“That explains the moving shadows we saw through the hatch portal. Now I’m really interested in his story. I won’t be able to get back there and interview him for a while. Keep him away from any of the crew. Don’t let him know what is going on. I’ll talk to him as soon as possible, but it may be a few hours. Keep him shackled to the gurney if you can.” I said.
“Already done. He’s in a private room with a guard on the door. He wants to talk but no one is asking him anything. If you want to see him, you can view his room on video. It’s room SB 03. There’s something interesting about this one. Let me know what his story is when you can. I’m curious.” The Doctor asked.
“Great work Doc. SB 03, perfect. I’ll let you know what I can. Thank you.” I said.
As the Doctor left the bridge I flipped to SB 03 on my console screen. There was a man looking pretty good for someone who came off a shot up spacecraft. He had a small bandage on his jaw and one on the back of his left hand. He was sitting propped up on his gurney. He had an entertainment pad in his lap and was watching a comedy video. He chuckled several times. Whoever this man was, he seemed at ease and comfortable. I hoped the data I gathered would come up with some information on this fellow.
I sat there discussing the battle with Al for the next thirty minutes. At last, the radio crackled alive with chatter. Our two fighters were coordinating their close air support for the Genus troops below them.
Down on the hillside, Chris and Nicky were coordinating the defenses with the two fighters who had arrived to lend a hand with air support. He said a silent prayer, thankful for their success against the troop ship and return of the fighter. The lone fighter that had stayed to provide air support, was experiencing electrical problems and couldn’t close its cockpit canopy. Mechanics were working on it. He was going to need all of them. Initial reports from his outer fighting positions and feedback from their drones showed the bandits had Mech Troops. That changed the entire game.
Mech Troops were large robots that had two or four legs, two arms and a head attached to the main torso. They were heavily armored and well-armed. Inside the torso sat a pilot who operated the weapons systems. These machines could move through the forest with ease, leaping over creeks and fording rivers effortlessly. The taller two-legged Mech troops were preferred in forests, while the four-legged ones worked better on wide open plains and deserts
Mechs carried a myriad of weapons, from missiles to photon cannons. Most often they relied on large caliber projectile weapons and the thousands of rounds of ammunition they carried for them. Troops everywhere feared Mechs.
You can defeat Mechs but it isn’t easy. Now that they had some air cover, things were looking up for the Genus troops, but the outcome would depend on how many Mechs the bandits had. Our spacecraft are limited to the weapons they carry and would need to rearm often. They needed to return to Lola for that. We were still an hour or more away.
Down on the planet, the battle was beginning. The first bandits were no more than a feint to test our forces. Turog and his stones ruined the effectiveness of that plan. He decimated their forces with stones. Our troopers had little to do with causing that attack to fall back on itself. Our fighting positions remained concealed, and most of our troops hadn’t fired a shot.
Chris was scanning through his armament list. He would need missiles to handle the Mechs. While they had some, he was afraid they wouldn’t have enough. They needed Lola back.
The Mech Troops were beginning to contact the Genus forward elements. The first rings of defenses proved useless against the Mech's heavy armor. The mines that would decimate foot soldiers barely scratched the paint of the Mechs. The autonomous weapons fired with no effect. They were cleared away with one swipe of a Mechs arm.
Turog, Tommy, and Jason had some luck. They hid in a small cavern until the Mech passed them. While Tommy and Jason provided cover fire from the Mechs follow-up troops, Turog leaped on the Mech’s back and using his brute strength he ripped open the Mechs hatch. He ripped the pilot from his seat and slammed him into a tree. They heard the pilot’s back snap.
The Genus troopers had forgotten about the Trolls strength. The Trolls were so gentle and passive, you found it hard to believe they were capable of such violence.
Tommy and Jason were trying to sneak behind another Mech when Turog pulled them back inside the small cavern they had used. He collapsed the wall sealing them inside. Turog then dug a small tunnel to another larger tunnel in the hillside. The two young troopers followed. Turog led them down the corridor to another section and began tunneling off on a tangent. He urged the two troopers to follow him and once they did, he collapsed the small tunnel behind them.
Tommy and Jason had their infrared vision activated in their helmets and could see what was happening in this inkwell dark cavern. Turog had his ear to the outer wall of the small tunnel listening for something. After two minutes, he began digging until a sliver of light pierced through a small hole.
Tommy was nearest and could see the back of a Mech Troop’s leg, inches away. He also heard orders being shouted. Bandits were being sent to look for the other Mech. He’d not responded to radio messages. Tommy held a finger to his lips indicating everyone stays silent. Jason tapped out a message on his pad to keep Chris informed.
Outside the small hole, Tommy heard the leader ordering everyone to fan out and move up the hillside. This would spread out and weaken the line. When a few bandits passed, it was time. Turog finished digging through to the open air. The three of them ran up behind the Mech and once again Turog leaped on its back. As easy as a child opening a Christmas present, he ripped off the hatch. It took a moment longer for Turog to pull this pilot out. He tossed this one into some boulders. Jason was sure this pilot's neck snapped.
Mechs are not silent. They crash through jungle breaking branches off trees and ripping out vines. With no pilot at the controls to stop it, this one continued in its current direction. The two troopers and Turog fled back into their hole in the ground. Turog collapsed the opening behind them. They stood in the blackness of the cavern. Turog listened for the sounds only he could hear.
Chris sat behind the protective berm in the command post. He read through the incoming messages from his troopers and monitored the information from the drones. He read Jason’s second message and wasn’t surprised when he saw a Mech walk off a cliff. It fell down the hillside landing at the bottom, head down in a small creek.
The drones had identified ten Mechs. Two were now out of commission. Things were looking better. Chris relayed the coordinates from the drones to the two Fighters. The fighters locked onto two fighting machines and came screaming just below the speed of sound. Chris could see the missiles as they left the external pylons on each craft. One from each fighter went in search of separate Mechs. They were working from the outside of the bandit’s flanks towards the center.
Terrain and foliage prevented Chris from following the missiles for long. Moments after he lost sight two billowing explosions reached for the sky. Two more Mechs were down. The fires caused the ammunition stored on the Mech to begin cooking off in a staccato beat, giving Chris hope.
The fighters flew around and prepared for another run. This time they chose to come out of the sun. Again, they followed the information from the drones. They roared in over the treetops and let loose their missiles. A single explosion confirmed a kill. The second missile impacted the hillside and the resulting explosion threw a load of dirt and foliage into the air. A miss. Five Mechs down, five to go.
Tommy and Jason hid inside the cavern with Turog. There was too much deadly shrapnel in the air to go back out right now. Turog realized this as well and began to tunnel back to the shaft they had been in before. The two young troopers followed in the darkness shoving the dirt aside as Turog dug. When they broke through to the larger corridor there was a dim light from the lichens which grew on the walls of the older tunnels. It was enough to see without the low light optics in their helmets.
They were deep enough under the hillside now. Their conversations wouldn’t be overheard by bandits. They each took a seat on the ground against the tunnel wall. While the young troopers took a sip of water from their hydration packs, Turog chewed on a protein bar Jason gave him. Turog sliced the Mylar packaging open with one of his razor-sharp claws.
Tommy spoke, in a whisper. “With the two we got and the three the fighters nailed, the bandits have only five Mechs left.”
Jason spoke to Turog. “Turog buddy you’re awesome. You ripped open those hatches like they were cardboard.”
Turog as excited as they were, replied, “We do more now.”
Tommy answered him. “No, not that way. The bandits will be wise to it and have someone watching the Mechs backs now. We can look for stragglers on the flanks and take them out. If we’re silent, the bandits won’t know until it is too late. Everyone ready?”
“Turog ready.”
Jason stood up. “Let’s cry havoc.”
Turog looked confused, “What cry havoc?”
Jason patted Turog on the shoulder. “It’s what you do best my friend. It’s what you do best.”
Chapter 23
As we retraced our path around the planet, we picked up more radio traffic from the battle. I kept hearing about Mechs and that had me worried. I’d seen the damage they can inflict.
Finally, I contacted Chris on his pad. He forwarded all the data he had to me. I saw the Mechs and the sensor readouts from the drones. We were still a good thirty minutes from being able to lend a hand.
Tony was in his shuttle, rearmed and ready to go. They parked on the forward launch deck waiting for my word. They'd installed a small photon cannon on the rear deck. They could fire out the rear hatch once they were in the atmosphere. Pat Martin was going along as door gunner. Twenty-five minutes till they launch.
More chatter was coming from the hilltop as we came closer. Their voices were precise and professional, without a hint of panic or fright.
There’s a book from the twentieth century that I read on one of my solo trips. The Right Stuff, written by Tom Wolfe. He describes the perils of man’s first attempts to break the sound barrier and to put a man into space. He spent a lot of time telling about General Chuck Yeager, who was officially the first man to speed through the sound barrier. Already an accomplished fighter pilot Ace in World War II, he went on to fly almost every aircraft in the military. Later in his career, he piloted B-52 bombers in the Viet Nam war.
He described how the General had a slow confident down-home drawl. He was a simple country boy from a small community in West Virginia. He never seemed nervous and never panicked. Even as his aircraft, an experimental NF-104, was in a flat spin that he couldn’t correct. He performed as a professional, reading out data for those listening so they’d know how to correct the problem in the future. He ejected from that aircraft only when there was no other option left. While tumbling in the air, the rocket motor from his seat struck him in the helmet. It burned through his visor and burned his face. Later in the emergency room, the doctors didn’t know how to remove the pressure suit ring around his neck without causing him more damage and pain. He instructed the E/R staff to take his survival saw out of his survival kit. It was a long wire with cutting teeth and rings on each end. He threaded one end through the neck ring and the doctor sawed away.
Because of his reputation, pilots everywhere began to emulate his style. They wanted to sound like him when they spoke on the radio. These troopers on the ground had that laid back professional sound. Even though all hell was breaking out around them, they spoke like professionals on the radio. They had the right stuff. It made one proud to know them. They might die, but they wouldn’t go down easy.
I couldn’t go any faster or we’d overshoot and not be able to achieve the correct orbit. We had to wait and pray.
Our fighters were coming around for another run. They each had photon cannons left. Not as effective a weapon for ground attack. Their weapons wouldn’t cycle fast enough for a strafing run. At least it would help delay them until Lola arrived on scene with the shuttle. Lola had the targeting power to fire Photon cannons at ground targets with accuracy. One blast from a large cannon on Lola would make a Mech disappear.
With Turog’s help, Jason and Tommy tunneled up behind the bandits. They began by creeping up on lone bandits and disabling them with the stun setting on their weapons. Once unconscious the bandits were bound and gagged. Turog then carried them back to a pit he’d dug. They were tossed in and Turog went to pick up more. Within fifteen minutes they had captured ten bandits. They were picking off the bandit’s right flank.
Off in the distance, they heard shouts and explosions as their friends did battle with the rest of the bandits and the Mechs.
Chris and Nicky were busy coordinating the Genus Troopers fall back. Chris didn’t want to risk his men more than necessary. Like a chess master, he moved his men from fighting position to fall back position. Each time two men moved, four others provided cover fire. Injuries were minor, and no one had been killed so far. If the Mechs continue to close with them, that will change.
Nicky was on the radio walking the fighters down to engage the Mechs to his right. Both fighters locked onto separate warriors and began their slow rate of fire. On the third shot from the first fighter, a Mech took a hit and lost an arm. It slowed the machine for a moment as it shifted weapons control to the other arm. As the robotic warrior lifted his arm to engage, the other fighter fired its cannon. This time the torso was struck a killing blow and it toppled over killing two bandit foot soldiers and the mech pilot.
They needed to stall the attack five more minutes so Lola and the armed shuttle would be able to attack.
Jason and Tommy had been the two who cleared the hilltop of all the booby traps and autonomous weapons. They hauled most of them to a storage cavern and sealed it. It was on the far side of the hill from them. There were a few larger weapons hidden on this side. Since they didn’t feel like dragging them up the hill and down to the central depot, they had arranged for the Trolls to dig a cave on this side too. Inside there were some large mines and two anti-aircraft missiles. With Turog to do the heavy lifting, they thought they could target two mechs from behind.
Turog was hard at work digging an opening. Once through, they showed Turog what part of the weapon he could pull on without damaging anything and guided him outside. There was a small clearing with bushes between the bandits and them. The missile launcher carried two smaller weapons. They'd have little effect on the Mech’s armor, but the harassment should slow them. The Bandits would have to cover their backside and that would take manpower away from the attack. The two troopers knew they only needed a few minutes and reinforcements would arrive. The bandits didn’t know that.
Chris gave the boys the coordinates of the two Mechs nearest them and warned the two fighters to pull off. He didn’t want the missiles locking on the wrong targets.
Jason keyed in the coordinates as Tommy covered him. Turog was already digging a new tunnel into the hillside for them to hide. The two fighters made one last run down the bandit’s lines and pulled off into the distance. They climbed to orbit. They both needed to rearm and refuel on Lola. Might as well start heading that way. Chris gave the boys the go ahead and he ducked down behind the berm.
Jason pressed a red button on the launcher’s console and ran for the tunnel on Tommy’s heels. He made it into the tunnel an instant before the launcher fired the missiles. The rocket blast seared the ground outside the entrance. Turog collapsed it and began digging into the hillside to get them all back to the main corridor.
Both missiles hit their mark. While both suffered only cosmetic damage, the bandits and their leaders were now worried about being surrounded by Genus troops. That shot was from the rear. Add air support and this was not going well. The bandit leader tried pulling in his men. Most responded but he couldn’t raise an entire squad on the radio.
The bandit leader tri
ed to contact the troop ship, but he wasn’t surprised when he couldn’t. His radios wouldn’t circle the planet. He hoped he might get some skip on the signal. Occasionally signals would bounce around a planet when they reflected off the ionosphere. It was never a guarantee and could change from planet to planet.
Tommy and Jason’s missile attack had its desired effect. It would have been nice to knock out two Mechs, but they knew the missiles would barely be noticed by the bandits. The missiles did cause the bandits to slow their advance. They bunched up and now worried about an attack from the rear. The bandits were now an inviting target for Tony and the Shuttle.
The shuttle roared in from the southwest. It’s four missiles targeted the remaining four Mechs and locked on. He flew nap of the earth so the bandits wouldn’t expect him, and at the last minute popped up to launch the missiles. Once they were away, he lowered his rear ramp and Pat took control of the photon cannon.
Tony flew in a wild evasive manner to avoid being a target for the bandits on the ground. Pat had strapped in to avoid falling out from the craft’s jinking about. Using the heads up targeting display in his helmet he targeted bandits in groups on the ground and began firing.
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