Legions of Orion (Star Crusades Nexus, Book 1) (18 page)

A loud noise like
that of a banshee screamed overhead, and it reminded him of he
sounds he’d come across in the reports of the fighting at Hyperion.
There wasn’t time to consider it any longer; the sound was getting
louder. He lifted his head slightly and watched as the dark
mechanical shape emerged from the dust cloud. At first he thought
it was a creature like some of the horrors he’d seen previously,
but the shape extended out until it had more in common with a
warship than a creature. But it was nothing like any ship he’d seen
before. Its engines glowed blue, and the underside was filled with
ridges from which hung dark shapes. Mountings along the side moved
continually, and he was convinced they were turrets of some type.
As it moved past their position, he was sure a burst of fire would
strike them down as they waited.

What the hell have we found out
here?

Then the vessel
lifted up higher and vanished up through the thin atmosphere and
into space. Colonel Daniels watched with a mixture of shock and
apprehension as it disappeared from view. He started to move his
muscle
s, but then he spotted dark shapes
in the thick clouds. Around the shapes flashed bright colours, much
like that of an electrical storm. Then the vessel reappeared, but
this time it was trailing smoke and heading in a death spin towards
the ground. It didn’t take long for the devastated vessel to strike
a mountainous region almost a kilometre from their current
position. The shockwave was powerful, and the marines were forced
to grab onto anything they could find, for fear of being blasted a
great distance on the low gravity moon. He lifted his head and
watched the red hot fires burning around the wreckage of the craft.
The flashing in the clouds had stopped, and there were no more
explosions or signs of danger, other than the burning
wreckage.

I need backup!

He tapped his intercom on his helmet,
desperate to reach somebody.

“This is Colonel Daniels, is there
anybody out there? I repeat, Colonel Daniels of the Alliance Marine
Corps. We’ve been hit by a major blast, have casualties and need
immediate evac.”

He was greeted with
total silence, the kind that was rarely encountered by marines in
the field. He looked back at the marines near him, and especially
the wounded man the other two had been carrying. They were too busy
attending him to notice their commanding officer looking at them.
That was when the crackle of a broken audio message made its way
into his helmet.

“
Sergeant Arkos, are
their any survivors out there? I repeat. This is Sergeant Arkos,
1
^st
Squad.”

Colonel Daniels could barely conceal
his relief at the news from the marine.

“Arkos, Daniels here. What’s your
status?”

The next few words were slightly broken
before the signal came in clearly.

“
Shuttle is down,
three casualties. Something came over our position and bombarded
the LZ. We were lucky nobody was killed. I’ve pulled the unit back
and into the cover of the nearby craters and cover.”

Daniels nodded at
the news, satisfied that things were starting to return to his
control.
He’d worried that the rest of
the unit had been wiped out in the attack, and the news that
1
^st
Squad was intact meant there was a chance that at least
half of the platoon had survived. It was still not perfect but much
better than he had expected just a minute earlier.

“
Good work,
Sergeant. We have a number of dead and wounded in
2
^nd
and 3
^rd
Squads. Did you get a look at your
attacker?”

“
Negative, Sir, it
just flashed over us and in the clouds. Next thing, we detected
devices coming down. By the time we were in cover, the shuttle was
gone. I did have time to send an emergency distress signal to the
fleet. Either they are hiding or that thing took them
out.”

He
glanced back and spotted three more marines
emerging from cover and helping to carry one of the supply crates.
As the men approached, he noticed the damage to their armour.
Luckily the improved PDS armour was tough and able to absorb severe
damage before rupturing or spreading heat or damage to the marine
inside. What really caught his eye was the front of one man’s
helmet that was badly cracked and slightly fused by heat. It was
almost as if he had been hit at long range by the blast of a
thermal weapon like the low-tech thermal shotguns. He shook his
head. He knew he needed to concentrate on the mission right now,
not the fate of individual marines.

“
Okay, we need to
keep low in case th
ere are anymore of
these things and meet at the Charlie LZ. Understood?”

“
Sir!” barked the
young S
ergeant.

Colonel Daniels
crawled over to the group of marines. As he moved, he was forced to
slow down due to the dust cloud he was kicking up.

“
I’ve just made
contact with 1
^st
Squad. Looks like they made it, but the
shuttle’s gone. What do we have here?”

The marines looked
about as they checked the salvaged gear the small number of men and
women had recovered during their rushed escape. Apart from the
crate, there were just four spare rifles and a partially damaged
scanning unit.

“The crate, is that the support unit?”
he asked.

Corporal Handel nodded quickly.

“
Yes, Sir, it’s the
remote drone unit, one craft and two spare propulsion modules.
Should be fully functioning.”

“Good work. We need to get to the…”

He was interrupted
by a new transmission. His suit confirmed the source and decoded it
using the standard Alliance Marine Corps cyphers. The computer
displayed the ship confirmation code that matched the signature of
ANS Devastation.”

What is she doing out here?

The computer had one
last stage to
complete before the link
was established and the audio feed began.

“
To all Marine Corps
units, this is Genera Rivers. We are bringing in reinforcements
within twelve hours. Your landing zone is flagged as compromised.
If you are able to respond, send a code IFF burst packet with your
pickup point. Find yourselves some shelter and conserve your power.
Under no circumstances are you to travel and investigate any other
parts of the moon.”

“
Thank the Gods,” he
whispered to himself with a calmness that disguised his almost
panic at being abandoned on the moon.

* * *

Spartan and Jack entered the port
landing bay of ANS Devastation to the pomp and ceremony expected
for an arriving dignitary. Jack looked out of his depth, but
Spartan recognised the joke for what it was. No sooner had they
moved into the shelter of the ship than Khan of the Jötnar
appeared. He was flanked by five more of his kin, each of them
armoured in their new style armour, but unusually they carried no
heavy weapons. Even so, Spartan could see the blades built into at
least two parts of the arms and the thick plating around the neck
and chest.

“
Khan, I see
you’v
e brought some muscle with you for a
change.”

This brought a
guffaw from the old warrior who stepped forward and thumped Spartan
on the shoulder.

“
It’s been a long
time, Spartan. These are my brothers, hunters from Hyperion and all
itching to taste some combat.”

“
Jötnar without
combat experience?” asked Jack, finally stepping forward to examine
them. Compared to their great hulk, he looked like a schoolchild,
but each of them was well aware of his background and experience.
All Jötnar knew the good reputation of Spartan and his family,
especially his exploits in fighting for them and for their
protection. Without Spartan and Teresa in their corner, there was a
good chance the Jötnar would no longer exist as a race.

“
Trust me, they’ve
got the experience but only on Hyperion. They want to taste
off-world blood.”

Spartan grinned and indicated forward
with his hand.

“The briefing room?”

Khan nodded with a
grin and
turned to his
comrades.

“
You see.
Spartan is all action. On the ship for less than
thirty seconds, and he wants to know the mission. I told you this
was the place for you. Give it a week, and I promise you, each will
have a belt of kills.”

They walked down the
corridor
, and Spartan noticed Jack was
grinning from ear to ear. He leaned over just enough so that nobody
else could hear him.

“Careful at the briefing, these things
tend to get political and fast, especially with the Jötnar on
board.”

Jack nodded and said
no
more. The corridor was longer than he
would have expected and much lower. Whether this was down to the
ship’s new design, he couldn’t tell. The gravity generators were
technology he still didn’t fully understand. Khan moved to his left
so that the two men and the Jötnar were walking three abreast. It
left no room for anybody else, and the small number of naval
personnel in the same part of the ship was forced to move to the
extremes to avoid being bumped into.

“Spartan, is it true about this place?”
asked Khan.

“What do you mean?”

Khan grinned, but
his oversized head and muscled neck made it look more like he was
growling at him.

“Gun told me before we left that
artefacts had been found out here. That maybe Orion isn’t the
wasteland the press have been announcing.”

“Did he now? Seems Gun is getting more
information than any of us!”

They approached the
double door that led into the briefing room. Two marine guards
nodded rather than saluted, and the doors hissed open at their
arrival.

“
Go
in,
” said the first marine.

The three stepped
inside, but
the marines blocked access to
the rest of the Jötnar. Khan turned back, blocking the doorway with
his vast bulk.

“What’s going on here?” he
demanded.

“
Orders. Only
command staff or APS executives are allowed in the briefing room,”
said the marine without even a hint of emotion to his voice. Khan
exhaled and prepared to start shouting, but Spartan
intervened.

“
We’re here at the
request
of the General. Now let them in,”
he said firmly.

The marine guard
looked at Spartan and moved his eyes back to his front. Khan looked
to the marine and then to Spartan. His look took him right back to
their many violent escapades, and Spartan new immediately that Khan
meant business.

“
Your temper hasn’t
calmed with time, has it?” he said humourlessly.

As Khan reached for
the marine, he was sure he could see a grin on his face. Rather
than leave his friend at the risk of being shot, he jumped forward
and at the second marine. Jack stood there silently, dumbfounded by
the speed and violence from the two of them.

Way to
go, F
ather. Get us all kicked
of the ship in the first ten minutes!
He
thought with a mixture of humour and pride.

Like all racial units throughout
history, the Jötnar encountered racism, abuse and discrimination
from the first days of their use in war. Their track record during
the Uprising was exemplary, and many were killed in the fighting on
multiple fronts. Not one Jötnar unit was ever recorded as having
refused orders or ever breaking or retreating under fire. Their
steadfast nature, coupled with unswerving loyalty to the
Confederacy, only worsened the blow when the Alliance disbanded all
ground forces other than reserves or regular Marine Corps troops.
Overnight, the 1st Jötnar Battalion was relegated to nothing more
than a training unit for part-time warriors and was disbanded
within a month. This lack of foresight would be dearly felt when
they would be needed once more following the Orion
Incident.

The 1st Jötnar Battalion

From inside the briefing room, business
was put on pause as the sound of a struggle took precedence. It was
short, but noisy, and resulted in a number of the marine officers
standing from their seats and moving to the entrance. None were
armed with more than military issue sidearms, but they were all
clear that the General was on board. Apart from being of senior
rank, he was also one of the most highly decorated and experienced
officers of the last quarter of a century. The door burst open, and
Spartan and Khan entered the briefing room, followed by the five
Jötnar.

“Apologies
,
”
s
aid Khan, “
w
e
were delayed by security.”

Jack grinned at his father
,
who nursed a bruised cheek
,
as he moved up to his son. Khan
,
on the other hand
,
seemed to have avoided taking even a scratch and was holding the
weapon carried by one of the marines from outside. The room was of
modest size and mainly taken up with seating that faced a raise
platform. General Rivers turned from speaking with the ship’s XO
and CAG who both stood to the side of the raised section. A dozen
other marine officers and naval crew waited patiently for their
briefing to continue.