter.

  "You're gonna make it, you hear?"

  Babacan nodded. "Of course," he replied defiantly.

  "This is the Captain speaking."

  Thank God! "This is Jones."

  "Lieutenant, we are in friendly space. We've got no power to the engines, but help is on the way. We still need your teams sweeping the ship, but can you make it back to the bridge?"

  "On my way, Jones out."

  He saw the relief on all their faces. The barbaric warriors were nothing compared to some of the more formidable Morohta foes they had faced, but they’d struck in force and with the element of surprise. The death toll would be high.

  "Bailey, Antos, you stay put. Hariz, you're coming with me to the bridge."

  "And the other units?" she asked.

  "Their orders haven't changed. We'll let them get on with it. Babacan, don't you die on me now. We need you."

  He nodded and tried to grit his teeth though the pain, but he looked weak. He hauled the Hydra into his arms, but he could barely lift it.

  "Carry on," added Jones before turning and leading the way.

  Alita held her sidearm out for him. He sheathed his Assegai and gratefully took it.

  "Guess I should be more careful with my weapons?" he said jokingly.

  "Whatever it takes to stay in the fight, Sir." />
  He nodded in agreement and once again led the way. The ship was mostly quiet now. They hadn't heard any gunfire in several minutes as they made their way to the bridge. They passed many more dead crewmembers, but no wounded. Each had been shot or struck enough times to ensure there was no chance of survival. This was a brutal and savage enemy.

  They rose up the steps to the bridge and suddenly heard fully automatic gunfire from multiple weapons. The rate of fire was far greater than their typical weaponry and sounded like a pair of Hydras or something similar. It was close by, as if coming from the bridge entrance. They waited for the sound to die down, and Jones crept up the last few steps with his shield held safely out in front.

  As he reached the level of the bridge, he saw a pile of bodies, all enemies. The walls all around them were ripped apart by gunfire. He took the bend. More than a dozen bodies littered the entrance to the bridge door. Not a single one had gotten within two metres. He looked up to see two shortened Hydras mounted above the blast door, and they were trained on him.

  "Lieutenant Jones coming through!" he yelled and stepped out into the corridor, but still keeping his shield up. The guns slowly descended, and he lowered his shield as the blast doors opened.

  Two fully armoured marines lay in the doorway with rifles trained on him. They were not part of his unit, but stationed aboard the Navarin. He was pleased to see they were doing exactly what they were trained to do. He stepped aboard the bridge; Alita and his team took up position outside.

  "Glad to see you held out, Captain," he said to Lushkov.

  "This ship was built to last, and that includes boarding actions."

  "And yet so many of your crew have fallen. How did so many of the enemy get aboard?"

  Lushkov didn't look impressed. "They never would have were we not rescuing your people. The enemy got aboard because the shields were down and docking bays open for your arrival," he snapped.