“Oh fuck” said Chase to himself. He knew it was a ship exploding, he suspected it was the Chicago because of the direction but he didn’t know for sure. Val was tugging on his arm. He finally turned and saw what she was looking at, two more explosions, this time very close.
‘Fighters?’ he thought but then he saw the pulse fire and knew that it must be the Hermes or the Rio that was firing. Another explosion this time right in front and with the light show he saw the enemy transport headed straight toward them. He was transfixed in the moment like a dear in the headlights.
Val grabbed his arm and dragged him. He recovered and realised the same need, to take cover. He and Val charged back over the breached wall. The marines that were still coming forward soon realised that something was wrong and went to ground.
The transport turned on its landing lights. It blinded all who stared at it. The craft was hovering now with little forward motion. It touched down and both hatches opened and the figures started pouring out.
Cpl Jimmy Smuts, the medic assigned to look after Art and the other injured crew, immediately turned off the small light he had and took cover behind the crates on the right of the rogan transport. They were in complete darkness and he prayed they would not be seen.
Val got Heather’s team to form line on the far side of the half wall. They waited. Finally the landing lights were turned off. But the area was in darkness for only a second. The disembarked rogan warriors found the switch and turned on the hangar’s lights.
Val fired the first burst. Heather’s team let loose and between them they cut down most of the rogan warriors. One of them fired a hand held rocket at the breach. It fell just short but blew apart the twisted metal torn from the previous breach. Shrapnel went everywhere. Heather’s quanto gunner went down and his offsider.
Val felt a searing pain in her right shoulder. She dropped her rifle and fell back onto the floor. Her left hand went to the source of the pain, felt the puncture in her suit, saw the red alert flash on her visor, knew that she needed to get to an oxy-pack quickly and to seal her suit at the shoulder but instead went into shock. She felt cold. Her muscles went into spasm. She felt dizzy. Her jaw was out of control. Then she blacked out.
It was Chase who applied the oxy-pack and who activated the shoulder seal. He dragged her away from the fire fight back down the corridor. There was another wounded marine there, who also was in shock. Chase saw that he had been hit in his lower left arm. Someone had saved his life too. He knew he had to leave Val but it ran against all of his natural instinct. He pushed off onto his left knee and moved at the crouch.
The firing was tapering off. Heather held up the last of her grenades. She tossed it straight at the craft. It was less than thirty metres. The grenade fell short though and exploded under its hull. Heather gave a whack on the back to the two marines next to her. They jumped up and over the wall and went to ground on the right and were soon firing. Heather pushed the other two marines still able to move from her group. They went over on the left and took what cover they could from the hull of the crashed transport.
Heather looked to Chase. He nodded and jumped over with her. He landed hard and wacked his knee on the ground. The knee cushion on his suit proved useless and it hurt like hell. Amongst all the bodies on the ground he could make out two figures trying to board through the starboard hatch. He fired. One fell and was immediately hit by a several shots fired from the other marines. The craft began to hover. The hatches hadn’t closed. Chase got to his feet. His left knee was still sore but he pumped his legs and made for the closest hatch, the one on the port side of the craft. Heather was up now running behind him. They were only a few metres away. The craft began reversing out.
Chase lunged forward through the hatch. Heather did likewise and knocked Chase over just as he was getting to his feet. She got up first and fired three rounds into the cockpit. The pilot slumped over. Heather was overjoyed at having stopped the pilot but was suddenly dismayed as the craft kept reversing.
She turned to Chase who was now back on his feet. He came forward and leant over the pilot’s body and set the retroes to forward for a few seconds and then turned off the engines. The craft landed with a thump on the hangar floor. But they were down.
Chase took in a big breath. His knee was aching now. Despite the pain he had a brilliant idea even if he said so himself. He turned the auxiliary power on. Heather was at a loss as to what he was doing. He dragged the pilot’s body out of the seat and sat down as best he could in the small seat. He was trying to remember what Evie had told him about the craft comms. How he wished she was here now to advise him. But she had taken the transport back to Soln to get more troops.
The first thing he tried didn’t work. He kept trying variations on the theme. Finally he got the channel selector and selected the channel for the Hermes. Heather realised what he was doing and shook her head and patted the side of her helmet, indicating it would be jammed. But it wasn’t.
‘Where was the hatch control?’ he asked himself. There he found it. The hatches shut. He checked the atmospherics. Tolerable. He took off his helmet and tried to hail the Hermes. “Hermes this is Ranger Sunray.”
“Chase is that you?” asked Aubrey.
“Thanks god” said Chase.
He spent the next few minutes exchanging SITREPS.
“So Ivan should be here any minute?”
“Yep.”
“Great, cause we’ve had a tough time here. We need casevac and medical assistance.”
“Understood. Get Parinya to take back your evacs and she’ll return with Charlie team and some medics.”
“Sounds good.”
Heather had taken off her helmet and waited till the conversation was over before asking “How did you know the jamming wouldn’t work in here?”
“Just a guess really. I suppose it was the fact that the jamming was so local and in close proximity to their own forces. I wouldn’t want to hinder my troops like that only the enemy’s.”
“Smart.”
Chase smiled. He liked the compliment.
Chapter 43. Hermes over Fulmar 1515, 5 February
“Maam” hailed Gunter.
“Chief.”
“We’ve got a real problem. The climate control system’s been hit. We can no longer scrub the air.”
“What do you mean Chief?”
“We’re going to run out of breathable air in 20 minutes. We need to land now.”
Aubrey went silent trying to take it in. She was trying to keep all the balls up in the air but now it was hopeless.
“Maam did you hear what I said?”
“Yes Chief. Thanks.”
“Crystal we have to land now. Let Chase and Ivan know. James, take us down to Soln as fast as you can.” She then switched to the ship-wide channel. “We have sustained damage to the climate control system and must land immediately. Everyone suit up and prepare for a fast ride in.”
Aubrey sank back in her chair. Despite the fact that they had prevailed by and large she felt defeated. She was being forced out of the action. It was not a good feeling.
Chapter 44. Drakush over Fulmar 1520, 5 February
Ivan entered the rogan transport. The hatch closed behind him and he took off his helmet. He looked worried, thought Chase.
“You hear about the Hermes?” asked Ivan.
“Yeah.”
“So we’re on our pat Malone till the Rio arrives. What’s this about another breach?”
Chase briefed him on the situation and explained what he needed done.
“Alright we can do that. Where are Art and Val?”
“Out in the hangar - both injured.”
“You don’t look too flash either.”
“Huh that’s an understatement. I can hardly walk.”
“OK my turn to do the heavy lifting. You stay here and coordinate. See if you can make contact with Soln. Ask them to send up that transport and take back our wounded.”
“Sure…good luck
Ivan.”
Ivan smiled, turned and exited the craft.
Chapter 45. Hermes over Fulmar 1525, 5 February
“Shit we’re losing structural integrity” called out Crystal. “We have to slow down the descent.”
“James, slow it down” hailed Aubrey.
“OK.” James had not needed to be told there was something wrong. He was wrestling with the ships trim as they descended through the atmosphere. She was not responding as usual. He glanced at the display and adjusted the glide path to make it shallower. He eased off the power and noticed some improvement.
But he felt the shudder a minute later. “What’s happening?” he asked.
“Crystal?” asked Aubrey.
“The tear in the hull must be getting bigger. We’ve now got decompression in C4 to C8. We need to seal off the entire crew deck.”
“Do it.”
“We have five people on that deck.”
“Give them one minute.”
“Warning, evacuate crew deck immediately. Sealing deck in one minute.”
They were being buffeted violently now. Aubrey had to strap herself in. Everyone heard the metallic tearing noise. “Seal it now.”
Crystal hit the control and said a silent prayer that everyone on that deck was now in the elevator.
The Hermes was now entering the lower atmosphere. James checked his display. They were less than 100km out from Soln at an altitude of 5000m. He was struggling to hold it on the approach path. ‘Yes’ he said to himself emphatically. There it was. ‘Shit’ it doesn’t look big enough.
“Soln control this is Hermes. We must land now.”
“Roger” said Dan “it’s all yours.”
James decelerated to gain more control. At 10km he could make out some of the wreckage and destruction along the left side of the runway. The ship started rotating counter clockwise along its axis as though it was leaning to the left. He knew it was the drag on the great big hole they had on the left side. He engaged the reverse thrusters and the retroes on the left of the craft. It helped restore some trim but they were not level by any means.
The ship was now hovering at 1000m and descending in a relatively smooth manner. James breathed a sigh of relief. He’d done it. He hadn’t been all that confident back there he admitted to himself.
At 50m the left retroes cut out and the ship rotated anticlockwise in dramatic fashion. The craft hit the runway hard, first on the left edge and then rocked back onto the right edge before settling.
Aubrey like the rest of the crew was shaken by the sudden impact but she recovered quickly and hit the evacuation alarm. She went forward to the cockpit. James was still in his seat. “Come on James. It’s not your fault.”
“Fuck!” he hailed. He tore at the release on his harness and struggled in his suit to extract himself from the pilot’s seat. “Fucking suit!” he cursed. He turned and looked at Aubrey. He was annoyed at himself. She put her arm around him and led him back to the control centre. “Hurry” she hailed to him in as gentle a voice as she could muster.
She was the last to exit. Chuck Meadows, the Master of Arms, was in charge of the temporary assembly area at the side of the apron. He was counting suits. “We all here Chuck?” asked Aubrey.
“Yeah apart from those up there” and he raised his eyes to the sky above.
Chapter 46. Whisky 1 over Fulmar 1535, 5 February
Parinya had manoeuvred Whisky 1 with the aid of her active cloaking so that she was now above Bogey 1 and heading to the rear most section of the upper deck. She now had to perform a tricky manoeuvre, rotating the craft clockwise so her right hatch would be parallel to the roof of the enemy ship.
She was all concentration. She glanced at her display to ensure that the Xray scanner was aligned. She breathed easier once this was confirmed. “Sir, we have clear space. All go for breaching.”
“Thanks. Buster you ready?”
“Ready.”
“I’m going to de-cloak first and Alain is going to deal with some beam pods. I’ll let you know when to go.”
“You ready Alain.”
“Good to go.”
“Now.”
Alain already had the pods designated as targets. There were three of them. He’d programmed in a short bust of three rounds on each. It would all be over in 15 seconds. He hit the commit button. His turret raised in two seconds, decloaking the craft in the process. His first burst knocked out the first pod. Floodlights lit up the craft and Parinya was momentarily blinded because they were less than 20m away from them. The second burst took out the next pod before it even popped up. The third one was fully extended by the time the AI had rotated Alain’s turret. It was like high noon over Fulmar. Thankfully Alain won.
“All done” he said.
“And the light Alain!”
“Got it.”
“Go” is all Parinya said.
The breach was unopposed and everyone on the craft was grateful. Ivan could not understand why they hadn’t met opposition. They were in a fully lit room full of instrumentation with chairs and a table in the middle. Ivan turned off his thermals. He didn’t know what all the panels were for. He left them alone. Buster was preparing to open the door and send out a probe. Ivan tried to hail Buster but it was jammed. So instead he gave Buster a pat on the back.
Buster took that as the signal to go. He hit the door control. He could see two figures running towards them from down a corridor. He released the probe as a pulse round hit the jam above his wrist. He pulled back and away behind the cover of the wall. Dakota let off a burst of her quanto causing the figures to dive to the ground. One rolled over in obvious agony.
Dai pushed her self forward and went prone on the left. Jack did likewise on the right. Both began firing. Troopers Al Kidman and Gusmao Cortez were on loan from Alpha Team to flesh out the depleted ranks of Bravo team. They went next and Gusmao caught the other enemy figure with a shot from the hip. So he and Al remained upright and went forward till the corridor forked left and right about 20m ahead. Buster and Dakota came forward.
Buster checked his probe controller and could see that the probe had taken the left fork. This bent left and then eventually right. He knew from the description he’d been given at the briefing that the upper deck was shaped like an ellipse with a tail. They had breached at the tail and now were working their way around the left edge of the ellipse. It would come out into a circular space at the front of the deck used as the control centre for the ship.
They had to make a decision. Do they split up at this stage and go left and right or do they leave someone here to cover their back while they go ahead in just one direction. He knew what he would do but he looked to Ivan. He used both his hands to point first in both directions separately and then joined then to point in one direction along the left.
Ivan pointed to the left. ‘Smart boy’ thought Buster and gave him the thumbs up. He then called forward his other two replacements, which were from Charlie team, Troopers Belinda Raffety and Mike Nesbit. He ordered them with hand signals to stay put at this junction. They would cover their backs.
His controller flashed red, meaning enemy ahead. He looked at the camera view but someone had turned out the lights. He switched the view to thermals, saw four maybe six figures around the bend taking cover in two connecting passageways about 15m and 25m further on.
He made the signal for enemy ahead, then he held up five fingers, three times. Dai wasn’t sure whether he meant 15m or 15 enemy. She hoped it wasn’t the latter. Buster looked directly at Dai and tapped his belt pouch. She got the hint and withdrew a stun grenade. She bowled it underarm so it skidded along the floor hitting the outside wall as it bent around. The grenade then deflected back to the inner wall landing not far from the first passageway ahead.
Someone fired at it but the rest dove for cover. It went off with a flash and a bang. Dakota and Jack led the charge firing from the hip. They were down in four and firing. The probe view told Buster that the enemy at the
first passageway were down but there was firing from two more on the second passageway.
Dakota was firing a series of short bursts to suppress them. One of them lobbed a grenade straight at Dakota. They then both ran back down the passageway. Dakota and Jack charged forward and straight for the passageway. The grenade went off while they were both diving for the floor. Dakota let out a scream that no one heard. Jack was too busy firing. He hit one of the enemy fleeing down the passageway. The other one got away. He turned to check on Dakota. She was only a couple of metres away. He saw that she was in real pain. The status light on her helmet was flickering.
Ivan and Dai came running into the passageway. Dai saw Dakota writhing on the floor and went straight for her med kit. Ivan ignored it and ran a further ten metres down the passageway to where there was a door. He turned back briefly to see Buster following. He had just deployed Al and Gus to cover the main corridor. Buster was waving at Jack, who got to his feet and jogged to where Ivan was. Buster saw that Dai was stabilising Dakota. He knew they couldn’t stop now. He stepped over Dakota’s body and jogged down behind Ivan.
Ivan pulled out a grenade, showed it to his mates and then lobbed into the room. There was scurrying inside before the explosion. None afterwards. Ivan charged in, followed by Jack. Jack poked the nearest body. It didn’t move. The second one did but he was in pain. Jack took aim and fired.
Ivan turned and left the room and headed back down to the original left corridor. Jack and Buster followed him. They came to Dai dragging Dakota. Jack lent a hand and they dragged her to the main corridor, leaving her with Gus. Al joined the force of manoeuvre heading forward along the main left corridor.
They could see pulse light around the bend. Buster raised up his hand for them to stop. He could see that in a few metres they would be visible from the control centre. He went to his probe display but it was blank. ‘Bastards’ he said to himself. He knew that they had just despatched his probe.
Redemption: Book 2 of Warner's World Page 34