Protocols between soldier and prisoner of war evaporated. The two turned and resumed running away from the tunnel.
***
Legionnaires rushed to complete Trent’s forward command post in a bombed-out building on the perimeter of the city. In a comic coincidence, at the exact moment a soldier drove a spike into the ground to anchor a high powered com-tower, the ground started to shake. Everyone stared in stunned silence at the confused-looking private. Seconds later, the channels flooded with reports of the tremors,
Colonel Jones’ report came through on Trent’s priority line. “Sir,” her frantic tone worried him. Jones didn’t panic. “We’re getting queer readings from the ground under the tunnels. Something is bloody well going on.”
The fleeing flock of soldiers reached his position. Ignoring the colonel he yelled, “Stand fast!” on a broad channel. “Hold your ground!”
The mob slowed, then stopped. Officers and non-coms worked hard to rally the army. Veterans all, they found their inner strength and readied themselves to face any threat. The ground shook harder.
Something is very wrong. I’ve got a bad feeling about his. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.
Trent opened a private link with Admiral Chen, “Admiral.”
“What can I do for you, General?”
“I need you to prep for a general retreat. Get every shuttle airborne and headed down.”
“Why? What’s the sit?”
“I don’t know for sure. Something is happening, but I don’t like it and I want to be ready for anything.”
“Understood. On our way.”
“Pull your men back, Colonel,” he said to the forward-deployed Jones.
“But, sir, we can...”
“Just pull ‘em back. This might turn into a shit storm and I don’t want you someplace I can’t support.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Sergeant Roth!” he shouted, too impatient to offer her any special treatment. “Why am I not getting a feed from our satellites? I need data on the source of Jones’ readings.”
“Working on it, General. I have a Corporal Braun from the unit that went into the tunnel on the com. He has something he would like to report to you. I advise you listen.”
“Put him through!” He paced.
“General Maxwell. This is Corporal Braun of the...”
“I know who you are. Get to the point, Corporal.”
“Yes, sir. My unit went into one of the tunnels, all the way to its end. We discovered their production facility, but while there I conducted a detailed scan of the area. I started to pick up power readings coming from under us.”
“What kind of readings?”
“Like nothing I’ve ever seen before. And sir, the readings were showing a steady increase in power. Whatever it is, it’s powering up. I don’t know what will happen when it’s ready.”
“Thank you, Corporal. Keep moving south.”
“Don’t have to tell me twice, sir.”
Trent blocked out the surrounding storm of rushing soldiers, screaming sergeants, and pounding equipment to consider his next move. Should he dig in and wait to meet the threat or evacuate the invasion force and study the new enemy design from orbit? He despised the idea of pulling out, only to have to repay for the same real estate again in blood. On the other hand, staying might doom everyone on the planet.
The ground decided for him.
Without warning, the tremors underneath shot up in intensity. The ground shook so hard that entire buildings closer to the center leaned, then fell. Trent almost lost his footing in the command center as equipment toppled over.
Bracing himself on a shattered wall, he opened a link to the fleet. “Emergency evac! Get that first wave of shuttles right behind our lines.”
At the speed of thought, he deployed units to hold while designating which units were to debark first. Tanks and squads of Super Heavies formed, facing the center of the city. They would take the longest to transport up, held most of the firepower, and the fewest souls. The grim calculus of war dictated that the duty of holding the line fell to them.
As suddenly as they began, the tremors stopped. Soldiers in the command post stood erect in silence.
“Look!” someone shouted, pointing toward the middle of the city.
A dozen helmets followed his finger. In shock, Trent held his gaze as he slowly walked out into the street, joining everyone else in the same exercise. There, above a great crater where the center of town once had been, hovered two massive pyramids. They were similar in design to the bases that confronted the fleet, but bigger, much bigger, and silver in color.
Awestruck for what seemed like an eternity but could only have been a matter of seconds, he pulled himself back into action. “All units fire!”
The eerie quiet gave way to the thunder of Bearcat tank shells and Super Heavy KKC rounds launching at the closest pyramid. Their best efforts simply stopped several meters from the target’s surface. No damage registered.
“General!” Amanda called.
Trent turned to face her. A swarm of shuttles landed in the background. Scores of soldiers rushed to load. Neither human nor Bearcat personnel cared which type of craft they boarded. They’d truly become a force of one.
Amanda continued, “I think they’re still powering up. The readings are still rising.”
Trent understood her reason for informing him of this. Now was the best time to strike. “Admiral Chen.”
“I’ve been following the situation, General,” Chen replied, “What can we do?”
“Lay everything you have on these things. Fighters, lasers, drones, and nukes. They’re as vulnerable as they’re ever going to be. Cover our retreat as best you can.”
“Roger that. Keep your heads down.”
Trent turned to face Amanda. She knew what he planned to say despite both of them having their helmets on. She cut him off. “Don’t even try it.” She held up a hand. “I’m not leaving this rock until you do and don’t think for a second you can order me to abandon you. Now, what are your orders, sir?”
“Keep up the fire and continue the evac. If anyone has a better idea, I’m dying to hear it.”
Thick red beams of concentrated light were the first to arrive from orbit. Unfortunately, the dozens of kilometers of atmosphere they burned through had greatly weakened their strength. The energy ran headfirst into the enemy barrier. Orbital laser strikes were notoriously ineffective. With luck, the energy and heat would pave the way for other attacks to hit home.
A volley of missiles descended from the clouds, charging toward their programmed goal. The pyramids’ point defenses opened up to great effect. Missile after missile disappeared. However, perhaps a result of the blinding energy raining down, one missile sliced its way In-between the targets. The tactical warhead triggered into a cascading ball of fire and raw power. The flame flowed around the invisible barrier, wrapping the pyramids with its nuclear embrace.
The shockwave of wind and debris sped past the front line. Its deadly cargo of junk knocked out any defenders caught in the open. A victorious cheer rose up from the hidden ranks.
Trent clinched a fist with the anticipation of raising it in triumph. His soul sank. In the distance, under the mushroom cloud that continued to reach higher and higher, the cold truth became apparent. The pyramids were untouched.
“Status on evac?” he yelled.
“First wave is off,” an aide said.
Amanda pointed to the sky. “Fighters!”
Far away and only visible with the visor’s zoom function, every Bearcat dart, Avenger, and drone in the combined fleet dipped toward the silver pyramids. Tiny bursts from the Avenger’s signaled their release of two thousand KKC rounds apiece. They then launched missiles.
A wall of depleted uranium slammed into the joint barrier at terrific speed, unleashing an incredible amount of kinetic energy. The enemy shield was peppered with temporary dots of blue as it stopped each individual round. Trent would�
��ve thought it beautiful if not for the terrifying effectiveness it represented.
More laser fire poured over the enemy ahead of the fighter’s missiles. Again, only one survived to fulfill its purpose. The fireball flowed around the barrier again. Again it failed to cause harm to the stubborn foe.
“Keep hammering them, Admiral,” Trent called up. “I don’t know what damage you might be doing, but they’re leaving us alone. You might be delaying their power up.”
“Just get your people out of there. I can’t keep this up forever.”
“General!” Someone called from behind. He turned to see Sergeant Gabriel carrying an interesting spoil of war: a live Kitright civilian prisoner.
“Where the hell did you find that?”
“Long story, sir. I’ll tell you later over a drink. Sir, he’s been exposed to a massive dose of radiation. I need to get him to the sick bay double time if we ever want to question him.”
“Absolutely! Go!” He paused to examine the flow of data Sweetie streamed into his mind. “Head to this point. I’m dedicating a shuttle specifically for you and your friend. You’ll have some company, but you’ll be the first of the second wave out of here.”
“Got it. We’ll be on it.”
“And Sergeant, good work.” He gave his old friend a thumbs up.
“Thank you, sir.”
Drones fell from the sky to cover the second wave of shuttles. The mindless warriors were being freely sacrificed to buy their living comrades precious time. In an effort to extend their usefulness as distractions, they danced wildly on the edge of their laser weapon’s effective range, frustrating the enemy’s point defenses. In groups of five, they blindly charged the enemy to add their fire to the continuing orbital laser bombardment. Each attack dwindled their number, but their gradual rate of loss allowed them to remain relevant in the engagement.
When the last of the drones melted under the intensive counter-fire, the fleet sent another missile barrage to cover the shuttles struggling to gain attitude as fast as possible.
“General Maxwell,” Admiral Chen called down. “I’m running short on expendable ordnance and I can’t keep this rate of laser fire up for much longer...” A nuclear blossom lit the battlefield. Its radiation scrambled the com-link for a moment. “...put some distance between your remaining forces and those things. I’m sending coordinates for a secondary pickup point.”
“Thanks for your help, Admiral. See you soon.”
Trent had actually already ordered a general withdrawal from the city. The tanks and Super Heavies had exhausted their ammo supplies. The Super Heavies still wielded lasers, but he might need them later to get the last of the shuttles off-planet.
He and Amanda hurried to hitch a ride on a Bearcat APC. It waited for them with the back hatch lowered. He ran up the ramp after Amanda, but paused to look back at the city so much blood had been spilled to secure. The initial barrage, street fighting, and now nuclear detonations had reduced the once-proud city to the very picture of destruction.
A cloud of radioactive dust formed over the area. He could feel a stirring sensation within himself. Something deep down shifted. Then and there, he felt pity for the Kitrights. At least the Kitright civilians, that is. His bloodlust to avenge what had been taken from him, that thirst that once seemed insatiable, had been quenched. He didn’t want to fight any more simply to exact his revenge. Now he would simply fight to achieve victory.
With unfettered resolve, he took the final step into the APC, holding his gaze on the wasteland. The ramp hummed as it closed, blocking his iron stare.
You won this one. I’ll be damned if you’ll win the war.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Retreat
The shuttle bay buzzed like a confused bee hive. Crew and legionnaires rushed in every direction, busy performing any number of tasks. Stranded Bearcat warriors loitered, unsure of what to do and mostly trying to stay out of the way.
Captain DeWalt’s voice broke over the large hall, drowning out the clanks of metal on metal and yells of frazzled commanders. “This is the captain. Prepare for emergency acceleration.”
Trent weaved his way through the mess of men and machines to find a quieter place to think. Amanda followed closely, but kept her distance. He opened a channel to Chen. “Admiral,” he took a deep breath. “What are your plans?”
“I intend to get this fleet moving for the gate as fast as possible. Those pyramids seem to be getting close to launch and I don’t plan to be here when they do.”
“Good idea. I just hope their engine tech isn’t as far ahead of us as their shielding.”
“That makes two of us. Get your people squared away as best you can. We aren’t stopping for anything.”
“I read you.”
Trent closed the link and brought up his tac-map. “Sweetie, has every shuttle docked?”
“Yours was the last to arrive. All ground forces have been recovered.”
“Excellent!”
He surveyed the shuttle bay again. Already the crew had made significant headway in clearing the deck. A tingle on his skin told him that Earth’s Fist had started accelerating. Adrenaline still coursed through his veins, but he had nowhere to direct it. The fate of his men were in the hands of the combined fleet. Helpless, he leaned against a bulkhead.
Amanda, ever the observant partner, moved closer and wrapped an arm around him. “We’ll get through this, baby,” she thought-spoke to him.
“Yeah,” he replied aloud. “We just need to find a way to beat them when we do.”
***
South Africa’s anti-matter engines churned at a hundred and ten percent of design capacity. Every ship in the fleet did the same, though Chen wasn’t sure of the specs for the Bearcat vessels. He would’ve pushed his own ships harder, but doing so would risk a containment breach which would end things quicker than the enemy.
He was cocooned in the holo cloak, watching the silver pyramids steadily gain on his formation. Their mass measured twenty percent greater than the bases he had faced during the initial phase of the Battle of Kitright Prime. Their capabilities were also far in advance of the ones that had wreaked death upon so many of his men.
He’d thrown everything at them and nothing came close to penetrating their barriers. Their shields stopped all matter and energy, regardless of speed. The tech was centuries beyond anything humans could muster.
That bothered him.
If the Kitright possessed such an awesome technological advantage, why had they waited to deploy it until now? Even if they were adapting, could they really have just built these? With what? Where? Sensor data showed they emerged from kilometers underground and there didn’t appear to be anything else down there. Not satisfied with any of the possible answers he could come up with, Chen pushed the questions aside. He had more pressing matters to contend with.
He didn’t believe for a moment that his fleet could defeat the pursuing ships. Running held their only chance of survival. However, at current projections for acceleration and deceleration, the enemy ships would overtake them before they reached the gate. He needed to slow them down and do it while they were still in the acceleration phase of the trip. He could think of only one way to achieve this objective. It might not work, but it would cost dearly even to try. Chen hated giving orders he knew amounted to little more than suicide. Exhaling, he told himself there wasn’t any other way, although the reality did little to lessen his guilt. He blamed his lack of imagination and tactical genius far more than he did the enemy capabilities.
Fixing his stare on his own ships, he formulated a plan. A thought-command later, he was speaking directly to the commanders of the last three ships in the formation. A Bearcat battleship by the name of Blood Honor and two human cruisers, the Siege of Taipei and Coral Sea.
“Ship Leader and Captains,” he paused, finding it difficult to continue. “As you are aware, the enemy vessels intercept course will overtake us before we can jump. We need time. I need you to
cut your acceleration and engage the enemy.” He didn’t feel right phrasing it as an order, so he tried to make it more of a request. “Make them have to slow to deal with you. Hit their shields as hard as you can to drain their energy reserves. With luck, that will be enough to buy the rest of the fleet time to jump.”
The channel stayed silent. He grew increasingly uncomfortable as time sluggishly ticked away. Finally, Captain Maria Cortez of Coral Sea spoke. “You just get the fleet back home to defend Earth and the colonies, Admiral. We’ll get you the time needed.” He knew her words were meant to absolve a friend and colleague of any guilt. She could read a tactical situation as well as any and would know what had to be done.
The other two commanders sounded off their approval immediately afterwards. The weight resting firmly on Chen’s shoulders lightened, though not by much. “Thank you. Good luck and may God bless you and your crews.” The channel closed. There was no need to say anything more. There was nothing more that could be said.
The three allied ships fell back from the fleet. Their momentum continued to carry them in the direction of the gate as they turned to face the approaching pyramids. Skillfully they positioned themselves directly in the pyramids’ path. They couldn’t be ignored. The course change the enemy would have to make to circumvent the speed bump would put them out of position to snare the big game. They also didn’t dare try to simply ignore the allied ships. At current velocities, each vessel represented a devastating kinetic kill vehicle. In response, the enemy ships decelerated to meet the frustrating challenge.
Several hours passed as the mismatched forces closed on one another. Already Chen’s plan had borne fruit. The main fleet increased its distance from the threat, but even more was required. He stayed in the holo cloak the entire time, sustained by a nutrient pack and stimulants. He felt someone should bear witness to every second of the selfless act as it unfolded.
The pyramids came to a near stop, in space travel terms. That tactic would allow their point defenses and primary weapons to be of the most use.
That’s good. It’s a good sign that even they can’t engage at high speeds. They aren’t Godlike. Maybe we can beat them. Everyone has a weakness.
The Last Revenge (The Last Hero Trilogy Book 2) Page 30