by C. W Tickner
When the structures loomed high above them they could make out the ship by the door almost the exact same place as they’d first crashed but resting on its steel legs.
Harl scanned the rear of the vessel, desperate for a glimpse of Sonora and Elo, but no one was outside. He’d expected to see makeshift huts or large groups of people milling around. Instead he was looking down at a line of a dozen tanks, their tracks churning the mud as the drivers poked their heads out from inside, staring up at the six flyers.
‘Maybe they’re securing the perimeter,’ Damen said.
A thudding sound drew their attention to the part open doorway as a helicopter rounded the giant door and came straight for them. Its thwop-thwop grew loud in their ears as it was tilted towards the hovering group. Building speed, the helicopter hurtled at them, the blades a grey blur threatening to slice them into a thousand pieces.
It opened fire on them as soon as it was in range. Blue blasts streaked in a dotted line towards them.
‘Go down‘ Harl said, bending his knees to force the flyer out of the path of the shots. ‘Split apart.’
The group dropped, splitting into pairs and weaving different paths to the ground.
Swooping down, Harl lined up to jump off but before he could get close enough, the tanks opened fire. A barrage of shells soared up at them and burst into blue crackling fragments around them. As Tess and Kane swung passed Harl, trying to speed away, one broke apart in between them. Tess was flung back into Kane with a wedge of heated shrapnel embedded in her arm. He wrapped an arm around her, fighting to keep her up right on the drone and forced it down to the floor. He lowered her to the ground and they scrambled behind a large boulder on the edge of the clearing in front of the door. The helicopter swung around again at Harl as more tank shells peppered the sky around him.
The bulky machine swerved as though the driver was drunk and tried to line up with him. He realised they had the advantage of mobility and the inexperienced pilot was struggling with unfamiliar controls.
Damen had wedged the rifle in his shoulder and was raining fire up whilst dodging the tank shells that rippled passed his flyer. A shell tore apart beside him. A piece of shrapnel split his flyer and shred the machine under his feet. Harl watched him tumble down to a patch of broad leaved plants.
Harl roared and raised his own rifle and fired, slipping aside as the copter sped at him. It banked around again and the pilot was visible under the glass cursing as shells broke open around the machine, showering it with shards of metal.
Kane almost knocked Harl off as his flyer shot straight up from behind the boulder. He leant back hard to slow, knocking into him as the helicopter began to swivel around.
‘Tess is hurt,’ he said, breathing hard and tensed his fingers around the rifle in his hand. An explosion burst near them, making both men duck.
‘When the copter comes at me again,’ Harl said, having to shout above the thwopping as it finished it’s turn. ‘I’ll go left and take out the pilot. You come up from under, jump inside and take control.’
‘I can't,’ Kane said looking down at Tess. A piece of shrapnel tore a rip through Harl’s trousers, another clipped his arm bouncing off the bracelet beneath.
‘Do it for her,’ Harl said and sped off not giving him time to make a choice.
Harl raced head on at the machine, the pilot opened fire and he slipped the stream of shots as they arced up at him. He tucked his rifle in a shoulder, stopped the drone and waited for death to come to him.
It was like another bird, it’s claws raking the sky blue with its shots but the pilot was struggling to get a clean view. The window of the cockpit had been shattered by shrapnel and instead the pilot must have decided to chop Harl up with the rotating blades on top.
Harl fired and missed but using his shot as a tracer he could judge where the pilot would be. The machine was twenty paces away and he kept firing, two shots narrowly missed the pilot as he twitched his head to the side.
‘Come on,’ he murmured, gritting his teeth, lining his eye down the top of the weapon.
The wind kicked up from the rotors making him squint. Ten paces and he squeezed the trigger. The shot hit home. The man’s head snapped back in a shower of blue as the copter tilted forward, throwing the blades down at Harl, speeding up. Harl crouched and let the drone under him sink near free-fall. The drop and duck let him slide underneath as Kane zipped up from below and jumped from his flyer. He grabbed hold of the helicopter’s broken cockpit window and reached in, pressed something and released the cockpit cover window. It hinged up pulling Kane with it as he held on. It drew him up towards the deadly blades and he let go before his head was sliced off. He just caught the lip of the cockpit underneath him and shimmied forwards so he was leaning half inside the cockpit. He leant in, straining to haul the dead body aside. The machine began to drop, rocking Kane back and forwards as he leant in over the body. The tilt of the helicopter threw the dead pilot to one side and Kane used the momentum to yank the body out then tumble in. Harl cheered as Kane took control and the machine levelled out high above the battlefield.
Kane grinned like a maniac from inside the cockpit.
A shell burst between them and as the smoke parted, Kane’s face became serious and he closed what remained of the windshield cover before spinning around to face the enemy below.
Harl glanced down at the curving tracks that the tanks had left behind in the soil.
Damen and Dana were in the thick of the fighting and against twelve tanks they were doing well. Damen was on foot running and rolling between the machines at one end of the line, using each tank as cover from one other, rifle blazing at every chance.
Dana was swooping above the opposite end of the line, skimming above each tank one after the other. She dropped down to a driver whose head was poking above the hatch line to get a better view and leapt from the drone. She snatched the drone up in one hand as she landed on the top and drew a knife before slashing it across the driver’s exposed face. The tank veered left into the next vehicle and he slipped the drone under her again, taking off before the crushing impact of the two metal machines exploded in a burst of fire and unspent shells. She did it again twice more before the last drivers realised and began closing the hatches
Time to add to the mayhem, Harl thought and arced down to the center of the line. He was too late to attack the drivers as they had closed the lid on their steel beasts but he remembered Kane explaining the tracks being the weakest point. The first tank he reach trundled in a circle, attempting to shoot Dana down.
Harl kept his drone hovering a pace above the ground and aimed the rifle at the tracks. He unloaded a full clip at the rotating links, then cursed. Apart from scorch marks the shots had caused no real damage. The tank churned soil in a circle around him and he ejected the clip and slammed another in. This time he used the spin of wheels to his advantage. He fired and waited for the same point to come around once more then squeezed the trigger again. The link split with a clunk and the track unravelled to the floor. The tank pivoted uselessly as its engine over-revved at the sudden loss of traction. The noise reached a peak of ear splitting sound and smoke billowed from between the broken tracks, engulfing Harl. Sputtering, he tucked his feet up and his drone rose, taking him above the choking cloud.
A huge explosion burst the tank asunder. Metal chunks flew out across the ground as the tank disintegrated. Hot air blasted upwards and threw him off the flyer as flames shot up in the air. Landing hard, he rolled to absorb the impact. The wind was knocked from his lungs and he rolled again and again until his he settled on his back. He stared up at the smoky sky, his ears ringing as metal rained down around him.
Shaking his head, he tried to blink the fuzziness from his eyes. His head droned like a machine, the constant sound of roaring replaced the ringing and he raised the back of his head off the ground to look at the strange vibrations in his feet. A tank was running over him, its track lined up with his legs. He twisted right
before it touched his toes and rolled over to lie underneath as the heavy bulk shuddered above him. The tracks clattered like a thousand banging pots beside his head. It stopped over him and it took a moment to realise the square panel in front of him was the shadowed outline of a secondary hatch underneath the tank. He grabbed the levered handle, forced it across and pulled the plate out, sliding it aside. The tank spun in one spot, Lining up with a new target. Harl could see up inside the cramped steel interior. He was looking at a man’s back, wrapped in the same beige cloth as those on Orbital.
Harl didn’t care if they were good or bad, they were firing at his friends and that was enough. He tucked his legs up into a crouch perched half in, half out the tank then grabbed the man’s shirt. He cried out as Harl pulled him backwards, dragging himself up at the same time and using the man’s weight as leverage. Screams tore from underneath as the man’s legs were crushed by the rattling tracks. Harl searched for the controls but a dark patchwork of leather blocked his view. A man’s fist smashed square into Harl’s face and knocked him backwards.
The fist drew back. ‘You again?’ Turpin said and hit him again and again.
Chapter 28
First contact. I am assuming that staring up at down at each other fulfils the requirement. It has found us and is standing over the encampment like a vengeful god. The look on its face so closely resembles intrigue that if it wasn’t for the sheer size of the thing it might be considered a human look. The soldiers are ready to react but I doubt their tanks will suffice.
Harl tried to get his hand over his face but the fat man’s knuckles pushed passed his feeble defence striking him over and over. He had no time to wonder about Turpin’s motives, only to try and protect himself as pudgy fists crashed into to his sides tenderizing his ribs. In the tight space there was nowhere to move, he slipped back hitting his head on the metal panelling and let gravity take him toward the open hatch underneath. Turpin tried to pin him from sliding back down but Harl lashed out with a foot, feeling something crack as it connected with Turpin’s face.
‘Bastard,’ Turpin muffled clamping a hand over his nose, ‘You broke it.’ He grabbed for him again but Harl felt the empty space beneath him and tucked in his arms and legs and slipped through the hole. His back thumped against the ground. He gasped in pain. Dust churned up from the tracks filled his mouth and nostrils, threatening to choke him. Lie flat and crawl was all he could do from retching as Turpin cursed from inside.
Harl scrambled up, desperate to get out of range of the vehicle before Turpin crushed him under the tracks. He just had time to throw himself to one side as the helicopter pounded a line of blue towards the tank. The shots churned the soil, barely missing Harl. The line reached the tank and rattled the heavy frame as Kane raked the helicopter’s powerful machine guns over the top. The hatch blew off and the as the shots tore across the roof they hit the rear engine, igniting a fire on the back of the machine so it billowed smoke and flickering flame from the droning engine.
Turpin emerged from the top, coughing and spluttering. Harl leapt up on the side, hauling himself on top of the track’s mud guard, unwilling to let the man get away. Turpin turned to face him, his eyes flickered to the ground rushing passed them as the engine revved itself to a mechanical scream, a malfunction forcing it in one direction at top speed.
Harl stepped over the cannon, feeling the heat pouring from the rear engine and ducked Turpin’s clumsy punch coming up from below and launched one of his own. Not confined in the tanks cockpit he could properly defend himself. The punch smacked Turpin full under his double chin, craning his head upwards. Turpin staggered back, eyes wide as it dawned on him that there was no more metal underfoot and he tumbled over the side, screaming. Harl looked back as Turpin thumped to the dirt and rolled to a stop. Damen closed the distance with Troy beside him, their weapons pinning the wretched man to stillness.
Harl glanced down at the racing ground as it flickered passed. The tank was going breakneck speed and there was no way he could jump without injury. The remaining track whirred loud as if at breaking point, the trail of fire from the engine growing in the wind. A shudder rippled beneath his feet, a wobble at first then the tank began a swerve lifting one side upwards.
The bracelet! He’d forgotten last time but it popped to mind as he raised his wrist and ordered the drone to hone in on him. Staying low he scanned behind, hoping to see the slither of metal through the smoke but it didn’t come fast enough. The tank was rising on one side, running on a single track as it banked to one side. He grabbed the broken hinge of the hatch, holding his weight as it angled over.
‘Jump!’ a voice called above the roar. Dana drew level with the tank, her arms outstretched as it pitched over, bringing Harl near vertical. All his weight was resting on his arms. Shimmying his legs up he kicked off the hull propelling himself at the hoarder. She grabbed his suit, drawing him on top as she let go and jumped off, giving him space to stand. She hit the ground hard but rolled deftly to her feet as the flyer slowed under Harl.
‘Thank you,’ he said when she caught up. Glad she’d been willing to come after him when no one else had been able.
She shrugged brushing dust from her cloak and wiped a trickle of blood from her neck then gazed around at the carnage. Harl wanted to do more for her and a thought of her desires made him think of the bracelet. He unclipped it and held it out to her.
‘Here,’ he said.
She looked unwilling to take the gift as if receiving something from another was a strange notion. He thrust it out at her again, ‘take it,’ he said, ‘you saved my life and I don’t really know what to do with it.’
A brief smile passed her lips, then turned to her normal look of stubbornness as she took the device and clipped it around her wrist.
‘Where’s Troy?’ he asked.
She pointed a steady finger at the wrecked line of smoking tanks where Kane was landing the helicopter. Under the gusts of the copter, Troy and Damen were shouting at Turpin while Tess grabbed him with both hands digging her sharp green nails deep into his neck in an attempt to strangle the fat gibbering man.
‘Why?’ she asked, her face as red with effort as Turpin’s was from trying to breathe.
‘I ad no choice,’ Turpin gasped and she let go. He rubbed his chubby neck with a grimy hand. ‘Another ship came. I didn’t believe my eyes, no one did. I panicked.’
‘You left them all to die!’ Tess screamed hitting him hard across the face. Kane ran over and held her back as she attempted another strike.
‘They got the water,’ Turpin said, as if that made it alright.
‘It’s your fault there was no water in the first place,’ Harl said, thinking Sonora and Elo could still be alive. ‘Tell me about this other ship.’
Turpin must have seen his chance for redemption even as Damen dug his rifle barrel into the man’s temple.
‘It was big. Bigger than Orbital and square like a rectangle. When it got close, Marlin ordered everyone to the survival deck. It had a laser and trapped the ship in it.’
‘What do you mean trapped?’ Kane asked.
‘Stopped us it did,’ Turpin said. ‘No movement around the planet just held us there examining the ship.’
‘Examining?’ Tess asked.
‘Smaller ships came out. Moving around the hull, scanning the side with more laser things.’
‘And then?’ Damen said, pushing the barrel hard against the sweating man’s cranium.
‘I gathered the lads, fought to the dock and took the ship.’
‘Fought against who?’ Harl asked, knowing the answer.
‘Screw and his guards.’ for moment he looked ashamed then shrugged as if it was inevitable.
‘And this strange ship let you go?’ Harl asked suspicious, but he saw no way of the Aylen being in league with Turpin and his hoarders.
‘Nothing happened,’ Turpin said, ‘The ship practically went by itself. Jonsy figured how to turn it on an it brought us here.’ He l
ooked around in awe at the two buildings and their surroundings then his face turned to fear as his gaze rose and Harl heard the thump of an Aylen stomping towards them.
Vorock trudged into the clearing and Turpin squirmed, only the rifle at his head held him in place as wetness spread from where he kneeled in the dry sandy ground.
Dana had been crouched beside a dead hoarder as if she’d known the man. As Vorock loomed above them she stood and came over. She scowled at Turpin then flipped open the bracelet. Vorock’s translated voice flowed from the device as he stepped out of the mech suit, leaving it behind like second skin and bent over to look down at the group.
‘Tell me what happened here?’ the resounding boom washed over them, making Turpin cower and shield himself from the colossal giant above. Manny and Ulane stood comfortably on the ledge protruding from the Aylen’s torso. The platform had angled itself to stay horizontal as Vorock leant over.
Harl explained about the battle with Turpin and how the man abandoned his people above when the other ship came.
Vorock questioned them hard about the second ship and they extracted the answers from the cowering Turpin who detailed its shape and size.
‘What was it then?’ Kane asked, his interest piqued since the mention of another ship.
‘I believe it was sent from our flight program headquarters.’ Vorock said.
‘Flight program?’ Tess asked.
‘Yes,’ Vorock confirmed, ‘we have a small flight program. Our species is too large and heavy to leave our atmosphere, so we send out drones. It would be near impossible for us to fly and we haven’t the resources living the way we do. We’re too dependant on energy and the flight program is controlled by the government which is currently in a state of flux but is held by the energy company, Harvest Ten.’
‘They’re in charge of the planet?’ Harl asked, not understanding the strange balance of power.