“From what we determined it’s what helps the overlords to mind-control their dead grunts more efficiently.”
Foster picked up a second one and handed them off to Kostelecky and Rivera. “What are the chances that the two of you could figure out a way to modify these for use with Tolukei and Nereid?”
“Planning to have them raise the dead, Captain?” Kostelecky said with a raised eyebrow.
“Nope. I got something hella crazier in mind. Oh, by the way, when are you going to sweep the glass off the floor?”
39 CHEVALLIER
Lyonria Travel Hub, Tropical Rain forest
SA-139, Sirius A system
May 22, 2050, 19:13 SST (Sol Standard Time)
The Hammerhead forces stood little chance versus what came through the wormhole within the cube-shaped room on the top spire of the Lyonria hub. The deadly subzero air from within Tiamat’s tomb blew through the opened wormhole gate, shrouding its presence with white mist as it clashed with the warm humid air within the hub. The white mist eventually crystallized into tiny snowflakes as more cold air traversed through the gate. It created a blanket that gave temporary cover to the legions of Marduk’s troops that passed through with their weapons blazing.
The utter chaos that ensued forced all medical personnel that had built a makeshift camp to flee along with their Poniga survivors who had escaped from Marduk’s ship days ago. The Hammerheads acted heroically using their bodies to shield the fleeing medical staff and their Poniga patients as they ran across the bridge into the teleportation alcove at the end. The Hammerheads that fell as their shield power shattered were dragged backward by their brothers- and sisters-in-arms as they made a tactical retreat to join up with those that fled before them.
In a matter of minutes, the room became overrun with hostile forces that meandered about within the blinding veil of white mist and snow still spewing out from the opened gate. Unknown to them and the Hammerheads, there was an unexpected trio slipping out from the gate, Chevallier, Mavron, and Eisila. They kept low and used the mist around them to sneak past Marduk’s forces as they continued to fan out and make plans to charge across the bridge and capture the rest of the Lyonria hub.
Like hell they will, Chevallier thought, and looked back to ensure Mavron and Eisila were still with her.
They edged closer toward the rim of the mist, a good pair of eyes would quickly reveal to Marduk’s soldiers who they really were. Chevallier saw the long rail-less bridge in the distance, she did her best to quickly recall the intel she learnt about this place from Williams and Rivera’s report. The teleportation alcove at the end was where all the UNE forces had likely run too. Her HUD reported that her shield power was in the green along with Mavron and Eisila.
She spun around and made hand gestures suggesting to the two siblings that they were going to make a run for it. No access to EVE meant no access to instant translations, she hoped they got the message. There was no way for Chevallier to double back after them once the push started.
Chevallier gripped onto her rifle, entered a no fear trance, and started her sprint across the bridge. Laser cannon fire erupted.
98%
94%
89%
Her shields were dropping quickly.
86%
84%
Her shields held at that number.
She looked backward and saw the reason why. The duo of Mavron and Eisila were lagging behind, laser fire focused on them as they were easy prey, she was not. Fuck.
Chevallier halted her sprint midway across the bridge and pivoted to spray her rifle’s high velocity slugs in between the two as they ran past her. She fired repeatedly from the hip in hopes her exposed presence and blazing rifle raging was enough to provoke Marduk’s forces onto her.
34%
That did it, and quite possibly would do her in unless she made it to the alcove.
Her heavily armored feet created a symphony of clangs while she ran away, her rifle sang along to the beat with its pulsing battle cry. Low shields alarms reminded her of the critical situation she was in as she inched closer to the alcove in which Mavron and Eisila had just leaped into and vanished with two pulses of blue light.
She made it through the teleportation alcove, triggering swirling blue waves of psionic power to dematerialize and rematerialize her body elsewhere within the ancient alien structure. The first hurdle was complete. Her appearance made three Hammerhead members draw their rifles at her, Mavron, and Eisila, half-expecting them to be an enemy combatant.
“Who’s in charge here?” Chevallier asked as they lowered their rifles realizing they were friendly.
A heavily-armored Hammerhead stepped forward, his bearded face appeared before a small holographic overlay within Chevallier’s helmet, Petty Officer first class Hudson. “I am,” he said.
“OK, long story short, there’s a whole lot more of them than us, let’s keep moving.”
Hudson nodded and addressed the rest of his team and the medical staff. “All right folks, you heard the Chief, let’s move!”
“I need someone to link up with base camp,” Chevallier said. “Tell them to send every fucking Hammerhead out here on the double.”
“Might be SOL for that ma’am.” Hudson directed Chevallier to an entrance down the hallways, their feet splashed across sizeable puddles during the trek that took them outside onto a small balcony overhanging the battered tropical rain forest below. Hudson pointed at the skies and the thick dark-grey clouds that were moving in fast.
That’s when Chevallier was reminded of the start of the Williams report. “I’m guessing that hurricane isn’t through yet . . .”
“We’re in the eye of the storm ma’am. The rest of it will be on top of us again soon.”
“The transports will have to fly up and over the storm and through the eye then.”
“The eye will have moved behind us at that point. We have a few shield-modified transports that could travel through the storm, but most of them are parked here.”
Two teleportation alcoves later, the fleeing group arrived at the main lower entrance to the Lyonria hub. There was a second makeshift camp in front of the main entrance where other Hammerheads had garrisoned themselves. Beyond the camp was the entrance outside where the modified transports that were capable of flying through the storm were being loaded with the medical staff and injured Poniga.
“Let’s jam as many noncombatants onto the transports,” Chevallier said to Hudson. “Get them to the colony and then swap up with our forces there.”
“And the rest of us?”
Chevallier stepped outside and eyed the exotic alien tropical trees as their stringy green leaves rustled in the winds, winds that grew stronger with each passing minute. “If Marduk wants this hub he can have it. If his forces want everything else outside.” Chevallier smiled at the storm clouds rolling in, “then they’ll have to deal with our new ally.”
She began to give Hudson and his team the rundown on what she learnt about fighting Marduk’s soldiers. The importance of killing the overlords first as the grunts were nothing more than mind-controlled undead fighters, the dead don’t fear death. Chevallier guided Mavron and Eisila to a transport mostly filled with Poniga as a means of showing them they’ll be safer there. She was back with Hammerhead soldiers, and while she appreciated their bravery in coming with her, she would rather not have to deal with liabilities during the heat of battle.
Mavron and Eisila looked at the half-filled transport, shook their heads and climbed aboard. And then did the unthinkable. They went out of their way to pull several Poniga off the transports, mostly those that received mild injuries. At first everyone thought the two were helping with triage, ensuring that the severely injured were taken to safety over the lightly injured. Mavron and Eisila along with their hand-selected Poniga stood shoulder to shoulder next to the Hammerheads. Their intent became crystal clear.
“Looks like they want to stay and fight,” Hudson said, gazing at them.
Fine . . . just don’t get in my way. Chevallier grinned and crossed her arms. “Hudson, got any extra guns and armor lying around?”
TROPICAL RAIN FOREST
SA-139, Sirius A system
May 22, 2050, 20:36 SST (Sol Standard Time)
A tree toppled over thanks to the powerful gale force winds that blew through the region. Torrential rain drenched the scenery as if a gigantic shower faucet was above, while fractured branches, leaves, and debris hurled past Chevallier. She crawled on the muddy surface below her, splashing it across her shields much like the rain drops from above.
The last of the transports had left the area almost an hour ago, she alone remained as the sole person just outside of the Lyonria hub being battered by the storm as Marduk’s soldiers exited and fanned out. They were right on time. As she predicted they focused on securing the Lyonria hub first before pushing outside and continuing their search-and-destroy operations against their human enemies.
Chevallier peered through the scope of her rifle just slightly so as not to draw any attention to her. It was bad enough the storm and chaos around her caused her shields to periodically flicker as she continued to stay prone and embrace ancient primordial hunting instincts. Her targeting reticule zoomed in toward three overlords standing next to each other while their undead minors patrolled and searched for signs of the Hammerhead team. The three overlords were wide-open she could easily pull off three head shots, dropping them and whatever minions they had under their mind-control. It was a tempting thought, very tempting.
Chevallier took a deep breath and had her rifle’s zoom back away from the three exposed targets, and was reminded about the other seven or more overlords in the area with their respective squads of minions. Blowing her cover to take out the three wasn’t worth the effort, never mind the fact it wasn’t part of the original plan, something she was veering away from. She waited for the group of hostiles to further separate, as they were convinced they were no longer being targeted. An overlord guided four of his minions away from the hub, deep into the jungles with little regard to what might happen to them as the winds chucked whatever it felt like at them.
Chevallier followed the solo group, crawling on the surface, like a wolf stalking its next meal. Rain, howling winds, blowing trees, nobody saw her slip closer along with her flickering shields as they worked hard to prevent her armored body from being blown over. Her suit’s computers informed her that the storm’s interference was hindering its ability to remain in contact with the Hammerheads, base camp, and the transports. She was on her own now and had no idea if their backup would come on time or would have issues flying through the storm. The transports weren’t exactly tested to see if they could handle multiple runs through the storm to start with.
She looked backward and saw her HUD’s projection overlay in regard to the last known location of the Hammerheads that stayed and the Poniga volunteers with their on-the-fly weapons and combat armor training. It was a long run, longer than she had hoped and this was assuming they had still been where she last saw them. With the comms now jammed, there was no way for her to tell if they had moved, and there was no way for them to transmit to tell her they had done so.
If we all stick to the plan, we’ll be good; she thought, and zoomed her sights on the overlord. It was still alone with its four minions. Chevallier’s HUD reported that the closest hostile target after them, was three point five kilometers away. Good enough.
The overlord’s armored head became the dominant image within her scope.
She pulled the trigger.
Then got up and ran like hell.
As she ran, she heard a series of two sounds. One good, one bad. The good? Five bodies hitting the ground amongst the storm. The bad? Laser cannons powering on and acquiring a lock on her as she ran against the force of the winds. If it weren’t for her suit and shields, Chevallier’s body wouldn’t have made much progress in her escape from the fury of red lights blazing toward her.
She kept on running and followed the overlay on her HUD, she looked up and saw the last batch of clear skies had all but vanished. The eye of the storm had officially moved out of the region, winds and rains were only going to get stronger from here on in, and it showed as her shield strength slowly began to drop. Every branch, strong gust, and piece of debris that hit her dropped the percentage more and more, and then there were the lasers from behind.
It was like running an obstacle course, she dodged what she saw blowing toward her, leaped over downed trees, slid in between two trees that grew close to each other, ducked her head from low-hanging branches, and sidestepped around large rocks. Smoke and steam blew up from behind or beside her as missed laser fire hit, and overlord soldiers yelled in frustration that she was still alive, and the chaotic environment was hindering their performance. Just as planned.
She saw Hudson peek out from his cover next to a large tree, and he gave her the thumbs-up. She did the same as she heard the light static of her comm lines clear up due to being in closer proximity to the Hammerheads. Chevallier dove and rolled on the ground amongst the mangled leaves and branches, then spun back up and directed her rifle directly at Marduk’s forces as they struggled to stay on their feet. Every Hammerhead fighter that remained left their cover, whether it was lying prone on the ground, out from behind large rocks, or downed trees. Mavron and Eisila and the Poniga volunteers appeared next, out from the same cover Hudson had used. The deadly alliance of human and Poniga forces along with Mother Nature herself encircled Marduk’s soldiers.
The blood and body parts of Marduk’s soldiers blew away in the hurricane’s wrath in the aftermath of the one-sided ambush.
Chevallier held back on grinning in a satisfied manner. They weren’t in the clear yet. The next leg of their plan was set to start; retaking the hub and hoping that no more additional forces came through the wormhole. If they did, their numbers probably weren’t going to be enough to deal with them until backup arrived from the colony, if it arrived. Transports, after all, did have sub light speed engines it should have taken them seconds to reach the colony, drop off the injured and medical team, and then hurry back with reinforcements. Over an hour had passed.
Chevallier and Hudson lead their team back to the Lyonria hub. A quick perimeter check of the exterior and main halls inside revealed no signs of hostile forces, meaning there were probably a lot more inside waiting for them. They all dashed inside, grateful to be out of the storm while Chevallier took one last look at the looming storm clouds above and hoped to see signs of transports flying in. There weren’t any, they were on their own.
“Well, here goes nothing,” Chevallier said as she approached the teleportation alcove, and mentally prepared herself for indoor combat before she and the rest of her allies stepped through.
40 FOSTER
ESRS Carl Sagan, Captain’s quarters
En route to Sirius A corona, Sirius A system
May 23, 2050, 00:27 SST (Sol Standard Time)
Who needs an alarm when you have a cat . . . Foster’s awakening thoughts murmured.
She sat upright on her bed while her hands consoled her hungry pet cat, Starlet. The nightstand next to her bed showed the current time and a small countdown timer to when she had set her alarm to blare off. There were still three minutes left. She stood up, yawned, and stretched her arms upward, glad she took the nap when she did and hoped the rest of the crew followed her instructions to do the same. Zero hour was close, and past events hadn’t provided a lot of time to rest and recharge one’s brain.
She filled Starlet’s eating dish with a generous serving of cat food and water. If things were to go sideways and they all ended up dead, then this would be her last meal. Surprisingly, Starlet didn’t come rushing toward the smell of freshly opened cat food. Foster looked toward her window and saw why. The light of Sirius A beamed through, automatically dimmed by the windows to prevent one from going blind. Starlet had parked herself up on the windowsill, and looked
at the bright star and its brilliant light, unaware that this wasn’t the first time she had done this. Foster caught Starlet on many nights back on Earth, gazing at the brightest stars in the sky such as Sirius. Now she was doing it again, only this time up close.
Foster stopped before the exit to her quarters and took a last look at all of her belongings, still unpacked, and made a promise to herself to open the seventeen-year-old packing boxes once this was over. That of course required her, the ship, and crew to not fail. And we won’t fail, we got this.
ESRS CARL SAGAN, Bridge
Near Sirius A corona, Sirius A system
May 23, 2050, 00:40 SST (Sol Standard Time)
The bridge slowly began to populate as the crew one by one emerged from the rear entrance amongst the zero-g. None of them showed any signs of fear or regret. Even Williams, as he peered over the data coming in from the hologram in the back, had a calm cool aura. Foster pushed and glided next to Chang and Pierce upfront, both diligently worked on their computer terminals. Sirius A was bright enough for her to shield her eyes as she looked at the windshield, despite the auto dimming features.
“Ready?” she asked the two of them as she hovered between them.
“As science officer, I would like you to know for the record. Your plan is madness,” Pierce said.
“As the one flying this boat,” Chang said as he performed one last look at his instruments. “This is going to be one hell of an item to put on my service record.”
Tolukei and Nereid, the final players in their plan, entered the bridge donning the modified psionic amps across the back of their heads. The two took their place at the psionic station with Tolukei taking the lead and Nereid standing with her Voelika firmly held in her hands. Foster’s understanding of the Voelika was that it enhanced the psionic powers of the person that used it. Between it, the amplifiers, and Tolukei’s assistance it should be enough for the Carl Sagan to get through this. And if not, well it would be an interesting science experiment that cost them their lives.
The Siege of Sirius: A Splintered Galaxy Space Fantasy Novel Page 30