Invasion

by Jerry Shepard

  The medic, now assured that the Marine was in good hands, rushed to Lur'vot.

  "Ok let's get the burn salve on those hands to stop the bleeding and protect the flesh as much as possible. When done we need to wrap the hands in a protective stasis glove so that nothing can touch the flesh. We will need to operate on the hands and determine what can be saved and what can't", said the medic. "I'm giving him a powerful tranquilizer that will eliminate the pain he's feeling. However, it may make him slightly hallucinogenic for the next six hours."

  "How did this happen Lur'vot?" asked Liana who knelt by his side.

  "We can go home now," Lur'vot responded.

  "Lur'vot, can you hear me?" she asked.

  "We can go home now," he said as he turned his head to Rig'nak and smiled. Rig'nak saw this and felt a chill up his back for the second time in as many days.

  "Yes, yes," Liana said. "We will all be going home now. As soon as we can get this object on the ship, we can get you home. In the meantime, we will treat you and save as much of your hands as possible." Liana motioned for the Marines to take him into the medical transport and back to the ship. Lur'vot was still repeating the same mantra until the drugs finally kicked in and he passed out.

  "Uh, Dr. Sarduun," said Noah. " I have zero intention of that thing getting on my ship with it like that". Just as Noah pointed to it, the light disappeared. The night sky returned and the object again went silent.

  "Fascinating!" exclaimed Liana, fumbling for her scanner. She turned it on and started obtaining readouts of the object. She shook her head as she read the scans.

  "It's as if nothing just happened with this artifact. The scans are the same as they were when we first discovered it. And judging by Lur'vot's hands he must have touched it, yet I cannot see anywhere where even a trace of DNA was left on the object"

  "What are you saying?" Noah asked.

  "I'm saying, captain, that this is much like a volcano that has been dormant for millennia. If we can get the object into stasis chambers it can prevent it from turning on again even if it were on the ship."

  "That's too risky for my ship. What else you got?"

  "That's just it. That is our best option. And need I remind you that we need to come back with this object in order for this mission to be considered a success. Your long term prospects hinge on this very fact. As such, we are just going to have to risk it if we are both going to get what we want."

  Noah considered this fact. On one hand he had to consider that if he failed the mission, he would be drummed out of the service. And worse, it would create an incident with the Xen people that would cause the Alliance leadership to hound him the rest of his days. On the other hand, the safety of his ship and his crew were paramount. He was thinking of their safety when he initially balked at the idea. However, he knew that these missions, even the most mundane ones, carried with them the risk of death and destruction and that the crew willingly signed on for this mission with that in mind. They had faith in their captain to get them home safely as he had always done before.

  "You win Liana. But I want my engineers to assist with the loading of the object into the stasis chambers and securing it in one of the engineering labs. I do not want this thing to turn on in the middle of a hyperspace jump."

  "Agreed," Liana said. She started to direct her team to get the stasis chambers from the carriers that had arrived during the commotion.

  "Reggie, coordinate with the Titan to have the Chief Gardozo report with his team to the surface. I want this done right."

  "Right away captain," replied Rig'nak.

  GUARDIANS

  The engineering team were dressed in the hazard contact suits that were typically used for the surface exploration of the most hostile planetary environments. Noah chuckled a bit at their slow and steady movements and how bulky the suits were. They needed to be, to protect the occupant, he reminded himself. But it was still funny to watch.

  He saw the team get a stasis field to act as a bed underneath the object. Once this was completed, they wrapped a cylindrical shaped field around the entire object. This was made easier by the explosion the night before, clearing dirt away and loosening the object.

  "Ok," said the chief. "Let's get it hoisted up and onto the carrier."

  The stasis field generator arm lifted up and the object lifted to dangle below it. It reminded Noah of the fishing that he never got to do before he left Earth. He planned right then to take Mara to his favorite spot and spend weeks on end teaching her the right way to fish.

  There were times like this when he wished that he had taken retirement. In this moment he thought that losing command would be almost worth it if he could spend more time with his little girl. He was so lost in his reverie that he didn't realize he was being addressed.

  "Captain Jameson!" said the chief as he waved his arms over his head.

  "Yes, chief. What is it?"

  "We're finished here. The object is secure on the carrier and is making its way back to the shuttle at the LZ. It should be lifting off in less than ten minutes. Any other orders?"

  "None," Noah said. "I'll confirm with Dr. Sarduun if we need to collect anything else and then we'll wrap this up."

  The chief directed his team to move the carrier slowly towards the shuttle landing zone. He was excitedly talking with some of the science team about what had happened the night before.

  "Did you see that beam of light? I saw it out of the window of my lab. It came from the surface and beamed past the Titan into deep space!" His voice trailed off as they got further away.

  Noah, meanwhile, took off and searched for Liana. He found her and the rest of her team recording as much of the wreck as possible.

  "Are you almost finished here?"

  "Yeah. I mean, no, I'm not," she said. "I would love to spend years here examining everything I can about this ship and this city. It's like a time capsule for the Xen people. But I know we need to get going. I'm recording everything via video and scanner so that I can perform further study on the artifacts and history that we found. It might help us gain more knowledge of what the object is for and why they took steps to hide it."

  "Sounds good. When do you think your team can wrap up?"

  "Give me an hour. How is Lur'vot doing?"

  "He's in stable condition. The surgeon on the Titan was able to save most of both hands and he has feeling back in the digits. He's undergoing accelerated healing via the new regen tanks. He should be relatively okay by the time we reach Earth."

  "That's good. I still don't know why that damned fool would want to touch it like that," she shook her head.

  "Me either. But I'm gonna find out. Especially since one of my Marines is still in critical condition!"

  Noah motioned toward the direction of the LZ and the waiting shuttles. "Liana, the rest of the team is heading up. I will stay with the Marines and your team and accompany you back up to the Titan. In the meantime, I have some administrative duties of my own, if you will excuse me."

  "Of course. I will see you in an hour. Oh, and Samuels is going to need to use your carrier to run a calibrated scan of the area. He will return with you."

  Noah and Samuels walked to the nearest carrier and once inside, Noah opened up the comm with the Titan while Samuels settled down at the scanner.

  O'Malley appeared on the comm and had yet another sandwich in his hand. "Heya Noah, that was some light show last night!"

  "Yeah, it was a real blast!" Noah remarked sardonically. "Look Kevin, I want you to make sure that the damned scientist in the med bay is under guard. I don't want him moving so much as an inch until I get back to the Titan. Understood?"

  "Aye, aye, cap! Consider it done."

  "Also, I wanted you to...wait…what is that?" Noah was interrupted by the scanner on the carrier going off. He touched some areas of the screen to maximize and saw hundreds of icons moving on the screen. None of them were detected via infrared or thermal imaging, so they must be more of the mechs that the team
had previous encountered.

  He heard a blast outside and shouting and turned to look outside. He saw multiple mechs running around. They were bipedal and no taller than four feet in height. Each was armed with two laser cannons mounted on the top. Each of the cannons was an independent turret from the other which allowed the mech to fire in two different directions at once.

  "Hey what's going on down there?" asked O'Malley with his mouth stuffed full of his sandwich.

  Noah popped his head back inside the carrier. "All hell is breaking loose down here, Kevin. We're under attack! We have hundreds of mechs attacking our team. I want second platoon and the quick extraction force on the ground ASAP! Also, be prepared for coordinates for a strike from orbit." Noah unholstered his sidearm and charged it up.

  O'Malley dropped his sandwich and spit the rest out of his mouth as he turned to bark orders. "On its way now Noah. They will be there yesterday! I'll have the weapons team on alert for those coordinates. Good luck."

  "Thanks we're gonna need it!" Noah said as he opened the carrier's hatch door and fired his laser pistol at the nearest mech. It tumbled to the ground and continued firing even as it was immobilized. Two more shots later and the mech was no longer a threat. Noah quickly sized up the situation. The mechs had appeared out of nowhere and were converging on all sides. If they were not stopped quickly, the entire team could be wiped out.

  A Marine corporal came into view as Noah was assessing the battlefield.

  "Marine, where is Doctor Sarduun?" Noah asked, continuing to fire at targets that presented themselves.

  "It's Brannock, sir. Dunno for sure, captain," said the Marine in between shots from his rifle. "But last I saw her, she was going back into the wreck."

  "Shit!" Noah realized that the biggest concentration of mechs lay between them and the wreckage. His team was split and cut off from each other.

  Noah climbed up into the turret on the top of the carrier. "Get in and drive, Brannock!"

  "Yes, sir!" said the Marine and he scrambled inside and into the driver's seat.

  As the Marine got settled in, Noah turned the turret's power from standby to active and waited what seemed like an eternity for it to fully charge up and become functional. In the meantime, he continued to shoot from the elevated position with his pistol.

  "Where to sir?"

  "Head toward the thickest part of the enemy. They are attempting to get into the wreckage. That's gotta be where Doctor Sarduun is."

  "You got it, captain!"

  The Marine let out a whoop as the carrier charged forward, spinning wheels as it gained momentum. He ran over a few mechs on the way.

  "Most fun I've had in years!" yelled the Marine.

  "You'll learn son. Boring is best!" Noah sighed as he started to mow the mechs down with the turreted, heavy cannon.

  MESSAGE: RECEIVED

  Year: 2564 (Alliance Year: 7), Location: Unknown

  "Captain Nal'Sek!" exclaimed the praetor seated at the communications pod. "We have received a transmission!"

  "Source?" asked the Captain.

  "I'm unsure. The communication is in the language of our people and references a ship's name."

  "So what is the problem, praetor?" asked Nal'Sek.

  "I see the name, but it is not coming up as any of our known ships."

  "Well? What is that name?" he asked, getting more annoyed as the conversation went on. He hated interacting with praetors. They were the lowest rank on the ship, and usually the most irritating.

  The lowly praetor replayed the transmission again. This time, he stopped the feed only to identify the name of the ship. Before he spoke again, he made sure to replay the name three times to verify the accuracy. He then spoke in an almost reverent manner.

  "The transmission references...the Zok'an."

  Nal'Sek jumped down from his pedestaled chair and ran to the pod. "Let me hear this transmission!" he demanded as he ripped the communications equipment off the praetor's head. The force of it caused the praetor to spin around as the captain put the headset on and listened. Nal'Sek's eyes changed to green and he let out a shout.

  "Yes! The Zok'an! We have found it!" he screamed.

  "Navigation, get the coordinates for the origin of this transmission and plot a course!" Nal'Sek turned to guard standing on the bridge. "Contact Her Highness. Tell her I'm on my way with great news!"

  The captain sprinted to his quarters and sat at the pod in the center of the room. He touched the data panel and the information from the archives came up. He perfomed a search on the Zok'an and carefully studied as much as he could before leaving.

  Mustn't keep her waiting.

  CHANGING COURSE

  "Well? What is it captain? What is so important that it was deemed necessary to rouse me from my slumber?"

  "Most Glorious Lon'Kah, I bear the most wondrous news!" smiled Nal'Sek. He then waited for dramatic effect.

  "Speak, captain! I do not have an eternity! I wish to return to my bed," Lon'Kah said. She drew a crystalline decanter and began drinking from it. She hated interacting with the crew and any narcotic she could ingest to make it more tolerable was a positive in her mind.

  "We have found it! We have found, the Zok'an!"

  The decanter slipped from Lon'Kah's hands and shattered on the floor. A million tiny pieces of the vessel scattering everywhere as the liquid splashed. She slumped down into her chair and stared off into space. At that moment, she didn't even care that one of the ships had accidentally maneuvered into her view. All she cared about at that moment was how pleased She would be that they had found it. And how much she would be rewarded.

  "Set a course for the Zok'an, captain."

  "We have already changed course your Highness, we are headed to that system now. It appears to be three systems away so at our maximum speed it will take us some time to get there"

  "Excellent captain. I will ensure that when Tan'Kah is doling out her rewards for excellence, that you and your crew are not forgotten in that bounty."

  RESCUE

  Year: 2564 (Alliance Year: 7), Location: Ankarii IV's Surface

  "Goddamnit, that almost got me," Noah said, quickly glancing down at the singe marks on his uniform. The laser blast had just missed his torso by inches. Instead the shot tore through the shoulder protector on his uniform

  "Are you okay, captain?" asked Brannock, who was thoroughly enjoying his job mowing down mechs with the personnel carrier.

  "Yeah, took a shot up here. I'm okay, but the right barrel on this cannon is toast!" With the remaining barrel, Noah continued firing on the horde of mechs as they approached the wreckage.

  "Uh, Captain! There's more incoming! What do I do? There's no way we can fight them all off!" he yelled.

  "Drive fast! I want you to crash into the wreckage and even then, don't stop until I say so."

  "Yes sir!" the Marine replied. The grin on his face disappearing.

  The carrier picked up more speed and as it got thirty meters from the wreck, Noah turned the turret to the wreck and started blasting a hole into it. He knew he couldn't blast a hole large enough for them to get the whole carrier through without crashing into the ship, but it would have to do. The mechs, while fast, could not keep up with the speed of the carrier.

  "Three...two...one..." Noah counted down as they closed in on the makeshift portal he blasted into the wall of the ship. As the count hit one, Noah ducked down into the carrier and closed the top hatch just as the carrier rammed into and through the hole. The impact hurled him forward into the bulkhead of the carrier. He picked himself up off the floor and assessed their situation. He looked out the portal and saw that the carrier had made a snug fit inside the hole. The mechs could not get through as long as they remained plugged into this entrance.

  "Are you alright, corporal?"

  "Aye sir! A little banged up but I'll be okay!"

  "How about you Samuels?"

  "Yeah, I'm just peachy for a guy who has been shaken like a goddamned martini
," Samuels said.

  "Okay, We've blocked them from getting inside but this carrier is still vulnerable. Now that I'm no longer up top and firing, we can use the countermeasures on this carrier. I want you to use the shields for now while I go get the doctor. Wait five seconds after I leave and activate them. Conserve the rest of the power. I have a feeling we're gonna need it to get the hell outta here!"

  "Aye, sir!"

  Noah got up and opened the weapons locker to retrieve the plasma rifles. They had a kick to them, but they would put most things living or mechanical down with one shot. And the best part was they could be set to full-auto. As he picked up the first rifle, a pain shot through his right shoulder.

  The Marine was watching Noah and noticed him grabbing his shoulder. "You okay, captain?"

  "I think when we crashed into the ship, I must've jammed something in my shoulder," Noah gasped as he caught short breaths of air.

  "Take my med kit," said the Marine, tossing it back to Noah.

  Noah retrieved the painkiller applicator and the vial of localized anesthetic. Combat medicine had advanced in the years after the war, thanks to the contributions of the Xen. The application of localized painkiller allowed troops in the field to treat severe pain in parts of the body without hindering their use of that body part and without putting the person to sleep. He chuckled to himself as he caught himself willingly using Xen technology. He waited a minute for the drug to take effect and picked up two rifles, slinging one on his back while carrying the other.

  "Okay, corporal. Exiting. Now!" Noah jumped out of the side hatch and ran to about ten meters from the carrier. He knew five meters was the safe distance, but he wasn't taking chances right now. He glanced back to see Samuels covering their advance with his rifle.