Operation Hellfire (13 page)

Valentine is inside, and the Lieutenant, and Prince Kratha!

Nate had almost forgotten he carried the last member of the Byotai military inside the Mauler, and that single realisation sent a shiver through his body. He knew he could fly the Mauler, and so did everybody else. Now he felt doubt at his role, and whether he really was the right one to do this. He was a kid, and he had no real place being in such an important position. He glanced at Billy who was busy adjusting power levels.

"Can we do this?"

Billy's brow tightened, and he looked confused.

"Are you kidding? Age means nothing out here. We have the skills, experience, and reflexes to do it. And in any case...the Prince personally asked for us. That's gotta mean something!"

The intercom clicked, and they looked to the status indicator. It showed a detailed exterior model of the Mauler, along with all the various clamps, cables, and feeds connected to the spacecraft. All were now fully detached, and the Mauler was operating under its own power.

"Understood, Mongoose. Prepare to launch in ten. Fighters from Thunder Squadron will escort you in. Knighthawks remain on standby."

The launch light counted down, and as soon as they were green, the automated launch system ejected them from the ship. The high power electromagnetic sled threw them out into space. Seconds after the airlocks hissed shut, the Mauler's powerful engines activated. ANS Mongoose was no sleek fighter. It was a brutal lump of metal, flanked by engines at each corner and covered with thick armour plating and multiple turreted weapon systems. The engines pulsed with energy, and then they arced away from the carrier and towards the station.

"This is ANS Mongoose. Commencing station approach."

"Understood, Mongoose. We're forming up on your wing."

Nate looked to the right. A pair of fighters moved into formation on their flank. Another pair did the same to the left, while the remaining fighters kept well ahead to clear a path to the station. Byotai fighters broke formation to attack, but already the experienced pilots of Corsair Squadron were chasing after them, filling every direction with the flash of guns and streaks of flame from their missiles. It was almost beautiful, except that a single stray round or missile could cripple the Mauler and send all of them to their deaths.

"Ensign Lewis, stay behind Thunder Squadron. We're clearing you a path."

It was the voice of Lieutenant Commander Holder, and Nate couldn't help but admire the stern control in her voice.

Man, she is such a pro.

Four of the unusual Byotai fighters cut across their path, and behind them came three Lightning fighters. They blasted away and quickly knocked out two, leaving the third trailing fuel. As the Alliance fighters pulled back, the remaining enemy craft was torn apart by gunfire from the destroyers.

"This is wild," said Billy.

Nate tried to look at his friend, but the flicker of light from the station made him instinctively tug on the controls. A pair of high-energy slugs screamed past, and one even managed to scrape along the upper hull before vanishing off into space.

"Ouch, that was a close one."

This time Nate could see his friend, and Billy's face seemed to have lost almost all its colour. For a second he thought Billy might have been hit, but when he turned back to his gunnery controls, it was clearly shock.

"That shot...it should have killed us..."

He voice was slow, slightly numbed by nerves.

"I know, Billy. And that's why Kratha and the others chose us. We have the reflexes for this."

He tried to reassure Billy with a smile.

"So let's get down there fast. The quicker we're away from the guns, the better."

"What about those fighters?"

Nate shrugged.

"Activate the turrets and knock them down. You know the drill."

"Hell, yeah, I'm on it."

Billy took his mind off the mission for a while, and instead set about tagging and tracking any of the nearby enemy fighters. As they moved nearer to the station, a handful tried to move close. The concentrated fire from the destroyers made that almost impossible, and any that risked it and made it through, quickly succumbed to Billy's carefully gunnery; or from the missiles and gunfire from the small unit of Thunder Squadron fighters nearby. Nate boosted the engines and circled around the station onto the pre-planned flight path. At this angle and speed, the single turret found it impossible to track him, especially as he veered between gantries and pylons.

"Mongoose, you’re landing on lower landing platform F. Get through the outer hull and fast. Time is short."

"Sir."

Nate pushed the nose down and dropped to the lower parts of the station, well below the series of six large landing platforms. Each was designed to handle a pair of ships, one above and one below the platform. As they moved down, Nate saw the damage to the civilian warship. From further away it looked as though most of the damage had come from a collision, possibly with the station itself. Now he could see massive lance points where heavy guns had penetrated deep inside the armour.

"That was no accident, Billy."

His friend brought up detailed, high resolution scans as they continued on past the vast vessel. Most of the images were of puncture wounds, but at least one showed a large jagged tear that could only have been created by a heavy volley of guns. Nate shook his head as he activated the internal intercom system.

"We'll be on the ground in sixty seconds. Are you ready?"

The answer from Lieutenant Heiskell was fast and direct.

"Just put us on the ground. My marines do not like being stuck in here with all that’s going on outside. Put us down so we can do our job. Trust me, Son. We're ready."

Nate pushed the engines and brought the spacecraft around in a lazy circle. It was a carefully arranged landing pattern that would allow them to reach the internal platform F in the shortest possible time. They moved past pylons and a heavily damaged rigging system that now hung loosely from the outer hull.

"Here goes nothing," said Nate.

Billy chuckled, instantly remembering it was a line from one of the old movies the pilots had all watched recently. Even as he smiled, he kept his eyes on his on targeting equipment and continued to rotate the turrets back and forth. The Mauler might be tough, but all it would take to put an end to the Prince's fight for his throne was one well-placed missile or gunshot.

"Watch it. You've got debris on the way inside."

Nate's eyes narrowed as he looked for the tagged objects.

"Got it."

A section of torn metal hung from a pillar and partially blocked the entrance to the interior pad. A shimmer of energy showed exactly where the shielded airlock entrance lay. With a few subtle adjustments, he brought them through the barrier and into the facility. Warning indicators marked where the gravitational pull increased, as was common aboard modern Alliance facilities. By the time he was fully through, the pull had increased to almost a quarter normal Earth gravity. As the pull increased, so did the need to rotate the engines and use their power to compensate.

"This is Mongoose. We're inside the facility, and I am heading for the LZ."

Nate tapped the controls ever so slightly so that he could shift their course a little further to the left. Under normal circumstances this part of the station looked like it should have been fully cleared, but now there was a myriad of obstructions, from broken gantries through to pipes and cables.

"Understood, Mongoose. Put your cargo down and await further instructions."

"Yes, Sir."

"There," said Billy.

Ahead and slightly below their current position was a raised platform surrounded by blinking red lights. A metal platform extended from one side and vanished inside another shimmering energy field.

"Right, this is it. Get ready."

Billy hit a toggle switch and activated the bank of forward facing lamps. These units were large, and their combined power sent out a powerful beam that penetrated the gloom as it glinted off the dust drifting about.

"That's not good," said Billy.

Nate swung the nose of the Mauler around and spotted the problem. At the far end of the platform was an arched entrance, big enough to drive a wheeled Bulldog APC through. Waiting in the middle of the structure were four armoured warriors, and two of them were moving out a tracked weapon system.

"Alert, alert!" cried the threat indicator.

"I see it," said Nate.

With so little space, all he could do was rock the spacecraft to avoid what was coming.

"We've got hostiles. Hold on."

With that short warning, he gave Billy the nod.

"Drop 'em."

Billy hesitated, and at that moment the gun platform opened fire. Hardened thermal bolts flashed through the dark interior, each glowing a pulsing mixture of white and orange that betrayed the projectiles’ heat.

"Now!"

The first two would have hit the nose of the spacecraft had the interceptor systems not been active. The automated defences fitted above the cockpit launched a pair of fist-sized warheads that exploded a short distance in front of them. The blast of debris deflected most of the kinetic energy of the thermal bolts. One missed and vanished off into the distance, the second embedded in the thick chin armour of the Mauler. Nate looked to his friend and then pointed ahead.

"Do it!"

Billy panted as he concentrated the guns of the front turrets on the target. One squeeze of the trigger was all it took for them to unleash a deadly burst of slugs at the soldiers. One was struck multiple times, and the weapon platform exploded almost immediately. By the time he stopped shooting, the archway was riddled with bullet holes.

"Where did they go?" Billy asked.

Nate sighed while he moved them closer to the platform.

"Lieutenant, putting you down in sixty seconds. You have hostile infantry inside. Fully armoured, looks like Byotai assault amour."

Alliance Mauler 'ANS Mongoose', Eighth Quadrant Fleet Reserve Base

22 December 2472

Private Valentine kept her visor open for a second longer and inhaled the last few breaths of cool air. The Mauler was fully sealed, but in the next few seconds, there was always the chance the craft would be depressurised inside the facility. The journey to the station had been relatively peaceful, with just the Lieutenant reminding them of their role in the mission. It was relatively simple, but like any mission, plenty of things could go wrong. For a moment she'd looked at the overview map on her visor. It showed the dispersal of ships in the System, with the coalition of vessels including those of the mysterious T'Kari and the Helion now involved.

I wonder how we're doing out there?

Being stuck inside the spacecraft left her feeling detached from the rest of the battle. Right now there were twelve Alliance ships, plus those from Helios and T'Kari in the Ararrh System. The battle was raging, and yet her only influence on the mission would be once they landed. At that very moment, the Mauler shuddered violently and she gasped.

"Brace yourselves!" said Sergeant Nál, "We're inside the facility."

The vibration continued for several seconds until finally subsiding. It wasn't the strange feeling that normally followed the firing of guns. This was actually something they were all very familiar with.

The guns.

Valentine actually smiled to herself, realising what had happened. Her mind had been playing tricks, and the shaking of the Mauler had instantly made her nervous. The Mauler was very heavily armoured, and like all Alliance spacecraft could deliver quite a bite when it needed to. Though capable of carrying a variety of external ordnance, the multiple motorised gun turrets did the real work. These weapons were powerful enough to clear landing ground of infantry, and to even disable or destroy any fighters that strayed too close. The Sergeant looked to the other marines and grinned. Unlike the other marines, when she grinned her mouth opened twice as wide and showed off her strong jaw muscles and oversized teeth.

"That's what happens when anybody gets in the way of our guns. Looks like we have enemy ground troops ahead, and they have been suppressed."

She nodded as she spoke.

"We've got good pilots in here. They hit the defenders before they could spring their ambush. Now, be ready. We land soon, and we need to make sure their job hasn't been wasted. Understood?"

"Yes, Sergeant!"

The chorus of voices filled Private Valentine with pride. They were a tough unit, experienced by recent events and eager to get their boots on the ground. There was little worse for a Marine than the waiting, and every second they remained inside the Mauler, the greater the risk to them from ground fire.

Come on. Let's do this!

Private Valentine licked her lips with anticipation. Each marine had an allocated job, and hers had been to join the rest of the squad in the most risky part of the operation. They would take Prince Kratha to the heart of the station where the communication beacon was located. Her task in particular was simple enough, and the voice of the Lieutenant repeated itself over and over.

Protect the Prince. If he dies, so does this entire campaign.

That was all he'd said to her, and as she recalled the words, she found them bouncing inside her head. No matter how hard she tried, his voice stayed there. Valentine was not quite sure why they so desperately needed to reach the communications beacon, as that part of the mission was on a need to know basis.

And as usual, a private like me doesn't need to know.

She sighed with irritation, and then as she thought of the location, a small schematic of the station popped up. It was only partially complete and showed the route to the communication centre and Cortex controller right at the heart of the facility. The final destination was a series of raised platforms at the top of a huge open tunnel that ran vertically to the top of the station.

It's not going to be easy to reach that, especially if this place has been boarded.

She looked to her left and looking back at her was Private Jackie Evans, one of the replacements that had come over in the last week. Of a similar age to Valentine, the two had hit it off in minutes. Evans was marginally taller than her, and her head was shaved bare, giving her a menacing look that matched her muscular, yet slight frame. For all her machismo, her personality was calm to the point of worrying.

"Did you talk to the pilot?"

Valentine lifted an eyebrow.

"Pilot?"

Private Evans grinned.

"You know who I mean. The one with the crush on you."

Valentine might have blushed, had it not been for the increasingly cool atmosphere inside the Mauler. They shared a look, and then she looked away, still having said nothing more.

"Yeah, I thought so."

Private Evans laughed quietly.

"From what I've seen, you should move fast."

The Mauler shuddered slightly as it rolled into position. There was no way to see outside the armoured hull of the spacecraft as it was sealed and protected in all directions. If needed, each marine in the Mauler could access the external cameras and see what was happening outside.

"Hold on, I want to see this."

Private Evans smiled as she watched her friend.

"Subtle topic change."

Private Valentine looked at the station as they moved inside. This wasn't the first orbital platform they'd landed on, but it was the only one already in the middle of some kind of military action. As they passed the outer hull, she spotted the broken wreckage of a civilian shuttle lying on the ground. The internal speakers caught her attention.

"Twenty seconds, moving into the stations gravity-well...now."

Valentine looked back at her friend and then activated her visor. Both did the same thing almost immediately, but that still wasn't enough to stop Jackie from talking.

"He does sound handsome, and a pilot at seventeen. Impressive. And when are you twenty-one?"

Private Valentine shook her head and sighed.

"Not now, Jackie. Keep on the mission."

Jackie chuckled to herself and moved back to checking her internal systems. Just as Valentine thought she’d finished, the young Private fired one last shot across her bow.

"Just don't wait too long, Martina. There are others waiting to act. Hell, maybe I'll think about it."

Once more the spacecraft shuddered, and this time it was much more obvious. The pull from the centre of the station reacted strongly with the force from the now downward facing engines. It was an odd mixture of forces, and instantly made Valentine feel a little nauseous.

Here we go again.

Even with this major set of forces pulling at them neither moved. The magnetic clamps and harnesses were designed in such a way that even a collision would be insufficient to unseat them. Valentine looked over to the others and instantly felt calmer. Opposite her was a single fireteam of marines. They wore the same PDS Alpha armour that she did and either an L52 carbine or L48 rifle attached to the magnetic sling points on their armour. They were all combat veterans now and keen to get stuck into the mission. Lieutenant Heiskell spoke, and his voice broke the relative silence in the spacecraft.

"Okay, marines, scanners show the station is still powered up, with ninety percent Earth nominal gravity and a breathable atmosphere. We've got multiple targets, at least thirty moving in around the LZ. Be ready."

He activated his visor, and in a fraction of a second, his stern face vanished behind a dulled layer of armour.

"We hit the ground in thirty seconds. Seal your suits."

A clatter of metal reverberated inside as the marines sealed their armour. There was rubberised breathing apparatus inside the helmets that would allow them to breathe even if the suit's armour was compromised. The dark interior of the cavernous spacecraft was lit by a series of strip lights. The warriors waited patiently for the start of their operation. As well as the full platoon of marines, there was also a small unit of three Vanguards waiting inside their massive harness clamps. These walking combat suits were large affairs, designed to provide the armour and firepower that the marines often lacked.

Lieutenant Heiskell looked to each of them and then stopped at the armoured shape of the two Byotai officers. Compared to the marines, the Byotai appeared twice as bulky, yet still around the same height as the marines. They looked far more menacing, and the Lieutenant suspected they knew it. Though only slightly bigger than the average human, the Byotai had moved in the opposite direction when it came to body armour. The marines made use of close-fitting PDS armour, but the Byotai went for bulk and protection over mobility. Beside them were four more of their kin, wearing the same protective gear and carrying Byotai firearms at their sides. They carried the bloody iconography chosen by Kratha for his personal retinue. It was a single bloodied knife, dripping blood.

"You guys are looking absolutely bad ass!" said Private Jackson.

"Watch your mouth, Private," snapped Sergeant Nál.

Jackson went silent, not even daring to open his mouth after that short dressing down by the Sergeant. Nobody messed with Nál, not unless they liked trouble. Private Valentine smiled to herself as she watched the Sergeant continue barking orders to the rest of the platoon. Prince Kratha meanwhile began to laugh, and soon his voice was filling the interior. Some of the marines chuckled, quickly forcing themselves to stop before suffering the wrath of Sergeant Nál.

Prince Kratha spoke directly to the marines via his encrypted communication system. Interoperability was something already being worked on with the Byotai before their crisis, but at least for now the sharing of equipment standards was bearing fruit.

"My kin are holding a ring perimeter on the middle two floors. We must make contact, and quickly."

Lieutenant Heiskell pointed to the side doors of the Mauler.

"Get ready! Vanguards will deploy first, then we will enter by squads. Are you ready?"

"Yes, Sir!"

"Very well. Keep this clean and watch your positions. Make me proud!"

Next came the last moment, that period of silence where each marine remained motionless, waiting patiently for the landing to be completed. The Mauler performed a quick, partial rotation to check the landing area was clear. The pad itself was attached to the top of a tall tower, with only a single width gangway leading from it to the arched entrance. A handful of bodies marked where the Mauler had cleared a path, and the shattered remains of the gun platform still smoked where it had been destroyed.

A massive cloud of dust filled the area as the engines released one last burst of power. It was just enough to cushion their landing on the hard metal surface. Then the metal skids made contact, the piston legs compressing under the spacecraft's own weight. Little happened inside until finally the spacecraft began to settle on the surface. Every one of the passengers shuddered, and then they were still, as though they'd never even left. Red warning lights blinked inside the Mauler. Lieutenant Heiskell detached his clamps and moved to the nearest side door.

"Okay, marines. Let's go!"

He slammed his armoured fist against the panel, and the door dropped down like a boarding plank. The motorised Vanguards were out first, and behind them the marines. The armour made whining sounds as they stomped ahead, the great lumps of metal leaving a dull thud with each step. The marines inside were well protected, but they were also very exposed as they moved in first. Private Valentine left with the first group and moved quickly to get away from the Mauler. She put one foot in front of the other and then joined the rest of her fireteam off to the right. A single Vanguard moved ahead of them, the marines keeping their heads down and weapons raised.

This is it,
Private Valentine thought.

The landing platform narrowed as it moved to the boom extension leading to the station and the large arched entrance. Small platforms fanned out to each side, stopping at a series of smaller doorways, each blocked by a hexagonal airlock. Flashes of light marked the positions of the enemy as they attempted to hold the main entrance into the facility. As the marines advanced, they took care to watch their flanks, ever wary that the airlocks could open at any moment.

"Hostiles ahead. Advance!" Sergeant Nál ordered.

They moved out so fast that Private Valentine didn't notice that a single fireteam had stayed behind, along with General Honorius. A scattering of gunfire struck nearby, and numerous shots glanced off the Vanguards. Nothing stopped their progress, and they marched on as though it were little more than rain.

"Covering fire!"

The marines split apart into small units and took aim. There were few enemies ahead, but they were dug in and doing their best to stop them getting inside. Valentine lifted her carbine and took aim. The weapon was already set to standard automatic mode, and as she pulled the trigger, the triple barrels released their magnetised slugs. The coilguns were devastatingly powerful, and by cycling through the barrels the weapon could sustain an incredible high rate of fire, simultaneously keeping the barrels cooler.