Fires of Prometheus

by Michael G. Thomas

  Erdeniz looked very different to the rest of the infantry on the base. He was slight and until recently had been a mere lieutenant on board the flagship of the Confederate Battlefleet in the Proxima sector. His posting aboard the Battlecruiser Crusader had given him ample opportunities to indulge his interest in unconventional weapon systems. Prior to their action at Titan he had successfully tested a form of canister rounds for the ship’s railguns. He was far from ordinary, though due to his exemplary service and bravery he had been promoted to captain and put in charge of the primary gun decks on the warship. In theory this was a major achievement, but he was still convinced it more likely substantial losses suffered retaking the Titan Naval Station made it inevitable that many officers would be promoted to replace those killed or wounded. His two weeks leave on Kerberos however had been anything but relaxing.

  “Captain, shall we get a drone up?” shouted the Sergeant.

  Captain Erdeniz paused for a moment. The base was already low on ordnance. Zealots had destroyed a large number of the unmanned robotic drones in a raid three weeks earlier, leaving just four. It was just too risky not to use them though so he gave the order before turning back to his view through the binoculars. The vehicle was about five kilometres away now and kicking up a dust trail behind it. As he examined it more clearly he spotted a number of other small vehicles following behind it.

  “Put me through to the Colonel!”

  Before he could be answered a great flash from the centre of the base indicated one of the rocket-assisted drones was being launched to around a thousand metres. As it hit its preselected height the jet engine kicked in and the robot raced off into a circular path over the base. In less than ten seconds a series of pulses on the Captain’s electronic datapad signalled an active video feed. The device on his belt was standard equipment for officers in the military and was a ruggedised version of the common computer and communications kit used on many colonies. It combined an encrypted communication system along with live video feeds, encryption tools and command control for many of the base’s automated systems such as fire suppression and surface to air weapons.

  He pulled up his pad and entered his hex based security code to gain temporary access to the system. It was a nuisance but after several risky operations it was deemed critical that no digital systems stayed connected and authorised for more than twenty minutes to avoid their use by the enemy. The display flickered as several windows appeared with maps, videos feeds and tactical overlays for the entire area. On the right hand side an icon flashed from command, he tapped it to reveal a full size video link to the Colonel.

  “Captain, I’ve only just left. What’s the problem?”

  “Sir, we have multiple targets converging on the approaching vehicle, I recommend you return to the base before they are able to bring portable surface to air weapons within our deployment zone.”

  “I don’t see the problem. If they are hostile then open fire. If they are friendly, look after them. Don’t call me again, Captain, unless you have actual news to report, out!”

  “Asshole,” muttered Erdeniz under his breath reviewing the video feed from the drone.

  “Sergeant, you getting this?”

  The Sergeant had his datapad resting on the wall as he surveyed the distant dust patterns. He looked down before turning back to the Captain.

  “Yes, Sir, it looks to me like the lead vehicle is being chased.”

  “How can you tell?”

  “Well, I’ve been chased before and if you look at the speed they are moving they aren’t worried about taking chances.”

  As if to emphasis the point a series of cracks from rifle fire echoed through the open and quiet valley.

  “Stations, keep your heads down, boys!” shouted the Sergeant as he lowered himself, keeping a careful eye on the vehicle.

  Captain Erdeniz double-checked the drone feed and with a deft tap brought the video camera in for a closer look on the nearest vehicle. The truck filled the screen showing about a dozen people, as well as masses of boxes and crates lashed to the bed at the rear. There were no obvious weapons though no doubt the boxes could conceal all manner of evil. He double tapped and then pulled the zoom back into a wide-angle mode. He quickly spotted over twenty vehicles, some were just small three-wheel affairs, others were much larger and all carrying armed citizens.

  “This isn’t good.”

  From his position along the wall he could see half of the base. To his left the wall went back several hundred metres until it rose up slightly on a small hill. Behind him was the main command centre and barracks building and to the side of that the motor pool where around twenty armoured vehicles waited. Although some were fully operational, most were being worked on by the engineers. To the side of the command centre was the landing pad for light aircraft. The walls were now manned by an entire company of soldiers, mostly Army but with a smattering of Navy and Marine units mixed in with them. A second company was split between working on the vehicles and patrolling the rest of the perimeter. A small contingent from the Army manned the mortars and base defences. Turning back to the approaching trouble he tapped the intercom unit on his ear.

  “Platoon commanders check in,” he ordered, waiting for confirmation of the tactical deployment of his perimeter forces.

  “2nd Platoon in position, light machine guns ready to go, Sir.”

  “3rd Platoon, we have two squads on the walls, third will be ready in less than a minute.”

  He waited for a moment, waiting patiently for 1st Platoon, nothing happened though.

  “1st Platoon, where are you?” he demanded.

  There was still no reply and for just a second he worried they may have gone rogue. This had happened on two other bases, where combat units had defected to the local forces. This was usually down to money or pay but some just didn’t have the stomach for what could be a bloody last stand. As he tapped the intercom to call again an apologetic voice was on the comms channel.

  “Sir, 1st Platoon is now on the wall, we had a slight, ah, ammunition problem.”

  “Really? Well, check your feeds and watch your angles. We’ll deal with this later.”

  “Captain, they’re in range!” shouted one of the men from the tower.

  On the datapad the perimeter of the base showed up as a green vector image with triangles indicating friendly units and small circles showing automated or sentry controlled weapon systems.

  “Standard rules of engagement, fire if fired upon. Watch for friendlies and keep an eye on your buddies,” he said, trying to be as calm as possible.

  “Launch the floaters!” called one of the lieutenants.

  The unflattering nickname was for the special artillery shells that were launched up several thousand metres and then loitered in a shallow glide for up to fifteen minutes. A simple tap on a command datapad would send the shell back to the ground with an accuracy of a few centimetres vaporising the target with a precision high explosive warhead. It was a simple system giving the forward commanders the closest thing to their own air cover but with immediate availability. A series of low thuds signalled their launch though they were impossible to see or even track as they hurtled skywards. The clatter of bullet impacts spread along the outer wall as a burst of fire from the approaching vehicles struck the reinforced concrete and metal structure.

  “Shall we respond, Sir?”

  Captain Erdeniz wasn’t convinced though.

  “Hold fire. I repeat, hold your fire! That might not have been aimed at us. Wait until the truck is inside our fire zone. If anything else passes the three hundred metre barrier you are clear to respond,” he said as he moved along the wall.

  “Sir, they’ll be at the gate in thirty seconds!” shouted the Sergeant.

  Captain Erdeniz lifted himself up higher as he watched the truck move to the gate. For a few seconds he thought it might crash directly into the armoured door and he braced himself for impact. Luckily the driver jammed the brakes on at the last minute an
d the vehicle swung around and stopped in a cloud of dust and debris. From the back a number of scruffy looking civilians as well as three men in police uniforms jumped out. One looked up to Captain Erdeniz and signalled with his hand to get his attention.

  “Lieutenant Inspector James Cooper, requesting sanctuary!” Without waiting he started to help the people from the back of the truck.

  Captain Erdeniz shouted down to the men in the courtyard to open the gate. His attention was drawn back to the approaching horde as the large number of vehicles rushed headlong towards their position. The nearest were two and three-wheel vehicles. All were civilian and carrying far more people on them than their design intended. Behind them were now more than twenty trucks and large wheeled vehicles. Some appeared to be police issue, the rest a mix of civilian and commercial, all with people on them and many of them armed.

  “Get ready!” shouted the Sergeant.

  A chorus of safeties being clicked off and bolts pulled back indicated the conversion of the defenders from a static force to one ready to repel any and all attackers. Captain Erdeniz looked back to his datapad and the video image from the small drone circling overhead. The back of one of the trucks was carrying a fixed weapon mount, it was primitive, possibly a relic from the Great War but still capable of shredding through the concrete and steel wall of their compound. Then he spotted it. The truck following it carried a similar fixed weapon mount, but it was a twin surface to air missile system of the type fitted around the Presidential Palace to protect against missile and aircraft attacks.

  “Crap!” he muttered as he grabbed his intercom.

  “All units...” he started before the clatter of bullets and cannon rounds peppered the wall forcing him to the ground to take cover. As he fell he dropped the datapad and almost landed on it. Luckily for both of them the device was sturdy and protected by a laminate layer of metal and rubber. As he grabbed the device two soldiers carrying rifles moved around him.

  “I’m okay, not a problem!” He assumed they thought he must have fallen.

  One of the machineguns on the tower opened fire and in less than three seconds the entire wall lit up with scores of carbines and rifles adding their fire to the approaching vehicles. An unguided rocket whistled overhead and crashed down into the centre of the base, hitting an already damaged truck. Captain Erdeniz looked at the drone video on his datapad to check the tactical situation. From the feed he could see the enemy dismounting and taking up positions several hundred metres from the compound walls.

  “All units! Hold your fire! Watch for muzzle flashes and hit them with long range ordnance. Everybody else keep your heads down!”

  One thing he knew from naval combat was that using all your fire at the first opportunity just wasted ammunition and gave away valuable information to the enemy. They had the better cover and the longer ranged guns. In this scenario it was in their interest to let the enemy do the work.

  “Unit commanders, check your datapads for target identification and acquisition.”

  A chorus of acknowledgements came across the tactical network as their precarious position was quickly shared along the personnel defending the perimeter. More fire bounced along the wall though the sturdy material easily absorbed the small arms fire.

  The main compound gate opened along with a series of tones to let the guards know the base was being opened. As soon as a gap a metre wide appeared a stream of women and children rushed inside. Captain Erdeniz shouted down from the wall, waving at the barracks infirmary.

  “Corporal Weather, get them to the infirmary and check them out!”

  The Corporal waved to three other men who helped escort the party away as yet more rushed inside.

  “Sir, this man says he needs to speak with you!” shouted the Corporal pointing to the nearest ladder for the man to climb.

  As the last of the fourteen civilians made it inside the marines quickly sealed the doorway and returned to their positions. More shots came in and the video feed displayed two groups of the enemy making their way closer to the walls by staying low in the rocky depressions.

  “Lieutenant Jones. Permission to access the floaters?” asked the leader of 3rd Platoon.

  “Do it,” replied the Captain over the intercom before selecting the open channel.

  “All weapon systems authorised, clear the perimeter!”

  With that simple command the access to the base automated weapons mounts, artillery and drones was immediately turned over to the platoon commanders. It was quick and efficient and the results almost instant. Three explosions about three hundred metres out caught the first group moving into position. The aerial floating shells struck without warning and instantly halted that attack. As more shells were launched from the automated launch system a man in partial police clothing reached him on the wall.

  “Captain, I’m Special Agent Johnson, attached to Naval Intelligence. I need to speak with the Fleet as soon as possible, I have urgent information for Admiral Jarvis.”

  “The Admiral?”

  A rocket propelled grenade slammed into the wall and blew out a chunk of masonry that blasted two men from the wall. One landed hard and didn’t appear to be moving.

  “Medic!” shouted Erdeniz, though he didn’t need to as a group of marines were already heading to the injured men. The man that had hit the ground hardest was crying out. Erdeniz turned back to the newly arrived agent who was also watching the casualties with a morbid curiosity.

  “It’s the quiet ones we need to worry about. You said you needed to speak to Admiral Jarvis?”

  “Yeah, you know her?”

  “I should do, I’m part of the Crusader’s crew and we have met a few times.”

  “Really? Interesting. Anyway, thanks for taking us in, we hit a spot of trouble!” he said with a lopsided grin.

  Several more rounds clipped the wall a few metres from where they stood but already the amount of fire was decreasing. As each of the floating artillery shells launched downwards less of the attackers were inclined to push forward.

  “I can get you a signal to the Crusader in orbit. She’ll have to bounce the signal to the office of the Admiral. What is it about?”

  “I can’t say, I’m sorry but it is too delicate. Let’s just say that this information is critical to the Confederacy, that’s why we were trying to get to you.”

  “What about the people with you? What’s going on?”

  “They are two of my colleagues who I can trust and their families. When they discovered we were still in contact with Naval Intelligence they stormed our police headquarters. Either we bugged out or we would have died with the rest.”

  “Who are ‘they’?”

  “You’ve not heard? Colony defence has been handed over to the Biomechs under the command of Echidna operatives. All paramilitary personnel have been forced to hand in their firearms and report to work placement centres for allocation of new duties.”

  The datapad on the Captain’s side started to emit a tone indicating a new message from command. He lifted his hand to pause their conversation. As he examined the screen it cut to a video link to the Cobra MKII Colonel Towers had left off on. The Colonel was speaking into the device as he hid behind what looked like a piece of blackened metal.

  “Captain, it was an ambush, they were already dead. My God, all of them!”

  The video picture started to shake and it looked like the Colonel was moving but it was soon obvious that the ground near his position was shaking. Flashes followed by the familiar crump of heavy weapon fire erupted and the picture went dark grey. As the image went a series of howls and low noises, as if from a wild creature, came over the speakers.

  “What the hell is going on down there?”

  Johnson looked unfazed by the sounds and sights of what was happening on the display.

  “It’s Biomechs, once you hear them you never forget them, Captain.”

  For a brief moment the picture on the datapad changed, the Colonel had either moved it or
it had been knocked aside. As the image stabilised it was clear what had happened. Several bodies in Confed uniforms lay scattered about the rubble. The bloodied face of the Colonel filled a third of the screen and in the background stood three Biomechs, three metre tall monstrosities, each bristling with tight fitting armour and weapons. The screen flashed and the feed went dead. Captain Erdeniz turned his head in anger before straightening his back and tapping his intercom.

  “Platoon commanders, meet me in the command centre. Squad leaders, hold your positions and watch your zones. Nobody, and I mean nobody, comes anywhere near the base, out!”

  He moved to the ladder and started to climb down. Special Agent Johnson approached and pointed down to the ground as though he was asking a question.

  “Yeah, come with me, I think we have things to discuss.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  The origins of Spartan are still a mystery. Few records exist other than the brief mentions of his upbringing and family. The first confirmed records concern his time as a pit fighter where he achieved fame and notoriety as one of the toughest and most versatile on Prometheus. Many doubt his meteoric rise to glory could ever have occurred without this strong lesson in combat and resilience.

  The Rise of Spartan

  Spartan couldn’t see in the pitch black of the room, but he could smell the dampness and sweat that reminded him that his situation wasn’t improving. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out, his throat was parched and nothing other than a few croaks staggered out of his mouth. His head was pounding a mixture of either a long drinking session or because he had been pounded in the head by somebody’s fists. As he struggled to remember, a light was switched on that for half a minute completely blinded him. He lifted his hands to shield his eyes to find he was chained and shackled to the wall.

  “What do you want?” He tried to shout but again it came out as a muffled groan.