Gunship - The Series

by John Davis

  It had quickly become obvious to Adam and his crew that the Colonials would fall in defeat at the end of this battle. Their only hope now was to find a way back to the Colonial Star Five before time ran out. The courtyard of the compound was littered with fallen Legion soldiers, ship wreckage from the thick sky above, Colonial men and women who had died for a cause they believed in and even the occasional Hunter.

  They covertly moved from position to position, careful not to alert any of the units in the open that were engaged in the mass bloodshed. The plan was to move back to the rear of the compound, leaving the same way they had arrived and hope that Colonial ships spotted their beacon before Legion forces caught up to them. It wasn't the greatest of plans, but Adam had thrown it together under fire and it was all they had to go with.

  “Lieutenant Michaels.” Commander Blaine's voice announced through Adam's ear mounted com unit.

  “Go ahead!” Michaels replied, shocked to hear the Blaine's voice in the midst of he loud fighting around him.

  “We have picked you up on the grid. If there is any chance you can move two clicks to the Southeast, there is a large Colonial unit dug in there to assist you.” Blaine replied.

  “Southeast. Move out now!” Michaels yelled to his group, responding to the commander's request. “Yes sir.”

  “Is Sarah alright?” Blaine asked cautiously, the few seconds of silence seeming like eternity.

  “Yes sir. I have three wounded, four confirmed dead and two missing, presumed dead.” Adam replied gravely.

  “Understood Lieutenant. Get your people Southeast.” Commander Blaine replied as the Colonial Star Five shook fiercely, several missiles hitting the large starship at once.

  “Report!” Blaine yelled as the ship's interior lights continued their fluctuation.

  “Structural damage to the starboard section of the ship, shields have absorbed substantial damage but are holding.” one of his crew members said lifelessly.

  “Take us down close to the surface. All cannons redirect fire to surface, make my daughter a safe path to walk through.” Commander Blaine said before slowly taking a wall mounted com unit into his hand.

  “This is the commander. I am issuing a general order to abandon ship. All remaining Spartans are cleared to launch, remaining soldiers are instructed to rally on the surface and support existing units. It has been my honor to serve as your commander.” Blaine said as he slowly returned the com unit to its cradle as the ship was hit with several more breaking explosions.

  The Legion and Hunter ships knew the Colonial Star Five was in serious trouble and had begun concentrating their fire onto the dying masterpiece, which was starting to tear apart at the welded seams. Dozens of Spartan ships launched simultaneously in an effort to protect the sinking ship, most of which were nothing more than small explosions shortly after launching directly into the concentrated gunfire from the Legion ships.

  “Lieutenant, take care of Sarah. That's an order.” Commander Blaine said across the com unit as the Colonial Star Five exploded, causing a rippling wave of fire throughout the sky.

  “FATHER!” Sarah screamed as she began weeping uncontrollably, quickly grabbed by Adam as he stood speechless.

  “Lieutenant Michaels, this is Spartan Nine One.” Adam heard in an unfamiliar voice through his com.

  “Go ahead.” Michaels said, trying to hold himself together as Sarah continuing to cry loudly in the background.

  “We have your position and are ready to assist you to the rally point.” the pilot said as eight Spartans flew overhead at incredible speeds.

  “Copy.” Adam said softly, numb from everything he had lost in only a few short hours.

  As the group looked ahead, they could see a flashing blue light, which every Colonial soldier would immediately recognize as a signal for friendly ground.

  The group began to move as quickly as possible, Adam carrying Sarah as Dalton escorted them by shotgun. Lassiter was slowly moving unassisted, while the remaining Colonial soldiers were responsible for moving the wounded to safety. As they had almost reached the Colonial camp, empty brass shells rained from overhead as the Spartans passed, firing their tracer rounds and killing nearly a dozen nearby Legion soldiers. Moments later the Spartans were heavily engaged by a squadron of Strikewings, however they had been successful in getting Michaels and the crew to safety.

  Met by several Colonial troops, the wounded were immediately taken by medics who were decked out in solid blue with white trim.

  “Lieutenant Michaels, you're needed in Outpost Command one of the soldiers said, pointing to a large blue tent which was surrounded by sandbags and three large rail guns pointed into the sky. Sarah accompanied Adam as the rest of the crew got a quick look over by one of the field medics.

  “I'm fine, other than being in serious need of a damn drink,” Dalton said loudly, wiping a blanket of dirt from his face. “And a hell of a lot of therapy.” he added.

  “Sarah, I'm sorry about your father.” one of the officers said sincerely, placing his hand on her arm for a few moments. Although she had obviously been crying heavily, she did her best to put on a front of strength in front of the soldiers inside of the tent. She had to. They looked at hear as a beacon of strength. They had all lost during this short lived war, she had to press on, at least publicly.

  “Lieutenant Michaels. We've lost the Colonial Star Five, seven of our larger cruise ships and the Colonial Star Three is in danger of being lost to us as well. We have sent a relay back to Colonial Command for reinforcements, it was swiftly denied.” the officer said.

  “Denied!” Sarah yelled as Adam try to hold her back while keeping her calm.

  “Yes ma'am. There is a second battle happening this very moment on Tameca. Command relayed back to us that Tameca City is currently controlled by Legion forces, while Colonial forces are mounting to attempt a takeover of the city.” he replied.

  “What's the plan?” Michaels asked.

  “Well Lieutenant, two Colonial Stars have been dispatched to help us evacuate everyone from the surface. The plan is holding onto as much rock as we possibly can until they arrive.” the officer replied.

  “Evacuate! We have lost so many men here, for nothing?” Sarah asked animately.

  “There is no hope of winning this battle, we were outmatched minutes after hitting the atmosphere. Command wants us to group up with the remaining forces on Glimmeria, become the last line of defense in case Tameca City is a loss.” the officer added as mortar explosion burst in the background.

  Glimmeria. Now there was a word Adam hadn't heard in quite some time, but was far too familiar with. Having fought alongside Dalton in Glimmeria several years back, he was one of the few lucky ones to survive. It was primarily a wasteland, steep canyons of rock and scorching sands marked with the occasional small city. From what Adam had heard over the past few years, the larger of the cities had rebuilt after the grinding war, however the outskirts of the planet remained in ruin, controlled by smaller organized crime families.

  When the war ended, he had promised himself to never return. Too many of his good friends had fallen, most of them right in front of his very eyes. Now, he was hoping to last long enough for a rescue, only to set a course straight for a planet that had haunted his dreams many nights over. As terrified as a reunion to the soil that had taken part of his soul, strategically it made sense. The Glimmerian government, as well as every crime family with Glimmerian ties he had done business with, had two things in common.

  They were among the toughest people he had ever known, and they had a mutual hatred for the Legion.

  Sure, their army was miniscule compared to the Legion's forces, but traveling across the system to fight on Glimmeria would put them at a huge disadvantage by stretching them thin and placing a huge strain on their resources. It would give the Colonial army, at least what was left of it, more than enough time to regroup, recruit new planets to their cause and prepare for an assault by the Legion.

  �
�Well, then let's hold our ground. What do we have to work with?” Michaels asked.

  “Sarah's father sent us everything he had on Colonial Star Five. He could of turned and ran, but I think he was more concerned with getting his daughter off of this rock safely.” the officer replied, bringing Sarah to a emotional state.

  “Colonial Star Three is sending us a bulk of its ground force before leaving the battle, should be here and ready within the hour. Looking at about forty battle ready soldiers, a dozen or so Goliath units and by the looks of it; just a handful of Spartans.” the officer replied.

  The meeting was cut short as the rail guns outside of the tent began thrusting pounding shots of lead into the air, Strikewing units flying overhead firing tracers into the encampment.

  “Good bet if they didn't know we were here, they do now!” Lieutenant Michaels yelled to the officer as the sound of the gunfire pierced their ears loudly.

  “Sir! Small group approaching on foot!” one of the privates yelled through the entrance to the tent, prompting the officers to flood outside to direct their squads.

  “Hold this damn ground!” Adam yelled loudly, walking outside to regroup with Dalton, who had taken position beside Lassiter.

  “Do you think they made it off of the Colonial Star Five before it...?” Sarah asked before being cut short by Adam.

  “I wouldn't worry, I'm sure they did.”

  It was a lie of course, Michaels himself had been worried about Kelly, Kato and Troy from the moment he saw the ship go thermal in the explosion. It was a justified lie though, knowing Sarah was still hurting from the death of her father.

  “Holy shit,” Dalton yelled ecstatically. ”It's Roman and Steiner!” he added.

  “Give them cover fire!” Adam yelled, seeing the two friends being closely pursued by a small group of Hunters.

  As the they continued to sprint for the Colonial encampment, Dalton stood up, waving his friends to their direction. Four Goliath units were quickly dispatched to intercept the Hunter party, and intercept they did; the titanium peace keepers sprinted past Roman and Steiner as their mini guns began unleashing a flurry of grave digging lead.

  The Colonial soldiers counted five Hunters, who outnumbered the Goliaths, but were solidly outmatched from the start. Within the span of one minute, all but one of the Hunters lay dead, the fifth fleeing back the way he came only to regroup with a much larger Legion group of attackers. Obeying orders, the Goliaths began sprinting back, two of them not lucky enough to make it, taking a beating from the Legion gunfire until they finally could function no more.

  Jumping over the sandbag barrier, Roman quickly fell face down, letting the man made shield absorb several shots that were fully intended to end his life. Steiner dove over just seconds behind, not as lucky as he took a piercing shot into his left biceps muscle and taking a good portion of it when it exited. In obvious pain, he remained on the ground for a few seconds as two of the Colonial field medics began numbing the pain while bandaging it the best they could.

  Dirt began flying as bullets zipped through the Colonial outpost, soldiers diving for cover any place they could find refuge.

  “The more of these bastards I kill, the better I feel about myself and life in general.” Dalton said to Lasstier as they both fired long range rifles at the approaching group.

  “Pretty accurate with that rifle, huh?” Dalton asked as Lassiter glanced down at the sniper insignia sewn onto his Colonial uniform.

  “Yea, yea. Well I still say fightin' up close is the best way to handle things.” Dalton added snidely.

  For hours, the Colonial forces and Legion troops exchanged gunfire from only a short distance; the occasional flyover of aircraft, usually Legion Strikewings spraying stinging clouds of ammunition to the ground below. Roman had joined the fight, gaining a combat rifle from a fallen soldier and using it with precision. Steiner on the other hand, rested near the back of the encampment, a long barrel shotgun in his better arm as the few officers that remained met with Adam.

  “We're being cut to pieces!” Lieutenant Michaels told a couple of the officers loud enough to overpower the sound of gunshots, who were quick to agree as huge chunks of rocks and debris flew around them while mortar shells hit throughout the camp.

  “We have to fall back.” Adam said as a rare Spartan squadron flew overhead.

  “There's no place to fall back to. A couple hundred feet behind this camp, nothing but cliffs. Seemed like a strategic advantage at the time, no way of being flanked by a ground assault.” one of the few remaining officers replied, immediately thrusting Adam into deep thought.

  Sure, he was Lieutenant Michaels of the Colonial Fleet, but underneath all of that he was still the same guy who specialized in getting himself out of a pinch.

  As he glanced around the Colonial controlled soil, he realized that over half of them were wounded, many who were doomed to perish before day's end. The Legion continued pounding them with fire, although it had slacked up just a bit; which was a good indication that they were organizing a mass assault to overrun the Colonial outpost. Adam saw no way out except for surrender. He knew a lot of the men wouldn't simply lay down arms knowing the Legion and Hunters intended to kill them regardless. Still, the blood wouldn't be on Adam's hands. Rather than leave it in the hands of the remaining officers, he decided to take it upon himself to tell the soldiers on the front line himself.

  As he walked into the direction of Roman, Dalton and Lassiter who would be the first to hear it, three squadrons of Spartans flew past at dazzling speeds. Quickly after, several more squadrons flew past, causing everyone in a Colonial uniform to turn away from the Legion force and stare into the sky behind them. Two of the huge Colonial vessels had entered the fight, pounding the Legion's forces with their cannons without regard.

  “Lieutenant Michaels, this is Commander Douglas of the Colonial Star One Seven, prepare your men for immediate extraction.” a voice rang out inside of Adam's com unit.

  Finally. Finally the Gods above had given him a break, and he wasted no time replying to the commander emotionally. One of the Colonial Stars moved in directly over the Legion compound, as it began firing relentlessly, causing multiple explosions throughout. Shortly after, two Hunter Carrier ships had come to the aid of the Legion; engaging the Colonial Star as the three ships returned earthquake equivalent shots onto each other.

  The Colonial troops who had fought so bravely to hold their ground, had little time to celebrate as choppers began landing to pick them up literally moments after Michaels had received the message. The Colonial wounded were the first off of the surface, as Michaels opted to stay with his team until the final pickup to provide cover for the other soldiers evacuation.

  “Sarah. Please.” Adam asked, praying that she would be on one of the first choppers up and out of harm's way. Instead, she refused a reply, grabbing her combat rifle and joining Roman, Dalton and Lassiter on the line. Even Steiner scoured the ground, eventually finding a long range weapon of his own and slowly joining the group in providing cover.

  “We'll be on the next one up! Tell them to save a place for us!” Lieutenant Michaels said loudly to one of the officers as the chopper's thrust engines nearly consumed the conversation. “Will do Lieutenant! Good luck!” the officer replied as he motioned the rest of the survivors onto the skiff, leaving a handful of the Goliath units behind to assist the group of heroes.

  As the chopper left ground, a huge explosion brightened the sky as if it were a sun on the brink of extinction. The Hunter Carriers had eliminated one of the Colonial Stars and every soul aboard it. Adam and his crew simply stood in amazement as thousands of lives came to an end at the hand of those who had murdered so many before.

  With the explosion of the Colonial Star, the Legion ground force that had massed began an all out charge to the crew's location in an effort to eliminate any survivors. Lieutenant Michaels countered the assault the only way possible, unleashing the remaining Goliath units directly into the charging
enemies. They stood no chance of course, but they would at least thin them out a bit and maybe buy enough time for the next evacuation chopper to land. As they cut loose the mini gun fire, dozens of Legion soldiers fell instantly, many others joining only seconds behind. Returning fire, and aided by a small group of Fangs; within minutes the Goliaths were nothing more than metal to be recycled long after the battle had come to an end.

  “Just hold them! Hold them long enough for... ” Adam began to yell to his crew before the second Colonial Star started backing away as well, no match for the Hunter Carriers.

  Contacting them by com was of no use, the chatter through his ear piece was condemning evidence that they were being left to die. A full retreat ordered by the commander, as those lucky enough to have gotten off this rock would be headed to Glimmeria to fight another day, while Adam and his crew remained.

  He could see it in all of their eyes. The look of defeat, the submission to the inevitable. Sure, they had weapons and would take several of the bastards with them, but in the end there was no way out. Adam threw his combat rifle to the ground and pulled the two revolvers into position. He could think of worse deaths than fighting beside the woman you love, friends who would die for you and above all, freedom. They simply took a few moments, glancing at one another; nodding their appreciation and respect without saying so much as a single word.

  “Let's take as many of the sumbitches to the grave with us as we can.” Dalton said, readying his favorite toy, the snub nosed shotgun.

  “It's been my honor everyone.” Michaels said with respect as they heard a Strikewing approaching, coming in at blazing speeds from the sound of it.