Who might that be? “Para! You need to find better cover.”
Para tends to be less cautious when she’s inverted. “Oh. Sorry. How about here?”
Alexi is delighted. “Is good. PBW is hot!”
Crud! My first time near one of those. For a second, I thought the PBW bolt hit me. It’s like a bolt of lightning struck nearby. I guess it did, kind of. Loud, bright, my hair practically stood on end.
Now what’s all the yelling about?
Fierce is in emergency mode. “Clear the room! Run! We’re about to get fried!”
Good call. It was probably faster to run for it than try to gather for an emergency port, scattered as we were. I tripped on a bug and barely made it out before... a tremendous roar and waves of heat persuaded me to roll a couple of more times to my left as heat streamed from the throne room.
Tee is on comms. “White Knight! White Queen is running by fusion ship, this palace location.”
WHITE KNIGHT: “Copy, Colonel. Uhhh, Mr. Undersecretary. Sir. Uhhh, we’re monitoring the launch. Three nest ships have launched to aid her escape. Stand by.”
The throne room is a smoking mess. Charred yellow blood and gore is not any more appealing than fresh. The smell of burnt protein... bug shell. Where’s my stupid rebreather? Ughhh.
Time to find a quiet corner and find out how things are going on Kreahaam-In. But my stupid Ivees aren’t working. Oh, yeah, I forgot the EMP block.
Here are some general notes. I know Battlestar PBWs are not effective space to ground. Upper atmosphere is okay. IMRail has limitations as well. The Fortress has energetic shielding with teleportation screening. Of course. What’s this? Four separate gun platforms have surfaced. Very high output. League ships have moved out of the line of fire. Troop transports have entered a holding pattern in geosync orbit, on the other side of the planet, though some troops are porting to assembly areas near the Fortress.
But what’s happening right now? How did Fierce capture the Wonderland Display?
Here’s Fierce now, holding out a cup of gojo. “Hi, Cuz. Trying to take a nap?”
“Yup. I’m sitting in a puddle of bug gore, just chillin. Sorry. Apparently, I’m a little frustrated. Can’t find the Wonderland Display setting.”
“Here. I’ll send a link.”
“Thanks. I did find some general notes. They’re throwing hypes at the Fortress. Easy targets. Nothing is getting through.
“They’ll launch a C3.”
“Same outcome. Fortress defensive fire will just shoot them down. And we need them for Cygnus Prime. Oh, here’s the status report.”
“Just a sec. Let’s engage a cloud in case there’s some action.”
“Okay. Use yours, though. Only half of my cloud made it back to the scatterbox last time I engaged.”
** WONDERLAND REPORTING. Wonderland Current Status Report.
HUMPTY FORTRESS. Secure or destroy Empire Fortress on Kreahaam-In.
DISPLAY.
A dozen hypervelocity missiles with heat shielding streak into the atmosphere, only to be destroyed by Fortress defensive fire. That is the fourth unsuccessful volley.
Interact Grid Engaged.
Query. Are there other offensive operations under consideration?
Answer. SSC3 in atmosphere launch under consideration. Tactical Delta Sigma order under review.
Query. What is a Tactical Delta Sigma Order?
Answer. The answer is not available.
End Interact Grid. Resume Display.
WHITE KNIGHT: Wonderland Command, this is White Knight, Kreahaam-In Operation, checking status for action-on request for SSC3 launch in atmosphere.
WONDERLAND COMMAND: Copy White Knight, and good timing. Viper Command has cleared use of SSC3 missile in atmosphere. Delta Sigma Command. DO NOT engage Growler tuning. Repeat, do not engage Growler tuning. Standard warp configuration only. Initiate Delta Sigma Alpha. Acknowledge.
WHITE KNIGHT: Roger Wonderland. SSC3 missile action is go. Standard warp configuration. *BREAK*
This is a general broadcast. Listen up for Delta Sigma command to launch SSC3 in atmosphere. Standard warp configuration. No Growler tuning. Tactical command is Delta Sigma Alpha. Proceed.
DISPLAY.
The two schools of Sharks that have been accelerating to kinetic kill velocities are shown streaming in from opposite vectors, merging, and pushing into the atmosphere above the Empire fortress. Defensive guns begin firing, though the missiles are already burning from the friction of entry. HOLD. TECHNICAL DIFFICULTY.
WHITE KNIGHT: I’ve... it’s like Kreahaam’s sun has landed on the Fortress. Dave, get me a troop status from the launch site. I want to hear directly from Humpty Offensive.
This is White Knight, reporting on SSC3 strike to Fortress on Kreahaam-In. A direct hit has been confirmed. There is extensive damage to the fortress. At least 50% of the facility has collapsed. There are multiple fires. Secondary explosions. Per Solar League regulations a documentation record began at launch for warp field in-atmosphere review, 24-hour atmospheric scan initiated at 14:02:36 hours. Coordinates have been entered, ongoing analysis of atmospheric anomalies and ozone layer damage is under way. Moving on.
Fortress shielding is down. GPR shows and extensive tunnel system under Fortress.
Troops, be advised, it appears Humpty Fortress is being evacuated.
Alert! A section of the Fortress tunnel system leads directly to Red Queen Palace. Numerous thermal signatures detected in tunnels. Some are moving toward Red Queen palace. There is extensive activity. The imaging is not clear.
*Humpty Offensive: This is Humpty Planet-side. No casualties on our side. The C3 effects were... more than expected. It’s hot down here. Radiation levels are tolerable. We have secured exterior of fortress. Transports have landed to reinforce our positions. We are holding and digging in. Shall we commence sorties inside fortress?
WHITE KNIGHT: Copy, Humpty Offensive. Stand by for Wonderland Command.
WONDERLAND COMMAND: Humpty Offensive, glad to hear your good report. Down to business.
Negative on sorties at this time. Stability of the structure is uncertain. We have fading thermal images confirming EKIA is high. Remaining hostiles are fleeing the fortress in underground tunnels, mostly to east and west. Some are heading west toward the Red Queen Palace.
To follow, are two directives.
Directive One. When all your troops arrive, divide your battalion, half to box-in the Fortress. Watch for tunnel openings beyond your perimeter. Addition to directive. Recon Squad Delta is east of your position. Allot four platoons to rendezvous with Delta. Transferring via Enkey, coordinates of Squad Delta, and a holomap of tunnel system. But do not, repeat, do not enter tunnels without clearance.
Directive Two. The other half of your company is to move west to assist Red Queen assault. They will meet up with Recon Squad... hold. Someone slipped up and didn’t set up a mission team designation. Hold. The Recon Squad goes by... T-Wrecks. Not like the dinosaur. Like a wrecking ball. Have your guys go easy on them. They’ve been busy, porting around the Kreahaam system like a ping pong ball. Enkey transfer for location and password details have been sent. That is all.
RED QUEEN PALACE PLANETARY ASSAULT. Secure Red Queen Palace, Kreahaam-In.
DISPLAY.
The display posts numerous live Ivee feeds, settling on the scene projecting from Officer in Command, Captain Kurt. He is pointing to a spot on the ceiling, a corner section. A bug appears, followed by a stream of laser fire, and an abbreviated shriek, as he’s hit by return fire. Kurt starts forward, but stops as more fire erupts. There is smoke along the floor, making it hard to see, the Ivees settling on an infrared half-screen as the optimum solution.
Kurt opens an Interact Grid, asking for a play-back of the area near the enemy firing position. The image is scrubbed and enhanced, showing a seamless round section of the floor opening, a bug firing, then disappearing.
END DISPLAY.
*Red Queen Offensive: Wonder
land, this is Company Commander Kurt, Red Queen Palace assault. We have encountered heavy resistance along the main corridor leading to the Red Queen throne room. Taking heavy casualties. Request additional support.
WONDERLAND COMMAND: Copy Red Queen. Hold. Affirmative. Humpty Offensive is sending 10 platoons. They should arrive, your position... ETA five minutes. Commander, there’s no longer a need to squeeze comms through QuIM, Fortress jamming has ceased.
*Red Queen, OIC Kurt: “Copy that Wonderland! Comms are up. The medics just ported in. Red Queen, out. *BREAK*
“Chen, push signal for normal comms, let’s get off this choked QuIM.
“Listen up, Red Queen troopers, reinforcements this location, five minutes. Hold this ground! Check updated locations of bug holes. They’re killing us. And watch the blasted ceiling corners!
“Bugs pushing in from corridor 7. Send some Rollers their way.
“Who’s this? Lieutenant Acharya? You guys are from Humpty Assault? You got here on the quick. 10 platoons? Excellent. Is there anyone in your group with a rank higher than lieutenant? None. Where you at? Okay, I see you. You see me? Listen up Humpty Group, Here comes an Ivee push. Pay attention to bug hole locations, and ceiling corners. Review, then come on down.”
Red Queen, OIC Kurt: “Humpty Assault, thank you for your assist. The true-oath, we’ve lost a lot of good soldiers down here.
“So, listen up, here comes my speech of the day. Acharya, here, is now Assault Three, in line command after Lieutenant Chen for the duration of your assist with the Red Queen mission. Chen will stick around and give you guys the straight-up. Your team will be... let’s call you Beta. I’m taking Alpha, and we’re going around that corner to blast our way through as many doors as it takes to get to the Red Queen’s throne room. You’ve got to hold this entire wing of the palace. There are hidden bug-holes. Everywhere. We probably haven’t found all of them.
“There are plenty of devils left down here, the queen’s own guard, and they’re bad news right out of the egg. The rest of the bugs are so hopped up on berserker drugs, they don't know what they're doing. They just kill anything that moves, as long as is ain’t a bug. Mostly. I’ve seen them kill their own too. Anyway, you be spun-up tight down here!
“And watch the blasted ceiling corners. The ceilings are high, but the bugs can crawl anywhere. Walls. Ceilings. They’ve been messing us up, shooting from up there in the corners. Are you set? Acharya? Chen? Okay. It’s crowded in here. Fill in as we move out. Be sure to replace our guys with a squad at each of the blasted tunnel sections, they’re marked in red.
Kurt and his assault team have met little resistance on their way to the throne room. Around the next corner is a short hall.
A DSR is crawling slowly down the corridor, called up by Commander Kurt for the next phase of the Red Queen assault. Around the corner and beyond a very sturdy door and wall section is an ornate hallway with thick red carpet leading to the door of the throneroom for the Queen of All Kreahaam. In such close quarters, the Defense Shield Reactor is needed to help contain the blast of the PBW that will breach the heavy doors.
The irony of the red carpet doesn’t escape Kurt, who makes a point of calling out to the queen, apologizing to ‘her majesty’ for the yellow stained mess he’s about to make of her fine carpeting, then gets down to business. “Sargent Abramov, set the DSR as close to the door as you can. PBW team, you’re up. Yoruba, there are a lot of bugs on the other side of that door. I want a bag of Rollers tumbling as soon as we breach the door. And tubes. Let’s have half-a-dozen tubes spouting.”
The PBW discharges in a brilliant arc of energy, shattering the blast door leading to the Red Carpet. Roller munitions tumble to their assigned sector to release their shards of death. Superheated plasma from tubes scorches the reinforced walls, the fireproof carpeting, and the remains of dead bug soldiers.
Commander Kurt is immediately on the move. “Billings, what’s the rad count? Temperature? Let’s start walking the DSR and PBW into the hallway. Abramov, reset, and blast her majesties front door. Spacors, let’s move in. Rebreathers on. Watch the edges of this door, it’s hotter than blazes.”
As the troops move into the wide hallway, howls of pain resound and men fall in twisted heaps. The DSR unit flashes in catastrophic failure, the shielding only providing protection from forward positions. With the shield down, the human carnage mounts. A scorched, ragged tear reveals a blackened puckered hole in Kurt’s shoulder, but he’s safe for the moment pressed into the ruins of the DSR. Dozens of concealed apertures have opened to reveal powerful ultraviolet laser emplacements.
“Retreat! Everyone out!” Kurt screams, his shout amplified by excruciating pain.
As the soldiers fall back, with casualties mounting, others force their way into the hallway plowing their way in along the walls. They quickly form up to cover the retreating troopers with large laser shields, shepherding them around the corner to relative safety.
As a medic tends his wound, Kurt is on comms with Wonderland Command, to consider options.
*Red Queen, OIC Kurt: “Roger, Wonderland. That’s our best option as I see it. If you can port over a fresh DSR and PBW, that would be excellent. Other than that, nothing short of a tec-nuke is going to get through that door. We’ve pulled the Ivee feeds and have the locations plotted for all the UV guns. Handling those will take a little ingenuity, but we’ll manage.”
WONDERLAND COMMAND: Affirmative, Commander. Carry on. Your packages will arrive shortly.
*Red Queen, OIC Kurt: “Copy, Wonderland. Kurt is out.”
Kurt seems anxious. “What have you found, Khoury?”
“The ceiling and walls are solid, sir,” Khoury said. We’ve tried tubes, rail, Longarms. Basically everything we’ve got. We can’t break through to the UV guns.”
“Okay. We’ll go with Broderick’s Plan B, then.
“You’re up, Broderick,” called Kurt. “Don’t get burned. Don’t burn anyone else either. You sure about this?”
Sergeant Broderick eased over. “No, not really, sir. I’m close to sure, though. Mixing white phosphorus with sticky-doo, and then sending them onto two dozen bullseyes... well... it’ll be a first.”
Kurt is eyeing Broderick very closely. “You sounded pretty sure of yourself a minute ago. What did you call the stuff? D-dung? I know, D is for Dragon. This is your first time trying for multiple D-dung hits in a row?”
Sergeant Broderick is tugging at his collar. “Well... uhhh... sir, I have mixed up a batch of D-dung. Was thinking about shooting it. Thought better of it. Never actually shot the stuff, sir.”
Kurt’s gaze has intensified as he takes a deep breath, but then lets it out.
Sergeant Broderick takes that as a signal to continue. “It will work, sir. Williams should be done with the fixings. He’s got a bunch of used plasma tubes fixed up just right. Breeches cut and replaced with Manly recharge chambers, discharge harnesses set, all strapped to a couple of programmable Unit Railgun packages. Got a lefty and a righty. I’ll make sure the D-dung cakes are large.”
Kurt has the palms of his hands over his eyes. “It sounds like a potato-gun, Broderick. Very well. Proceed. Oh, and Sergeant, clear the area before you hit the auto-fire switch.”
A short time later, Kurt checks on the progress of Broderick and Williams. “Sergeant Broderick, report. And, what’s all this stuff?”
Broderick uses the back of his hand to mop a line of sweat from his balding head before it can stream into his eyes. “Uhhh, the guns are ready, sir. Positioned each side of the door breach. Beauties, if I do say so myself. The other assorted tube contraptions and such are decoys, sir. Don’t want the bugs to get all fixated on the real threat. You was right, sir. They don’t open the UV gun ports unless something enters the hallway.”
Kurt looks like he’s having second thoughts. “Okay. What’s next?”
“Well, sir. A bunch of those tubes are charged and wired. I think we give the bugs a fireworks show, then send some floater
drones into their hallway. They’ll be all fidgety, what with all the racket, and the berserker drugs screaming around in their heads. The bugs will open up with the UV guns. Then, Lefty and Righty will... uhhh... start slinging the D-dung. Easy-peasy.
“Oh. I got a just-in-case setup too. Me and my Longarm are going to be right there, behind the laser shield, to handle any guns the D-dung might miss. Good to go, sir.”
A DSR walks the Red Carpet, the only sound is the characteristic whine of a shield modulator. Nervous soldiers follow on, hauling the PBW, eyeing the walls and ceiling as the protective shielding moves forward, exposing their flanks to any remaining UV guns. The laser shields carried along by their buddies, as it shifts with each step, feels... inadequate. Glowing patches of white heat mark the locations for most of the fried UV gun ports. A few blackened holes show the evidence of Longarm fire.
With the weapon in place, Kurt gives the command to turn the Particle Beam actuator switch. The particle storm quickly breaches the blast door leading to the throne room of the High Queen of All Kreahaam. Troops crowd into the hallway and follow on as the DSR continues forward.
The hallway is relatively quiet, with only the whine of the DSR and the muted clack of rebreathers to disturb the peace. There is no soldierly banter. Kurt pushes through the ranks, delayed by a call from Wonderland. Deep scan imaging suggests Empire Fortress soldiers have entered the throne room through deep underground tunnels.
Kurt reaches the throne room door, where the DSR has come to a halt. At least 50 bugs are sprawled out, front legs stretched forward, foreheads touching the ground. Only the High Queen is upright, sitting regally on her throne. Many of the League soldiers in the forward position are busy with a jittery dance of index fingers, from trigger to rifle and back.
The League commander clears his voice. “Hold your fire men. Let’s hear what the queen bug has to say.”
The queen shifts her attention to Kurt, scowling at him with an arrogant air of superiority, which fades minutely as translators resound. “Kreahaam sues for peace, noble soldiers.”
Kurt has been carefully observing the throne room, then gestures to a soldier standing to his left. “Let me see the Logan scan. Anything stand out? Good. Secure the room!
Invasion: Journal Three (Shockwave Book 3) Page 21
