Behind the Lines: Ganog Wars Book 1

by Chris Fox

  Hannan appeared a moment later, unclipping her harness and grabbing a scale on the other side of the winch. "Lets do this quick. I get the feeling we don't want to be here if the planetstrider wakes up and punches its way through that mound."

  Chapter 51- It's Moving

  T'kon knew the human was right. "I've seen this happen once before. We're exposed here, and it's possible one of the blocks could crush us. We need to move."

  "How much farther to the hatch?" Nolan asked, peering up into the darkness.

  "I'd guess another two thousand meters." T'kon tapped a sequence on his suit's keypad.

  The drone whirred into the air, carrying the winch toward their destination. T'kon's lower nostrils were still scrunched shut from the stench, limiting his oxygen intake. It wasn't enough to make him light-headed, so he ignored it.

  "I've got a lock," he said triumphantly. "The drone has found the hatch. It's planting the winch now. We should be able to start our ascent in forty seconds."

  "That's not going to be soon enough," Lena cautioned. The Tigris pointed up. "Look."

  The planetstrider's metal claw rose slowly back, then lunged forward. The wind from the moving limb plastered T'kon against the scale he'd been resting against. Then the claw punched into the mound. Metal and stone exploded into the air, banishing the darkness as the overcast sky came into view.

  A piece of stone the size of a transport bounced off the planetstrider's cannon arm, ricocheting toward the main body. Toward the waist, where they were huddled. "Move. Move now."

  T'kon grabbed the Tigris, throwing her upward. Her arms windmilled as she sailed toward safety, landing on a bony outcrop thirty meters above. The captain dove to the side, sheltering under a mass of scales.

  Hannan leapt in Nolan's direction, and the captain seized her hand, pulling her to safety.

  T'kon was so concerned with the others that he didn't move quickly enough himself. The hunk of stone grew larger, filling his field of view. He kicked off the creature, sailing out into empty space. The boulder crashed into the spot where he'd stood, splintering into many smaller rock fragments. The impact would no doubt have killed him, but his leap had only prolonged his life by a few seconds. He was already beginning to plummet toward the ground, thousands of meters below.

  The planetstrider took another step, its titanic leg stepping through the gap it had created in the mound. The motion caused the creature's bulk to move toward T'kon, and he'd only fallen a hundred meters when he was finally able to grab a scale.

  It arrested much of his momentum, but the scale snapped loose. He skittered down the creature's leg, scrambling to find purchase. His boot caught between two scales, snapping his ankle. T'kon bellowed his pain, and rage, and need to survive. He seized the planetstrider's leg with both arms, clinging there as the creature continued forward.

  "T'kon, are you all right?" Nolan's voice crackled over the comm.

  "Don't worry about me, Captain. Get your squad to the hatch, and seize control of this thing, before it's too late." T'kon risked freeing a hand, fishing a morpha packet from his pouch. He jammed the needle into the access port on his thigh, panting as he waited for it to take affect. It would dull the pain soon enough.

  T'kon's head jerked up. The planetstrider had stopped. Its cannon rose slowly toward the sky, pointing at the clouds. A tremendous high-pitched whine began, and then the rifle discharged a beam of intense scarlet energy. The clouds boiled out of the way, leaving unbroken brown sky in its wake.

  In the distance, T'kon could see both of the other planetstriders, each adding similar fire. The sky boiled under their combined fury. Whoever was commanding the human fleet was about to have their entire day ruined.

  Chapter 52- Down the Hatch

  Nolan clung to a rung as the planetstrider took another step. It crushed a city block, pausing to fire into the sky again. That shot was aimed at Fizgig's fleet, he was sure of it. He climbed faster, making his way up the last half dozen rungs toward the sheltered cubby above.

  It was set under the enormous metal harness wired to the planetstrider's back, making it nearly impossible to assault during combat--unless you were crazy enough to climb this thing.

  "How's that door coming, Lena?" Nolan called, unclipping himself from the line. He braced himself against the last few rungs, just below the hatch Lena was attempting to open.

  "I'll know in a few moments," Lena called back over the wind. "I'm entering the symbols T'kon gave me, but its an eight-digit sequence. It shocks me that they wouldn't have changed the code after he broke in the last time."

  "You do no understand our culture, Lena," T'kon's gravelly voice came through the comm. "Do you change your holy texts? The password has been passed from techsmith to techsmith for generations. If the secret is discovered, they don't change the secret. They kill the people who learned it."

  The planetstrider shook again, and Nolan tightened his grip. It took another step, crushing more buildings. In the distance he could see two others, also taking potshots at the sky.

  Nolan glanced down. Hannan was directly below him, clinging to the ladder even more tightly than he was. Below her it was a several-thousand-meter drop to the rusted city streets the planetstrider was crushing underfoot. Each step shook them violently, threatening to knock them off.

  It took several moments of scanning to locate T'kon. He clung to a ridge of scales on the monster's lower back, just above the waist.

  "I can leave the line secured after we enter, T'kon. It's about two hundred meters to your left, and maybe another six hundred up."

  "Negative," T'kon rumbled back. "Captain, given time I can safely reach the hatch. However, if we leave the line intact, the kill squad they inevitably send will wonder why. They will find me. I'd rather take the risk of doing this without a line than risk alerting them to my predicament."

  "Noted. How's the ankle?" Nolan asked. He didn't like the idea of breaching this place without T'kon. Not only could they not afford the loss in firepower, but T'kon was the only person who'd been inside. That kind of intel was invaluable.

  "It will not hold my weight, but I'm working around it. If you'd like, I can stay on comms, Captain."

  "Please do," Nolan affirmed. Above him the hatch door swung open, and Lena began climbing inside. "I'm sending you footage from my helmet. As you can see, we're entering the hatch."

  "Noted, Captain." Nolan could hear the strain in the Ganog's voice.

  Nolan followed Lena into a narrow corridor, which widened as it sloped steeply upward. He moved to the side, snapping his rifle to his shoulder as he waited for Hannan to enter the room. She climbed in a few moments later, immediately getting to her feet and getting her rifle ready.

  "Hannan, take point," Nolan ordered. "Lena, you're in the rear. Don't take any unnecessary risks. You're our best chance of shutting this thing down."

  Hannan started up the corridor, and he followed.

  "T'kon, what kind of resistance are we likely to encounter?"

  "You will face techsmiths--no true threat. However, they are in a fortified position, and will die before letting you take them. Do not underestimate them."

  Nolan stumbled, catching himself against the deck as the planetstrider shifted violently. It fired again, this time at the city itself. "T'kon, any idea why they've changed targets?"

  "I can guess. It looks like Krekon's cruiser just took off, and is circling toward the Khalist mountains. They're safe for now, but when they break for orbit they'll be an unavoidable target."

  "Then we need to hurry." Nolan hurried up the corridor.

  "Contact," Hannan bellowed. She dropped to one knee, firing a burst of superheated particles up the hall.

  Nolan went prone, sighting down his barrel. A grey-robed Saurian squeezed off a shot from a plasma pistol, the energy splashing the deck several feet to Nolan's right. Nolan return fire, taking the Saurian in the chest. He fired two more times, walking his fire down the body. The Saurian went down with a screech, and
the stink of cooked meat filled the corridor.

  "Fire in the hole." Hannan hucked a grenade up the corridor, her aim impeccable. The grenade bounced off the wall, landing on the corpse of the Saurian he'd shot.

  Nolan ducked, covering his head. Shrapnel pinged off his armor, but he was far enough away that it did no real damage. He rounded on Hannan. "What if you'd missed? That grenade would have rolled right down to Lena."

  "Good thing I didn't miss." Hannan said. Nolan could hear the smile in her voice, though he couldn't see her face through the helmet. "You may have been exiled to the 14th, but I was bred there, sir. You know I'll always be a little rough around the edges."

  "Good thing you weren't using a plasma grenade," Nolan muttered. "Lena, wait for an all clear before you follow us up that ladder."

  "Yes, sir," Lena called from below. "I closed the door, but anyone with the code will still be able to follow us."

  "That's why we're going to be quick," Nolan said, hurrying after Hannan. She was already mounting the ladder that disappeared above.

  "Captain," T'kon said, "you're ascending into the control unit above the head. There's no other way in or out, so the remaining techsmiths will make their stand there. Be careful."

  "Acknowledged. They're cornered and will fight like hell. You doing okay out there?"

  "For the moment. I don't see any pursuit yet, but squadrons have been deployed. They'll be coming for you soon. I'll alert you when they dock." T'kon no longer sounded like he was gritting his teeth; he must have taken some sort of painkiller.

  A burst of plasma melted the top rung, forcing Hannan to retreat a pace. She yanked her rifle from her shoulder, aiming it one-handed. It flashed, and a grey-robed Saurian tumbled past. Nolan ducked out of the path. Lena did the same, and the body hit the deck with a thud.

  Hannan disappeared into the room above, so Nolan poured on the speed. He heard plasma shots, then a very human scream.

  "Hannan!" Nolan roared. He pulled his rifle from his shoulder, popping his head and shoulders up into the chamber. A Saurian had its pistol raised, but it was aiming at a target behind Nolan. He opened up, catching the Saurian in the chest. It stumbled backward into a bank of terminals beneath a some kind of viewport.

  Another Saurian leapt from behind a panel on the far side of the narrow room, aiming for Nolan. A rifle barked behind him, and the Saurian dropped.

  "I've been hit sir," Hannan croaked. Nolan spun to face her, relaxing when he saw she was okay. She'd been hit in the chest, and the armor was smoked and blackened. But it had held. "Think that was the last of them."

  "That doesn't make any sense," Nolan said, leaning against the wall as he caught his breath. "Four personnel to guard their most powerful war machine? That's ludicrous."

  "Again, you must understand our culture," T'kon said. "It is unthinkable to attempt to steal a planetstrider. Doing so goes against the scriptures of the Nameless Ones. It is heresy--not to mention, logistically difficult. And for what cause? No one would destroy a planetstrider. They'd be hunted, their clan extinguished. In short, they were not expecting someone like you, Captain."

  "Yeah, well, we still have to figure out how to stop this thing from trying to kill Burke. At least it isn't firing at the fleet any more." Nolan helped Lena from the ladder, nodding at a pulsing blue cube. "That's the core T'kon mentioned. See what you can figure out."

  The planetstrider paused, aiming its arm skyward. Nolan could see the cannon now, just outside the viewport. Judging from his vantage, he was sitting on this thing's head. The cannon discharged, firing into orbit again.

  "Be quick, Lena. We've got to stop this thing."

  Chapter 53- Out of Time

  Fizgig winced as another missile slammed into the Ironsides. The destroyer had already been battered by enemy fire, and this missile finally hit something vital. The Ironsides split at the middle, the halves of the ships drifting apart from each other as a staccato of detonations lit both sides. A flurry of tiny escape pods jettisoned away, but she knew only a fraction of the crew would survive.

  Those survivors would only live until Fizgig's fleet was wiped out, unless she found a way to turn the battle around. There might still be time for that.

  "Direct all fire toward the closest dreadnought. Order the 2nd Fleet to warm up the theta cannons," Fizgig ordered. She rose from the captain's chair, walking toward the holographic battle display.

  "Captain, all vessels are spooling up theta cannons. Firing."

  A flurry of brilliant stars shot toward the enemy vessel, punching into the enemy shield. The shield flickered with the first shot, a gap appearing where the theta round had impacted. A second round hit, then a third. By the fourth the shield was a thin haze, barely substantial.

  "Focus all fire on their main cannon," Fizgig snapped.

  The second volley converged on the main cannon, the weapon itself as large as Fizgig's flagship. A glowing white star shot into the base, turning the entire thing molten. A second shot hit in the same place, and a third hit the barrel. The turret detonated, sending the warped barrel careening through space. It crushed dozens of fighters, picking up speed as the planet's gravity well took hold of it.

  "Khar, destroy the smaller cannons. Concentrate your fire on the aft side. Fleet vessels, focus your fire on the engines. Conventional weaponry only. Save the theta rounds for the next capital ship." Pride swelled in Fizgig's breast as dozens of booster mechs winged toward the enemy vessel. They swarmed the smaller turrets like a school of fish around a shark.

  The Ganog struggled to fight back, belching scarlet plasma at the approaching fighters. Khar's mechs were simply too swift, easily avoiding the return fire. One by one, Khar's squadron destroyed the opponent's defenses. When their work was complete, the ship was little more than a floating transport.

  The fleet moved to encircle the vessel, but pressure increased from the other enemy capital ships. A trio of dreadnoughts fired their main cannons, and fresh wings of enemy fighters moved to engage Fizgig's frigates and destroyers, trying to save their wounded companion before Fizgig's fleet finished their work.

  She briefly considered another salvo from the theta cannons. That would certainly destroy the enemy dreadnought, but it would also consume another fifteen percent of their ammunition. No, they had to finish this with other tools. They needed those rounds.

  A streak of scarlet boiled through the atmosphere below, streaking into the sky. The shot washed over the forward bow of the Mendez, temporarily drowning the viewscreen in brilliant death.

  "Damage report," Fizgig demanded.

  "That shot caught our stern, sir," Juliard said, tapping furiously away on her console. "We've lost pressure on two decks. Response teams are evacuating crew so we can space the fires. No critical systems were damaged, but if we re-enter the sun we're going to lose everything up to the central bulkhead."

  "We'll worry about that later." The viewscreen returned to the battle, and Fizgig went cold. Two more shots boiled out of the atmosphere. The first went wide, hitting nothing. The next shot hit the Calypso, right along the midline.

  The cruiser burst apart at the seams, flinging hunks of her flaming hull in all directions. It happened too quickly for crew to react or escape, and Fizgig closed her eyes. Eight hundred souls lost--not to mention the Calypso's firepower. This battle was quickly spinning out of control.

  "Renew fire on the wounded dreadnought," she snapped.

  The dreadnought was retreating to the rear of their ranks. The other dreadnoughts were moving to close ranks, preventing her forces from finishing their target.

  She stalked back to her chair, murdering a pillow with her claws. A river of cotton shreds rained down, but they did nothing to stem her frustration. She forced a deep breath. "Shift all fire to the closest dreadnought."

  She hated letting a wounded enemy escape, but it was too late to pursue. This enemy commander was crafty, trying to bait her into taking heavy losses in order to finish off wounded prey. She wouldn't
allow that, no matter how it galled her.

  They'd just keep defanging the enemy, removing their main cannons until the enemy was out of vessels. If they spent their ammo wisely, that might be possible.

  "Captain, more shots from the planet," Juliard cautioned. The fleet took evasive action, with better luck this time. The first two shots found nothing, and the third only caught a few of Khar's fighters.

  "Where the hell is Nolan?" Fizgig snarled. Time was working against them. If he didn't make contact soon, she'd have no choice but to retreat.

  Chapter 54- Make a Hole

  "Admiral, a ship just left the surface." Juliard's voice drew Fizgig from the holographic map of the battle. "It's broadcasting a CUS beacon, but the ship's configuration is consistent with one of the enemy's cruisers."

  "It must be Nolan, or whoever is left alive down there," Fizgig mused, tail swishing behind her. "We need to get them out of there. Their survival is critical, as is their intel."

  "Sir, the enemy fleet is between us and the cruiser. They'll be able to get to it before we can. In fact, a wing of their fighters just broke off. They'll reach the cruiser in eighty-nine seconds." Juliard looked up at Fizgig. "We don't have a clear line of fire."

  "Khar." Fizgig stabbed a button on the chair, opening a channel. "That ship must reach us safely. Protect it at all costs."

  "Of course, Mighty Fizgig. I'm not certain we can reach it safely." Khar noted the fact, but in typical Tigris fashion, he refused to allow that to deter him.

  "Let me worry about that, Khar. Save that ship." Fizgig ended the connection. "Juliard, order all vessels to open fire at the two dreadnoughts on their right flank. Authorize the use of all remaining theta ammo. Make a hole, no matter the cost."

  The 2nd opened up, a volley of synthetic stars streaking into the pair of dreadnoughts. The two ships were pristine, untouched by the rest of the combat. It didn't save them. Theta shots punched through their shields, slamming into the hull. Both lost their main cannons, and both wounded vessels immediately retreated toward the rear of their fleet. They were descending toward high orbit, screened by the three intact dreadnoughts, just as she'd expected.