Rebellion: Rise Of Mankind Book 7

by John Walker

  “That was a gunshot! Help! We’ve got intruders!”

  “Go loud,” Hoffner said. “Disengage suppressors.”

  The extra velocity was less important than the intimidation value of a loud shot. When they opened up on the next people to show up, their opponents would definitely know what they had to worry about. Geralt and his team moved over to the left side hallway, prepared to take it. Hoffner directed his men that direction as well.

  “Lorenz, you’ve gotta watch our backs. We’re taking this facility now.”

  “Got it,” Lorenz said. “I won’t let anyone in, sir.”

  Hoffner prepared to go first and a volley of gunfire riddled the hallway, slapping the wall behind them. He crouched, returning fire, albeit blindly. His men joined in the fun, lighting the area up. They heard another person cry out, warning his companions of what was coming but seriously overestimating the force attacking them.

  “There’s an army at the door!” He yelled. “Get some grenades!”

  “You heard the request,” Geralt said. “Toss them some grenades, guys.”

  “Let’s be conservative with those when we get closer to the control center,” Hoffner warned. “I want this place in one piece when we’re done.”

  “Just being friendly visitors, sir,” Geralt said. “Fire in the hole!”

  Hoffner glanced over his shoulder and saw several men chucking the explosives down the hallway. As they began going off, the screams went from fear to pain as at least a few of their targets were caught in the blasts. Hoffner risked a glance down the hall, trying to use one of the cameras to see how many they faced but the connection was scrambled.

  “They’ve locked down their own security,” Hoffner said. “Scans?”

  “Blocked,” Tully said. “We’re doing this the old fashioned way.”

  “Fair enough. Anyone got eyes on the guy down there?”

  Private Warner fired his weapon and a wet splat resounded down the hall. “Not anymore, sir.”

  “Good shot.” Hoffner looked back at the men. “We have to get down there.”

  “I’m on it.” Warner pressed forward, moving at double time. A man followed him six paces behind. Geralt and his team already took their own hallway and Hoffner closed behind his. They reached the next room and all hell broke loose. Men dove for cover, opening up as a contingent of Orion’s Light burst into the room.

  Hoffner fired his weapon in short bursts, tearing through a man’s leg and another’s stomach. A couple rounds tapped his shoulder and he rolled to the cover of a desk, hoping it was made of more than flimsy wood. The firefight might’ve lasted all of a minute but it felt like an eternity.

  “I’m hit!” Warner cried out. “Clean shot on the left arm!”

  “Hang in there,” Tully replied. “Tango down!”

  Hoffner leaned out and took a shot, blowing half a man’s head off. The rest of the Orion’s Light troops fell back to their own cover, putting them into a temporary stalemate. “You going to be okay, Warner?”

  “Yes, sir. I’m fine.”

  “Geralt, how’re you doing?”

  “We just engaged the enemy in some makeshift living quarters,” Geralt replied. “They’re neutralized. Permission to converge on your position?”

  “Granted. Geralt’s on his way so let’s keep the shooting down until we know we’re not taking pot shots at friendlies.” Hoffner checked his scans again but they were still scrambled. “Damn it, Tully. What’ll it take to get our tech back online?”

  “A terminal with access to their devices, sir. I can disengage if I can wire in.”

  “Understood. Probably in the command center.” Hoffner sighed. Which is exactly where we need to be anyway. If we get there, we’re done with the mission and won’t need our scans anymore. Not until we’re back outside and ready to take the farm houses.

  “Give it up!” One of the enemy shouted. “We have you out numbered!”

  “Not outgunned,” Geralt’s voice rose above them and a rattle of gunfire resounded throughout the complex. Hoffner risked a glance and saw bodies dropping to the floor, blood slicking the metal. Geralt and his men entered the room. “Tangos eliminated.”

  “Good work.” Hoffner rose. “Do we have any idea how many we’ve taken down?”

  “Quick count!” Geralt yelled. A few moments passed and the figure came back at thirteen.

  “There are seven more people hiding out in here somewhere,” Hoffner said. “Let’s sweep this place and be careful. If they’ve held up in a room, they might be dug in. Use flash bang grenades for smaller areas. Move out.”

  They systematically had to go from space to space, checking each for the errant enemies. Hoffner kicked in a door for Warner who tossed in the grenade. Someone screamed and two marines went in, blowing him away as he writhed around in blind agony. As they reached their destination they only encountered three total Orion’s Light, meaning four might be protecting the consoles within.

  The doors were metal and slid open so they wouldn’t be simple to breach. Explosives would do the trick and they might be able to hack their way in through the panel to the left. However, regardless of their tactic, it would take more than a few moments to initiate any particular plan.

  “Sir,” Lorenz’s voice piped in. “I’m picking up a distress call from within the base. Looks like they’re calling for reinforcements.”

  Geralt chuckled. “It’s a little late for that now.”

  “No doubt.” Hoffner hummed. He raised his voice, “you want to live in there? Surrender and we’ll ensure you get fair treatment. Otherwise, we’re going to pop those doors and take you all down. You have five seconds to make up your minds.”

  “We have reinforcements on the way!” One of them shouted back. “And we can hold out for them to arrive!”

  “Okay, that’s a fair assessment of the situation.” Hoffner turned to Tully. “Can you get these doors open?”

  “Might take a few minutes,” Tully replied, “but yes, sir. I believe so.”

  “Geralt, what about explosives? Can you blow these in such a way that you don’t destroy the tech on the other side?”

  Geralt sucked air through his teeth. “It’ll be a challenge, sir. These are pretty tough. We don’t seem to have a lot of time for trial and error either.”

  Warner spoke up, “pretty sure we can hold this against their reinforcements and take our time. Especially with Lorenz out there. He’ll kill whoever tries to get inside.”

  “Let’s not rely on that,” Hoffner said. “Besides, holding this position will be a lot easier when we have control of the security system. Okay, Tully. Get to work. Let’s try the subtle way before we head into full on destructive mode. Much as I’m sure the rest of you would rather blow something to hell.”

  Tully got to work and Hoffner stepped away, attempting to establish contact with the Behemoth. Something about the power plant interfered with long range coms and they’d need to be connected directly into the system to get any meaningful messages out. Damn it. This put heavier emphasis on getting into the control center as quickly as possible.

  “Alright team, let’s secure the building and get some people back in the front lobby to hold it down.” Hoffner directed three marines to follow him. “Tully, let us know the moment you’re ready to get through. Geralt, you’re on security detail here.”

  Back in the lobby, he positioned his men by the door. “Lorenz, you got anything?”

  “Scans indicate incoming shuttles,” Lorenz replied. “Two specifically. They are…six minutes out.”

  “Any more data about them?”

  Lorenz sent the information over to him. “High capacity it looks like. Probably twenty guys in each and they’re heavy. I doubt ground ordinance would take them down.”

  “Understood.” Hoffner hummed before giving a quick briefing. “Team, we’ve got twenty plus men incoming and I’m sure they’ll be intent to take this place over our dead bodies. Tully, no pressure but you’ve got less
than six minutes to get in there so we can communicate with the ship. If it looks like you won’t make it, Geralt gets to blow the doors. Let us know in three minutes.”

  “Yes, sir,” Tully replied.

  “We’re preparing for a fight up here, guys. Let’s just hope we can get what we need to ensure we win it.”

  Chapter 6

  Sergeant Bobby Jenks watched through the front view port as their shuttle docked with the space station they were supposed to take. The place was big enough for a small force to live up there and work on some kind of scientific study assignment. His people were to get in and reclaim it from rebels then download all the security footage for the past week.

  His men stood poised and ready. When the doors opened, they anticipated a firefight. Jenks stepped up into the lead and held his rifle up. The inner hatch slid open and he stepped inside, moving to the edge. Others followed suit, taking what little cover they could. As the airlock closed behind them, the next portal slid to the sides.

  Gunshots erupted, firing into the area and slapping the walls. Luckily, the bastards were using ‘safe’ rounds, that couldn’t penetrate the metal of the walls but were thrown quite fast enough to go through human meat. Even with the environmental armor, Jenks knew a single round would be enough to take someone down.

  His people returned fire and they initiated a nasty battle. One of his guys took a shot to the face, shattering his helmet and causing blood to splatter the wall behind. Someone inside screamed and Jenks peeked in, taking some shots as several bodies fell to the ground. Marines spilled in, rushing for new cover to get better positions.

  The battle raged for almost five minutes before the enemy fled the cargo bay, retreating deeper into the station. Jenks put two men on each of the three doors and called for a roll call. They lost two soldiers in the initial strike, both men shot in the head during the exchange. There wasn’t time to mourn them but that didn’t stop the men from adopting a somber silence.

  Jenks checked his scans and plotted the best course to get them through the facility to the center of the station. It would be through some pretty open areas with plenty of doors, lots of space for men to hide in and conduct ambushes. This type of fighting tended to be the nastiest, only matched by brawls in the suburbs. They didn’t have a lot of time and wanted to get through the action as quickly as possible but in order to maintain any level of safety, they needed to check every corner and room.

  That meant going slower than any of them wanted, especially considering how fast they could get pinned down in a hallway or a single room even. Jenks organized his people. They loaded the bodies of their fallen onto the shuttle then sent it on its way. When they finished the mission, they’d call for a pick up but for the moment, they were on their own.

  Jenks once again took the lead and they moved into the hallway which should’ve taken them to the control room the quickest. He led with his weapon, two men on either side of him and slightly behind. The rest took up the rear, watching out for anyone wanting to dart in on them as they moved along.

  The man on his right shouted, “contact!” They’d barely gotten ten feet in when one of the enemy stepped out and took a shot. Jenks snapped off a round and connected with the man’s forehead, dropping him like a sack of potatoes. His men checked the rooms as they passed by doors, ensuring they wouldn’t encounter any surprises.

  The tension lasted until they reached a flight of stairs beside an elevator. The elevator dinged and opened. Two men darted out with weapons drawn. They leveled their guns but weren’t quick enough for the marines who riddled them with bullets, dropping them before they could even twitch.

  “Stairs.” Jenks said, dreading the tactical disaster they could be. He started up first, clearing the top before advancing. At the landing, they paced through the door and had to fall back as gunfire stitched the door frame, nearly cutting Jenks’s face off. “Grenades!”

  Men chucked in a couple of frags and they heard cursing from within. The pops gave them their cue and they rushed out, engaging in another deadly firefight. Body parts were scattered on the ground from the frags, pieces of the men who didn’t get out of the way fast enough.

  The second Jenks took a shot something wet slapped the side of his helmet, blood. One of his men went down, holding his shoulder. A sense of relief washed over him when he saw the man shove himself back to the door. At least he didn’t lose another one. Close quarters fighting tended to be some of the worst.

  Two people fled the room, the last of the resistance in that area and Jenks popped one in the back. The other took a blow to the knee and went down, spinning to return fire. The marines took cover, exchanging shots. Someone finally nailed him, scoring a three round burst that danced up the man’s stomach and ended with his chin.

  “Area secure!” One of the men shouted. Jenks knew they didn’t have much time. They couldn’t slow their momentum for fear that they’d get boxed in but their wounded needed a moment. Two soldiers took position at each door to guard it while Jenks moved over to the wounded guy, Martel, and crouched beside him.

  “How is it?”

  “Pretty bad,” Martel replied. “I can’t move my left arm.”

  “I want you to dig in over there and wait for us to finish the op,” Martel said. “Corporal Samson, stay with him.”

  “Can I speak to you for a moment?” Samson asked. “Please?”

  Jenks took the corporal aside. “What is it?”

  “You’re going to need every gun in there,” Samson said. “This has been some dirty fighting and we’ve got to press on to that core to take it over. These rebels aren’t just upstarts. They’re trained military men. We might even need some reinforcements from the ship to be perfectly honest.”

  Jenks weighed the man’s suggestion and nodded. “I don’t want Martel here alone. Let’s see what we can do and what the ship says. Thanks for your opinion, Samson. Cover the area.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Jenks got on the com and contacted the ship, tapping his foot as it took a few moments to connect. “This is Giant Control, please come in.”

  “This is Sergeant Jenks aboard the space station. We’ve encountered heavy resistance and have casualties and wounded. We’re going to need some back up. This is far worse than intel suggested.”

  “Stand by.”

  Jenks grunted, annoyed at the casual tone. Considering what they were going through, he wanted some more urgency, a sense of concern or anything other than the direct way that person talked. He wasn’t calling to pay a bill, he needed some damn help to avoid more deaths. This mission grated on his nerves.

  “This is the Lieutenant Colonel,” Jenks heard the voice and practically stood up straight despite not being in the room with the man. “Report.”

  Jenks told him what happened so far in a truncated manner, getting it out quickly. “We don’t have a lot of time to talk or negotiate, sir. We need help yesterday.”

  “Understood. I’ve got another team prepped and standing by. Sergeant Walsh and his platoon will join you shortly. Can you hold out for the ten minutes it’ll take for them to get to you?”

  Jenks weighed the options and didn’t have any. They might be able to press on and succeed but it would come at a pretty high cost. If they dug in and waited for the help, they very well might be overrun in ten minutes. Still, they’d have to try and see what happened with their luck.

  Cause it’s been so damn good so far. Jenks sighed. “Yes, sir. We can hold out. Just…tell Walsh to get his ass here on the double…sir.”

  “Don’t worry, Sergeant. We’re on it. Just hang in there.”

  “Help’s on the way,” Jenks called out. “We just gotta hold this room until they arrive.”

  The marines moved into position and prepared for the longest ten minutes of their lives and Jenks practically willed his friend to hurry. Shave some time off that clock, Walsh and I’ll buy you dinner for the next six months straight. We’re counting on you, man.

  *** />
  The Behemoth opened fire on the battleship, their initial salvo crashing into the enemy’s shields causing a massive flare up that brightened the space all around them. Thanks to Durant, they didn’t have nearly the recharge and would unleash another full powered attack in less than half a minute.

  Damage report came back quickly on their target. The concussion of their attack caused minor systems failures and Olly was able to provide some real time feedback on the state of their shields. After the first attack, they knocked them down to sixty percent. Considering how devastating the Behemoth weapons could be, they might end the fight fairly fast.

  Gray read the numbers and turned his attention to Clea. “I’d rather disable the ship than destroy it. Options?”

  Clea scowled at her tablet for several moments and tapped it three times. “I’ve identified key subsystems which are easily targeted without risk of total destruction. We’d want to take their weapons and engines out but leave the defenses as intact as possible. Without their shields, we might lose the ship from a random fighter striking them.”

  “Do you think it’s possible to do what you’re suggesting?” Gray asked. “I’m looking at what we’ve already done and it seems unlikely we can be surgical.”

  The enemy’s attack struck their shields, causing the ship to rumble. They used standard pulse beams, much like the Behemoth’s but not even a fraction of the power. Olly held up his hand as he checked on how badly they were hurt. He finally shook his head. “Shields at ninety-percent and climbing back up.”

  “Redding, fire when ready,” Gray said, turning back to Clea. “Well?”

  “Yes, we can reduce the power of our weapons as needed,” Clea replied, “but I need to perform the calculations to ensure we’re not wasting our time. It’ll take a moment. We have the time since we do have to reduce their overall defenses to at least below forty-percent to cut through the shields at precise locations.”

  “Go for it.” Gray turned his attention to the reports from the other groups. The fighters had their sectors under control and were brawling the enemy ships with good results. The marines on the planet hadn’t reported in yet but that didn’t mean a whole lot to him yet. If they weren’t able to get a message out soon, they’d have to take action but he trusted Marshall to do what was right.