“I don’t have to tell you what is at stake. You’ve all read the latest reports on the changing dynamic of our interstellar war. It’s quite possible that the war will be over far quicker than originally anticipated. With the end of the war, we lose the external threat holding the Earth and its colonies together. We must be in position to replace the UES with a government capable of expanded control after the cessation of hostilities. We have no choice but to accelerate our plans.”
The assembled group chatted quietly to one another.
“I know,” the Director said sympathetically. “It will not be easy, but it must be done.”
“What is the first step?” a female deputy director asked.
The projection’s ice cold blue eyes narrowed. Wordless rage was transmitted through the hologram. “We find who took the Center and eliminate them all.”
***
Ship Leader Hytoo darted toward the sensor control station once the Blind Fury jumped to the target system.
The bridge of a Bearcat destroyer was arranged in a predictable circle with the ship leader at the center. Trent and Hido stood by the exit, out of everyone’s way but close enough to follow any developments.
“Ship Leader,” called a bridge officer, “we are being hailed by the Kitright communications satellite. They are requesting the reason for our visit.”
“Reply with the prepared message. We’re here to await the arrival of a trading vessel and then escort it out of the system after its business is concluded. We request permission to wait in orbit.”
“Message sent.”
Tense seconds crawled by as the bridge silently waited. The entire mission could end in abrupt failure if the Kitright denied the request.
One of these days I’d like an easy mission. Why is that so hard to ask for? Trent thought.
Finally, a relieved com officer announced, “Request granted.”
The crew exhaled in unison.
“What does the surrounding space hold, Ship Leader?” Hido asked.
“Nothing we didn’t expect, High Commander. A satellite is positioned near the gate and it looks like there are Kitright merchant vessels operating in orbit, as well as in transit to and from the planet. A minor automated defense platform in geosynchronous orbit over the trading post is the only real concern. Of course, this data is old. We won’t know what we face for certain until we get closer.” Hytoo turned. “Deputy Ship Leader, prepare to deploy communications link.”
Trent rung his hands together. “What are the chances your stealth sub-space link is detected?”
“Almost none,” Hytoo said, waving off the concern. “It will remain dormant until needed and this is a busy gate. The heavy traffic will aid its concealment.”
“I see.”
“Don’t worry so much, General.” Hido slapped him on the back. “We’ll either succeed or die.”
“For some reason, I don’t find that sentiment comforting.”
***
“We launch in ten minutes,” Trent announced to the mixed century filing into triangular-shaped shuttles, which the Kitright believed were planning to make a supply run. Good profits can always be found selling supplies to a military at war.
Each shuttle carried twenty-five troops. Two would strike the trading post and two were headed for one of the three merchant ships in orbit. When launched, they would head toward the surface as if conducting normal business. When the time was right, they’d show their true intentions. The Blind Fury would call the Battle of Britain into the fight to knock out the enemy’s gate communications and cut off the only avenue for escape at the same time.
Trent scanned the flow of legionnaires and Bearcat warriors, pretending to examine them for combat readiness. What he was really doing was looking for Amanda. In minutes, the Rubicon would be crossed and all he wanted was to look into those brilliant eyes one more time. He found her without a touch of makeup covering her skin, hair pulled back into a ponytail, and wearing the ugly elf-green combat suit. She’d never looked more beautiful.
Their eyes locked, sharing a knowing grin.
“I love you,” her sweet voice whispered inside his head.
“I love you, too.”
The lovers held their gaze, slowly sliding their helmets on.
She snapped a sharp salute. He returned it.
***
Trent felt odd aboard the shuttle, like a child in adult furniture. The large seats were awkward. His legs could barely bend at the knee and the armrests were too far away to offer comfort. The experience brought a smile to his face, though. It reminded him of how Anna looked when she walked around in his shoes. The soft memory was contorted into rage.
They stole my daughter from me. Payback starts now!
The ground assault shuttles left first so as to be in a better position when the new phase of the war started. Friction against the yellowish planet’s upper atmosphere beat against the hulls, heating them till their tips glowed.
With the planetside assault underway, two more craft bound for the target ship eased out of the shuttle bay. Their path appeared as if they planned to land at the trading post. Their trajectory would also take them close to one of the Kitright ships.
***
The Kitright version of longshoremen gathered around the landing Bearcat shuttles. As the triangular craft still descended, something odd happened. Their doors began to open.
The Labor Supervisor on duty observed the curious event from his office adjacent to the landing pad. He completely forget about the knowledge-file he was working on. He hated the interruption; he was already extremely behind on his administrative tasks. In an effort to catch up, he’d downloaded significant portions of the post’s mainframe for quick and easy data cross-referencing. This represented a gross violation of security protocols.
But what possible harm would really come of it?
***
The sensor officer aboard the Kitright merchant vessel Diamond Star didn’t understand why the two craft on their screen suddenly changed course and were now heading straight for them.
He was about to contact the vehicles moving dangerously close when his monitor beeped. The Bearcat ship had just sent an encrypted message.
To whom and why?
He wouldn’t live long enough to get an answer.
***
The Battle of Britain jumped through the gate and immediately launched a devastating attack against the defensive and communication satellites.
***
Trent’s troops leapt from their hovering shuttles.
***
The magnetic boarding clamps on Hido’s shuttles clanked against the Diamond Star’s hull.
Humanity and the Bearcats were at war with the Kitrights.
Chapter Fifteen
Payback
Legionnaires and Bearcat warriors moved swiftly against the planet’s eighty percent of Earth-normal gravity. Like superheroes, the bloodthirsty soldiers fanned out with terrific speed and unstoppable strength.
A Bearcat scored the first kill. Trent witnessed the automatic fire from the warrior’s massive fifty caliber rifle pulverize an unarmed and unarmored Kitright laborer with a stream of well-placed bullets. It was almost murder, it was so easy.
The Kitright workers had been initially paralyzed by curiosity, but now they broke and ran for cover. Too little, too late. The paltry effort ended with their total elimination.
Trent pulled back the trigger of his brand new MRG14. The familiar vibration felt good, like walking into his home after a long trip. Though not as quiet as he remembered, its lethality remained unchanged. The signature weapon of the Legion had gone through a few changes during his eighty-plus year trek across deep space, to counter Bearcat advancements in armor.
New Bearcat kinetic shielding used a projectile’s own energy against it to destroy it, a perfect armor for stopping a weapon designed to kill through sheer velocity. Since the faster a round moved, the more effective the shielding became, the researcher
s slowed the velocity of the MRG projectile. The result was a barrel about twenty percent shorter than those of the models Trent used before.
In addition, the old BB ammo was replaced with a heavier, sleeker model whose pointed tip helped to penetrate the barrier. The larger round meant a magazine only held fifteen hundred rounds instead of two thousand but the slower rate of fire allowed a magazine to last about the same amount of time.
All of these counter-measures meant nothing to the unprotected workers, who were cut to pieces in the storm of flying metal.
During mission planning, much discussion revolved around the rules of engagement for combat against a race of self-proclaimed pacifists. In the end, the decision was made to shoot first and ask questions later.
Too many unknowns overrode the minor moral dilemma.
So much of what the Kitright had told both races were complete lies, so it was only safe to assume they might not be the gentle pacifists they claimed. Besides, the mission was simply too important to take any unnecessary chances.
Debates of morality didn’t concern Trent. He took aim at the back of a distant, fleeing worker. You brought this on yourselves. He calmly pulled the trigger. The five-round burst dropped the Kitright like a sack of potatoes. Searching for another target, he found none.
Dammit!
“Perimeter secured, sir,” Low Commander Oodon informed him.
“Outstanding!” The adrenaline of combat fueled his excitement. Oh, how he had missed it. “Move out! Get the shuttles in the air for support. I want Foxtrot on point and Juliet to take up the rear. Make sure we don’t have any surprises on our flanks as we push through the city.”
“Yes, General.”
***
It took longer to burn through the unknown metal that made up the hull of the Kitright vessel than Hido would’ve preferred. Once the breaches had been made, the shuttles disconnected and pulled back to utilize explosive decompression as a weapon, a tactic General Maxwell had suggested.
Anxious to get in the fight, Hido stood over the hatch. He expected to hear debris slam into the belly of the shuttle, but nothing struck.
Something isn’t right.
“Report,” he shouted to the pilots.
“High Commander, it appears the ship had already decompressed. The other shuttle is reporting the same on the vessel’s other side.”
A clever enemy.
Hido smiled. “Very well, take us down. We’ll kill them all ourselves.”
Hido readied himself for the leap into the ship by checking his weapon, adjusting his helmet, and activating the kinetic shield plate on the environmental suit.
Standing back to back, he and another warrior dropped into the enemy ship, spraying bullets as they fell. Hitting nothing but vacuum and metal, they quickly advanced down their respective hallways to make room for the other members of their team.
Having spent over a year of subjective time in captivity, Hido revealed in the thrill of combat. All real Bearcats enjoyed a good fight, and he finally felt truly at home again with a rifle in hand and an enemy before him.
With the last of the team aboard, Hido waved them toward the bridge. Speed would be critical if they were to capture anything of value.
Soldiers rushed past as he took a moment to check in with the team of shuttle two. “Major Cook, report on your situation.”
“Under heavy fire, High Commander! Enemy marines are...”
“Major?” Hido yelled in a vain attempt to raise the XO. “What is the situation?” Interminable seconds dripped past. “Major, report!”
What is happening to Cook’s team? Do the Kitright have a military capability that far exceeds ours? Why haven’t we been confronted? What lies ahead of us? Sergeant Roth is on Major Cook’s team. How will the general take the death of his Bond Mate?
Those worries and doubts evaporated, forced out by necessity.
“Fall back!” shouted the Legion corporal serving as point.
Hido watched the blurry image of the corporal, an effect of the nano fabric’s camouflage function, run toward him. Suddenly the soldier convulsed and melted. The legionnaire collapsed and died without a sound in the cold vacuum.
His line of sight clear, Hido saw what confronted him.
This will be a good battle, indeed.
***
“Sweetie,” Trent said to his combat assist link’s personality, “diagram the battle for me.” On one knee, he took cover behind a wall.
His CAL organized the information pouring in from the circling shuttles and scouts to give him an overview of the battle. Technically, though, the term ‘battle’ might have been a bit of a stretch at that moment.
Since the initial slaughter, the fast-moving force had yet to encounter resistance. The post’s headquarters were less than a kilometer from the landing pad. The advance Foxtrot squad hugged a set of silos across from the domed objective, a mere seventy-five meters away.
Golf squad pushed into the small city to secure the left flank. Hotel did the same on the right. India stayed near Trent in the center and Juliet ensured no attacks came from the rear.
For now, the stunned civilian population stayed hidden.
Where are their defenses? They couldn’t have left the surface totally exposed.
“General,” Low Commander Oodon said, “doors are opening at the base of the headquarters’ dome.”
He abruptly rose. “Has anything come out?”
“No, not yet...wait. Yes, something is coming out now.”
“Sweetie, show me Oodon’s visor feed.”
What the hell are those?
Dozens of smooth, golden oval-shaped things, each atop a tripod of thin, wiry legs, stepped into the light. Their legs carried them so gracefully they appeared to glide. At the roof’s edge, they floated down to the ground. The curious sight stunned the forward units. No one was firing at them.
“Open Fire,” Trent yelled, not knowing what they were but felt safe in the assumption the tripods represented a threat. Booming Bearcat rifles and Legion grenades echoed throughout the town.
“India, on me,” he ordered, rushing to reinforce the front.
Throwing himself against a silo, he joined the chaos of first contact with enemy troops. Shutting out the thunderous bursts of rifle fire and explosions, he studied the initial action. The odd enemy devices, likely drones or robots, withered away in the storm of fire. However, they streamed out from the hatches on the roof, pouring over the edge like a waterfall. Soldiers, his soldiers, were dying, but he couldn’t see the enemy’s return fire. In between the violent orchestra of war, his ears detected an awkward sizzling sound.
Foxtrot and India’s murderous fire mowed down the two-meter tall tripods. Still, through the brutal calculus of sheer numbers, the enemy advanced. A seemingly endless supply flowed from the roof.
An overly aggressive private on Trent’s left exposed himself for too long laying down grazing fire. Sweetie, having begun to understand the enemy weapon, illustrated a streak of energy zipping toward the easy target.
The invisible force struck the man. Without a sound, he melted into a pile of smoldering flesh and deactivated green nano fabric. The kill’s only sound was a sickening sizzle the beam made as it fried particles in the air.
The swarm, now in the hundreds, used their dead as cover and threatened to encircle the lead element.
Another well-placed enemy shot fried a Bearcat warrior. Trent couldn’t smell the burnt hair, but he knew enough for his mind to involuntarily imagine it for him.
“Gulf and Hotel, do you read me?”
“Yes,” answered from both squad leaders.
“If you’re not under fire, come up to support our flanks. Hurry! We’re getting overrun! Juliet, move up closer. Stay in reserve.”
“Roger, on our way,” Juliet’s sergeant replied.
Trent turned around and grabbed the first friendly he saw. “You’re with me,” he said to a Bearcat enlisted man.
“Yes, sir! Where,
General?”
“Up.”
***
A burst of three rounds from Hido’s rifle shattered the smooth, featureless oval. Shrapnel ricocheted off the walls and droplets of pink goo froze instantly, shattering on impact.
No sooner did that one die than another appeared from around the corner to take its place.
A lucky direct hit with a grenade fired by a jittery legionnaire exploded it into tiny fragments.
Hido jerked toward the soldier. “Hold grenades unless absolutely necessary.”
“But, sir...”
“This is a fight in an enclosed area, Corporal. You’re likely to kill one of us with a round.”
“High Commander,” Sergeant MacAdams said, aiming down the corridor the bizarre enemy units had come from, “I think we can link up with the other team through this corridor.”
“Take a fire team and proceed. I can’t raise any of them on the com. It appears the signal is being jammed. We can’t reach beyond the immediate area. Give any support you can. We will continue onto the bridge.”
“Yes, sir.”
Hido’s team killed, or more accurately, destroyed, two more of the tripods on their march to the bridge. One more of their group met a sick death.
Hido examined a heavy blast door. It was the final obstacle to the objective.
“I have something just for this occasion, sir.” The words came from the grenade-happy corporal,
“What’s that?”
“Demo tape.”
The team lined up against the wall down the corridor from the bridge door now coated with strips of explosives.
“Fire in the hole!”
A violent vibration coursed through the ship.
“Attack,” Hido ordered, full of vigor. He rushed forward, but his excitement plummeted upon seeing the door intact.
“It barely scratched the damn thing,” the corporal commented.
Hido ran a hand over the surface. “I don’t think we have enough tape.”
“I think I might be able to help, High Commander,” a familiar female voice said.
The Last Revenge (The Last Hero Trilogy Book 2) Page 13