by Rod Carstens
"Hu, door," Taro finally said.
During rehearsals they had to practice breeching both the door and the wall beside it. Now it was up to Taro to decide which to breech.
"Roger.”
Hu and the rest of his fire team raced for the control center, jumping over the people carriers as they approached the building. Once they broke cover, they immediately began to take fire from their right. Explosions struck the area around them, sending concrete and metal shards clanging against their armor, but Hu and the rest of the fire team didn’t slow. The rest of the platoon sent covering fire in the enemy’s direction, trying to force them to keep their heads down so that Hu’s team could get into position.
Hu reached the control center and threw himself against the wall next to the door, the rest of his fire team strung out behind him. The overhang of the roof protected them from the fire coming from the right. Gras was the tail-end Charlie so when he was in position and ready. He tapped Bien's shoulder, Bien tapped Lena's shoulder, and she tapped Hu. The fire team was ready for the breeching.
The door was massive and reminded Hu of a bank vault. It was designed to resist the heat and cold of hostile environments and protect against any unwanted intrusion. During practice for the mission, Hu and the fire team found they needed two charges per hinge to breach a reinforced hatch like this one. He reached into his vest, pulled out the breaching charges, and placed them.
Hu was about to start the countdown when the door flew open. An armored hybrid burst out, turning toward Hu and company as soon as it cleared the hatch and firing as it came. The first rounds hit Hu full in the chest, exploding against his tactical vest and blowing him backward. One second Hu had been looking at the door, the next he was on his back staring up at the blowing snow, feeling as if he’d just been hit by a wrecking ball. Everything hurt, but he wasn’t seriously injured. Lena, who had been right behind Hu, took a round in the helmet and dropped in a heap by his side. On his back, Hu fired his 48 up into the armored hybrid. He didn't have the angle to target its helmet, and the rounds bounced off the hybrid’s armor sending sparks into the night. The hybrid was lowering its weapon to finish Hu when the rest of his fire team fired in unison. The hybrid was blown backward, its helmet exploding in a spray of brain matter, blood, and armor fragments. It spasmed a couple of times and was still.
Hu jumped to his feet. Lena's medical system showed yellow in his heads-up, which meant that she was wounded and would stay down. Her medical systems would keep her alive until she could be evacuated. Intel had said nothing about armored infantry and now he had already lost one of his fire team!
He pulled more charges from his vest, placed two on the inner airlock door, and set the timers. Turning, he ran back outside and threw himself against the wall. He pressed the button on the detonator. A huge explosion filled the airlock and a rolling cloud of debris was blown into the parking lot.
"Now!" Hu screamed.
Aijuba’s Rule Number Three: The third critical element of special operations was overwhelming force.
Hu stepped into the airlock. He grabbed a handful of mini grenades and flash bangs out of a dump pocket on the leg of his armor and threw them into the control room. The control room was filled with explosions. The flash bangs and grenades combined to create a mixture of blinding light and deadly shrapnel, killing or blinding anyone in the room who wasn’t in armor.
Hu stepped inside, firing his 48 from his hip, just trying to add violence to his entry. He sidestepped to the right as he came through the door, keeping his back to the wall and firing into the smoky, hybrid-filled room. Several hybrid controllers in civilian clothes were slowing standing and he cut them down with a burst from his 48. The 48 was designed for armored infantry not unprotected targets; it literally cut the hybrids into pieces. Blood and body parts were blown across the room.
Other hybrids unhurt by the initial explosions were standing. Some started to charge Hu and his fire team with nothing but their bare hands. Hybrid facility controllers were just as fast as their soldier brothers and sisters and just as determined to close with the enemy despite being unarmed. Those still on their feet were jumping over control positions, moving toward Hu and his squad. A burst from Hu’s 48 caught a hybrid in midair as it leaped over a control station.
Bien and Gras stepped to the left of the door, both also spraying the room from the hip. An armored alien among the controllers tried to rise, but was blown backward by the combined force of the three Marines.
As smoke and debris slowly settled, Hu could see the room more clearly. It was much bigger than their rehearsal control room. He was standing on a platform that looked down onto a floor filled with control stations that monitored the processes of the huge facility. It went down almost a story into the surface of the planet. Three long rows of operator stations faced a wall of huge facility operational displays. A circle of monitors showing various views of the complex hung from the ceiling. A single row of supervisory stations lined a platform behind and above the operators’ stations towards the front of the room. To the right of the supervisors was a long table with a floating hologram of the complex's operations above it.
Doors on either side of the monitor at the front of the room suddenly burst open and armored hybrids began pouring in from both sides.
Hu fired from the hip spraying the front of the room with rounds. There were so many armored and unarmored hybrids he couldn't miss. Every round found a target. In the confined space of the control room, the hybrids couldn’t move as quickly as they could on open ground. It was turning into another close quarters combat slug match like Rift.
The plug in the right hand of his armor was securely snapped into the input on the pistol grip of the 48. His suit traced his eye movements, lining up the reticle wherever he looked. When he fired at a target, the armor's targeting system took over and made sure he never missed. His aim was always completely accurate. The vendors had changed the targeting software based on the feedback from the Rift survivors. He caught an armored trooper in the faceplate as it entered the room. Its head exploded in a red mist. More armored hybrids poured through the door. The unarmed hybrid operators from the control center were still charging Hu and his two remaining fire team members, mixing in with the armored troops.
Where in the fuck were these armored troops coming from, Hu thought. What had they walked into?
#
Not only had the drop gone badly, but now they were running into real opposition in and around the control room. Then Nani saw the armored hybrid come charging out of the airlock, and she knew that a real defensive force was in place, not just a few security officers. From a reinforced bunker on top of the control center, a heavy weapon fired on Hu's fire team as they crossed the parking lot. It looked like any other external fixture on the building except for the accurate fire it spewed at Hu's fire team. Nani slammed her 48 into its bracket on her chest and reached for her portable scram. She put the reticle for the scram on the bunker and pulled the trigger. The bunker was in a single flash. She tossed aside the used scram and took her 48 from her chest. She could see explosions and gunfire inside the control room through the open airlock.
"First squad, fire teams two and three, follow me."
Nani ran forward, leading the rest of her squad into the airlock and into the control center. Hu and his fire team were facing armored hybrids as well as every hybrid in the control room. They were rushing him and what was left of his fire team, trying to overwhelm them with sheer numbers. Nani stepped through the door and went right, firing her 48 from her hip as she moved. Her rounds caught two control room technicians as they tried to jump over their consoles. Both were blown backwards as her rail rounds tore through their bodies. The second fire team peeled right, following Nani, while the third went left. Both teams reacted without orders. They were all veterans and it showed. Nani's whole squad was now online and facing the hybrids. They fired furiously as more armored hybrid troops came through doors at the back and side
s of the control center. These kaks had a reaction platoon on standby. Wait until she got hold of those intelligence types!
The room became a maelstrom of exploding rounds, body parts, and debris as rounds from both sides found their targets, M48 depleted uranium slugs ripped through armor, throwing off glowing metal sparks. Xotoli weapons exploded in multicolored rainbows when they struck a Marine’s armor. The room was mad cornucopia of sound, color and death. Xotoli and Marines were dropping as the two sides fired from point blank range into one another. Unarmored hybrid plant operators were caught between the two lines of armored troops and were being torn apart by fire from both sides, yet they continued to rush blindly into the maelstrom. The unarmored hybrids jumped over railings and displays only to be caught in mid-air and blown apart by Confederation rounds.
Sergeant Con Harkin’s second squad entered the control center behind Nani's squad, adding their fire to Nani’s squad’s fire.
"Get them online," Nani said.
"Roger," Harkins replied.
Harkins squad joined the first squad's firing line, filling holes and closing up the intervals between Marines. With the addition of the second squad, the line of Marines went from one end of the control center to other.
"Forward," Nani directed the line of Marines.
The Marines moved forward, shoulder-to-shoulder, firing calmly into the continued charge by the aliens. A Marine went down, and then another, but the line did not wavier. The Marines next to those who fell simply filled in the empty space. Nani saw an armored hybrid turn its weapon on Hu. The alien brought up his weapon. The aiming screen glowed brightly bathing the hybrids faceplate of in green light. Nani had seen too many green reflections on Rift. She fired at the same time as the hybrid, throwing off its aim as her rounds struck its chest armor and glancing off with glowing orange sparks. Gras, who was standing next to Hu, caught the rounds intended for Hu and was blown backward. Hu turned his 48 on the hybrid. His rounds cut the hybrid from its waist to its helmet. It fell backward and was still.
"Kak, that fucking 'brid," Gras, who was unhurt, said as he slowly got back to his feet.
The firing had slackened considerably. Only a few last shots rang out as the Marines killed the last remaining hybrids. Then there was silence. No more armored troops came through the doors. A few of the unarmored operators were lying on the floor, gasping as the atmosphere in the control room slowly leaked out in spite of the emergency atmosphere control.
"Nani, take your squad and start cleaning the dome. We’ll finish up these kaks," Lieutenant Taro said.
"On me," Nani said.
She moved quickly toward the door in the front of the room. Nani and the squad had to climb over a mound of dead and dying hybrids. Hu and Gras were right behind her. The first room was the complex's server farm. Servers as tall as Nani were arranged in long rows. Displays floated near the ceiling, showing the network’s status. Nani and the Marines moved carefully through the maze created by the servers, clearing each row carefully. Nothing. Nani came to a door at the back of the room that led deeper into the rock formation to the right of the control center. There was supposed to be more offices behind the door.
"Hu," Nani said.
Hu came up and placed charges on the door. Nani nodded, and Hu detonated them. The door blew inward with the force of the explosion. Nani moved in and went right, checking the corner for hybrids. It was clear. Hu came in behind her and went left. A hybrid in coveralls was slowly standing up. Hu blew it apart with a three round burst.
"Squad one to the six." Nani said.
"Go one," Lieutenant Taro said.
"We've got the server farm control center."
"Roger, one."
Nani and the rest of the squad moved carefully through the desks and displays, trying not to destroy what might be important intelligence while at the same time clearing the room. The room was lit by small globes floating over each desk. The lights were low enough to create dark corners. Nani moved carefully, checking each corner and behind equipment.
"This wasn't on the blueprints Von Fleet gave us," Hu said, pointing to what appeared to be a solid rock wall.
"What?" Nani said. "Where?"
"Use your infrareds," Hu said.
When Nani switched to her infrareds, there was a clear outline of a door in the rock.
"That’s supposed to be solid rock," Nani said.
"Yeah."
"Kak. Stack up. Hu, prepare to breach. We can't go past it without clearing it," Nani said.
"Check."
Nani backed away from the door. Hu carefully placed the explosives on the door. The rest of the squad stacked behind Nani. When the Marine behind Nani slapped her shoulder, she slapped Hu’s shoulder, signaling that the rest of the squad was ready. Hu turned away from the door and set off the explosives and the door was blown in. With her weapon up and ready, Nani stepped into the room. At first, the smoke from the explosion obscured the room. Then the smoke slowly cleared.
"Oh God…" Nani breathed as she took in the room’s purpose.
"Those fucks," Hu said
The rest of the squad poured in behind them, and they, too, were stopped dead by what they saw. There was a line of cages along the wall. In those cages were what appeared to have once been human children, but no longer. The arms and legs of the children were twice as long as they should have been. One blond girl with the face of a four-year-old was over six feet tall with a long narrow torso and arms and legs to match. Despite their length, they were not skinny, but roped with muscles. Some of the children's heads were misshapen, more like a football than a human’s. Others had eyes on the side of their heads instead of the front of their faces. Their ages ranged from the young blond girl to teenagers. When they moved, it was obvious they weren’t used to their new limbs, and some stumbled or fell. Others threw themselves at their cages, snarling and trying to get at Hu and the other Marines. The children were no longer human. Hu and the rest of the squad could only stand and stare at the victims of the Xotoli’s medical experiments. These children were living nightmares of what the Xotoli were capable of if they were not stopped.
CHAPTER FIVE
Sol
Planet Earth
City State of New York
Confederation Senate Building
Armed Forces Oversight Committee
Rift Investigation Committee
Admiral of the Navy, Usiche Raurk, walked slowly up to the small table with a single chair. It faced a huge semi-circular table where the senators and their staff members milled around behind their chairs. The committee's wooden table was tall and ornately carved. Behind and above the senators was the Great Seal of the Confederation, on which the original Systems of the Confederation were arranged in a constellation around Sol against a jet-black background. The chamber had ceilings at least thirty feet high. Forming the backdrop for the committee was a wall constructed of the most beautiful stones that could be found in the Confederation. Soft light washed over brown granite with flecks of gold from Earth, black camb from Tuwa of the Sirius B system, imperial green talilon from Taima in the Wolf system, and red noir from Rift. The wall had been designed so that the colors and textures of each type of stone were not only shown in the best light, but complemented each other.
The ornate wall, committee table, and lighting had all been arranged so that anyone who came before the committee felt the power of the Confederation. The senators had their own lights hovering over their seats. These lights brightened and dimmed as they worked at their positions. Displays floated in front of some of the senators and many of the staffers sitting behind them. Usiche had the impression that much important work was being done prior to her testimony. Indeed, she felt intimidated despite the fact she had been in this conference room a number of times over the years. She had watched her father and mother sit on committees behind the same large table. Sitting behind that very table had always been part of her long-term career plan, yet she was still on the wrong side of it a
fter all of her years of service.
Usiche stood still behind the witness table, watching the senators and their staff prepare for the hearing. She was a tall, beautiful woman. Even when she wasn’t the center of attention, her entrance into any room turned the heads of men and women alike. She had chosen to appear in her forties after her last regeneration. Her white-blond hair was cut as short as a man’s with bangs that hung just above her eyes. Instead of taking away from her beauty, this cut accentuated it. The only feature that suggested her inner strength was the strong cut of her perfect, feminine jaw.
She moved with the grace of a model instead of the military bearing of the Admiral of the Navy. Yet there was no doubt about her rank or her importance. She knew the effect she had on others and was using it today. She held her face in what she called her command mask. It was a cold unemotional set that she used when she wanted to exude the confidence of her leadership. It had proven useful in actual battles, and now it would be her mask in the political arena. Her beautiful, dark eyes swept over the senators and staff. She held any gaze that met hers. She was ready for this fight and was looking forward to it. The senators weren’t the only ones who could play the intimidation game. She knew the effect that her testimony would have on the senators and in the media. Everything had to be thought out if she was going to win these political battles. In many ways, they were more challenging than those with the Xotoli.
Usiche wore her white dress uniform with the ribbons she had earned through fifty years of service. On her high collar was the circle of five stars. A sixth star, in the center, represented her current rank. She was the first Admiral of the Navy in several centuries. Her appointment had been a bold move by the Secretary General Monnetal, who had promoted her over several more politically connected admirals. Some of the senators on the committee had voted against her confirmation.