Defenders

by TR Cameron

  “We must be. I’m here to inform you that your presence has fouled this planet. We’re here to destroy it… And you.”

  “We’ve already sent a message. Our fleet is on its way. Our ships will stop you.”

  “We intercepted your pathetic plea for help. Your forces may come, but they will not arrive in time. If they do, my squadron will eliminate them, and then continue the destruction of this planet.”

  “So you say.” The being put its hands on its hips. “I guess you just came down here to, what? Gloat? Try to frighten us? We don’t scare easily, bird, and we don’t take kindly to those who look down upon us.”

  She raised an eyebrow at the name-calling. “No, worm, we didn’t come here for that. I find it dishonorable to end your existence without first offering you the opportunity to end mine. Choose your champion. We’ll battle with hand-to-hand weapons. The fight ends with death. If your champion wins, my squadron will leave you in peace. For now anyway.”

  “And if you win?”

  “Your representative voyages to the afterlife slightly ahead of the rest of you.”

  “That’s not a particularly great deal.”

  “It’s the only one you’ll get. Declining the offer is also an option.”

  A human behind the leadership trio stepped forward, and they consulted in whispers. Indraat afforded them the privacy they seemed to want, silencing her earpiece. Her religious officer advanced to stand beside her, staring at the clumped aliens.

  “Squadron-Captain, this is exceedingly out of the norm. It isn’t advisable.”

  Indraat cut her eyes to the left, admiring his strong profile. He’d joined her ship only a month before, and she hadn’t yet taken his full measure. Nonetheless, his position required her to consider his words. “It’s a necessity, Deacon Raanja. The honor of the Ruby Rain demands it. My honor demands it.”

  “What is personal honor compared to serving the gods?”

  “Do you believe the gods will allow these humans to defeat me?” She made a chopping motion with her hand. “Impossible.”

  “If the conclusion isn’t in doubt, what’s the point of the exercise, Squadron-Captain?”

  Indraat turned to face him, and he pivoted to meet her. “The point, Deacon, is to eliminate any doubts they may have about our superiority. The story of this battle will spread. It will further demoralize every colony along our advance, making our conquests much sweeter.”

  The religious officer looked thoughtful, and she felt like he was trying to see through her skin to discover the truth of her. She crossed her arms and waited.

  “Sweeter, assuming you win.”

  “A safe assumption, Deacon.”

  “That’s not the only reason for this, is it?”

  “It’s reason enough.”

  “That’s not quite an answer, Squadron-Captain.”

  “It’s answer enough, Deacon.”

  There was a motion from the humans. Indraat and Raanja turned together to face them. She reactivated her earpiece in time for their first words. “We’ve decided to accept your offer. We’ve chosen our champion. He’ll retrieve his weapons and return here.”

  Indraat nodded and addressed her own people, “Retreat to a moderate distance. Stay ready, in case they violate the agreement.” She faced her first officer, pulling the pistols from her belt. “Hold these. Be worthy of my confidence.” She gazed steadily into her subordinate’s eyes and found only loyalty there. Indraat gave a sharp nod of approval and released the weapons into his care.

  She turned back to the humans, spread her wings wide, then stretched and moved through a flowing warm-up routine. Even as she danced with invisible enemies, she kept her gaze on the ones before her, guarding against treachery. She was halfway through her form when the champion returned, toting a pair of axes with broad-bladed heads and spikes on the reverse side. The humans rearranged themselves into a semi-circle that mirrored her forces, leaving the two combatants space to fight in the center.

  She looked at the human—tall, excessively muscled, obscenely hairy. Pushing down her revulsion, she drew her sword from its sheath along her spine and raised it in salute. He surprised her by tapping his axes together, offering her the same respect. She pulled her earpiece away, tucking it in the small pouch at her belt, and moved into a fighting stance. Her enemy swung his weapons in long rotations to limber up his arms as he rolled his neck. Another shrug of his shoulders and he, too, shifted into opening position—one leg forward, his hand clasped halfway up the shaft of the axe positioned above his knee. He held the second axe in high attack position, ready to use the planet’s gravity as an assist in striking at her. His body was twisted away, just as hers was, to offer a minimal target.

  Indraat charged forward with a screech, brandishing her sword above her head. Her opponent flinched and retreated, breaking his balance, his footwork thrown off by the suddenness of her approach. He recovered in time to take a clumsy swing at her, which she dodged by diving to the left and rolling through a somersault up to her feet. She paused, smiling condescendingly as her foe reset.

  Indraat slipped into a forward guard—her right hand holding the sword extended in front, right knee bent, her weight resting on her rear leg. She slid toward her enemy, then stopped to meet his attack, catching and redirecting the blade windmilling from overhead with a circular block that descended to catch the second axe as it sought her heart. She disengaged with a flourish, trying to disarm him, and fell to the dirt again as an unexpected backhand brought the point of one spike within centimeters of her face.

  Indraat scissored her legs to kick his front leg behind the knee and yank him off balance. He lunged, stabbing the ground beside her head with the wide blade of his axe as she rolled away. She finished with a leap to her feet and stretched forward at complete extension to stab her sword into the meat of his thigh. He screamed as she cut him, and screamed louder as she twisted it free. Scarlet blood flowed, seeping into the thirsty soil.

  She retreated again, wanting to see his response. He stood and limped toward her, favoring his injured leg. Pain and fury filled his eyes, and he rotated an axe in each hand, abandoning style for brute force as he attacked. He moved in faster than she expected, his arms flying wide, then slicing in. He brought both axes in an inward chop aimed at the top and bottom of her torso. She blocked the first with her sword and attempted to twist away from the other. A shallow slash across her chest tore through the fabric of her uniform but failed to penetrate the woven metal she wore underneath.

  She nodded and again raised her sword in salute. He circled to her left, trailing his wounded leg, and his sluggish motions suggested he was fading. She leapt to attack, driving straight ahead and seeking his heart with the point of her blade. He responded by moving quickly to block her thrust with his left arm against her own, then stepped away and spun to drive a backhand slam of his axe into her side.

  The blow stole her breath, and she stumbled away, keeping her right arm down to protect the wound. The armor had prevented the spike from piercing her flesh, but she knew at least two ribs were cracked or broken. Probably more than two. With each inhalation, she felt them stabbing at her. With a cough blue blood coated her lips. A quick swipe removed the azure stain as she raised her eyes to meet those of her enemy, who pursued her retreat.

  “Good shot,” she whispered to her opponent, “too bad it won’t be enough.”

  He looked at her quizzically, for without a translator he had no way of understanding her words. She sheathed the sword and drew her twin daggers, holding them up so he could see them. He set himself, awaiting her attack. Her ribs pulled as she moved, causing her to list to that side. He deflected the first of the two knives. The second slashed across his forearm, slicing tendons and forcing him to drop one of his weapons. Indraat shuffled back out of range, catching her breath.

  He hurled the axe he still held. She barely leaned out of the way and redirected it with a dagger to avoid being killed. He retrieved his dropped weapo
n and charged her. As he swung, Indraat stepped at an angle and stomped her boot down on the side of his knee, destroying the joint and dropping him to the dirt. Before he could recover, she knelt beside him and dragged her blade across his throat.

  She forced herself to rise, then she locked eyes with the colony leader. “Enjoy the time you have left, humans.”

  As she walked slowly back to the Ruby Rain with her pistols in hand, her subordinates marched backward to keep an eye on the enemy. Indraat looked forward to saying those same words again when she faced the last surviving members of the species on the misbegotten planet that had spawned them.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  The Washington exploded out of tunnel space, and the bridge was immediately alive with crosstalk. “Alien ships in the sector, Commander. Computer has identified six. They’re heading away at 230, 20 high.”

  “Message from the surface, Commander. The colonists say the aliens deployed devices to destroy the planet.”

  “Weapons ready, locked on departing ships. They’re out of range.”

  “Shall we give chase, Commander?” Lieutenant Lee was last to speak, and the first to get a response.

  “Negative, helm. Put us in a geostationary orbit above the colony.” He turned to his communications officer. “Anything additional?”

  “No, sir. Just that message on repeat. However, there’s an incoming hail from one of the alien ships.”

  “This ought to be good,” Cross replied. Seconds later a Xroeshyn female who seemed to favor her right side appeared on the main display.

  “Greetings, Washington.”

  “Hello again, Ruby Rain. Am I misunderstanding your species’ body language, or have you injured yourself?” The data gathered from the gunship had provided a wealth of information about the enemy, including a basic understanding of physiology, gender, and related medical information.

  “It’s an injury earned honorably on the field of battle, where I’ll be happy to face you at any time, human. I don’t remember if we’ve been formally introduced. I’m Squadron-Captain Indraat Vray, and it is I who has destroyed your colony and the world it rests upon.”

  Cross looked to Kate out of the corner of his eye and saw her type commands in her display to verify the alien’s words. “Why involve our colonies? I thought it was me you wanted, or my ship. We’re the ones who trespassed, and despite your promises to destroy us, we still seem to be standing.”

  The alien gave him a condescending nod, her head tilting back so she could look down upon him. “You are, at best, the sweet snack that flavors the meal. Your species will be eradicated from the universe, down to the last despicable one of you.”

  “How about we settle this right now? Your ship and mine, one-on-one. If we win, you leave this planet alone. If you win, you get the joy of having eliminated the ship that violated your sacred place.”

  She crossed her arms in a gesture that Cross read as additional arrogance. “Human, we’ve already destroyed the planet. All that’s required now is time. And your own destruction isn’t far off. Enjoy the life you have left.” With no visible sign of the command, the feed from the other ship fell silent, and the main display reverted to a view of the planet.

  “Now can I fire?” the weapons officer practically begged to inflict violence upon the alien ships.

  “No firing. Their time will come. Tactical, keep an eye on them to make sure they aren’t laying a trap. Our priority is the colonists.” He turned to Kate. “Any information you’d care to share?”

  “They appear to have seeded the planet with gravity mines. They’re glowing now, likely in the same buildup we saw on the starbase. It’s probably safe to assume that these will take a little longer to deploy since they have a far bigger object to influence.”

  The sensor officer picked up the discussion. “UAL science has been researching these. We believe they can be destroyed or overloaded with narrow-focused laser blasts. Ideally, the lack of a complete net should cause the planetary destruction to fail.”

  “So, the colonists are safe?”

  Kate cleared her throat. “I wouldn’t say that. The remaining devices will create severe tectonic tensions, and if the planet is prone to earthquakes or has an undiscovered structural instability, we don’t want to be on the surface to experience it.”

  “Sounds like a good time.”

  “The Washington is best used taking care of those mines and preparing for the influx of colonists. However, we have some people uniquely suited to the task of rescuing the colony.” Cross nodded, frowning. Kate turned to Lieutenant Anna Fitzpatrick and said, “Tell the Marines they’re headed down to the planet, double-time.”

  He watched as Kate crossed the bridge to collaborate with Flores at the sensor station. The two of them created a targeting scheme to attack the gravity mines. He watched the alien ships diminish in a corner of the main display until a wash of color took them from the sector. “Just a note for future reference, it looks like our new friends can’t use their fancy transportation system too close to a gravity well, either.”

  “Noted,” replied Kate and the sensor officer together before returning to their planning.

  Cross shook his head and opened a channel to the Marines. “St. John?”

  “Almost ready to deploy, Commander Cross. Shuttle one is loaded, and shuttle two is eighty percent.”

  “Your primary goal is to evacuate the colonists to safety, which means ferrying them up here. Our records show that at last formal report, there were seventy-two present. Even crowding them in, it’ll take at least four trips to get all of them and you back on the Washington.”

  “Affirmative.”

  “Don’t waste time down there, St. John. We have no idea how effective we’ll be against the gravitic mines they’ve left behind, and even less of an idea of how long we have until they activate. All we know for sure is, it will be a bad time for anyone still down there when they do.”

  “It’s a lovely spot you’ve picked for us, Commander Cross. Bravo Force lives for bad times.” He heard a clanking noise in the background, and then the unmistakable sound of a cargo hatch locking into closed position. “We are go for launch, Commander.”

  “Tactical, open shuttle bay.”

  “Done,” Jacobs replied. “Shuttles one and two, you’re cleared for launch.”

  “Be careful down there, ground-pounders.”

  “Always, Commander. Tell Red we’ll miss her on this run.”

  Cross looked over at Kate, who still had her earpiece in. She gave him a grin and went back to her work. “Affirmative, Gunnery Sergeant. Keep in touch. Washington out.”

  He watched the display as the two shuttles carefully exited the shuttle bay, oriented toward the planet, and plunged almost vertically into the atmosphere.

  “Weapons, do you have a firing pattern from sensors?”

  “Just now, Commander.”

  “Share your requirements with the helm. You are free to fire anywhere that does not directly endanger the colonists, shuttles, or the ship.”

  “Affirmative.”

  The Washington came under thrust and traveled a longitudinal line on the globe. Her lasers fired, the atmosphere distorting the beam and increasing the time they needed to target an individual device to overload it. The crew had a choice—sacrifice velocity for accuracy, or shoot with a wider array of weapons and hope for the best while moving on to the next mine. Lieutenant Marcas Walsh chose the former, and the helm officer made up what he could in between targets, hopping the ship from point to point at high speed.

  Cross sent a message to appear in Kate’s display only: This is awful. Where did he learn to drive?

  She typed back a sarcastic reply reminding him that she knew well his own piloting skills, and that people in glass houses blah blah blah.

  Cross watched as the mines blinked out one by one and hoped it would be enough.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  The shuttle landed with the thump. When the cargo d
oor plunged to the ground it generated a plume of dust. The Marines spilled out, adopting a defensive posture around it—kneeling in the tall grass while they scanned the area.

  Gunnery Sergeants Murphy and St. John met in the middle, then turned and jogged toward the center of the colony.

  “It’ll take these two shuttles four round trips to get all these people and us off this rock,” Murphy observed in a level voice.

  “Indeed, yes,” St. John replied.

  “That’s a long time to be on a planet that’s fixing to rip itself apart, don’t you think?”

  “Yes, indeed, I do.” Ahead of them, he saw the colonists boiling out of the flimsy-looking structures that made up the colony. His eye caught a dark red stain on the ground, and he gestured toward it. “There may be fewer than the records show.”

  “Picking on unprotected civilians is a pretty lowdown thing to do.”

  “It is indeed.”

  “They look shaken.”

  “They do. This must be the leadership approaching us. Time for a breath of fresh air.” A sequence of precise eye movements triggered the helmet release, and Rhys St. John lifted the armor from his head. “It’s been too long since I smelled this much green.”

  He heard Murphy removing her own helmet, but left her behind as he strode forward to touch gauntlet-to-hand with the front colonist. “Gunnery Sergeant Rhys St. John, at your service. The Washington, DC was on patrol nearby when you sent your message. We need to get you off this planet.”

  “How long do my people have to finish packing up their things, Sergeant?”

  The man’s voice didn’t waver, but St. John could see he wasn’t having the best of days. “As long as it takes to get the shuttles back down here after a run. The first twenty-four go right now. There’s no way to tell how much time we have.”