E.D.F chronicles - The Krenaran massacre.

by Ian. J. Smethurst

  The small base had taken horrific damage; huge gaping holes could be seen through its blasted hull. Fire had spread through several decks.

  Only one laser was firing now; but still it continued to blaze away at its attackers. All the other lasers simply reduced to charred smoking craters in the bases hull. The last remaining laser was quickly silenced by a flurry of white energy bolts from one of the ‘stealth’ ships.

  Two rectangular pods began to slowly and ominously rise from the huge flat-topped alien carrier, which had maintained its distance from the main battle. The pods stopped rising and with the sound of a muted metallic ‘thud’, locked into place.

  Then it ferociously launched a salvo of half a dozen torpedoes from these pods. The torpedoes hurtled their way into the packed transports, each one smashed home with deadly accuracy. Detonating upon impact and with each impact a transport was utterly decimated, leaving but a wide field of debris and flame.

  The base itself finally succumbed to the catastrophic damage it had taken and tore itself apart in an almighty explosion. A huge shockwave swept through the flaming smashed convoy; and at that moment the recording ceased.

  The Krenarans had culled thousands of lives in the space of a few minutes. Michael turned away from the viewer, sick to his stomach.

  “Murdering bastards,” he whispered vehemently under gritted teeth.

  The entire Eagle bar sat stunned, not a word was whispered. Everyone just stared blankly at the viewer, displaying the E.O.C.A crest. Both men and women sat pale faced; shocked at the brutality of what they had just witnessed. There was a long silence before the news channel came back on the air again.

  In a hushed voiced Annika Raumov spoke again. “The sheer scale of this atrocity almost defies belief. There can be no words to describe the level of slaughter we have just witnessed. All our thoughts go out to those and their families who have perished in this senseless act on this tragic day.”

  Dylan leaned over to Michael and whispered with a hint of anger, “I wonder if the E.D.F will do something now.”

  Next morning there was another briefing, a tired looking Captain Wainwright was presiding. “The E.O.C.A council has unanimously voted to give the E.D.F full emergency powers. E.D.F command has therefore immediately sanctioned alert level one; and has begun mobilizing the entire E.D.F troop division as well as the Navy. As at 23.40 hours last night, we are officially at war with the Krenaran race.”

  The Captain proceeded to play a video from the president of E.O.C.A, James Rushfeldt.

  “My fellow citizens of Earth and the outer colonies; we have entered a dangerous new phase in the future of humanity; we have encountered our first alien civilization. However they are committed to the destruction and extermination of the human way of life. In response to this, the E.O.C.A council has passed full emergency power to the commander of E.D.F forces, Star Marshall Dornat,” the president gave a short pause.

  “We have no choice but to declare war on these Krenarans, as we cannot stand by while they attack our military; our people; our homes, and our very way of life. They seek to eradicate us, until the last vestige of humanity is wiped from the stars,” pausing to take a breath, he continued.

  “To this we say that the human race will not lie down and be destroyed, we will not go quietly into extinction! We will win this war, and we will win it for peace; for liberty; and for the human way of life!”

  As one the cargo hold of the Ulysses erupted into cheers of, “for the human way of life!”

  The Captain allowed the crew this minor infraction before quieting them down again with a wave of the hand.

  “However our orders have not changed, we are still to go to the Agemman colony and find out what has happened there. As we speak the E.D.F Navy is being formed into battle groups to take the fight to the enemy, dismissed.”

  And with that the officers left the briefing.

  “About goddamn time,” Michael and Dylan both said to one another.

  A day later the fleet arrived in the Agemman system. With multiple blinding flashes of light the vessels dropped out of plasma drive, and quickly fired up their inter-system boosters.

  Michaels’ wrist-comm. chirped, and he pressed it.

  “Lieutenant, anything on the targeting arrays,” the voice of Commander Angel cut in.

  “Nothing yet, sir,” Michael replied.

  “Okay; stay sharp, we don’t know where or when they are going to show up.”

  “Yes sir,” Michael replied into his wrist-comm.

  Outside; fighter patrols from the Furious were constantly sweeping the area. The sensor suites located within the main command super structure of the Ulysses were constantly scanning the surrounding area, trying to pick up any hint of the Krenarans’ presence, they still could find nothing.

  Several hours later, when Captain Wainwright was happy that it was safe a landing team was organized.

  To his surprise Michael was selected to be on the team. I must have really impressed Rennick, he thought.

  He was due to form up on the shuttle deck in thirty minutes, however before then he had to go to the ships armoury and sign himself out an Armschlager MK35 pulse rifle.

  The pulse rifle was a fairly recent addition to the E.D.F arsenal, only released five years ago. It fired bolts of highly charged laser energy at a target. Similar in function to the ubiquitous point defence lasers used aboard the larger ships and stations, however the pulse rifle was a lot less powerful. It still used a small laser pod which clipped into a receiver where the magazine would be on a standard rifle.

  He also signed himself out a type 3 combat armour vest, and headed to his quarters where he quickly changed into his ‘landfall’ uniform; comprising of standard combat fatigues, boots, and a royal blue belt which signified that he was Naval personnel and not part of the E.D.F troop division.

  When he had done this, he headed to an elevator and rushed to meet the other members of the landing team. It was made up of Commander Angel with his Mexican countenance, who was considerably younger than Wainwright headed up the team. Lieutenant Commander Janos, the ships medical officer. Rennick, Hudson, and Michael, as well as four members of the E.D.F troop division led by Sergeant Clayton.

  The soldiers all had a badge of a Hammer wreathed in flame on their arms, with a number underneath it. This signaled they were part of the 254thhell hammers infantry division, the number below the image was their squad number; it was the same number 4 on all uniforms.

  Before they boarded the shuttle, Commander Angel spoke to them. “Our communications team and the Furious have tried to contact the colony. But we have still had no response. So we don’t know what is down there until we land, I need everyone to be extra vigilant, understood?”

  Everyone nodded, “yes sir.”

  Together they boarded the shuttle. Rennick sat in the pilot’s seat, with Angel opposite him. Michael and the rest of the team were sat on seats that ran the length of the interior of the shuttle.

  One of the small shuttle bay doors opened, revealing the ruddy coloured planet below, flecks of white cloud dotted the atmosphere below them.

  The tiny shuttle slowly lifted up off the bay floor and accelerated out of the shuttle bay, and out into space.

  Out of the small view port in the rear access hatch the awesome shape of the Ulysses could be seen gradually getting smaller, together with its escorting cruisers.

  In the cockpit, there was a large window that ran its length where the atmosphere of the planet below could be seen rapidly becoming larger, as the shuttle closed in on its destination.

  The windows on all the shuttles were made of a thick, toughened, heat resistant polycarbonate, and it had a small Gatling laser which provided it with limited defence in case of attack.

  The shuttle began to shudder violently as it entered the atmosphere of the planet, flames played across the cockpit window as the heat of the atmospheric entry continued to increase.

  The shuddering continued unabated,
and the occupants were constantly jostled in their seats. Michael silently prayed they would make it through entry. He never did know why, but it always seemed to unnerve him. Rennick and Angel looked as calm as if they were walking the park however, they had done this a thousand times, where Michael had not.

  Deep down he knew the shuttles’ 5cm thick bonded titanium hull would protect him.

  Within minutes the shuttle had cut through the atmosphere of Agemman. Two small wings folded out from the underside of the shuttle for atmospheric flight.

  As they headed towards the surface, they could see the blasted, smoking, charred remains of the colony pockmarked by craters all around it. From this altitude they couldn’t make out any signs of movement on the ground.

  “Jesus; must have been one hell of a fight here too,” Rennick said, remembering the slaughter at Bravo Gamma base. Angel touched a control and the shuttles’ hydraulic landing legs began to lower. Shortly thereafter the shuttle gently touched down on the surface.

  The rear access hatch of the shuttle blew, releasing the pressurised air within with a hiss, and slowly lowered. The nine people onboard exited the shuttle and the troop division members quickly fanned out to form a defensive perimeter.

  Now that they were on the surface, what they witnessed shocked them all to the core. It was like witnessing the aftermath of an atomic blast.

  Buildings everywhere were razed to the ground, rubble lay strewn across cracked, blasted streets. In the distance some of the buildings were still smouldering, which Micheal realised, they must have seen in flight.

  The stench of smoke, death, and rotting meat lay everywhere, as bodies of men, women, and children were intermingled with the debris.

  Michael let out an involuntary gasp and gripped his pulse rifle; sure the E.D.F had endured its fair share of pirate attacks. But nothing like this; this was wholesale slaughter.

  Michael again felt sick to his stomach, especially looking at the maggot infested human wreckage laid all about the once busy streets; he tried not to think about it.

  The landing party forced themselves to press on.

  “We need to get to the colony hub,” Commander Angel said to the rest of the group. “Maybe there we will be able to find out who did this; follow me.”

  They pressed on up what appeared to be a dusty major road, strewn with impact craters, rubble, and debris. On either side of this road, blackened, bombed out shops and buildings stood as testament to the destruction.

  Michael noticed how quiet it was, not a moan or cry could be heard, not even an animal call or birdsong. It was deathly silent. It unnerved him.

  Sergeant Clayton walked over to a large metallic looking object that glinted in the sun, catching his eye. The closer he got, the stranger it appeared. He tried to roll it over with his boot; it was far too heavy. Slinging his weapon over his shoulder he bent down, and with an effort managed to push it over.

  What greeted him was the horrendous face of one of the aliens.

  “Holy shit!” he shouted in panic, as he fell scrabbling on his backside. “You guys had better come over here,” he said as he tried to regain his composure.

  The rest of the landing party hurried across the road to his position and when they arrived they saw a large being, clad in a kind of silvery body armour from its hip to its neck. Its face was reptilian; almost draconic in nature, and was a deep green colour. Its eyes had a rusty red hue to them.

  The teeth looked sharp and pointed; and its legs and thighs were also armoured, however all of this armour appeared to be grafted directly onto the alien’s skin. There were three large tears in its armour at waist height, and a thick milky white ooze seeped out from its wounds.

  “What the hell is it?” Angel said.

  “Well it definitely isn’t human,” Michael replied.

  “No shit, Sherlock!” Rennick said with a shake of his head.

  One of its hands passed a close resemblance to a human hand; however it was larger and ended in small sharp claws. The other arm disappeared into a large complex cannon like weapon, with several wires and gauges built onto it. This also appeared to be grafted into the alien’s skin in places.

  Lieutenant Commander Janos looked closer at the alien, and pulled out a medical scanner from a pouch on his belt. He passed the scanner over the alien.

  “I’m not picking up any life signs, its definitely biotechnological anyway; similar to the Cerberus project the Americans tried before the formation of E.O.C.A.”

  “What was the Cerberus project?” Michael asked.

  “Project Cerberus was a top secret military project ran by the American government around 2025; it was an attempt to create biotechnological soldiers that could withstand far greater damage than conventional troops. With the hope of reducing casualties in a land war; however the project was cancelled,” Commander Angel replied.

  “Why was the project cancelled Commander?”

  Janos cut in, “ethical reasons mainly, human rights activists got wind of it; also the biological parts of the test subjects kept rejecting the technology, causing mortality rates to be too high.”

  He turned and looked at the body in appreciation. “But this is far more advanced; I’d like to return it to the ship for further study Commander.”

  “Sorry I can’t do that Lieutenant, we need to find out what’s behind the attacks, and how they did it. Besides we don’t know if there are any more of these things around, our best bet is still the colony hub,” Angel replied emphatically.

  They left the body and continued up the road, although with a heightened degree of caution now.

  Onboard the Ulysses, orbiting high above the planet surface; the bridge crew were busily monitoring the landing party, gathering pictures and evidence of the destroyed colony; as well as pictures of the dead alien.

  Captain Wainwright watched the communications monitor intently, the glow of which lit up his lined features. A crewman passed him a mug of coffee.

  “Thanks,” he said, quickly turning back to the monitor.

  The display went completely blank.

  “What the hell! Is there a problem with this monitor Ensign?”

  “Negative Captain, the monitor is working fine, I’ve lost contact with the landing party, trying to re-establish now.”

  “Try to send a message to the rest of the fleet,” Wainwright said as he made his way to the command chair.

  “Channel clear sir,” the Ensign said.

  “E.D.F.S Ulysses to task force six, communication check; repeat; communication check,” Wainwright spoke aloud.

  “No response sir,” the Ensign replied.

  “Did they receive the message?” Wainwright asked.

  “Negative sir; I think we are being jammed!” The Ensign replied in alarm.

  Wainwright raced over to the internal comm. and pressed a button. “All hands battle stations, repeat battle stations, this is not a drill.”

  He looked over at Lieutenant Iuliov, the chief tactical officer onboard, “Lieutenant are all main guns fully loaded?”

  “Yes sir; however our targeting arrays are having a hard time tracking them.”

  “Anything on size or composition of enemy forces?”

  “Negative as yet Captain.”

  “Damn it, okay keep trying.”

  Unbeknownst to the fleet, five ‘stealth’ ships and two large carriers were rapidly bearing down on their position.

  Two of the stealth ships broke formation, and quickly veered off to attack the destroyers. While the other three bore down on the massive form of the Ulysses itself.

  Back on the bridge of the battleship, Lieutenant Iuliov exclaimed aloud. “I’ve got two; no three possibles inbound, moving extremely fast.”

  Wainwright raced over and took a look at the tactical display for himself. “That’s them; it’s got to be, port rail-cannons fire!”

  With the sound of an immense thunderclap the rail-cannons hurtled their huge shells at near the speed of light. The entire Ul
ysses shook as the recoil from the salvo took its effect.

  The shells slammed into the enemy ships almost instantaneously, and subsequently detonated with a deafening roar, completely enveloping the small ships in flame.

  “We have direct hits on all three ships sir!” Iuliov exclaimed triumphantly, the entire bridge crew cheered their triumph.

  The flames from the impacts of the rail-cannons died down slowly, revealing the hulls of the three enemy ships.

  “Wait. That’s a negative Captain; targets remain, we barely slowed them down!” A worried Iuliov shouted over the din.

  The three Krenaran ships continued to close on the Ulysses at a terrific pace.

  The other two stealth ships began their onslaught against the destroyers. The Alberta was torn completely in two, as it was hit directly amidships. The force of the Krenaran energy weapons shearing the two halves of its hull apart, flames roared from the destroyed decks, and the screech of torn and buckled metal sounded its death scream.

  The Yukon took a direct hit on its bow; the shot instantly decimating its sloping frontal section, flames wreathed the front of the vessel.

  The remainder of the fleet tried to break orbit, but it was painfully slow, the medium cruisers began to turn to get a better shot at their foes.

  The fighter bay doors on the upper deck of the furious slowly opened. Its entire fighter wing took flight.

  The Ulysses opened fire once again with its rail-cannons, the thunderous boom again ringing out into space; two of its attackers were hit, while the third shot went astray.

  The stealth ships returned fire on the mighty battleship. One shot slammed into the portside crew quarters block, causing carnage within as fire swept through multiple decks, dozens of officers and crewmen were swept out into the cold vacuum of space through the huge rents in the side of the ship.

  A second shot smashed into one of the port rail-cannon emplacements, turning the huge weapon into a mass of flaming wreckage. The third shot tore into one of its turning thrusters, disintegrating it in a huge ball of flame and debris, which lit up the forward sections of the ship.