Galactic Empire Wars 2: Emergence (2 page)

Wade watched
in surprise. He had known about the changes made to the railguns, but this was
the first time he had seen them in action. The two assault ships never stood a
chance.

“I’m
impressed,” Wade said, looking over at Colonel Adamson. “I wasn’t expecting
that. I thought the rounds would go completely through the ships.”

“It’s the
kinetic energy given off at impact,” Colonel Adamson explained. “There's so
much heat generated it results in a massive fireball that tears through
anything it strikes. One of the scientists back home told me the amount of
energy the round imparts is in the kiloton range.”

“Sounds almost
as effective as the particle beams,” commented Wade, referring to the two large
particle beam cannons on the bow and the two smaller ones on the outer hull.

“Almost,” Adamson
responded with a grin. “But the particle beam weapons are even more dangerous.
I can’t wait to try out our new ones against one of the large Kleese ships.”

“Let’s hope
that’s not necessary on this mission,” replied Wade, arching his eyebrow.

He still
wondered what would happen when they came up against an actual Kleese warship. Those
supposedly stayed in close to the Kleese home systems. Marken had explained to
him and General Mitchell that the large Kleese disk ships they'd destroyed at
the trading station and in the battle in the Solar System were not actually
military vessels. They served more as a mother ship to the thirty or so assault
vessels they carried, even though they were heavily armed.

-

“Sergeant
Russell, take your platoon and surround the barracks and port facility,” Beth
ordered as she watched the flaming wreckage from the two destroyed assault
ships fall back toward the ground in the distance. “I don’t want anyone coming
out of that building.”

“Yes,
Captain,” replied Russell, as he motioned for his marines to follow him.

“Lieutenant
Stern, I want that communications center locked up tight. Also, have Corporal
Foster meet me at the front entrance. We’re probably going to have to blow our
way in. If I know the Kleese, they probably have the entire facility sealed
tight.”

A few moments
later, Captain Williams, Lieutenant Stern, and Corporal Foster were standing in
front of a heavy metal door that blocked the entrance to the building. Several
other marines stood nearby with their weapons held at the ready.

“This is ship
armor,” Corporal Foster reported as she leaned over and inspected the door,
tapping it with her metal hand. She looked at the captain. “I don’t think I
have anything that can blast a hole in this; it’s too thick.”

“Crap,” responded
Beth, letting out a deep breath. She knew the mission would be considered a
failure if they couldn’t get inside. Only the Kleese would use ship armor to
protect a ground facility.

“What about
the walls?” Lieutenant Stern asked as she looked at the tall walls around them.
“We might be able to blast through them.”

“I doubt it,”
Corporal Foster said as she stood back up and aimed a small handheld device at
the walls. “They have ship armor in them also. The Kleese are inside and they
don’t want us to get in.”

“Let’s pull
back to a safe distance,” ordered Beth feeling frustrated, knowing there was
only one way to get the door open. “I’ll contact Major Nelson and apprise him
of the situation. They may have to use the ship’s weapons to blast the door
open.”

“Is that even
possible?” Lieutenant Stern asked her eyes widening at the thought. “The only
weapon they might be able to use is one of the ship’s railguns.”

“It’s accurate
enough at this range,” answered Beth, knowing they might also damage a major
portion of the building. She just hoped they didn’t damage the part that
contained the information they were after. “Sergeant Dawson, have your platoon
ready to go inside if we manage to breach the door or the wall.”

Motioning for
all the marines to retreat, they moved back several hundred meters. Even
Sergeant Russell and his platoon pulled back as a precautionary measure. They
still had several energy weapons aimed at the doors to the barracks, but no
conscripts had attempted to exit for quite some time.

-

Wade listened
to Captain Williams’s report of the current situation on the planet. He had
hoped to be able to get inside the communications building without causing
major damage to the facility. Now it looked as if that wasn’t going to happen.

“How much
damage will a secondary railgun round cause to the structure?” he asked,
looking over at Colonel Adamson.

“It’s a large
building,” Adamson replied as he ran some numbers on one of the ship’s
computers. “We can place the round pretty accurately, but we’re probably going
to demolish a major portion of the building.”

“One round,
then,” Wade ordered with a grim look on his face, determined to get his marines
inside the facility. “Target the area of the door and we'll just have to hope
the building survives.”

Colonel
Adamson walked over to Major Kelly and the two began talking to Lieutenant
Reyes at Tactical. Wade could see the deep frown that appeared on Reyes’ face
as the two officers explained to him what they wanted done.

Wade leaned
back and folded his arms across his chest. It was vital they recover the
information stored in the building’s computers. This facility served as a
collection site for the six large Kleese space stations that were closest to
Human space. The information could be vital to the future conduct of the war.
General Mitchell had stressed the importance of retrieving the data before they
began any type of offensive against the Kleese. Wade just hoped he wasn’t about
to blow it up.

-

“Everyone
down!” Beth ordered as Wade informed her over their communications link about
the impending railgun strike.

She lay down
prone on the ground with her head slightly raised so she could see. A sudden
bright light darted down toward the ground and the world seemed to shake as a
sudden roar rolled over them. She could feel the concussion from the blast and
for a minute, the communications facility vanished as it was covered with smoke
and fire. Dirt and other debris began to rain down on Beth and the others.

“Damn! Now that’s
what I call an explosion,” Corporal Foster commented as she rose up on her
knees so she could see better. Demolitions were her specialty, and she just
loved to see things explode. It was a major turn on for her to handle
explosives. The building was still covered in rising black smoke. “I think
there’s a hole in the building now.”

“Let’s go,” ordered
Beth, rising to her feet and beginning to move forward.

It took them
only a minute to reach the area of the explosion. They had to pause as the
railgun round had blasted a hole a good ten meters deep into the ground. There
were still fires burning and heavy dark smoke was prevalent. Fortunately, their
suits didn’t need any outside air for them to breathe; they were self-contained
with their own air circulation and regeneration equipment. The door to the
building was gone and about a third of the building on the side of the
explosion had collapsed.

“We can get in
here,” Private Flores reported as he moved his battle suit through the
wreckage. He began using the powerful arms of his suit to move the rubble away that
was obstructing what looked to be a major hallway or corridor.

“Is it tall
enough for our suits?” asked Beth as she moved over toward Private Flores.
There was no way she was going to send anyone inside unless they were in their
battle suits. It was just too dangerous.

“Yes,” Flores replied as he moved the last piece of obstructing rubble out of the way. “It looks
as if it was designed to allow battle suits to enter.”

“Let’s move
in,” ordered Beth, wanting to get inside so they could complete the mission.
Looking at the ruined side of the building, she added. “Watch for shifting
debris; we don’t want to have to dig anyone out. Use RG rounds only, no
explosive rounds or energy beams. We don’t know how badly the structure has
been weakened from the explosion. If we encounter any Kleese, the use of Energy
Lances is authorized. We don’t take Kleese prisoners.”

Beth knew that
was heartless, but the Kleese had already demonstrated their own ruthlessness toward
other races. They'd killed the entire crew of the Kleese space station after
General Mitchell and the others had managed to orchestrate the escape of some
of Earth’s captured military personnel and the Kiveans. Several hundred
thousand intelligent beings had been mercilessly murdered. The Kleese had left
the bodies to rot in the station until the next crew could be brought in to
clean it up. They'd also nearly wiped out the entire population of Earth.

The marines
slowly made their way down the corridor and up some wide stairs toward the
upper levels. The building had stopped shifting and didn’t seem to be in danger
of collapsing further. After several minutes of carefully negotiating their way
to one of the upper floors, they found their way blocked by another metal door.

Corporal
Foster made her way forward and after a moment, began attaching explosives to
the door. “This one’s not ship armor,” she reported as she carefully placed the
detonators.

Stepping back,
she surveyed her handiwork and then the entire group moved down to the lower
floor. Satisfied that everyone was out of harm's way, she pressed the
detonation device in her right hand. A resounding explosion occurred and dust
and smoke rolled down the stairwell. Nicole allowed herself to grin, knowing
the explosion had obliterated the obstructing door.

“Move up,” ordered
Beth, clicking the safety off her RG rifle. If there were Kleese on this level,
there were bound to be guards.

The marines
charged up the stairs and into the corridor. Weapons fire met their advance and
two marines fell to the floor. One of the icons in Beth’s suit display turned
red and the other amber. “Eliminate that opposition!” she yelled as she entered
the corridor and began firing down the hallway. She could see four conscripts
in Type Two battle suits standing in front of another large metal door firing
at the marines. This had to be their target!

For several
seconds, the firing grew more intense. One of the conscripts fell as he was
struck in the chest by several RG rounds. Shortly afterwards the other three
battle suits firing at them were hit and the hallway became silent.

“Opposition is
down,” Lieutenant Stern reported as several marines rushed forward, checking
the downed suits and indicating the danger had been eliminated.

The corridor was
full of smoke and it was difficult to see, though the HUD in Beth’s helmet
showed no lurking danger. “Get that door blown, Corporal Foster!” She knew if
there were any Kleese in this facility, they would be behind that metal door.
“Energy Lances at the ready!” She watched impatiently as Foster attached her
explosives and readied the door for demolition.

A minute
later, the door blew inward and the marines charged forward. Once inside, they
found themselves in a large room full of communications equipment, viewscreens,
and numerous aliens sitting in front of consoles nervously watching the Humans
that had just stormed into their sanctuary. Upon a large dais stood seven Kleese,
their multifaceted eyes focused on the Humans in their Type Three battle suits.

“Surrender now
and we might show mercy upon your race,” one spoke in a cold voice that carried
little emotion. “We are the Kleese and you must obey or face destruction.”

Beth strolled
forward, seeing there were no armed guards inside the communications room. “We
will not obey you, now or ever!” she spoke loudly as she drew her Energy Lance,
which lit up with a bright blue glow and gave off a low humming noise.

“Then your
race shall die,” the Kleese said as its eyes focused on the belligerent Human
before it. “Our battle fleet will come to your world and annihilate it. Every
member of your race will be hunted down and eliminated.”

“Then we shall
die,” replied Beth as she leaped to the top of the dais swinging her lance,
feeling hate flood through her at what the Kleese had implied and what they
represented.

The blade
easily cut through the Kleese’s neck, killing the foul creature instantly.
Lieutenant Stern and Sergeant Dawson joined her. In just a few moments, all
seven of the Kleese were dead. Beth gazed down loathingly at their dead bodies
and the dark blood that was quickly covering the floor. Even in death, their
bodies continued to twitch. She felt a cold chill run down her back. The
mention of a battle fleet made her nervous. She would have to report that bit
of information back to Major Nelson and General Mitchell.

“The room is
secure,” reported Lieutenant Stern a few moments later.

“Get everyone
out of this building,” ordered Beth, gesturing toward the aliens in the room who
were looking stunned at seeing the Kleese killed.

There were
representatives from two different races present, neither of which Beth had
seen before. Fortunately, all conscripts of the Kleese had a small
communications chip implanted in their brains, which instantly translated all
the known languages in this section of the galaxy. She watched as Corporals
Patterson and Foster, along with a squad of marines, herded the aliens out of
the room and into the corridor.

“Let’s hack
into these computers and download the information Command wants.” She knew that
the Kiveans had furnished them several devices that should be able to decrypt
the passwords on the computers and allow them access. Then it was only a matter
of downloading the information. She hoped the loss of a marine was worth what
was on these computers.

-

Wade watched
the main viewscreen on the Constellation and saw four drop ships rapidly
approaching the ship. Captain Williams had indicated the mission had been a success
with only one casualty and several more marines injured. He felt pain at
knowing they had lost another marine. The Human race was much smaller now than
it had once been and every loss was felt.