Titan Stand

by Max Jager

  "Kalbask!" Loudly proclaimed Ifwol, "I've known heat, but this is terrible."

  "And I thought Ussen Ommo was bad," added Matt.

  "I'm leaving the stealth mode turned off for a little longer, so no one wander too far away, just in case we get visitors," announced Orlak over the outside speaker.

  Everyone began to slowly walk around stopping to examine whatever it was that caught their interest, be it a piece of scrap metal, or the crumbling aircraft beacon originally built for Amelia Earhart. Even though there was a good crosswind, it was still very hot and bright, forcing everyone to put on dark goggles. The island was perfectly flat, and home to numerous birds that were extremely agitated by the presence of the spacecraft, as well as people disturbing them.

  "What are all these flying creatures?" Exclaimed Skart.

  "I think they are called "Brown Boobies" said Matt with a snicker, "Don't you have birds like these on Golia or Ruddoria?" Asked Matt. He hadn't spent any time outside of the city so he wasn't familiar with their plant and animal species.

  "Other than Pelta's or Twipes, not really," Then Slavek added,

  "I thought I pointed out a flight of Aumog's as we were walking to my father's office?" Matt thought a moment,

  "Oh yeah," he thought, they were a light blue color, and about the size of geese.

  "Well we've got a lot of birds on this planet; those you see flying around are just a fraction of them." Jezang and Ifwol were looking at a long aluminum metal fuselage looking thing Matt recognized as an abandoned float off a seaplane.

  There were some birds nesting under it as well as inside which were making a big fuss as the two approached.

  "Careful," said Matt, those birds don't like you disturbing them; I think they are females sitting on nests. As for what that is, I believe it's an old seaplane float left over from the war." He then found himself having to explain what a seaplane was and how the float worked. The whole area around it was also littered with various pieces of scrap metal which Gyod and Skart were picking up.

  "These pieces of metal might come in handy for something," observed Gyod.

  "That looks like an old airplane wing," exclaimed Matt, pointing to some larger pieces of aluminum lying further out. Not being sure anyone else came here, he kept a sharp eye out for boats, or signs of anyone approaching. they walked out a little farther until he happened to look down to see a metal data plate with what appeared to be Japanese writing on it, as well as a small jagged piece of what he took for a bomb fragment. Dropping them into his pocket, he slowly moved back towards the ship.

  Along the way he and the others came upon the remains of crumbling foundations,

  "Looks like people lived here at one time," he said to no one in particular. Then he saw Vasta, Slavek, and Rekton looking at a large sign.

  "Howland Island National Wildlife Refuge…No Trespassing," He read aloud.

  "Uh oh, looks like we did it now guys, we're not supposed to be here." Then he saw Skart and Ifwol doing something over on the beacon. Getting closer, he could see them painting something on the concrete tower.

  "I thought American teenagers were the only ones who scrawled graffiti on things! So what are you painting on there?"

  Skart turned as he held what looked like an airbrush.

  "I couldn't resist," he chuckled, "Obviously this structure is no longer in use, I'm writing our names and where we are from on here."

  "Well don't let me stop you," replied Matt, "However that appears to be Golian writing there, I don't think anyone will be able to read it." Skart shrugged,

  "No matter, it just seemed like the perfect place to mark our visit here to earth." Matt studied his work.

  "I like your little designs there, and that block printing style is pretty cool as well, but this concrete is piss poor shape, might not last too long there."

  Ifwol shook his head,

  "That's hull coating, he's using, it will be on there as long as this thing stands."

  "This place reminds me of "Kros 6," exclaimed Jezang, I was there to…Deal with some problems. Anyway, it's a small planet, mostly water dotted with numerous islands."

  "Anybody live there?" Asked Matt. Jezang shook her head,

  "Mostly colonists from Claushurt-Cree, and Amm-Krye, fishing is the only real occupation they have going there."

  "I take it then you weren't there on a fishing vacation?" He snickered.

  Jezang gave him a stern look, and just shook her head,

  "Like I said, I was there strictly on business." She was the only one who didn't seem to be bothered by the sun or heat, and it wasn't long before everyone soon went back inside the ship where it was cooler.

  "How long are we going to stay here?" Asked Skart.

  "Well we want to give our friends time to get a good scan and locate us," replied Orlak.

  After the sun had started to go down, Jezang, Skart, and Matt rigged up several targets using pieces of old sheet metal they found. Then while the birds screamed and whirled around in the air, they practiced a little more on the guns, Jezang proving to be a deadly shot with the RPD light machine gun. Being an android, she was the only one who could hold the weapon steady enough to maintain any accuracy.

  They shot until it was too dark to see, all the targets thoroughly riddled. Matt grinned to himself at the thought of the next people on this island spotting the targets and all the spent brass on the ground, not to mention the graffiti painted on the beacon. As everybody was back inside the ship, Orlak asked Matt to monitor the scanner screen very closely while he enjoyed his evening meal. Slavek offered to watch as well so the two of them kept their eyes glued to the screen, Matt finding that the flip-down optic eye on his headset brought in all the detail much closer. The tiny flash came and went in a nanosecond, but both he and Rekton caught it. Rekton alerted the ship while Matt headed for his duty station at the top gun turret. Even as he was strapping himself in, and donning his helmet he could feel the Azani rising quickly into the sky.

  "I think they finally figured out where we were and are trying to sneak up on us," exclaimed Orlak over the ship's comm system. "They are in cloak mode as well so I have no idea where they will come at us from. Matt, I'm making for that large land mass to the west of us, I hope there's not a lot of people living out there."

  "That's Australia," he replied, "Head for the center, lots of desert around in there, might even be some canyons we can try to wreck them in."

  "Well if it's a raider ship as I suspect," replied Orlak, the pilot won't let himself get caught like that. I just want someplace we won't draw any attention should we get hit and have to crash. My ultimate goal is to force them to land one way or another. I want to interrogate one or more of them, find out what we're up against."

  "Well as far as not wishing to attract attention," thought Matt, "Good luck with that." He knew that even as sparsely populated Australia was in the center of the country, someone was bound to see them…And report it.

  Orlak climbed to around forty thousand feet and was just starting to come in over the coast over Queensland when Orlak exclaimed,

  "They've de-cloaked, prepare for a hit!" No sooner had he said that, Matt's brain registered the plasma beams a nanosecond before they hit the Azani. Alarms started going off aboard the ship, but he was too busy trying to get any data on the fire system computer. Then out of nowhere the computer indicated a ship roughly the same class coming down at them from above and to their right. Another burst from the raider ship flashed and the Azani bucked as the beams hit the force shields. Matt knew what was coming next and braced for the roller coaster ride he knew was at hand. All his attention was now focused on where that ship was and making a lock on it. At the moment the guns were set to automatic, meaning that as soon as the gun sight locked onto the raider ship they automatically began to fire. He could try and do it manually, but there was too much twisting and turning for that.

  Other voices were also coming over the headphones in his helmet. He could hear Skart a
nd Gyod reporting little damage as yet, the shields were still strong. Ifwol was on the belly turret while Rekton was covering fire control. High over Australia they dueled. Twisting, diving rolling and turning, three more time he felt the ship shake violently as the plasma fire from the raider ship slammed into them. The roller coaster ride continued as he felt the ship dive, and continue to dive, thank good he hadn't eaten yet. Suddenly they were twisting and rolling through some wide canyon. At this point Matt was able to get off two well aimed shots at the pursuing spacecraft but it was pitch dark outside and only his computer screen was telling him where the enemy was, as well as the canyon walls. Suddenly he felt the incredible "G's" as the ship lurched upward as it did an "Immelman" loop, the computer indicating that the other ship was practically on top of them. His guns began firing along with everything else aboard the Azani hitting the raider ship dead on.

  The ship lurched violently causing Matt to slam forward banging his helmet against the front of the turret. Even with his helmet on the impact was enough to knock him out. The next thing he knew, he was staring up at the faces of Slavek and Jezang. He couldn't feel movement, so maybe they had landed.

  "You got a good bump there Matt," said Slavek, my med scanner says your all right otherwise. We got a good shot at that raider ship, it's on the ground but for how long we have no idea, that's why we're going to attack them on the ground."

  "Are we damaged?" Asked Matt,

  "The primary flight control was damaged, but Gyod is on it right now, apparently it's repairable. Rekton thinks that's what's wrong with that raider as well." With Jezang helping him, Matt stood up the lightness in his head quickly passing.

  "Where's the raider ship?" He asked.

  "About five hundred "ing's" just over a sand dune," replied Jezang, "Orlak and Rekton are just waiting on you before we try and capture that ship." Matt rubbed his head then put on his jump helmet Slavek was handing him.

  "Glad to see you're still among the "living" Matt," announced Rekton,

  "Got what you're going to need?" He checked his load out one more time, with his AR slung over his back and carrying his new M4 shotgun, he made sure he had his knife and ammo where he could easily get at it. Rekton and the other's with the exception of Vasta, were carrying AK 47's while Jezang was holding The RPD fitted with a drum magazine, with two more in a bag she carried over her shoulder.

  "What! No plaser rifles?" He exclaimed.

  "No," replied Orlak, "They'll be scanning for them. Oh they will see us coming, but won't be picking up any weapons signatures, maybe this will give us a slight edge. Besides, I think all of us have been rather impressed with the destructive power of these weapons of yours." Matt looked at his friends and shrugged, "Whatever."

  "Be careful of what's behind whoever you are shooting at inside their ship," cautioned Orlak,

  "I would like to take it as a prize plus we certainly don't want to leave it here."

  "Going to be mighty hard to do," replied Matt, "I'm going to be shooting first and asking questions later. Well if we're going to do this let's get going."

  "Oh one more thing Matt," said Orlak, "During the fight, we overshot the raider and the plasma cannon fire hit some sort of building down there setting it on fire. We're now some distance away, but it's sure to draw plenty of visitors in short order."

  "Well we'd better get moving then," replied Matt.

  Chapter 73

  Titan Stand Chapter 73

  While Vasta, Gyod, and Slavek remained inside the Azani, Rekton, Ifwol, and Orlak led the others on a raid to the Raider ship. The vegetation outside was sparse, so there was not much cover; concealment was at a minimum as well. Moving slowly towards the crest of the dune, Rekton laid on his back tossing what looked like a black golf ball into the air. Suddenly a heavy burst of plasma fire arched over the dune catching the small black orb blasting it to pieces.

  "Jaholb!" Exclaimed Rekton, "That was close, looks like they have one or more of their gun turrets working. Matt! Would one of those rocket launchers take out a gun turret?"

  "I don't know," he replied. "The warheads are made to punch through a tank hull but I've never fired one before, all I know is what I saw on that video we watched." Rekton made a noise and scowled.

  "Well you know more about them than we do. Get back down to the ship and grab one of them, I've got one more "eye" left so have Gyod give you a cluster bomb, hurry!"

  Matt slid back down the dune and hurried back towards the ship. Once inside, he opened one of the crates containing the RPG 7's and removed one along with two rockets, as well as a sight. Gyod gave him a cluster bomb quickly explaining how it worked. The device was roughly the size of a hand held rocket flare. By removing the cap and placing it on the bottom of the tube, you slammed the palm of your hand against it sending the cluster into the air where it exploded sending chaff in a wide arc confusing computerized weapons. Struggling back up the dune he was met by Rekton and Orlak. Taking the cluster bomb, Rekton said,

  "I'm going to move down the ridge where I'll fire the cluster. It will momentarily confuse the turret gun. You won't have long so be ready to fire once it goes off Matt, oh and don't miss." As Rekton began to work his way down to the right, Matt moved a little farther down to the left. Trying to overcome his fear, he tried to remember everything he saw in the video, dealing with how to arm the rocket as well as using the sight. Damn! He was no soldier, how did he get suckered into this?"

  With Skart helping him, they worked their way up to the crest of the dune using some brush growing near the top as concealment.

  Checking the telescopic sight, he discovered there was no battery which meant he'd have to use the iron sights.

  "Fuck!" He exclaimed to Skart, "The sight won't work, it's got iron sights but I'm not sure how far that ship is out there." Skart said nothing as he carefully pressed himself to the ground and slowly worked his way up to the top.

  "Looks close to three farlons's," hissed Skart, "And it looks like the top turret, they are also starting to come out, we'd better hurry." Matt tried to figure the math in is head a farlons was slightly more than a hundred meters so he set the adjustable sight for slightly less than four hundred meters. Suddenly a roar came from overhead; it was a helicopter, which the raider ship immediately fired upon, blasting it from the sky. Matt used the opportunity to fire at the ship's top turret. He had no time to think about the fact that they had been discovered, as the chopper literally exploded into a billion pieces. Rolling on his back he heard Jezang open up with her RPD, as Orlak, Ifwol, and Rekton began firing with their AK's. With Skart's help they quickly loaded up the last rocket and removing it's safety cap. Cocking the mechanism, he took careful aim and squeezed the trigger. Once again the rocket screamed out of the tube and found its target. By now there was more confusion down at the raider ship as Rekton voice came over his wrist comm.

  "Move out, fire at anything that moves." Matt dropped the rocket launcher but grabbed the telescopic sight and threw it into the pouch he was carrying. Both he and Skart went into a crouch and started down the other side of the dune. Trying to pick out targets as they came closer to the ship. He could now see smoke coming from where the turret had been indicating that one of his rockets had scored a direct hit. Bodies could also bee seen lying at the base of the access ramp. Everyone stopped shooting as Rekton, Jezang, and Orlak ran up to the ramp but not heading up.

  "What was that that blew up?" Cried Rekton.

  "It was a helicopter," exclaimed Matt, we're in it now, we've been spotted. I don't know it was police or military, but there will be more here any time.

  "Well in that case we've got to deal with these raiders immediately, Jezang, you and Ifwol take point, Matt, give me that shotgun of yours." Matt handed him his Benelli M4, along with a bandolier of shells.

  "Just keep track of the number of shells you shoot," he pointed out; you can go dry in a second." All he had now was his CZ 75 and one extra magazine. At that point Rekton, Jezang, and Ifwol led o
ff, charging up the ramp ready to fire, with the others right behind. They immediately started taking fire as both Rekton and Jezang unleashed an incredible volume of fire. Even with hearing protection the noise was horrific. Matt saw two raiders literally blown apart as Rekton moved forward alone shoving ought buck, and slugs into the shotgun's magazine. Orlak shouted to Matt,

  "Follow me and stay close." With Skart following, Matt and Orlak cautiously moved towards the engine room, Orlak ready to open up with his AK.

  Suddenly there was movement from behind a partition. Orlak fired a short burst then shouted out,

  "Come out of there, it's all over, get your hands up NOW!" With Matt and Skart covering him two raggedy crew members slowly stood up.

  "Don't shoot, don't shoot, we give up!" Suddenly another one appeared from across the passage way holding something in his hand.

  Matt immediately opened fire causing the crewmember to pitch backwards from the impacts. The other two thought their number was up as they prepared to die, however Orlak screamed at them to stand where they were. At that point they heard three rapid shots from Rekton's shotgun but nobody moved.