AMP Rebellion

by Stephen Arseneault

  Frig replied, “I have two men here to help Sir. Just be careful that she doesn’t touch a side.”

  York spoke, “Well this is about as embarrassing as it gets Sir. I’m being passed around like sack of gear. And Mendez! Be careful with those legs! I want those reattached!”

  When the portal widened to its largest size I passed York through to the hands on the other side. Mendez passed through the first leg. As he passed the second through the portal closed around it, touching it briefly on the side. The leg was instantly frozen as it came in contact with the absolute zero temperature of the outer edge of the portal.

  York yelled through, “Mendez! I am going to kick your ass when I catch up to you!”

  Mendez smiled as he looked through the small portal at York and her stumps. “Sorry Diane, but you won’t be kicking it with that leg. Hahahaha!”

  As the portal closed I turned to Mendez. “Wow. That was a pretty cruel joke to make when she just lost all her limbs.”

  Mendez replied, “Sir, York doesn’t give a crap about that. She’s just embarrassed that she had to leave the field of battle. She has always fought until the end Sir. The trauma of leaving is what’s weighing on her mind.”

  Rodriguez called out, “We need some help out here! They are coming back!”

  Ak-ak-ak-ak-ak-ak! Ak-ak-ak-ak-ak!

  I took up a firing position from the room doorway that offered a covered advantage when it came to defending the stairwell. I pitched my remaining TIGs and grenades to Rodriguez as she, Frost and the others continued to hold the Dakar off through the doorway.

  Several minutes passed before I was startled by a hand on my shoulder. “Sir, Dirk Stanton, we have eight coming through the portal along with supplies. Tell us where you need us Sir.”

  I replied, “Glad to have you here Dirk. Take three each and start moving down the hallway in either direction. Find a good spot to defend and take up a position. Put the other two on this door, one up on this chair so he has a view down into that stairwell. Have him shoot anything that moves.”

  The ends of the hallway were soon defended and I carried a supply of TIGs and grenades to my team.

  Rodriguez spoke, “They are pushing hard Sir, but taking heavy casualties. If they get up enough guts to rush us we are in trouble.”

  I replied as I sat four packs of grenades on the floor behind us, “We have supplies. What do you say to us coating that ramp and stairwell with grenades? If we start to run short we can ask for more. We may not get any more, but we can ask.”

  The pins were pulled on six grenades. Screams could be heard after the detonations began. The Dakar advance came to an immediate halt as the onslaught of grenades continued. As the Dakar attempted to regroup we began to move down the ramp. The grenade assault continued.

  Frost spoke, “Sir, looks like they are moving down. This might be a good time for one of York’s rampage charges. If we can keep them scattered I think we can push them all the way down to Uriah-5. That could give the Colonel the break he needs to get up that ramp.”

  I replied, “You heard the lady people! Let’s move! And keep those grenades flying. I want to see Uriah-5 in five!”

  The squad got to its feet and began to force our way down the ramp. As we rounded the ramp swirl to the Dakar’s previous position it was a sight of horror. Dakar blood and guts lined the walls and ran in streaks down the ramp. The walls and floor were pock-marked with indentations from the grenades. Whatever substance the Grid was made of was tough. It had lasted us for a thousand years; minor damage was not going to change that.

  Injured soldiers had been left behind as the overwhelmed Dakar troops moved down the ramp towards the safety of their larger force. Prisoners were not taken as we advanced. A large number of bodies had been piled up along the inner rail of the ramp. The Dakar had been taking a severe beating in their attempts to push us up the ramp.

  Mendez spoke, “Sir, that’s Uriah-7. I suggest we ask Stanton to send two of his men down to secure that hallway.”

  I took Mendez’ suggestion and two Marines came down to guard the doorway as we continued pushing downward. Resistance began to pick up as we approached Uriah-6. Halfway down the ramp our progress stopped. Laser fire began to pick up.

  Frost spoke, “Sir, we are down to our last satchel of grenades. It’s time we had a resupply if possible. These will be gone in a few minutes. And I don’t like the number of laser blasts we have coming up that ramp Sir. I would say they are beginning to pick up a lot of support.”

  I replied, “We need to push through this last blockage Frost. We only need to disrupt their defense down there for a few seconds to give the Colonel time to take that doorway. If he can push them back into that hallway he can hold the trans-way and move his whole force forward. I am open to suggestions as to how we accomplish this last push.”

  I raised Frig on the comm, “Frig, we are hitting big resistance going from level seven down to six. Got any suggestions?”

  Frig was silent for a moment and replied, “I will see what I can do. How are your supplies holding up?”

  I replied, “We are beginning to run low. One of Stanton’s men is bringing down the last two satchels now. That should give us another five or six minutes, then, we are out.”

  Frig turned to the other men in his lab for a discussion. When he was done talking to them he turned back and pressed the comm button. “Sir, I will do another drop of supplies on Uriah-7. Following that we will attempt a disruption on Uriah-5. I will coordinate the timing with you and the Colonel so that you might make a push at the same time. I will let you know when our surprise is imminent.”

  I replied, “Sounds good. Just make it quick because they are beginning to push back hard on us.”

  Mendez continued with a grenade every fifteen seconds. The searing bolts of laser fire continued to scar the wall of the ramp, moving ever closer to our position as the Dakar pushed upwards.

  Stanton’s men then backed into the doorway behind us.

  Sergeant Horn yelled out, “Sir! We have a couple dozen Dakar advancing down the hallway! We have to move back up the ramp Sir!”

  Horn pitched a grenade down the hallway in each direction.

  Booom! Booom!

  I yelled as I stood to move back, “Enemy coming from the halls! Let’s get started back up the ramp! We can’t hold this position. As we began to move up the ramp I glanced back at the doorway as a portal materialized. Four satchels of grenades dropped through before I could get on the comm.

  I spoke, “Frig! Stop the supplies! That position has been overrun. We are moving back up to eight. Try to resupply us there.”

  Frig replied, “Sorry for the delay Sir. We lost a generator on our end. I have had to siphon power from the ship to open this portal.”

  I hesitated on the swirl of the ramp where I still had a view of the satchels of grenades laying on the floor by the Uriah-7 door.

  Frost grabbed my arm. “Don’t do it Sir. It’s not worth the risk. Those lasers coming up that ramp will cut you to pieces before you make it there and back.”

  At that moment two live grenades rolled through the portal just before it closed.

  Booom! Booom!

  The satchels had been scattered with most of the lost grenades being destroyed. I fired off several rounds from my AK as the first of the Dakar came into view.

  Ak-ak-ak-ak!

  The soldiers remained just out of sight as I squeezed off another round into the open doorway. A Dakar hand could then be seen reaching down for one of the remaining grenades.

  Frost pulled at my shoulder. “Sir, come on. We need to set up our defensive positions again. Those grenades are gone.”

  As I began to turn I replied, “I’m just hoping they don’t figure out how to use the ones that are still there. They could toss one of those things up the ramp and take us all out at once.”

  I was then startled by the sound of an exploding grenade behind me.

  Booom!

  The Daka
r had pulled the pin while attempting to figure out what the device was and how it worked. Frost again pulled on my combat suit as the laser fire from the Dakar on the ramp continued to move up the wall.

  We once again took up position in the doorway on Uriah-8. A portal soon opened behind us and four more satchels of grenades dropped out.

  I spoke, “Mendez, start handing those grenades up here. We are going to make another push down that ramp!”

  Frost, Rodriguez and I each tossed grenades down the ramp. The Dakar had no viable defense against them. We rose and again advanced down the ramp. We soon found ourselves once again on Uriah-7, heading for Uriah-6.

  Stanton came up behind us with three new satchels of grenades. “I have more where these came from Sir. I’m bringing them down now. I moved Rochester and Weeps into that hallway. They should be able to hold their positions from any small force like that last one. I think we can safely move down to six.”

  I thanked Stanton as we continued to push downward. The ramp was a bloody mess. Dakar bodies, arms, legs and heads lined our path. The ramp floor was slick with their entrails and bodily fluids.

  Rodriguez spoke, “Man, York would have loved this. I’ve been recording most of this on my helmet-cam, but I think it might upset her to watch it, to see what she ‘missed’.”

  I replied, “There are a lot of the Colonel’s Marines that thrive on being in the thick of it. That tells me why we survived all those years against the Milgari. It takes soldiers who don’t fear death to charge into some of these fights.”

  Rodriguez replied as she winked, “Yeah. I suppose when you have commanders who will do the same it makes it a lot easier. York is a machine Sir. You wind her up and aim her in the direction you want cleared out and she will go do it. Hopefully the doc can get some arms and legs on her and get her back in the fight.”

  I replied, “George will take good care of her, but those prosthetics take a minimum of several weeks to get used to, and months to master. She will be back, but probably not for this battle.”

  As our push continued the Dakar on Uriah-5 were driven back into the hallway. The Colonel’s teams advanced, pushing them farther away from the doorway. When the outer hall was secure the Colonel’s men began to stream by, going up the ramp towards our next way-point.

  The Colonel soon came up to our position. “Grange, heck-uv-a job son! Sorry to hear York got knocked out of commission.”

  I replied, “Yes Sir, she lost her arms and legs. Had we not sent her back she would have continued to fight by pulling herself forward with her chin and attempting to bite the enemy.”

  The Colonel chuckled as he replied, “I have no doubt about that Don. She doesn’t know quit. What’s her outlook?”

  I replied, “Her cuts were clean through Sir, and cauterized. She will be back soon enough.”

  The Colonel scanned the ramp around us. “Bad day to be a Dakar I would say.”

  As we walked and talked the Colonel came to a Dakar soldier that was still moving. Without hesitation the Colonel pulled his battle knife and thrust it into the Dakar’s skull. It was a Dakar officer. The blood was wiped on the officer’s tunic and the Colonel’s knife jammed back into its sheath. The Uriah trans-way was ours.

  Chapter 15

  Next up was a move across Uriah-25 to the Wallace section. From Wallace we would again move up a Transway to the Pretoria section after which we would make another move across the section to a new Transway. Changing vertical trans-ways was an attempt to keep the enemy scattered as we fought our way upwards.

  The Colonel spoke, “Wallace is an industrial section. It has the chemical labs as well as ore processing facilities. We won’t be running into many civilians until we hit Pretoria.”

  I replied, “How are we going to manage the people in the sections that we liberate?”

  The Colonel replied, “We aren’t liberating sections. We are passing through them on the way to our objective. The people we pass-by are going to have to stay locked up in their homes unless they want to get shot. We have one mission right now Don. We have to get control of that gravity drive.”

  I responded, “What about the places we have taken?”

  The Colonel shook his head. “The Prassi are closing in on Zeta-9. I already have the operations there shutting down. The guys at the tail end of our column might have the worst of the fighting. Everyone will be following us up to Lima-22.”

  As we continued moving forward our lead squads encountered only light resistance on Uriah-25. Our progress seemed too easy. I wondered if we were being allowed to move forward on purpose.

  I spoke, “Colonel, why aren’t they putting up more of a fight? They are only taking pot-shots at our lead squads.”

  The Colonel replied, “We have noticed the same. It may be time for us to split the column into three. We have enough supplies to last us a week and with the portal, Frig can resupply us almost at will. With three forces to guard they will have to spread their defenses. I’m expecting Wallace to be a nasty run, but it plays in our favor with the lack of civilians. I’m trying to avoid the critical sections that the population is reliant on. The farms on Newton and Orienta come to mind. Fighting there could lead to starvation for all the civilians.”

  I replied, “As always, you are one step ahead of me.”

  I slapped the Colonel on the back as I turned back towards my squad. “Let me know when we can be of use Colonel.”

  As we entered the Wallace section all resistance fell away. The Colonel gave orders to stop the column. After a short discussion with his planners, the column was split into three sections. The Colonel would lead the three from the first, Admiral Zimmerman would lead the second and Admiral Chaulk would head up the third.

  The Colonel spoke into his comm, “Zimmerman, your men will accompany you back to Transway-7 on Uriah. Chaulk, when you reach Uriah-25 keep going up until you reach Mako-4, then shift over to Transway-9 and continue up to Lima-2.”

  Admiral Chaulk replied, “And if we reach our objective before you and Zimmerman?”

  The Colonel replied, “Hold position there when you reach it if we have not achieved our way-points. Zimmerman, fight your way straight up to Lima-8 and hold there until we have reached Melody-18.”

  Zimmerman replied, “Melody-18? That has one of the hydrogen storage facilities doesn’t it?”

  The Colonel replied, “Exactly! We need those facilities operational or that gravity drive is useless. There are four such storage sections. If we have and hold at least one, we can send this station off away from this sector and the Durians. It might only give us a couple years space, but space is what we need. I’m just hoping they don’t figure out what we are doing before we get there. If they purge those tanks, it will bring nothing but bad times with it.”

  Chaulk and Zimmerman had their new orders. Admiral Chaulk’s column numbered more than 800,000 soldiers. Zimmerman’s crew numbered 103,000 while the Colonel’s team pushed 84,000 veterans. All three forces were well trained and disciplined. They were also fighting for their homes.

  The Colonel came on the comm, “Grange. Take your squad and 20 others out on the right flank. See if you can make it all the way to the outer wall and on to Transway-3.”

  I replied, “This isn’t some lame attempt at keeping me out of harm’s way is it Colonel?”

  The Colonel replied, “Geez, you figured me out Grange. I was hoping you and your teams could stop somewhere for milk and cookies…”

  I responded, “Was that sarcasm Sir?”

  The Colonel replied with an agitated voice, “Of course it’s sarcasm! Now get your ass in gear and head out! I want to secure that space port on Wallace-18. If we ignore those ports the Dakar can take advantage of them by moving in supplies and troops. I would rather they have to fight us in the hallways head-to-head, where they are packing all their supplies in!”

  I replied, “Roger that Colonel. The comm channel for the 20 just came through. We will head out immediately followi
ng this conversation. Out.”

  I turned to my team, “Frost, Rodriguez, we are headed out to the wall and then on to Transway-3 and down to the ports on Wallace-18. I would expect stiff resistance somewhere along that path, so let’s keep the TIGs at the ready.”

  I pressed my comm, “Frig? Can you download the layout of Wallace-25 from my current position to Transway-3?”

  Frig replied, “Wallace section should be coming through now Sir. I performed a scan of the monitors the Colonel’s team has in that section. It appears the Dakar are trying to lure the Colonel into a trap. He is aware of the situation.”

  I replied, “What about us? Anything in our way heading out?”

  Frig replied, “Yes Sir. There appears to be 2524 Dakar in a formation that will coincide with your path in 12 minutes Sir. They are part of the pincer move on the Colonel.”

  I punched up our location on my arm pad viewer. “You wouldn’t happen to see a good place for us to hide on your monitors would you? These arm viewers make it a bit difficult to search for such.”

  Several seconds passed before Frig responded. “Sir, continue on the path set in your plans. At seven minutes distance you should encounter a doorway off the hall you are in, it will be Chemical Lab W-25D. The door to that lab is always open Sir. There are two storage rooms within that should be of sufficient size to hide your men Sir. Make use of those while the Dakar farce passes you by.”

  I replied, “And I suppose it’s all gravy from that point to the wall?”

  Frig replied, “I’m sorry Sir. I do not have that information. The Colonel’s teams only command a limited number of monitors in that area as it was not previously deemed critical. If the opportunity presents itself Sir, I can scan local areas in your vicinity, but those scans are limited to line of sight.”

  I thanked Frig and continued towards the lab as he had suggested. When we reached it the door was open.

  Rodriguez spoke as we entered, “Sir, I’m wondering if this was such a good idea.”