Book of the Guardian 3: The Last Mission (7 page)

John nodded. "H'drean, five thousand years ago, there were people that used those very same words to justify the wholesale slaughter of millions of innocent people that had no direct link to the events in question. Just as these people on this world have no idea what you are speaking of. You would be killing the truly innocent, and it would be you that has done it, since it is by your hand that you guide your weapons, it is by your voice that the order for their deaths is given. How can it be seen as anything else?"

John saw that they had indeed exited hyperspace, and he was showing the ships of the fleet as targets. The Captain and her crew had put them right where he needed them to be. The Commodore had also signaled that the missiles were ready whenever he needed them.

"You have only one last choice for salvation, Fleet Commander, surrender, and allow us to repatriate you back to the Empire," John said marking both of the Battleships for multiple strikes and pressing the firing command for the hyper-missiles.

The being nodded at John. "So be it. Weapons officer, target the largest city, and destroy it."

Before anything else could be done, the two battleships in the task force blew up. John quickly began targeting the rest of the ships he could see, and sent a fire as ready command.

"Computers nearing maximum, Captain!" the Engineer said via the comm.

"If this locks them up, then it does, we have to destroy them before they can bomb that world, Captain!" John replied.

"Engineering, shut down everything but life-support and the reactor, even if it costs this ship, we have to do this!" the Captain ordered.

"The other destroyers are exiting hyperspace, Captain!" the weapons officer replied.

"Hand off as many targets as we can!" Stilts ordered.

"Ma'am, there are several of the smaller ships entering the atmosphere of the planet, they are out of range for the missiles!" the Navigator called.

"Reset all systems, Helm ahead full! Battle stations! Spin up the weapons, Mr. Eisle. Raise our shields and rig for atmospheric! Strap in tight Sir, this is where it gets bumpy!" The last she said to John. "Sir, could you ask the Fourth to join us for clean up?"

––––––––

"I
will, if you have any Marines on board, please get them suited up for planetary assault. I'll be joining them," John said. "Captain?"

"Yes?" the woman turned back to him.

"No mercy, Captain. They are attacking an unarmed, undefended, and innocent planet. Even by Tammerain Law their lives are automatically forfeit. They know that they will be killed for their actions. Give no quarter and accept no surrender, Captain. If any of them try to surrender, it will be a trap," John said.

"I understand, General. Good hunting!" Captain Stilts replied grimly. "Marines are assembling in the landing bay, Sir. We're fifteen minutes from atmosphere."

John nodded and headed for the landing bay. He'd already put on his armor, as had the rest of the crew, before they arrived. When he arrived in the small bay, he found a platoon of Marines gathered around a small holo -display of the area the Captain was going to drop them in. John nodded when he saw that it was the largest city.

"Welcome aboard Sir," the lieutenant said when he saw john had joined them. During combat operations, the usual protocol of announcing the officers was foregone, much to John's relief.

John nodded. "Thanks Ell-tee, (Ell-tee is short for Lieutenant; 'LT' pronounced) I don't know if the captain told you, but we're going up against religious zealots that believe they have nothing to lose. These guys are not your normal imperial troops. From their markings, they are Imperial Guards which means they not only fight dirty, they do not surrender. Their goal will be to spread chaos, terror and destruction before they are killed."

"Sir, I thought the Tammerain didn't attack civilians?" one of the troops asked.

"Normally, they won't. They believe to do so would destroy their soul and deny them an afterlife with their Goddess. If the Civilians take up arms and join in the fight that's a different matter. The simple fact that there are units like this one should be proof that the Tammerain will not stop until every human is dead. Expect these troops to be pathological killing machines. Leave none alive, and you will live, and you won't get shot in the back."

"Are you ordering us to slaughter them, Sir?" the Lieutenant asked in disbelief.

John sighed. "Lieutenant, these fuckers are fanatics in every sense of the word. If they can pull the trigger with their tongue they will do it in an effort to kill at least one more human. Yes, I am ordering you to slaughter them. I have a sinking feeling that you'll understand why all too soon."

"Four minutes to atmosphere! Marines Assault drop positions! Drop in two minutes! Landing Zone is hot, I say again LZ is hot!" the Captain announced. "People, these animals are firing on anything that moves. Men, women, children... even the animals are being shot! Four of these snakes hit a hospital and are going from room to room, killing the patients!"

John opened a com to her. "Hold it together, Captain. We'll stop them, but you have to hold it together."

"Yes Sir, but how can they even do this?" Dione Stilts asked.

"Long ago, on Earth, there were people that believed it was their duty to kill or destroy those they had deemed the enemy of their God. They would go to any lengths to do it. They even strapped bombs to their own bodies, went to a crowded place, and detonated it. Dione, these people actually believe by doing something like that, it will ensure their place with their God while making life better for their people. These Tammerain are like that. They have been conditioned to believe that any action they take will help their Goddess. Killing humans is something they know to be a holy sanctified action."

"That's twisted!" the Captain replied.

"Yes, it is. But it is also what we are dealing with," John explained. "That was the reason I gave you the no mercy order."

"I understand much better now Sir, thank you."

John had entered his drop pod while he had been talking to the Captain and had secured his weapons. He felt the ship bucking as she entered the atmosphere as it evaded fire from the ships still in orbit above them. It was a really rough ride until everything stopped and became smooth. The pod had been ejected from the ship.

John brought up the data feeds from the sensors on the hull of the pod so he could see the area they were dropping into. The Captain had dropped them over a large park in the center of the city.

Assault pods were fired from a ship usually in orbit and directed to a spot on the surface by their own guidance computers. Even though they had been 'dropped' ten thousand feet over the city, this would be considered a 'low' drop. The retro thrusters fired almost immediately in order to slow them down enough to land without killing the occupants.

Right away, John could see which direction the Tammerain killers had gone and let the platoon leader know they had to move in that direction. In his mind, John knew that the Tammerain had most likely dropped more 'troops' than they could chase down, but he was determined to do as much as he could with what he had.

A shuddering impact and he was down, the hatch blew off, and John was out, taking a position to help cover the troops that had grounded near his position. On the inside of his visor, his display automatically tracked the positions of the troops near him as well as the rest of the platoon. The Ell-tee and five other troops had grounded closest to the direction the Tammerain had gone. John directed 'his' people to head in that direction.

In the park around them lay the bodies of dead civilians, over by a path through the park, John saw the dead bodies of a man and his dog. The dog had obviously tried to protect his master before it was blown apart by a Tammerain pulse weapon.

"Ignore it people! The only way we'll be able to stop this is if we keep it from getting to us. The rest of the people here are counting on us to protect them! We have to stop the bastards that did this! Use these images! Use the feelings it creates in you! Use them to stop these butchers before they hurt more people!" John told his troops.

"There aren't any wounded, just dead." One of the troops said quietly.

"Captain Stilts, could you request an armed medical unit to land at our LZ to search for wounded and police the dead? This is going to be a hard day," John asked the Captain of the destroyer.

"Affirmative, General. The other Destroyers are dropping their teams in different areas around the City, so there will be friendlies in the area. Direct any survivors to go to the park you landed in, and I'll make sure a medical support shuttle gets there. I'll let you know where the aid station is as soon as we know," the Captain replied sounding harried.

"Thanks Dione," John replied as they linked up with the rest of the platoon. Switching channels, John spoke to the Ell-tee over the platoon channel. "We gotta catch up the bastards, Ell-tee. Direct any survivors we find to the park; Stilts is going to set up a medevac (medical evacuation) point there. Let's get moving."

"You heard the man, ladies! Use your scanners to check the buildings as we go, but we need to move!" the Lieutenant ordered.

The platoon spread out and ran toward the park exit, following the path of destruction left by the Tammerain force.

The attackers hadn't been on planet very long, and taking the time to kill everyone in every building had slowed them down considerably. John's platoon caught up with them three blocks from the park.

"Movement forward!" the point soldier reported. "Tammerain troops are checking the aircars in the park for that apartment building on the left."

"Take 'em out Corporal! We're coming up behind you. Sampson, Hernandez, get over to the building and get a scanner on it!" the Lieutenant ordered. "Don't get shot in the process, you don't have permission to die today!"

As he looked up at the building, John saw a Tammerain soldier through a window on the second floor. "Belay that! They're in the building! Hostile sighted on the second floor! Take out the hostiles and move into the building ASAP! Watch for snipers, that'd be a wicked crossfire!" 

The Tammerain had been too focused on killing civilians to post a sniper for cover, and the platoon killed the four Tammerain troops in the park so quickly they hadn't been able to get a call for help out. The platoon entered the building and their scanners told them the first floor was clear.

"How do you want to do this, Sir?" the Lieutenant asked.

"Urban assault protocol, Ell-tee. You take first squad and clear the first floor, second squad; second floor, third squad; third floor. I'll take fourth squad and clear the fourth floor. Once you clear your floor, move up three floors until we can't, clear the top, and regroup down here. Move out!" John ordered, and the teams ran for the stairs.

"It looks like a squad size unit, General. Two or three troopers per floor up to the fifth. I'm not showing any more above that," John's squad leader reported.

John nodded. "Did you get that, Ell-tee?"

"Affirmative, General. We show the same," the young officer replied.

"Okay, I'm going to send four of my people up to clear them out, then do a floor by floor scan to make sure. Regroup in the lobby," John ordered.

What followed was a harrowing, nerve-wracking search for the killers. The Lieutenant, showing he was a good officer, ordered two troops from each squad to go up to assist the ones John had sent to the fifth floor.

Two of John's squad rushed into a corner apartment and killed the Tammerain trooper that had just kicked in the door to the master bedroom. They shot the big beast in the back of the head just as it was raising its rifle to kill the family hiding there. The two Marines had just checked the small family when one of them dove on the children, yelling 'rocket'! The other trooper flipped the bed over them and pulled the parents close to him before turning his back to the blast.

When the building shook, John and his team ran for the apartment. Entering the room, his optics sighted the enemy trooper that had fired the missile. It was reloading the launcher for another shot. John raised his rifle and shot it in the head. Another trooper rushed into the room and tried to shoot John. Another of John's team killed it before it could fire another shot.

The room was destroyed. One of the two children suffered a broken leg when he was crushed by the Marine that was shielding him. The little girl was scared, but healthy. The Marine was also unharmed because of the bed that had been thrown over them. The Marine that had tried to cover the parents hadn't fared as well. He was still alive, but his armor had been blown apart. The father of the kids was missing his left arm, and the mother was bleeding from a large wound on her right leg.

"Medic!" John called. "Forth Floor, corner apartment! Ell-tee, there are bandits in the building to the north. They fired a rocket in here."

'Fuck!" Okay boys and girls, no one said this was going to be easy! Erikson, finish clearing the upper floors! Second and third squads; status?"

"Second floor is clear, heading for the lobby."

"Third floor, give us a sec. This last one is trying to hide from us."

The medic arrived followed by several civilian men. The medic immediately got to work on the wounded, and two of the other of the civilians helped him. One of the civilian men walked up to John.

"My Lord General, Corporal Hayle," he indicated the medic. "Said there was a medevac at the park. We'll help with the wounded, you go kill these fuckers," the man said.

"You are?" John asked.

"Captain Peter Goring, late of the Royal Lancers. I was a Marine for six hundred years, Sir. I think I let them retire me too early," the man replied.

John handed him an earbud comm unit. "Thank you for your service, Captain. We have hostiles in the building to the north, if you can help by getting the wounded back to the park we would really appreciate it.

"For now, we'll use our personal vehicles to get these folks to the park. We can pick up a delivery van or something so we can carry more. We'll try to follow you, but we'll stay back far enough to stay out of your way," Goring replied. "We have a couple of medics with us, too."