Apart from the five combat veterans, the entire area has been evacuated, and sealed off. Everything in the hangar is tightly secured to the deck, another innovative idea of Cindy’s. Hayato takes a number of deep calming breaths from his suit’s oxygen supply. He uses this breathing technique whenever he prepares for battle.
Radclyf, who is crouching near the wall opposite the Gamin Power Unit, gives a supportive thumbs up to everyone. Paul and Henry are on the uppermost level, with each of them manually operating one of the two ceiling mounted Retribution class GUAs. The two men aim these powerful weapons at the new opening, then wait. Their greatest concern is friendly fire, thus they take great pains to constantly check on the whereabouts of their colleagues.
Chokichi lays prone on the catwalk that leads to the pair of engines. He stares through the scope of an extraordinarily unique sniper rifle, one designed specifically for him, and the task ahead. Draped over him is a thin sheet of camouflage material, one that also prevents his body heat from being detectable by infra red sensors.
A number of metallic ropes snake from the hole in the ceiling and land on the floor far below. The combat veterans tense up and wait, but they do not have to wait long. With the aid of his enhanced scope Chokichi is the first to identify the object which enters the ship. A section of round metal that looks like the barrel of a sixteen inch gun from world war two extends into the hangar deck. It begins to swivel around on a large knuckle like ball joint, at which point all hell breaks loose.
The second the alien object begins to swing around Hayato gives the signal they have all waited for. Next, he releases the clamps holding him to the floor and sprints as fast as he can away from his exposed position. The alien weapon instantly begins to track on his movement, but before it can swing fully around it is shredded by thousands of rounds from the pair of Retributions. The noise is deafening as the caseless ammunition ricochets everywhere. The rounds that do not imbed themselves into the target, or the walls, fall like rain onto the deck below.
Chokichi fires a single shell into the hole, then quickly ducks and covers his head. The large shell he fired hits the rim of the cut out section, then fragments upwards into the Effen Raiders’ ship. The phosphorous-type round expends its energies inside the alien spacecraft, just as six, armor clad, humanoid figures rappel down the ropes.
Radclyf is pleased to see that Hayato makes it to his defensive position, then smiles as the invaders descend into their trap. He fires a flare into the air, signaling for the sentry guns to be trained on the invaders. Chokichi continues to monitor, and fire into, the opening that leads to the alien craft. Shell after shell bounces upward into the raiders’ craft, where each explodes spectacularly.
The Effen Raiders reach the deck and raise their weapons, just as the second craft completes cutting its way through the Terran’s hull. Radclyf and Hayato duck down behind special purpose-built metal shields, and wait. Once again, the noise from the pair of Retributions is deafening, and easily penetrates the thin space suits. Incredibly the raiders manage to fire a few rounds before succumbing to the onslaught of firepower.
Chokichi’s eyes narrow as he detects movement from the second hole, then his blood runs cold. It does not matter how alien the attackers are, the single object that falls from the hole can only be one thing, a grenade of sorts. Everything seems to move in slow motion for Chokichi. He fires one last round into the second hole, followed by a yellow flare into the air above the hangar deck, and then lays as flat as he can. His eyes go wide as the falling object reaches his level. Time seems to stop as he stares death in the face. Miraculously the object drops below him without detonating. Just as he heaves a sigh of relief, it detonates with a force that belies its size. A massive shockwave radiates outward in all directions.
Radclyf and Hayato crouch lower behind their metal shields as fingers of flame lick at them. Chokichi, who is resting on a sheet of hardened metal, is flung upwards. He immediately regrets the restraints that hold him to the deck when they painfully arrest his upward motion. His body is snapped back down to the ground, where he hits his head, and immediately loses consciousness.
Paul and Henry close their eyes and attempt to shield themselves from the powerful fireball. Paul suddenly cringes as it dawns on him that if the ammunition belonging to the Retributions ignites, they are all dead men.
After what feels like an eternity, Radclyf stands up from behind his defensive shield and surveys the damage. The three Russian tanks are scorched, but seem intact. Both the Gamin Power Unit and the Kord Power Unit also bare scorch marks, yet seem otherwise unaffected. The few crates that were not taken by Emma’s team are on fire, which surprises him as he had not expected the hangar to still be pressurized with an atmosphere. Glancing upward he is momentarily stunned to see a second set of ropes falling to the deck. He shouts out on his radio, “Prepare yourselves, we have another attack.”
Meanwhile, as the battle in the hangar deck rages, David cautiously leads his team of fifteen men down a long corridor. They have to stop many times to bypass the blast panels set in place by Joe, but eventually they arrive at their destination. David is surprised to find the area is pressurized, even though he can see a large hole in the ceiling.
David almost whispers into his suits microphone, “Bridge. We have reached section twenty, and are about to engage the enemy.”
Joe replies, “Dog, we lost video feed seconds after the hull was breached.”
“Okay,” replies David stoically, then with surprise in his voice he reports, “Hey, the section still has air.”
“Must be something the raiders are doing. The hangar deck is exhibiting the same behavior.” Joe checks his screen, and adds, “It’s just as I thought, according to my readings, there should be none.”
“Gotcha” David replies as he glances around. His team of sixteen men all wear light space suits. These suits offer little combat protection, but will allow them to breathe should the atmosphere be vented.
One of David’s men nudges his shoulder and says, “Hey Dog, the weapons here are trashed.”
David examines what is left of the Retribution, along with the back-up sentry guns. He gazes down the corridor and scowls at the darkness in the distance. His eyes narrow, then suddenly widen. He dives to the deck as he shouts, “Get down, it’s a trap!”
The man next to David literally explodes. A gush of warm sticky fluid slops onto David’s back as he hits the deck. A second man screams, then flails about as he falls down. His last few seconds of life are of him staring transfixed at the deck through a massive hole where his stomach used to be.
David stares ahead in the dim light, but cannot see the attackers. He slides his night vision goggles down, but is still unable to discern where the weapons fire is coming from.
Two men who lay on the deck in front of David suddenly convulse, then fall flat and motionless. Both men have been shot in the head. The projectiles exit their bodies and pass on either side of David as they continue down the passageway. Another man stands, then to David’s surprise, runs away. He is shot in the back, the projectile is so powerful it almost slices the man in half. His last few breaths are a gurgled plea for mercy.
David feels anger building, then barks into his radio, “I’m not goin’ out like this!” He stands, then charges madly down the corridor loudly yelling, “ATTACK!”
David’s men stand and charge with him, their adrenaline pumping. Each one shouts and fires wildly into the darkness ahead. David sidesteps another body, just as something small brushes past him. He ignores a dull throbbing sensation from his arm and dives headlong into the gloom. He rolls right into a kneeling suit wearing raider, one who swings a large weapon his way.
David considers his options, then noticing the bodies that trail behind him realizes that he is the only one to make it. He stares at the dark faceplate before him and roars out in defiance, “Screw you.” He pulls a pin from a belt on his waist, and waits. He smiles crazily as he glares at the enemy before
him, not even caring that he is now staring down the barrel of a gun. “Taking you with me you mother...”
BOOM
David’s last words are cut off by a tremendous explosion. The blast rivals that of the Effen Raiders’ devices. It fills the corridor and then mushrooms outward in all directions, completely engulfing the kneeling raiders. The deck plates buckle, as does the ceiling overhead. The armor of the nearest raider fails instantly, while that belonging to the other three takes a few seconds longer. Deck plates groan as internal gravity fluctuates along with the power.
A minute later the enemy craft that is over section twenty launches, and begins to move erratically away from the Terran.
Down in the hangar deck Radclyf and Hayato are surveying the mound of corpses, and checking on Chokichi. All the while they warily keeping an eye on the pair of gaping holes in the ceiling.
Radclyf contacts the bridge, “Joe, I think we got ‘em all.”
Joe responds quickly, “Any casualties?”
“Chokichi is going to have a hell of a headache, but other than that, no, we’re good.” Radclyf then adds, “As soon as we can, I want to send teams into the raider’s ships that are attached to the hull.”
Robyn interrupts Joe’s reply when she points ahead and says, “The other ship that was over the hydroponics area is leaving with the one from section twenty.”
Joe stares at the pair of departing craft for a moment as he considers what to do. He looks at Robyn and orders, “Follow them.” He then replies to Radclyf, “Seal the holes for now, we’ll have to investigate those ships later.”
Radclyf frowns as he stares at the holes overhead while he reluctantly responds, “Okay.” He switches his radio to the channel his teammates are on, and then orders, “Seal the breaches.”
While the men work to seal off the holes in the hangar deck, Joe sits pensively in the command chair. He watches the two escaping crafts with curiosity, knowing they are not going to get very far, he wonders what they are up to.
“Look!” Shouts Robyn in nervous excitement. Her finger points like a dagger at the screen.
Joe adjusts the main view, zooming in on the object of Robyn’s interest. Another previously hidden spacecraft approaches the escaping raiders. It is easily the size of the Terran’s command levels and moving fast.
“Intercept that ship.” Joe orders decisively, then with mounting anger, orders. “Arm the rail guns.”
While Robyn complies, the fleeing raiders dock with the larger ship. The speed at which the maneuvers are performed, astounds Joe. Clearly the raiders have had a lot of practice performing hit and run raids.
Robyn activates the Terran’s thrusters and as the new arrival turns away from them, she swings the Terran in behind. The departing ship’s sub-light engines flare brightly as it accelerates away. Robyn scowls under her breath, and compensates by engaging the Terran’s own sub-light engines, then pushes them to maximum thrust. Her eyes narrow as she wills the Terran to catch them, and it does.
Joe stares at his smaller screen, then hurries over to his usual console. He reviews telemetry figures, then with deft fingers, fires the rail guns. He nods to the trainees and with a sigh says, “At the speed that they’re going, I doubt that we will hit them.” He shrugs his shoulders, and then with a defeat filled tone, states. “They will have to stay on this heading and not increase speed for another twenty seconds, and even then I can’t imagine our pea shooters doing any real damage.”
Joe sits down in the command chair, the triumph over repelling the invaders is momentarily forgotten. He bangs his fists on the armrests and shakes his head in frustration as the escaping ship’s single main drive begins to glow, indicating its imminent activation.
Mike turns and says, “There must be something we can do?”
Joe points and says, “Nope, any second now and they will...”
A bright flash from the escaping ship’s main drive catches their attention. The ship’s speed begins to fluctuate as all of its engines seem to pulse, even the sub-light engines.
Joe’s stares in stunned silence as they get closer and closer. The hair on the back of his neck rises as a thought comes to mind. He quickly orders, “Robyn, turn us away, and get as much distance as you can between us and that ship.”
Robyn complies immediately, but the Terran is a mammoth craft, and seems to take an eternity to turn away. Joe’s eyes narrow as he notices what could only be an escape pod jettison from the doomed ship. It streaks toward the planet.
A moment later, the Raiders’ ship explodes spectacularly. A powerful shockwave slams into the Terran, but the ship’s systems cope with the energies unleashed. The only noticeable effect is in section seven, where the ship’s armor has been breached. The shockwave easily penetrates the navigational shields, buckles the hull further, and even enters the ship through the hole.
While Robyn swings the Terran back toward the Oglan World, Glenn works as fast as he can to seal off the newly affected areas. Mike and Gordon have little to do, for which they are both eternally grateful.
Joe taps the console on his chair, and says, “Terran to Cindy, come in.”
Just when he is about to resend his message the bridge speakers resound with Cindy’s drowsy voice, “Cindy here, this had better be good, I was sleeping.”
Joe almost chuckles as he thinks, of course she was sleeping. He takes a deep breath, and with seriousness returning to his tone, asks, “Are you guys secure?”
“Yes,” Cindy replies hesitantly.
“Good, because we just repelled an Effen Raider attack,” Joe states proudly.
Cindy’s response comes through a moment later, “We’re returning to the ship.”
Joe continues, “One more thing. We monitored what looked like an escape pod leaving their mothership.”
“Understood,” Cindy replies. After a moment’s hesitation, she asks curiously, “Did you track it?”
Joe glances at Robyn, then smiles as she nods enthusiastically. With a widening grin he replies, “We did indeed.”
Twenty minutes pass before the regular bridge crew returns, and one by one takes over their stations. Joe recounts the entire battle to them all, then waits pensively for their opinions. Other than Chokichi’s mild concussion, the medical section has no one else to treat. Of David’s teams, a total of seventeen men are either confirmed dead, or missing. No one knows how David died, but judging by the extensive damage in the area, they can all pretty much guess.
Cindy’s expression hardens as she turns to Peter and says in a cold, heartless tone, “Get those raiders and interrogate them. Find out everything they know, by any means at your disposal.”
“Yes Ma’am,” Peter replies with a cold voice.
Robyn, who is seated off to the side, stands up and interjects. “We can’t just interrogate them, that’s inhumane.”
Cindy turns her attention to Robyn and replies sternly, “There is no Geneva Convention out here, miss. Besides we have to learn all we can about these raiders if we are to leave Emma’s team on the planet.” Her eyes remain locked on Robyn’s, her face a stern, determined mask.
Robyn stares back at Cindy in disbelief, her reply is in a near whisper, “This is wrong.”
Cindy glances to Peter and nods to him while she adds, “Perhaps it is Robyn, but then, that’s why I am here.”
Robyn frowns, then pleads to George, “You can’t let her do this!”
George opens his bodysuit, steps out, and takes a few steps toward Robyn. In a caring tone, he explains, “Those Raiders think nothing of killing others, just to see what they can steal.” He takes a deep breath as he recalls his near free-fall, and then adds, “They’re ruthless, and if we’re to survive, we need people like Cindy to counter them.”
Robyn gulps as she turns her gaze to Cindy. She never thought of Cindy as a ruthless woman. It slowly dawns on her that this is why George is not in charge, he is too soft, and would never order such a thing.
Cindy sighs as she lo
oks at Robyn’s mortified expression. She offers a smile and says, “Sometimes being in charge, means you have to make tough decisions, even if you know that they’re morally wrong.”
Robyn stares at Cindy impassively, her emotions are in a turmoil over the moral dilemma. Her idealistic concept about how their voyage would be, has just been shattered.
It is a bad day to be an Effen Raider
While the two women continue to stare at each other, Peter stands and nudges John. As they leave the bridge, Peter gives Patrick a brief nod, indicating that he is to join them. The three men wordlessly leave the tense scene.
Prior to departing the ship, the three men collect Radclyf and Hayato, and all the weapons they can carry. Patrick wears his bodysuit, and as the cockpit only has four seats, he travels in the shuttle’s cargo area.
John pilots the shuttle toward the planet swiftly and efficiently. He checks their trajectory, and glances at the afternoon sun while he intently scans the landscape before him. With a grin he points to a deep furrow in the ground ahead. “I think we found their escape pod.”
Peter leans forward and examines what looks more like a crash site, than a landing area. His eyes narrow. “Well, it’s a good thing Emma’s people are on another continent.” He glances at the others and adds, “I’m pretty sure our blowing up their ship has pissed them off.”
John lands the shuttle near the Raiders’ escape pod, and then waits nervously. Radclyf, Hayato, and Peter, wearing combat fatigues, cautiously step down the side ramp. On Peter’s signal they rush toward the alien escape pod.
Peter charges up the side of the dirt mound created when the pod impacted. His adrenaline kicks in as he crests the top. He points his heavy weapon downward, and aggressively shouts out. “Don’t move!”
Alliance (Terran Chronicles Book 4) Page 13