“Maybe they’ll realize they’re out-gunned,” Private Loggins said.
“Just because they’re intelligent doesn’t mean they’re reasonable,” Ghost said. “Think about the Confederate soldiers who ran straight into the blaze of cannon fire at Gettysburg.”
“I can’t make out anything,” Dean said. “Switch back to night vision.”
The vid feed changed again. Dean could see a plume of fire and smoke. There was a crater in the trail, and for the first time that night the crawlers were visible. Dean could see them scurrying around the blaze, like ants who encounter an obstacle but continue around it.
“They’re still advancing,” Harper said.
“Damn, I wish I could see what’s going on,” Adkins complained.
“You’re welcome to go scout the situation,” Corporal Landin said.
“Very funny,” Owando chuckled. “Like he could get his large hindquarters over the barricade.”
“What the hell, Owando, you’re supposed to be on my side,” Adkins said.
“Can that chatter,” Chavez ordered.
“Yes, Staff Sergeant,” Owando and Adkins said in unison.
“How much time do we have, Captain?” Chavez asked.
“Maybe half an hour if we can’t slow them down,” Dean said. “Harper, hit them again. Then get your other AAV in the air. Loggins, it’s show time.”
“Yes, sir,” the private said, as another explosion sounded in the distance.
“How much charge does your empty drone have left?” Dean asked Harper.
“A couple of hours, maybe?” she replied. “But it’s got no ordinance.”
“That’s okay. Get it back over here. I want it circling no man’s land.”
Soon there were three more AAVs in the sky over the horde of crawlers who didn’t seem deterred by the bombs that had slain dozens of the hard-shelled creatures. Dean had seen body fragments around the crater of the first two bombing runs and was relieved to know that the warheads were strong enough to shatter the crawlers’ shells.
“Okay,” Dean said, watching the multiple feeds that were displayed on his TCU. “Harper, I want half your payload on the south side of the trail. Loggins, you drop half of one AAV on the north side. Don’t get too close to the mountain—we want to maximize the kill zone, not waste it on the empty hillside.”
“Yes, sir,” the two Fast Attack Specialists said.
“On my mark,” Dean continued. “Three, two, one, mark!”
The bombs fell, and the entire trail was covered in flames for a brief moment. When the smoke cleared, there were two large impact craters filled with the torn and shattered carcasses of crawlers, but the rest continued to advance as if nothing had happened.
“Damn, nothing we do is going to stop those creatures,” Harper said.
Dean fought back the sense of despair he felt. He knew there were too many of the crawlers to fight, even from a defensive position. If the bombs didn’t even slow the creatures, it wouldn’t matter how many his platoon slaughtered: they would eventually be overrun.
“Captain,” Loggins said. “Take a look at this.”
Dean enlarged the vid feed from Private Loggins’ secondary AAV, which was circling much higher than the other two drones. Loggins had the drone hover near the side of one of the mountains, and its night vision feed revealed a large shelf of sedimentary rock.
“What are you showing me, Private?” Dean asked.
“That rock, sir,” Loggins said. “Back home in British Columbia, I used to do a lot of snowboarding. You learn to recognize unstable snow formations.”
“I don’t see snow,” Dean said.
“No sir, it isn’t snow, but I’m guessing it wouldn’t take much to bring that rock down. Start an avalanche that would probably crush quite a few of those creatures.”
Dean felt like he’d been slapped in the face. How had he overlooked such an obvious strategy? He wondered. He wasn’t sure if the private’s idea would work, but it was certainly worth a try.
“Won’t they just crawl over the debris?” Adkins asked.
“Maybe,” Dean said. “But it will certainly slow them down. Can you put one warhead into the base of that rock formation, Private?”
“No sweat,” Loggins said.
Dean watched the vid feed as the AAV swooped forward, dropping a single warhead as the drone rocketed upward to avoid the huge mass of rock. One of the other AAVs was panning its camera across the mountain as the warhead detonated. Dean wanted to cheer as the entire rock formation began to crumble down. Dust billowed upward, obscuring the AAV’s feed, but by that time Dean and his platoon could hear the avalanche. It sounded like a massive rumble, almost like the engine from an old-fashioned locomotive, or the roar of some mythic creature.
“It’s working,” Harper said with what sounded to Dean like a sense of pride.
“Pull back those AAVs,” Dean ordered.
The other members of the platoon were congratulating Loggins, and Dean wanted to join in, but he was in awe of what he was seeing. Everything from the side of the mountain seemed to join in on the avalanche, from small rocks and dirt, to huge boulders. It all crashed down into the valley between the two hillsides where the trail had been. Dean knew he was cutting off the only way in or out that he knew of, but the shuttle didn’t need a clear road to return and pick them up.
“We still have enemy coming this way,” Loggins said. “The MSVs I set up just picked up movement.”
“They’re advancing faster than I thought,” Dean replied.
“Your orders, Captain?” Chavez said.
“Harper, Loggins, keep your AAVs overhead.”
“You want another bombing run?” Loggins asked.
“No, save that ordinance for now. I want to know when we have a clear view of that avalanche. Tallgrass, Landin—give us some light.”
The two demolitions experts popped the ignition caps on several long-burning ground flares and threw them around the clearing, which lit the space up with red light.
“Ghost, begin firing as soon as the crawlers are in range.”
“Yes, Captain.”
“Everyone else, wait until the crawlers are in the clearing. You all have your firing lanes. Remember: conserve your ammunition. Take careful shots, and no one goes full auto unless you have to.”
The platoon spread out along the barricade, and Dean gave the vid feed from the AAVs near the avalanche one last look. There was still too much dust to make out anything on the ground, so Dean minimized those displays and brought up the vid feed from the AAV circling over their heads. The crawlers were approaching, their movement visible in the light from the flares. Dean guessed there were probably a hundred and fifty of the creatures advancing on their position. He was confident that his platoon could handle what he was thinking of as the second wave, but he was fearful that perhaps the avalanche hadn’t been enough. If more of the crawlers found a way through the debris, they could still be in for a long, dangerous fight.
Chapter 23
Ghost was like a deadly machine; his .50 calibre rifle spewed hot lead in a steady rhythm that slaughtered nearly twenty crawlers before Dean or anyone else in the platoon even fired a single shot. The crawlers seemingly had no regard for the dead. The creatures hit by Ghost’s precise aim dropped to the ground, covered by their shells, which the crawlers behind them scurried over. The dead creatures gave Dean’s platoon the best opportunity to kill the hardy crawlers. As they rose up one side of their fallen, their unarmored bellies were exposed for a split second. What’s more, the impenetrable shells sent the bullets Dean’s platoon fired ricocheting upward, which meant even an errant shot often found its way under the shell of the advancing crawler.
The Specialists with EMR rifles propped their weapons on the barricade of vehicles around the cavern entrance, while the Heavy Armor Specialists waited in reserve. When the crawlers finally reached the clearing, Dean’s platoon opened fire on the horde of crawlers as if they were in a s
hooting gallery. The garish red light from the flares made the entire battle seem more like a training session than actual combat. For half an hour the fighting was steady, but eventually the number of crawlers thinned to a few stragglers. None got close enough to touch the barricade, and the flat ground beyond the semicircle of vehicles was littered with carcasses of the slain or wounded creatures. As the flares began to burn out, Dean gazed at the mounds of shelled bodies on the killing ground. Many were propped two or three high, others piled together, and some had even flipped over, exposing the strange creatures underneath the heavy shells.
Once the shooting died down, Dean immediately brought up the view from the AAV overhead. He could still see movement, but it was sporadic—not the mass of creatures they had seen coming up the trail. With a few facial gestures, Dean brought up the feed from the AAVs further out that were in a holding pattern over the avalanche. The loose rock and dirt had filled in the trail between the two hillsides, but there was still a mass of body heat visible beyond the avalanche.
“Harper, let’s take a closer look,” Dean ordered.
“Roger that,” she replied as she sent her AAV out beyond the avalanche.
“What are they doing?” Chavez said. He was the only other member of the platoon that could access Harper’s vid feeds.
“Nothing,” Dean said. “At least they don’t appear to be doing anything.”
“You think the avalanche stopped them?” Chavez went on. “I can’t imagine that many creatures wouldn’t be trying to find a way to continue the fight.”
“They’re up to something,” Dean said. “I’m sure of it.”
“I don’t know, Captain, we took the hurt to them two nights in a row,” Adkins said. “Maybe they’ve wised up.”
“Or maybe they know a different way into the cavern,” Dean replied.
“Couldn’t they just crawl over the avalanche?” Corporal Landin asked.
“I can’t see why not,” Harper said.
“They are intelligent,” Tallgrass said. “Remember how they responded to the hangar door? A simple obstacle in their path wouldn’t stop them.”
“Which means they’re doing something; we just don’t know what it is yet,” Dean replied. “Let’s send those AAVs out on a wider pattern. If the crawlers are moving, I want to know about it.”
“Any chance they’re tunneling through?” Chavez said.
“I don’t know,” Dean replied. “That would be a dangerous strategy. A tunnel might collapse, and it would certainly serve as a bottleneck. We could sit back and kill them as they came through without the threat of being overrun.”
“Damn, this is the shit I hate,” Adkins said. “Give me a straight-up fight, none of this tricky sneaking-around-in-the-dark crap.”
“There’s a reason you weren’t picked for officer training,” Ghost said with a chuckle.
“Hey, I ain’t saying I don’t understand it,” Adkins argued. “I’m just saying I don’t like it.”
“It’s not very reassuring to be in a position without a clear exit strategy,” Dean said. “But all we have to do is survive until morning.”
“Famous last words,” Ghost said.
“Sounds like we’re in a horror movie,” Landin added.
“Damn, I hope not,” Wilson said. “That would make us the expendable black guys.”
“Captain,” Loggins spoke up. “I think I have something.”
Dean brought up the Fast Attack private’s vid feed. There was a line of light pink circling around the dark maroon of a mountainside.
“Where is that?” Dean asked.
“North of the trail, about five miles out.”
“Five miles? They didn’t just start that march,” Chavez said. “Not since the battle started.”
“No,” Dean agreed. “Looks like they’ve been on the move that direction all along. Private, can you get that AAV closer?”
“Sure thing,” Loggins said.
“Sure thing, sir,” Chavez corrected the young Specialist.
“Oh, sorry, Captain. Sure thing, sir.”
“Just get me reliable intel, preferably without the enemy knowing what you’re up to.”
Dean switched his attention to the AAV above them. There was no sign of movement between the cavern and the avalanche. It occurred to Dean that he was being set up. There was no reason he could think of why the crawlers didn’t just scale the debris from the avalanche—unless they were waiting for something. It had to be a flanking maneuver, and the only way to flank the cavern was if they had a way into the cave system.
“Staff Sergeant,” Dean said. “I’ve got an itch on the back of my neck.”
“Yeah, I got that same itch.”
“I think it would be best if we got the outpost workers out of that tunnel.”
“I’m on it,” Chavez said.
“Captain,” Loggins spoke up again. “I can’t be sure, but I think they’re going into the mountain.”
Dean took a look at the feed. The pink line disappeared, but on infrared there was no way to be certain that the crawlers were advancing into the mountain. They could be passing under an overhang of rock that was blocking their heat signature, or it could be that the image was of the lead creatures. The only thing that was certain was Dean’s need to know as much as possible.
“Switch to night vision and get me even closer,” he ordered.
“They’ll probably hear the drone if I get closer, sir,” Loggins replied.
“It can’t be helped,” Dean said. “We have to know what we’re dealing with.”
The image changed to shades of green and the AAV dropped down almost even with the trail the crawlers were using. Dean couldn’t make out a lot, but he did see what looked like a dark crack in the side of the mountain.
“They’re flanking us,” Dean said over the platoon channel. “Loggins, I want every warhead you’ve got just inside that entrance to the cave system. On my mark.”
“Why wait?” Adkins asked. “Blow the shit out of them.”
“Can’t risk it,” Dean said. “Setting off those warheads could cause a massive disruption to the cave system. We can’t take a chance that the entire cave might collapse and kill the outpost workers.”
“Every second we wait, more of those creatures are getting into the mountain,” Adkins said. “I hope the whole thing collapses.”
“If it does, we’ll be pushed out,” Ghost said. “All the preparations we made will be lost.”
“Tallgrass, can we recover the charges in the cavern?” Dean asked.
“Yes sir, but it will take time. And I can’t promise that we won’t accidentally set them off.”
“Well, that’s not an acceptable risk,” Dean said. “If the cave goes down, or even shows signs of instability, we’ll have to abandon the charges.”
“Man, what a shitstorm,” Kliner said.
“Captain,” Ghost said. “Why don’t we go up? Take the high ground.”
“That’s an excellent idea, Sergeant. Get up there and find us a way up. We need solid ground to fight from and enough space to protect the outpost workers.”
“What’s happening?” Orlovskey, the outpost administrator, asked as he came hurrying out of the tunnel.
“Looks like the crawlers know a way into those caves,” Dean said. “We’ll blow the entrance on their end, but—”
“But you might bring the whole cave system down. Where does that leave us? We still have half the night to get through.”
“Yes, I’m aware of that,” Dean said. “We’re working on a plan now.”
It took a while to move all the workers out of the cave tunnel. Some were wounded and moving slowly. They were all exhausted. Dean felt sorry for them, but he knew they could endure until sunrise; they didn’t have a choice.
“We clear, Staff Sergeant?” Dean asked.
“Yes sir, all outpost workers accounted for.”
“Private Landin, blow that cave entrance.”
“Roger,”
the Fast Attack Specialist said.
Dean watched the feed as the AAV made a wide loop, then shot like a rocket into the cave entrance. The screen went black and there was a rumble in the distance.
“Get me eyes on that cave entrance,” Dean ordered.
Before anyone could answer, there was a crack that sounded like a lightning strike. Dust billowed out of the tunnel and into the large cavern. With his night vision, Dean saw cracks forming in the roof of the cavern and dust beginning to waft down. Another crack was followed by an ominous rumble.
“Move everyone out beyond the barricade,” Dean ordered his platoon. “The cave system is compromised.”
“Wilson, Kliner, on your bellies right here,” Chavez ordered. “Adkins, Carter, hands and knees beside them. We’ll make a staircase for the workers.”
The wide shields on the backs of the Heavy Armor Specialists formed a tall staircase leading up to the flatbed truck. Dean, Tallgrass, and Landin helped the workers over. On the far side, Owando and the Swede made a descending staircase. It was only half as wide, but worked just as well for the wounded. In short order, Dean’s platoon and the refugees were on the far side of the barricade.
“This makes me nervous,” Eleanor Tallgrass said.
“Yeah,” Landin chimed in. “Now we’re on the killing ground.”
“Hopefully the crawlers don’t know that yet,” Dean said.
“Sir, I’m afraid they do,” Harper said. “I’ve got movement on the trailhead.”
“They coming over the avalanche?” Adkins asked.
“Yes,” Harper said. “You were right, Captain. It was a trap. They’ve driven us out of our defensive position.”
“Well, we’ll just have to find another one,” Dean said. “Ghost, give me some good news.”
“I found a place to fight from,” the sniper said.
“But…”
“But it’s not easy to get to.”
“If it’s hard for us, it’ll be hard for the crawlers,” Dean said. “Heavy Armor, lead the way up the mountain. Harper, drop your ordinance to slow the crawlers down. Orlovskey, let’s get these people moving.”
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