by Ryk Brown
“No,” Loki reiterated, this time more sternly. “Amund knows what he is doing.”
“He’s sacrificing himself for us, Lok!” Josh argued.
“Maybe……maybe not. Either way……he’s counting on us to get our asses……up this mountain and over to the other side.”
Two more flashes of light, followed by claps of thunder.
“Those are troop pods, Loki!” Josh exclaimed. “That means there are at least twenty men on the ground……all of them hunting Amund!”
“Which he can probably handle!” Loki argued. “He’s Ghatazhak, remember? Besides……if you go back to help him……all you’re going to do is get him, and yourself, killed!” Loki scolded.
“Lok!”
“He’s right, Josh,” Deliza stated.
“Get your ass up that mountain!” Loki ordered.
Deliza stepped up and put her hand on Josh’s shoulder, looking at him with pleading eyes. “You’re very brave……to want to go back and help Corporal Amund,” she told him softly, “but now you must be even braver……and follow his instructions.”
Josh looked into Deliza’s eyes for a moment, saying nothing. Finally, he turned back around and continued up the mountainside.
The amber hues cast by Eralit Seven yielded momentarily to the ghostly blue-white flash. The corporal glanced skyward, not missing a step as he zigzagged through the dense forest, spotting yet another Dusahn troop pod descending into a hovering position in a small clearing not twenty meters ahead.
The corporal raised his assault rifle with one hand as he dodged between trees, firing three shots at the hovering pod as all four sides opened up to reveal its passengers. The first shot slammed into one of the pod’s lift thrusters, causing it to fail, but the other thrusters compensated, and the pod remained level. His second shot struck one of the jump field emitters on the near side, rendering the pod unable to jump back to its mother ship and deliver another load of soldiers. His third shot struck the occupant in the neck, just as the door that protected the soldier had opened enough to reveal his upper half.
The corporal broke out into the clearing, stepping up onto a pile of rocks and firing two more times, the shots finding two of the three remaining soldiers as they jumped from the hovering pod toward the surface below. Without missing a step, the corporal bounded up the last rock and leapt into the air, slamming into the fourth soldier as he dropped to the surface. The two men tumbled through the air, intertwined, landing in the underbrush on the far side of the tiny clearing. As they landed, the corporal twisted the enemy soldier’s neck in a smooth motion, using the kinetic energy of his landing, as well as the added force of his suit, to snap the man’s neck.
The corporal held the man tightly, rolling over and placing the dead man’s body between him and the other two soldiers whom, although they had both been hit by his weapons fire, were still in the fight. Two bolts of energy slammed into the dead man’s back armor, ricocheting off into the trees, setting one of them ablaze. The corporal brought his weapon over, laying it across the dead man’s side, and fired two shots of his own, killing one of the two remaining soldiers.
Two more energy blasts came at him, one glancing off the corporal’s right shoulder armor, the other missing him completely and slamming into the dirt well past him. The remaining soldier came charging toward him, sounding a ferocious battle cry.
Corporal Amund released the dead man and scrambled to his knees, just in time to drop his assault rifle and accept the lunging attacker with both hands. They rolled over, the corporal pulling his combat blade from its sheath on his right thigh, coming over atop the soldier and dispatching him with a blade placed neatly between the protective bands around the enemy soldier’s neck.
The corporal immediately leapt from the convulsing body, withdrawing his bloody knife and replacing it in its sheath while he ran. Two steps later, he scooped his assault rifle up and disappeared into the forest once again, seeking yet another target of opportunity.
“Jump series complete,” Isa announced from Shenza One’s back seat. “We’re at the insertion rally point on the outer edge of the Eralit system.”
“Any contacts?” Vol inquired as the other three ships in his formation appeared on either side of him.
“Just Shenzas.”
“Dispatch a recon drone to do a quick sweep of Eralit Seven and return,” he ordered.
“Right away,” Isa replied.
“Where is everyone?” Tariq asked over comms.
“Recon drone away,” Isa reported.
“I am certain they will be here shortly,” Vol assured his pilots.
“I hate being the first one to arrive at a party,” Alayna added.
Josh ducked instinctively as a blue-white flash appeared just above the treetops, one hundred meters ahead of them. Deafening thunder shook the mountain, and a Dusahn troop shuttle appeared, streaking directly overhead toward the valley behind them. “Damn!” he cursed. “Either they’re really lucky……or their sensors are better than ours!”
Two more flashes of light appeared ahead of them, and slightly to their left, revealing Dusahn troop pods just above the ridgeline. Josh paused, watching in horror as eight soldiers leapt from the hovering pods to the surface below. “This way!” he ordered, veering to the right as he continued up the mountain. “We’re almost to the top!”
“Recon drone has returned,” Isa announced. “Damn.”
“What is it?” Vol asked, noticing the concern in his weapons officer’s voice.
“Dusahn assault ship in low orbit over the estimated crash site. They’re dropping troop pods and shuttles.”
A jump flash appeared a few kilometers to their port side.
“Reaper,” Isa reported.
“Shenza Leader, Reaper Six,” Lieutenant Haddix called over comms.
“Reaper Six, Shenza Leader. There is a Dusahn assault ship over the crash site. They have launched several shuttles and are dropping troop pods.”
“Shenza Leader, Scott,” Nathan called. “Engage the assault ship. Try to prevent them from sending any more forces to the surface. We’re going in.”
“Understood, Captain.” Vol checked his displays. “Shenza Flight, Leader; sending you target data now. Split attack, left high, right low, double reverse, in ten.”
Corporal Amund dove over a fallen tree as energy bolts streaked through the air all around him, their sizzling sound filling his ears. Several bolts slammed into the log as he landed on the far side, sending splintered wood flying in all directions, and lighting the massive log on fire.
The corporal came up a split second later, his helmet barely protruding above the top of the log. He brought his weapon over the burning log, laying it on its side in the flames. He opened up, firing in a non-precise sweeping motion, hoping to slow the advance of the eight men who were less than twenty meters behind him.
The corporal continued to fire, knowing the Dusahn would send men to either side, to encircle and trap him. After nearly a full minute of firing wildly, he stopped, poked his head up a bit more, and scanned the dense forest for signs of movement. As suspected, two men had headed to his left.
The corporal fired for another thirty seconds, then took off to his left, remaining in a crouch as he ran. He immediately drew fire from the main group, taking several shots to his thigh and pelvic armor, causing him to stumble slightly. He jumped down into a ravine and continued running, coming back up the side, ten meters further down. As he ascended into the open, he slapped the shield button on his chest, just as a barrage of weapons fire from the two men attempting to flank him came his way. His personal shield flashed red-orange with each impact. The corporal raised his weapon and opened fire, riddling the unsuspecting soldiers with his own energy weapon, dropping them both to the ground in smoldering heaps, before disappea
ring off into the forest, yet again.
“Jesus! They’ve gotta be tracking us!” Josh exclaimed as two more troop pods appeared directly ahead of them. “Cut back!” he barked.
Another troop pod appeared in the sky just above the tree line directly behind them, cutting off their only escape route.
“Son of a bitch!” he barked, pulling his sidearm. “Take cover!” he added, opening fire on the newly arrived pod hovering behind them.
Two Gunyoki fighters suddenly appeared less than a kilometer away and slightly above the Dusahn assault ship in low orbit over Eralit Seven Delta. Both ships immediately opened fire on the unsuspecting vessel, sending a constant barrage of plasma bolts into the shields of the massive ship.
A split second later, two more Gunyoki fighters appeared on the opposite side, opening fire, as well.
The assault ship responded with point-defense cannons located all around its hull, sending angry streaks of red-orange back at the attacking fighters, causing their shields to flash, as well. Yet, the ship repeatedly launched troop pods as it continued to swat at the pests swarming about it.
Reaper Six shook violently as it jumped into Eralit Seven Delta’s atmosphere.
“Oh, shit!” Lieutenant Haddix exclaimed.
Nathan immediately turned his head to look forward through the short, narrow passageway leading from the Reaper’s aft utility bay to its cockpit. As he did so, their forward shields flashed red-orange, and the ship lurched to the right from weapons fire impact.
“Crash site directly under us!” Ensign Weston reported. “Combat shuttle moving into our six!”
“Any sign of our people?” Nathan asked as the ship took another hit.
“Not at the crash site!” the ensign replied. “But I’m picking up signs of firefights on the surface, just below the south ridge!”
“That’s them!” Nathan replied. “Get us to them!”
“Hold on, sir!” Lieutenant Haddix replied as he yanked his flight control stick over to the right.
Jessica was already up and opening the door on her side. A rush of air filled the compartment as Nathan dropped his helmet visor, sealing it up, and moved to the other side, opening his door, as well.
“Your boots and gloves have mag-locks!” Jessica told him over their helmet comms. “The ones in your hands work automatically. To activate the ones in your boots, just think ‘boots-lock’.”
Sounds easy enough, Nathan thought as he prepared to lean out the door just as she was.
The Reaper’s utility bay filled with blue-white light as they jumped from the main crash site to the south side of the valley. The side of the mountain suddenly seemed dangerously close, and Nathan’s eyes widened. He grabbed the overhead rail and leaned out, his assault rifle in hand and ready to fire, as their Reaper skimmed the treetops and decelerated.
As his ship came out of its escape jump, Vol pulled it into a hard right turn to come about. “Target those drop pods on the next pass,” he instructed his weapons officer. “I’ll come in from underneath and loiter as long as possible. Their point-defenses may not fire as freely in the area where they are dropping troop pods.”
“Understood,” Isa replied as the ship completed its turn.
Vol spun up his jump distance and pressed the jump button on his flight control stick. Eralit Seven Delta appeared in front of him, filling the entire canopy. He killed his throttle and pulled back on his flight control stick, pitching their nose upward. The Dusahn assault ship above them swung into view, as well as more than a dozen drop pods falling from her underside.
Isa used his finger to draw a circle around the group of icons on his targeting screen, and then assigned them as missile targets. “Missiles away!” he announced as he pressed the launch button.
More than a dozen tiny missiles leapt from the rectangular missile pods, slung under either side of the Gunyoki fighter, slamming into their targets a few seconds later. What were, at least, fifteen troop pods about to jump to the surface, suddenly became three.
Their fighter shook violently, their shields lighting up, as they absorbed an incoming barrage of point-defense fire from the enemy ship.
“What were you saying about them not firing as much in this area?” Isa wondered.
“Funny,” Vol replied as he pressed the jump button on his flight control stick.
Josh ran across the tiny clearing and dove toward Deliza, knocking her to the ground as a red-orange energy bolt streaked over her, narrowly missing her head, and slamming into the mountainside a few meters away. “I said get to cover!” he barked as he rolled over onto his back and returned fire.
“I was trying!” Deliza insisted, scrambling on her hands and knees to get to the rocks a few meters away.
“COVER FIRE!” Josh begged.
Loki swung out from behind the thick tree trunk to the right of the boulders and opened fire. “GO!”
Josh rolled back over, scrambling into a low run behind Deliza, both of them arriving at the group of rocks simultaneously.
“JOSH!” Loki called out as he continued firing. “YOU GOOD?”
“YEAH!”
“MOVING RIGHT!” Loki announced. “COVER ME!”
“GO!” Josh replied, bringing his weapon up over the rocks and firing in the direction of the incoming fire as bolts of enemy fire ricocheted off the rocks to his right.
Loki ran to his right, jumping over obstacles as he made his way to a fallen tree trunk to join Naralena, who was also firing. He fell to the ground next to her, and then fired blindly several times back over the fallen log. “THEY ARE GOING TO COME DOWN FROM THE RIDGELINE AND FLANK US!” he yelled back to Josh.
“I FUCKING KNOW!” Josh replied. He glanced at Deliza. “Are you going to use that thing, or what, Princess?”
Deliza looked down at her sidearm, embarrassed that she hadn’t thought to at least pull it from its holster. She pulled it out and swallowed hard.
“You do know how to use it, right?” Josh asked as he continued firing.
“Of course I know how to use it!” she retorted.
“Good! Shoot that way! I’ll cover our flank!”
Vol rolled out of his turn and pressed the jump button again, this time arriving behind and above the Dusahn assault ship. Before he could get his first shot off, his starboard shields lit up and his ship slid sideways.
“Octos!” Isa warned. “Six of them to starboard!”
“Bandits in sight!” Tham reported. “To your starboard, Vol! I’m on them! Break down and left!”
Vol did as instructed, pushing his control stick forward and to the left, twisting it at the same time. The computers in his Gunyoki fighter fired the appropriate thrusters to complete the maneuver, while yawing his ship around to bring his main guns onto the flight of octo fighters attacking him. As the enemy fighters came into sight, one of them exploded.
“That’s one!” Tham exclaimed.
Vol pressed his firing button, sending a stream of plasma bolts from the main cannons on the front of his engine nacelles toward the attackers. Another octo fell to his fire, exploding with equal brilliance. “That’s two,” he proclaimed, pressing his jump button.
Energy weapons fire streaked over their heads from all directions, slamming into the trees around them, and the rocks that protected Josh and Deliza, sending shards of the gray-blue rocks flying.
“They’ve got us surrounded!” Deliza exclaimed.
“Just keep firing!” Josh insisted as he continued firing at the Dusahn soldiers making their way down the mountainside toward them. “LOK!” he called out.
“STILL HERE!”
“IT DOESN’T LOOK GOOD!” Josh exclaimed.
“IT NEVER DOES!” Loki replied.
Reaper Six bounced violently, nearly knocking Nathan out of
the open doorway on its starboard side.
“I can’t get in there!” Lieutenant Haddix exclaimed. “There’s too much fire coming from the ground, and we’re down to forty percent on our shields!”
Jessica opened fire from her side of the Reaper, spraying the area from where she spotted weapons fire.
“Can you take them out?” Nathan asked as he, too, fired at the surface from the starboard side.
“All I have are forward guns,” Ensign Weston replied. “We’re fitted for SAR, not close-air support.”
“I see them!” Jessica announced. “They’re surrounded!”
The Reaper’s port shields flashed, then fizzled out.
“Port shields are down!” Ensign Weston warned. “Watch out, Nash!”
Incoming fire continued to come up from the ground on their port side, barely missing Jessica as it entered the Reaper’s utility bay, and slammed into the overhead, sending sparks flying in all directions.
“FUCK!” Jessica exclaimed in frustration. “THEY’RE RIGHT THERE!”
Energy weapons fire continued to pound their position with increasing intensity. A bolt struck the rock directly in front of Deliza, knocking her weapon from her hand and spraying her face with tiny shards of rock and dust. She screamed in pain, falling back to the ground next to Josh.
More fire came from their rear, forcing Josh to duck down behind the rock, facing the uphill slope behind them to avoid taking hits. Explosions of rock showered them, and he instinctively found himself covering Deliza to shield her from the red-hot shards.