Star Crusades Nexus: Book 05 - Prophecy of Fire (29 page)

The man saluted and stepped back to let the double airlock system lock down safely. The mounts holding the craft in place groaned and then moved it into position over the exit hatch that was barely larger than the Mauler.

“Twenty seconds,” said the computerized voice.

General Daniels could see the doors in the hangar close shut, blocking off his view of the other crew and marines. He felt oddly lonely as he and the other three marines waited inside the Mauler for the start of the operation. The craft began to shake, and the small side windows flashed yellow, white, and red.

Here goes nothing!

There was no sound as the clamps detached, just the massive force as the deployment jets blasted the Mauler from the bay and into its vertical descent to the surface of Eos. From inside the craft, General Daniels could see nothing but flames as they plummeted down through the atmosphere at incredible speeds. If this had been Terra Nova or Hyperion, the Mauler would have instantly disintegrated. Luckily, the thinner atmosphere reduced its impact on the hull, but it was still a very close run thing.

* * *

The Biomech warriors had smashed the defenses in seconds, and now every part of the quadrant was being overrun. The dulled iron warriors pitted their weapons against the bayonets and carbines of the marines, and as each minute past, their victory became clearer.

“Back to the vehicles!” shouted out Callahan.

He was already moving by the time Jack and the others chased after him. The vehicle pool might have less cover, but it was also the part of the base containing fewer of the enemy warriors. Instead of fighting as a single bloc, the marines had been split up into dozens of small groups, each fighting a miniature battle until casualties and lack of ammunition forced their defeat. Jack made it to the nearest Bulldog in time to see a rocket rush overhead from one of the Biomech war machines and strike the crew section. The impact rolled the Bulldog to its side and sent him plus three others flying through the air. For the briefest of moments, he thought he might never come back to the ground, but he did, and the impact almost knocked him unconscious as he crashed down onto his back. Incredibly, the reinforced spinal ribbing absorbed the crash and spread the impact away from the fragile parts of the body.

“Look! They’re sending in more warriors,” called out a marine, two seconds before a pair of Canners put a dozen rounds into her chest and waist. The poor woman fell down screaming from the oozing wounds until a third stepped in and took her head clean off with a cut of its scythed arms. Jack pulled out his pistol and rolled to his right to get a clean shot before spotting the two warriors pinning Riku to the floor. He almost panicked, but his training kicked in. The drills they’d practiced time after time saved her life as he put two rounds into each of their skulls before checking for signs of more.

“Riku! Are you hurt?”

He lifted himself to one knee, but Jenkell had already beaten him to her. She grabbed the fallen marine’s arm and dragged her back to the side of the smashed Bulldog. Small groups of marines moved about nearby as they looked for anywhere to make their last stand. Jack lifted his pistol and took aim, but the sight of the sea of Biomech warriors disheartened him. He could see them everywhere, and black plumes of smoke had now completely blotted out the background.

This is how it all ends, then.

For a second, he contemplated using the pistol to shoot himself rather than suffer the assault of the creatures. He just couldn’t bring himself to lift the pistol though, and instead emptied it at the nearest two enemies. As soon as the last round fired, he flipped the catch so that the magazine slipped out and slammed in one of his last few clips. A bright yellow flash erupted to the left where the Khreenk warrior had vanished and quickly spread along the entire length of the broken wall.

“Keep down!” he shouted.

The explosion continued to spread and then smaller flashes rippled closer inside. Black shapes emerged through the darkness and then moved into the compound.

Great, like they need more to finish us off.

There was something wrong though. He took aim at the new arrivals and almost fired when he spotted the hooded shapes.

Just like the Khreenk.

His finger was half pulled on the trigger when the nearest group opened fire with thermal carbines and rifles. The blasts tore holes into the bodies of the Biomech warriors and quickly shattered their flank. Jack was sure he could see nearly thirty of these warriors, but they moved quickly and rather than hold back, they rushed into the fray, hacking at the warriors with curved blades. They fired their carbines from the hip and then just as quickly as they had arrived, the entire lot were hacking, stabbing and shooting. Without thinking, Jack sent an open-channel flash message to all the nearby units.

“Khreenk troops have broken through the wall. Do not fire upon them!”

He raised his pistol and fired, but dozens more of the warriors continued forward, many being spurred on to attack so that they might avoid the flanking attack coming from the Khreenk. One of the warriors lifted up and flew overhead, revealing Gun and his bodyguard. They barged through the enemy and directly toward Jack and his comrades like a charging herd of rhino. Any that blocked their path was shot down and smashed with edged weapons.

This is our chance. It has to be!

Jack grabbed Riku and pointed at the remaining Bulldogs.

“We need to get out of here, come on!”

Gun slid next to the wrecked Bulldog and spun around to unleash a burst of fire from the weapon mount on his shoulder. His guards pulled up alongside him and did the same. Gun cut down two more before barking out his orders over the communication network.

“General Daniels is bringing a relief force down. Everybody fall back to the vehicle pool.”

Jack assumed that meant they were all to use the armored vehicles, but as he stepped to the open door of the nearest working vehicle, a hand grabbed him. He looked around to see the shape of Lieutenant Elvidge with the robed Khreenk warrior helping him to cover.

“Private, a little unexpected don’t you think?” said the officer.

Jack sensed the man was a little light-headed, and he could only think it must be the drugs. The Khreenk warrior made almost no sound as he moved, and a group of his comrades, each similarly dressed, moved in behind them. Biomech warriors tried to pursue, but the combined fire of the final remaining marines plus the dozen or so Khreenk mercenaries halted the attack, even for just a few seconds. The Lieutenant threw his carbine to Jack who caught it with one hand. He automatically looked down at the ammunition marker.

Full, about damned time!

Gun lifted himself atop of the damaged Bulldog, exposing himself to gunfire but also allowing all the surviving Alliance personnel to see him.

“Whatever ammunition you have left, use it. Help is coming!”

He pointed up to the sky, and on cue a dozen objects appeared, each wreathed in flame and smoke. They looked little different to those of the Biomech landers, but Jack had faith in Gun. He checked that Callahan, Jenkell, and Riku were safe behind the shattered Bulldog and then turned his attention to the rest of the ruined base. His best guess was that there must be close to a thousand of the enemy inside the walls. On top of that, there were three of the massive war machines at the northern wall. He didn’t even want to think about the large numbers outside the base. To his left, multiple platoons of marines fell back to the top of the vehicle pool. Some lay down in the open to present the smallest target while others crouched behind damaged vehicles.

This is going to be close.

He looked to his right where the shattered wrecks of at least a dozen Bulldogs marked their flank. A similar number of marines had dug, in along with at least two Vanguards plus Gun’s personal guard unit.

“Jack, in front of you!” shouted Riku.

He twisted a few centimeters and took aim with his carbine. In front of them, a small group of nine of the warriors with the blades for arms clambered toward them. Their gait looked even more alien, due to the slightly lower gravity than normal. He aimed at the center of the formation and squeezed the trigger. One fell down howling, and another dropped down on one knee.

“Kill them all!” ordered Gun.

The mighty warrior simply pointed his arms at the enemy while his shoulder-mounted gun tore chunks out of the group. More rockets whooshed overhead and landed around the marines. The shots were wildly inaccurate, but at least two marines succumbed to the blasts.

“Here they come!” said somebody to the right.

But there was no time to look, as six large Marine Corps Maulers swept down over the overrun base. The multiple turrets on the craft sent a torrent of fire to the ground, instantly shredding any Biomechs that came too close. One took three rockets to the flank and rather than landing, it continued overhead and crashed a kilometer outside the base in a bright orange fireball. The other five came down hard around the vehicle pool, one even lowering itself down onto one of the damaged barrack buildings, using its engines to stay upright. Its doors flew open, and small groups of marines stepped out to add their own gunfire to the battle. One man in particular stood out amongst them all in his tiger striped armor.

“General!” howled Gun, delighted at the sight of his friend and rescuer.

“Which General?” asked Callahan.

Jack grabbed him by the shoulder.

“Are you kidding? Let’s get out of here.”

They leapt from their position even as projectiles crashed about them. Riku was fastest. As they moved closer, they ran into dozens more fireteams emerging from scores of hiding places throughout the base. More Maulers and Hammerhead gunships whooshed down; some landing to extract the survivors, the rest providing support. A flight of Hammerheads loosed a missile barrage that vaporized one of the war machines, and their turrets shredded any Biomechs in sight.

Move it, faster!

Jack ran as fast as his legs could carry him. The low gravity made it awkward, and he stumbled twice before finally reaching the ramp leading up into the Mauler. The General waited at the bottom of the ramp, waving the marines in. Unlike the Hammerheads and shuttles used in the past, the Mauler was massive. Jack had heard tales of the craft being used to deliver entire combat companies into action, along with support units. He was a little dubious about that, but on this occasion, not one of them worried about numbers. One by one, they streamed inside, and as he ran up the ramp and past the General, he tapped him on the shoulder.

“Thank you, Sir!”

Inside were scores of marines busily pulling down the clamps and harnesses to secure them inside the craft. It was now two thirds full when Gun and his guard move through the entrance. The General followed close behind and then two Vanguards, their armor punctured and torn in a hundred places. General Daniels slammed his fist into a red pulsing button, and the hatches slammed shut.

“We’re clear. Go, go, go!”

The pilots were evidently waiting for his order because the craft shook by the time the General had shouted go for a third time. Jack could just about make out the fires and smoke through the tiny windows as they lifted up and away from the Fort. His tactical overlay on his visor showed dozens more craft circling around the base, but it was the great masses of red around the fortress that astounded him.

General Daniels had fitted the clamp around his body and was busy watching two large screens on the wall nearest the pilots. They showed both an aerial view of the battlefield and a collage of camera feeds from those still on the ground. Craft were everywhere, and Jack could only imagine how many they would be forced to leave behind.

The Khreenk!

He tried to stand, up but the clamps held him firm.

“General!”

The man turned to glance at him.

“Son, I’m a little busy.”

“The Khreenk, Sir. They helped with that last attack.”

The General nodded, turning back to his screen.

“Private, don’t worry about it. They are in a holding area on the third Mauler. We have bigger things to concern ourselves with.”

Jack looked to his right where Gun stood up, clamped into position like the Vanguards along the sides of the craft. With his armor, he could never fit into the seating clamps used by the regular marines. He flipped open his armored visor to grin. Jack could see blood running down from a wound to his head, not that Gun seemed to care.