A few vehicles exit the room and enter the tunnel leading up to the surface. They are driving as fast as they can, so as to hold up any of the others. The people on top of the vehicles are now also firing up at the waves of monsters, wanting to devour them. Some of the Kalgoray are feasting on the poor humans that were unlucky enough to have fallen off or be ripped off the vehicles. The make shift medical truck was under attack, Kalgoray hanging onto the sides, their tails piercing the metal sides and trying to get in, the truck behind them picking some off as they continue to drive, not wanting to stop. Even the old medical robot is fighting with one Kalgoray who had got in the rear door. They seem to be well matched and exchange blow for blow, until the robots energy core is pierced by the tail of the Kalgoray and explodes, killing two patients and the Kalgoray along with it. The rear is now on fire, which at least is keeping the Kalgoray at bay.
Swarms of Kalgoray now enter the cave from every hole, nook and cranny, and the rovers are now firing everything at maximum, while piles of bodies are forming around the rovers.
“We need to move. Movement is survival. Move in a clockwise direction and fire out towards the walls.” The governor is sweating but determined to get the last few transports out before he goes down. The rock on the walls around them splinters off, killing more Kalgoray with every blast. The two rovers are moving around at break-neck speed in the room and the last van is nearing the exit.
“Cole, you get to that exit and close it, ok. I need it done, don’t let me down.” Cole was a sergeant that men respected; he always got the job done no matter what the pressure.
“Not a problem, you know I will get it done, just give me a minute, the last van is in trouble.” The two friends look at each other out of their windows on their final pass and smile, each knowing all will be well at the end of the day. Cole’s rover wheel-spins off to aid the last van and cuts a wave of Kalgoray down like a combine through wheat. Warning lights flicker on and off on his dashboard. His rover now has several Kalgoray attached to the outside, stabbing their tails through the hull with ease, the shields are down and his navigator has just been sliced in two by a tail. He presses on and draws closer to the last van, his gunner blasting off a few Kalgoray as they go. Cole looks down. The engine has suffered a blow from a large jagged rock underneath and the rover is spewing out oil everywhere, along with core fluid. One spark could send them to their doom. Cole thinks fast and decides there is a solution. He can still get his work done but at the same time get out of the cave, there was no point in sticking around and dying.
“Get your jet pack on, we are leaving. I am programming the rover to blast the exit mouth in three minutes and then loop the cave firing until she is done. Come on, let’s go, let’s get it done.” Cole tugs at the leg of his gunner but there is blood dripping down on him. It was too late for his gunner. Cole, now in his jet pack, opens up the top hatch and blasts off into the air, killing two Kalgoray in the process, before landing on the van and killing a third. A woman and her son are fighting a fourth and so he helps them to defeat the creature, before turning to witness the blast from the rover and tons of rock falling behind, sealing the governor’s fate.
“I need to get to the front of the column and take charge.” Cole blasts off. He has made the right choice. He flies over the column, people looking up waving at him, he is just happy to be able to make it to the front.
The governor notices the exit being sealed and breathes a sigh of relief. He has done his job. He has thought of the people first and saved them and probably the whole human race in the process. The other rover, now on auto-pilot, laps the room twice before exploding in a rainbow coloured blast that brings down half the cave on top of it.
“Good man!” says the governor. However, now the rock fall has brought a new problem. A giant Kalgoray, one that has never been seen before, only heard of in rumours, is now staring at the governor’s rover, intending it to be a snack. It moves in a stalking motion, slowly creeping towards the rover, slime dripping from its massive mouth, its silver eyes burn in the dark with the reflection of flames from the other rover. Its tail is covered in six foot spears, waiting to impale, to slice and kill. This was the ultimate killing machine and could probably take a ship down, if it had the chance, thought the governor.
“Tony, ready the acid rounds. He may be bigger, but remember what they say …”
Tony the gunner interrupts, “Yeah, it’s just stupid to fight a dirty great big monster without a way out with only a pee shooter.” The two men laugh. “I think, if you don’t mind me saying, sir, I am a far better driver than you and I know you have been itching to fire something for hours, so swap?” The governor did like the idea and it was true, Tony was a great driver.
“Sounds like a great idea.” The two men swap over. Tony sits in the driver’s seat and rubs his goatee and laughs. The governor had been driving all this time with the handbrake on. No wonder it was getting hot inside. Tony turns the fans on to cool the cab and floors the accelerator. If he is going out this day, he will go out in style. The governor begins to blast the acid rounds towards the giant Kalgoray’s eyes, but no one knew if the Kalgoray could see anyway, especially living underground. The rounds did not really affect the giant. To the creature it must have been like having hay fever. The giant rears up on its hind legs and then slams down on the ground, sending a subterranean shock wave hurtling towards the tiny rover.
“You’re kidding me right? I can jump that.” Laughing once again, Tony clears the giant ground ripple with ease and passes underneath the giant. Looking up, it was just like going through a tunnel, with the governor blasting the Kalgoray’s belly, which was also covered in scales. Turning with a skid, the rover is ready for its second charge.
“Sir, we ain’t getting through that thick armour and it’s just a matter of time before it eats us. What are we going to do? I can’t drive around forever.”
The governor smiles, “We are just going to sit and wait.”
Tony looks up at the governor. “I don’t know about you but I value my life, I’m not going to give up on this, I am going to live.” Tony shakes his head and has had enough. “Sod this, you drive, I’m going out to have a word.” Tony opens the side hatch door, much to the governor’s surprise. “Oi, tough guy, you’re beginning to bug me now, and I have had a hard day, so what I’m suggesting you do is turn around before you see me get really angry.” Tony, having just realised what he was doing, begins to think it was probably a bad idea to be doing this, but then everyone needs to stand up to bullies. The creature just looks at Tony and then notices the rover spring into action once again. The creature strides by Tony without a second glance and Tony is blown over with the moving air. He is left looking up. “Yeah that told ya!”
The loud speaker on the rover yells out to Tony. “To the left of my signal flare is a gap, up and out, go now.” The governor fires a flare. He had seen on his scanner a small gap that had been left in the opening, but he has to stay behind to seal it. Tony runs towards it as fast as his feet can carry him. A Kalgoray attacks him from the side, but Tony rolls out of its way and blasts at it with his blaster and dives through the gap. Soon after, it is sealed by the governor’s blasters. Tony continues up the tunnel, not believing what just happened. He only wishes he could thank the governor for saving his life.
The giant Kalgoray catches up in an instant to the rover and lifts the machine up, almost to the top of the cave. At eye level the creature opens its mouth and speaks. “You made me.” The words bellow in the governor’s ears. He is shocked and before he can reply through his loud speaker, the giant flicks the rover into its mouth and begins to crush it, killing the governor with his sharp pointy portcullis teeth, ripping through the rover’s metal as easily as it rips into the governor’s flesh.
The column reaches the surface and appears between White Crest and the giant mountain tunnel door, the guards at White Crest notice and are about to engage the column but are surprised by a frontal assault.
Blaster fire rings out like alarm bells but the White Crest troops are caught off guard. The small bombs that Cassy set explode, causing chaos and death on a grand scale and the guards struggle to keep White Crest from falling. This gives the column time to get to the second tunnel, and after they kill the guards, they go unhindered through their second tunnel of the day, this time a little bit more relaxed.
Cole has reached the front of the column and stops in the tunnel briefly. This will be a new fight, this time against people. The plan is to travel right up to the ship and then spring the surprise attack, and at the same time Pace and Cassy will get the auto-turrets blasting.
“Ok everyone, you know me and I know you, and I know we can do this, we just have to work as a team and get off this planet.”
One man dressed in coveralls sticks his hand up to ask a question. “What’s happened to the governor?”
Cole replies in a sad voice, “He did not make it, but he did give us all time to escape, just remember that. People will die today, just like tomorrow and the next day after, but as long as we remember their deeds, then they are not ever forgotten. Come on, let’s get going.”
The column starts to move once more. The droning of machines and chatter is loud so they could not sneak in unnoticed. Eve’s guards, who have heard the explosions and the flashes of light beaming in the sky for all to see, realise they will soon be under attack also and hunker down behind the supply crates outside the ship. As soon as the column begins to leave the tunnel, they become under fire. Cole’s rover is hit several times but they drive on, until the rear is blown off by a twisting missile that cracks the hull like an egg. The rover skids sideways out of control and rolls over twice before coming to a halt on its side. Cole is still alive, along with one other. The rest of his crew are torn and dying, and without a way to help them, the two men exit the cab and dodge blaster fire and run towards a pile of crates, ducking down behind returning fire, when they dared to pop their heads up to look. The rest of the column charges out, just like Cole, at top speed, but this time something is different, the sound of the giant ship powering up and the distinct sound of gun turrets moving are music to Eve’s troops’ ears, until the guns begin to fire upon them, killing Eve’s forces with ease, as their backs are turned to the ship.
Chapter Seventy-One
Pace and Cassy watch as the war unfolds on their screens, as they train the turrets on the enemy. Many people lay dead now, smouldering and twitching slightly.
Pace opens up a ship wide broadcast. “People of Eve, your time is done. Anyone left on the ship in three minutes will be shot on sight. Lay down your weapons and we will allow you to leave in peace. You now have two minutes and forty-two seconds.” The broadcast is heard outside too, and what is left of Eve’s forces lay down their weapons and stand up with their hands in the air. They have been beaten and could never take a Titan ship once it was armed. The forces on and around the ship begin to leave in one direction, and the column led by Cole begins to go aboard their new home.
“Was that it?” smiles Cole. He stands on a ramp leading into the ship. He thinks it would take around five to ten minutes to load everyone on, even some of the assault troops were coming out of the tunnel now, bloodied but alive. They are hurried onto the ship where they are looked after.
Tony appears out of the ground right next to a jet bike and he mounts it quickly and heads for the Titan ship. The dust is making it hard to see now, but he presses on. He engages the turbo drive and in just a few hair-raising moments he is outside the Titan ship, catching his breath and dusting himself off, creating a dust cloud of his own.
Pace watches as the last few of Eve’s men go out of sight, and unseals the doors to the bridge.
Pace turns to Cassy. “I need to get to my ship, contact them and get them here. This is your ship now and you need to get off this rock and get people to safety.”
Cassy looks at Pace with a confused frown. “What do you mean? I’m coming with you.”
Pace holds Cassy by her shoulders and looks into her eyes. “Don’t worry, we will meet you up there and it will be fine. There will be plenty of people to man turrets and pilot the ship, but I need you to get her gone.” Pace walks out the room and Cassy turns and gets on the loud speaker and begins to take charge. Pace passes so many people on the way out of the ship, that stop him and thank him for his help, and he feels good to have helped others. People are patting him on his back, shaking his hand and hugging him, and he has never felt this much love in one place before. Eventually he steps off a ramp onto the sand. Everyone seems to be on board now, but in the distance he can make out rovers heading his way at speed.
Pace calls up to Cassy, “What we got coming in? Looks like trouble to me.” Cassy confirms that it is a group of rovers and that they have now reached the troops that were just removed from the ship, and they have all turned around and are moving as one group, a large battle force, and more and more smaller groups are joining it. Pace uses his hand to rest on his forehead to deflect the sun’s rays from hurting his eyes, and then like a rainbow the Invictus appears, lifting Pace’s spirit once again. Nova brings the Invictus down to hover and Pace jumps on the loading bay ramp that has been lowered by Anc.
“Thanks, Anc, it is great to see you, my friend.” Pace uses his fist to hammer on Anc’s chest armour to say hello, and then the ramp closes and Pace enters the lift and heads for the bridge.
Upon reaching the bridge, Pace is greeted well and the crew has its Captain once again. It was an empty ship without him, each of them thought, as Pace sits down in his chair.
“Cap, Eve’s forces are close enough to fire on us, shall we slow them down to help the Fahrenheit escape?”
Pace smiles and coughs, “What do you think?” The ship turns around and heads towards Eve’s group. “What is that on the front of my ship?”
Nova raises her eyebrows and twists her lips slightly. “It’s Rusty’s toy, not mine, Cap.” Pace looks at Rusty and just beams at him and Rusty grins back.
The Invictus is hit by a spray of fire, doing no damage to it at all, and Nova takes the ship down low, heading straight towards the first few rovers. The Invictus opens fire and the first rover springs up into the air in flames, flipping many times before it lands and takes out a rider on a jet bike, who is flattened into the ground without feeling a thing. Nova pulls back on the sticks and the Invictus responds quickly and dances in the air, like a carnival kite drifting gently on a breeze. She swings the ship around for a second pass. The Titan ship Fahrenheit begins to kick up dust and the huge engines deafen everyone for miles. Nova almost loses control at the sound, but grips on for dear life, while her ears pop and whistle, and everyone else are covering their ears.
The Fahrenheit slowly lifts up higher and higher into the sky, the ground becoming dark in its shadow. A screen opens on the Fahrenheit and Cassy looks back at a face of sheer disbelief.
“That is my ship! You turn it around and let me board and I will keep you out of jail, young lady. What on earth do you think you are doing? I’m the Prime Lady, you know.”
Cassy laughs out loud. “I think I’m taking your ship, so I don’t think a jail term is likely, do you, and you were Prime Lady of the planet, so you keep doing what you do best love, eh, and rot there for the rest of your days.” Cassy tells the pilot to carry on to their meeting point and the Fahrenheit slowly disappears into the cloud and then off, up into space.
Chapter Seventy-Two
“You damn space pirates; you will pay for this I promise! Fire everything at the remaining ship. The Invictus will fall this day!” Eve is breathing deep and fast, in such a rage she has turned red all over. Her second-in-command General Stern tells her to calm down, and tells her that all will be ok, if she just relaxes.
“There is another ship ma’am, it’s only a fighter but she is fast and hardy. This fighter is on board another Titan ship, which we used for parts for the Fahrenheit. The Titan is in no way ready to fly, but the troops don’
t know that. We can tell the troops that there is much to fight for and that we are taking the Titan ship, and they will cover us until we blast off in the fighter.” General Stern whispers this in Eve’s ear, and a smile comes across her face once more, an evil smile, grown from years of greed and self-service. Eve nods and the plan is under way, and as they turn away, leaving the rest of the army to engage the Invictus, the blue ship blinks up on her rover screen.
“Ma’am, no need to panic, I have signalled to the troops to begin to retreat to the second Titan, and we will be out of here in less than half an hour, I promise.” Eve pours herself a glass of wine, from a small bottle stored near her seat, and congratulates the general on his quick actions.
“Where will we go, General, and who will serve us?” Eve sips her wine and relaxes her shoulders.
“We can't go to the new planet now; the blues are probably swarming it. We have two options open to us. We can drift and find somewhere habitable and lie low for a while, or we can go to the Tarkon home world and tell them that they face great danger, and use their army to rule the galaxy. I like option two best, if I was to be honest.” The general punches in some coordinates and the auto-pilot takes over, the driver had been killed by shrapnel from a blast earlier.
Titan Fleet: The Invictus Page 22