Zein: The Homecoming

by Graham J. Wood

  ‘Leave them,’ said Zebulon, interested in what was going to happen.

  Bailey stopped, ready to jump in if needed.

  ‘Brother, I didn’t know you cared?’ said Tyson, amused by the action. ‘Glad you brushed your teeth.’

  Kabel didn’t smile. ‘Bring back my Delilah, kill anyone who gets in the way,’ he said through gritted teeth, the leader’s civilised veneer evaporating. Tyson stopped smiling. He knew this feeling.

  ‘I will Kabel, I will.’

  Kabel struggled to hold back his anger and it was Tyson who, with his other hand, clasped his brother’s arm.

  ‘Kabel, don’t worry, no one is going to get in the way of getting my mother and your sister, and if they do then they will regret it.’ Tyson matched Kabel’s steely determined look.

  ‘Good,’ said Kabel and using the same hand that grasped Tyson to him the first time, he pushed his brother away from him. As he turned away from Tyson his smile returned and the others only saw the commanding presence of their Lord Chancellor. No one was fooled for an instant that what they had witnessed was naked aggression. Irrespective to what they had just seen, they fully supported Kabel.

  ‘Bring the prisoners back to me at all costs,’ said Kabel, to the wider group, ‘I have all my faith in you that you will.’

  Wernion observed the interchange and caught Tyson’s eye. They swapped good luck messages. Wernion would be leading the Pod contingent with his father, Dominion, on the attack of the front gates. Since the events on Zein, Tyson had spent considerable time in the gentle giant’s company. Zebulon had also taken the young Pod to one side and provided some guidance on how to prevent the magics taking hold of him and convincing him that he was best keeping to his present body rather than turning into a Changeling. Wernion had agreed not to develop his magics further, much to his father’s relief.

  Soon the group for the insertion was safely on board a transporter that would travel to the other side of the mountain in the deep of the night. They would fly under the Xonian radar and the transporter would drop them half way up the steep climb on a natural plateau of which Tian was providing the coordinates for.

  The transporter lifted off and the powerful zinithium engines made short work of what would be a much longer journey for any shuttle from Earth over a similar distance. They approached from the north of Quentine, hidden behind the imposing mountain behind the wondrous city.

  The coordinates guided the pilot to the plateau where it landing safely. The insertion team exited the transporter, which in turn set off for its return trip, leaving the members watching the departing ship with just a little trepidation.

  Morrison organised the scouts to go ahead of the main group and they headed off on the still steep climb. The air was cold and biting, they needed to move fast as the main attack was to be launched at dawn, when the sun would be in the defenders eyes, adding to the advantage of the attacking army.

  Tian set off with the scouts looking for the entrance to a tunnel, which his ancestors had built to act as a doorway to the top of the mountain in the time where they had made animal sacrifices to their gods. The entrance led to a set of stairs that wound down the mountain. It was no longer used and only senior members of the royal household knew of its existence. The majority of the group would use this entrance to enter the Oneerion Royal Palace, secure the prisoners when the main attack commenced on the Skegus Plain and then escape via the attached Transportation building.

  Morrison with four SEALS would skydive onto the top of the tall building, following the instructions of the message left by Leila, directing them to the communications room which needed to be disabled to prevent any outside chance of Xonian reinforcements from Oneerio. They would then meet up with the rest of the force.

  Tian and the scouts made quick work of the climb and it wasn’t long before they reached a smaller plateau which had a stone altar in the centre, once part of an important tradition where the great and good of Oneerion society would pay homage to the gods, but now covered in thick moss with cracks tapering up the sides. Tian ignored the altar and went straight to a pair of doors hewn into the cliff face, his long fingers feeling carefully around the centre of the doors. They found barely-there finger holds and he pressed hard with all his fingers and the stone block doors rumbled open just as the rest of the group made the second plateau.

  Tyson, who was leading the following group, keen to get to his mother and Delilah, took one look and without hesitation made for the door.

  ‘Tyson wait,’ said Morrison, but Tyson wasn’t listening. He brushed past the two soldiers with Tian and started down the winding steps. Amelia and Bailey didn’t wait either and hurried past the protesting man mountain of a US Marine, followed by Hechkle and Bronstorm. Zebulon and the four Changelings brought up the rear.

  Morrison, frustrated told his remaining men to follow them. He and his four men prepared for the sky dive onto the Oneerion Palace. He left two men on the door as he didn’t want the only manner of escape to be lost and once the fight was over they would be radioed to join them in the city.

  Tyson was running energetically down the steps, which were many and seemed to go on for ever, curving this way and that, so that even the fittest of the soldiers found they were breathing hard. It was not so much the steps but the lack of fresh air, the limited air coming from ancient pipes hammered into the sides of the mountain. The light was poor with only flickering neon lights that had seen better days providing a hazy atmosphere.

  Just when they thought it would never end the steps and wall hewn out of the stone turned into smooth marble. The stairs also turned into a more manageable width; they were entering the section of the tunnel that was part of the Oneerion Royal Palace.

  Tyson saw a pair of doors ahead of them and he reached out to pull one of the handles, when the big hand of Tian stopped him.

  ‘No my friend. Just in case our enemies found this passageway only a member of the royal household can open these doors. If anyone else tries to open the doors they are programmed to bring the roof tumbling down on you.’ He pointed to the roof and Tyson saw the beams holding back what must be a ton of boulders. He grinned ruefully and extravagantly waved the Oneerion ahead of him. Amelia smiled despite the tension she was feeling.

  Tian’s hands ran across a panel near the door and a number of lights came on and then faded, He then reached out to one of the handles and opened carefully. Those that had heard about the booby-trap, kept their gaze on the boulders above their heads. No movement. You could hear some sighs of relief.

  The room they entered was dark and their footsteps echoed on the floor, as they all filed into the room. Tian left them and walked across to the far wall. He switched on the lights and all were taken aback by what they saw. They were in what must have been the store room, but what a store room. They were standing on a white marble floor that matched the walls and high ceilings. On each wall there were floor to ceiling racks of food of every conceivable type. Hechkle took charge.

  ‘We stay here until the attack commences like we agreed,’ said Hechkle, directing the comments to Tyson who was pacing, glancing at the door that would take them up into the main palace, and to the main floors where they could rescue the prisoners.

  Tyson glared at Hechkle but he had agreed to the plan, seeing the sense of drawing away troops from the Oneerion Royal Palace to meet the threat from the Skegus Plain. That didn’t make it easier because somewhere above him was his mother.

  General Corder barked orders as Elanda came out of its hyper-drive. First the release of the transporter to Skegus and second, attend to the enemy.

  They were in sight of the large Xonian battleship and even as his orders were given the enemy was launching its fighters…but they were ready.

  The Cobras, led by Kabel and Lambert, fought with skill and precision as multiple dog-fights between opposite fighters erupted. Soon space was full of a choreography of explosions and colour as missiles found their targets. Kabel was calm a
nd collected as he found the weakness at the base of the enemy fighters, which all the pilots, now found with impunity.

  Enjoying yourself? he asked Gemma as his zinithium guided missiles tore apart the plane in front of him, the screams of the occupants echoing in his mind.

  Yep very therapeutic, was Gemma’s reply as she manned one of the guns on the top deck of the Elanda, targeting a fighter that had broken through the Cobras.

  General Corder leaned across the command desk, glad to be in the thick of the fighting, his disagreements with Admiral Koshkov pushed to the back of his mind. ‘Hit the main ship with two missiles,’ he ordered the young gunner. Two bright blue missiles screamed towards the hull of the large battleship, crashing into the force-field. The enemy force-field did its job but the power behind the missiles was immense and the field flickered with protest.

  On the Xonian battleship, Prince Jernli, who had left Yisli in charge of the city defence, a decision which he was now regretting was flung across the Commander’s control tower, the Commander a particularly large Xonian was himself, unceremoniously dumped on his backside.

  ‘Get me out of here now!’ yelled Prince Jernli.

  ‘But your Royal Highness, we will lose all our fighters,’ protested the commander of the ship.

  ‘Leave them; just get me out of here!’ Prince Jernli’s face was an angry purple, the blue scales turning an unhealthy colour. The commander knew when to cut his losses, it had taken him many termins to obtain this post and to throw it all away was not in his career plan. He had not anticipated such a ferocious attack.

  He shouted orders at his helmsman and the coordinates for a hyper-jump were made. The Venings on-board computers picked up the signal and panic ensued. Some fighters near the main battleship made it back but the vast majority were too busy escaping the wrath of the Cobras or were too far away from the docking bays. When the battleship sped away, the remaining fighters were either blown away or transmitted surrender signals. In total, ten of the enemy aircraft were captured by the Elanda and their crews imprisoned. The others were all destroyed.

  General Corder sat back in his chair, satisfied. They had lost two fighters, no damage and the battleship had fled. ‘Over to you, Nicolai,’ he said to no one in particular, watching the two destroyers entering the atmosphere to pave the way for the ground attack. The plan was for the destroyers to knock out the main guns on the battlements and soften up the front defences and then the Elanda would land on the plain.

  The had listened hard to Leila’s intelligence and that had led to the attack on the battleship first before upsetting the odds by not just using the destroyers but landing the Elanda on the plain, thereby enabling them to use the levitation tanks to support the infantry. From what Leila was saying this would be a surprise to their hosts.

  General Corder was content and full of confidence. His plan was challenged of course by the more careful Nicolai: however, the rest of the War Committee had agreed with the plan and the veteran Russian admiral had walked away muttering under his breath.

  Admiral Koshkov was on the bridge of the Manhattan as they burst through the atmosphere of the planet. He may have disagreed with the plan, but that would not prevent him from carrying out his duties.

  ‘Corporal, ready our guns, remember to only fix on the outside battlements and not inside,’ he ordered. The corporal, a member of the Red Army, flicked his hands over the controls and switched on the main missile and photon machine guns at the front of the destroyer. The destroyer did not have the large Bofor type guns across its spine and protecting its flanks, relying on the plentiful photon machine guns embedded in the front of the ship. This gave it much more speed and agility but made it rely on its defensive shields.

  The two destroyers flew out of the sky with the sun at their back dazzling the enemy in the early sunrise. They both released their loads at preconceived programmed targets provide by Tian. When they hit, the sky was lit up like the humans’ Bonfire Night. Another order was given and a second round of explosives was launched. The impact was immense. Plumes of stones and battlements were thrown into the air. Bodies of Xonian troops lay scattered across the front of the city.

  Admiral Koshkov monitored the screens in front of him and gave a satisfied grunt. ‘Inform General Corder he can bring in the Elanda to offload the tanks.’ General Corder received the news well and he readied the crew for the entry of the huge ship into the planet’s atmosphere.’

  The Elanda swooped down, more like an albatross than a hawk, its sheer size making any quick manoeuvres difficult. The two destroyers defended the perimeter by squeezing off photon machine guns further punishing the front battlements bringing much death.

  When the Elanda landed, Kabel was on the Embankment Floor with Gemma, Tate and Belina preparing the tank crews so that they were ready for the invasion and capture of Quentine. Spirits were high. The twenty-five tanks would be supported by thirty thousand land troops, mainly Russian, US and Malacca troops. The Pod had contributed two thousand male warriors to the attack in a display of solidarity. The tanks would be split into five columns with five tanks in each column each supported by six thousand troops, with the Pod part of the last column, as they were better suited to the close urban, street-by-street fighting within the city’s walls.

  Kabel was entranced when the tanks were unloading down the huge ramp, marvelling at how they glided across the floor, with the blue tinge of the zinithium power crystals faintly reflecting back off the surface. Sean strutted past him with his confident gait, flashing a “what do I care” smile, he was going to drive one of the tanks in the front column.

  ‘Hey Sean, don’t get too far ahead of the other columns,’ said Kabel, in warning. The other columns would stagger their attack to reduce targets for the remaining Xonian gunners. They may have destroyed most of the fixed gun towers but you could not right off a Xonian army which had conquered most of the Universe.

  ‘Stop worrying Kabel, when have I ever been overly ambitious?’ was the Scot’s underplayed response, making Kabel laugh.

  ‘What are you two smirking about?’ It was Gemma, who wrapped one of her arms around Kabel, still thrilled by the fight they had just been part of.

  ‘Oh, nothing, just your beloved acting like some over worried parent,’ said Sean.

  ‘He does have that tendency,’ said Gemma, landing a playful punch on Kabel’s shoulder.

  Sean gave a quick wave and then climbed into the lead tank. Soon his column was on the move with the other columns setting off at two minute intervals. They had landed some two miles away but that distance was quickly eaten up by the levitation tanks, noiseless except for the slight hum of the zinithium crystals and the crunch of the marching boots of the soldiers. In Sean’s columns there were elements of the Scots Guards including a few pipers playing their battle song and the Russian Federation Army.

  General Corder gave his orders. He told his support team to bring up the front of the city on his screen and he saw the destruction the four missiles and the photon machine gunfire had brought.

  ‘Admiral Koshkov, any signs of a counterattack from the Xonians?’

  ‘No, General Corder, small arms fire has been seen with a small element of mobile photon machine guns, nothing which our forces can’t handle.’

  ‘Good, good.’ General Corder again sat back in his command seat and waited.

  Kabel and Gemma were in the second column and Tate and Belina in the third. Kabel was looking through his view finder as they approached the city, keeping watch for any trouble.

  Then column one disappeared, all five tanks and the six thousand support soldiers. They disappeared into a massive collapsing pit, as if by magic, but in fact controlled by the grinning Yisli in a reinforced part of the city wall, the wall which Leila had stopped to watch the Oneerions working on.

  Kabel didn’t hesitate, appalled by the loss of life. ‘Retreat, all retreat, it’s a trap!’ he yelled into his intercom. His driver flung his tank around, just as Yisli
set the next booby-trap off. Hugh sheets of explosive ripped the second column apart, three of the tanks behind Kabel exploded, but somehow the quick action of his driver had saved them. Soldiers lay screaming where the hideous explosive mines that flung out lethal shards of metal had exploded, sending a wall of death scything through the soldier ranks.

  On the Elanda, General Corder looked at the scenes in horror. He was just weighing up his options when an audible gasp came from Corporal Batten.

  ‘Sir the radar has picked up five ships.’

  ‘What do you mean…why didn’t you pick them up before?’ said an exasperated General Corder.

  ‘I-I-don’t know, Sir, the ships must have used the planet to shield the ships from our radar,’ said the equally confused soldier.

  ‘Lift off now.’

  ‘But, Sir, the men on the ground.’

  ‘Number one priority is to safeguard this ship, Corporal, now get us out of here and place us on battle stations,’ said General Corder.

  ‘Aye, aye, Sir.’ Corporal Batten pressed the necessary controls and switched on the battle stations. The ramp that had enabled the offloading of the levitation tanks slowly closed as maintenance men ran quickly back on board. Not all made it. The commanding hulk of the Elanda rose slowly into the sky.

  We are sitting ducks, thought General Corder. ‘Patch me into Admiral Koshkov and Colonel Jeffries,’ he said. Colonel Jeffries was the high ranking senior office in command of the Brooklyn. This took mere seconds. The two officers filled the second and third screen, the nightmare of the massacre on the Skegus Plain on the first screen. The admiral’s face, though resolute, showed the strain of seeing his men, which made up the bulk of the force, at the mercy of booby-traps and the remaining guns of the Xonians. He hated being right.

  ‘Admiral Koshkov and Colonel Jeffries, we have five ships on our radar, take both destroyers and engage. You need to give us time to reach orbit before we can use our main weapon,’ said General Corder, causing those in Command and Control Centre to look round in shock. They knew what this meant. The three commanders stared silently at each other for a matter of seconds but these where seasoned soldiers, sometimes you made decisions which were unpalatable, though necessary.