Trent was tapped into the shuttle’s com. He followed the bloody aerial duel with bated breath. The Avengers were getting overrun. Susan, please, God, please.
A grunt slipped out as he was pushed forward, the straps forcing the air from his lungs. He gasped. “Get ready! We’re braking hard for landing. We’re coming in hot!”
The hum of the anti-gravity generators grew louder, filling the hold with tension. Suddenly, the pressure was off his body and the ominous noise was gone. For a second he thought something was wrong. Then the ramp lowered.
Amanda was the first on her feet. “Move! Move! Move!”
Trent exited last. The shuttle’s engines roared, driving it across the terrain not far from the ground. They were conducting a quick recon of the area and putting some distance between themselves and the mess above before claiming back into orbit for another drop.
Troopers rushed off in every direction to secure a perimeter. He turned, taking stock of the landscape. Cherrypicking the exact drop point wasn’t really an option, given the lack of space superiority. The lead shuttle pilot was asked to do his best to select a piece of rough ground for the legion to make their stand,
This wasn’t it; they’d landed on a plateau, void of any large-scale natural fortifications.
“Sweetie, give me a zoomed-out map of the area.” His tactical display expanded. “Oh, my.” He smiled. “Those bus drivers got it right after all.”
Gabriel’s voice popped into his head. “Holy crap! Do you see where we are?”
“I sure as hell do. Welcome to South Africa, buddy. We’ve come full circle. God has a sense of humor or likes irony or something.”
“I’ll try to not get shot in the ass this time.”
Amanda jogged over to him. “Where’re we heading? I’m guessing you don’t want to fight here.”
“No. There’s a perfect little piece of land not thirty kilometers from here. It was made for this mission.” He sent her the nav point.
“What’s this place called?”
“The Cape Fold Mountains. That’s where we’re going to win the war.”
***
“Damn it!” Walker hammered a fist onto the holo table. “Why aren’t our fighters in the air? This is it, people, we can’t hold anything back! We have to help cover the shuttles. Another wave will be coming down.”
“It’s taking longer to clear the openings.” Wills throw his hands up. “We’d sealed them in tight to keep them hidden and we decided to not expose them until we had an idea of the fleet’s plan.”
She waved her hand across the air. “I know. Sorry. Get it done now, whatever it takes. Just do it and do it fast.” Leaning onto the table, she sighed. “The Goddam end game is here and no one is telling me what the fucking plan is.”
An aide jerked his head toward her. “Admiral, I’m reading a power buildup in hangar two.”
“Hanger two?” Wills narrowed his eyes. “Why would anyone be firing up a craft in there? We aren’t launching from here. We don’t even have any fighters. Just shuttles and...”
Their heads snapped toward one another. “...the chairman’s transport,” they said in unison.
“Don’t allow the exterior doors to open.” She thrust her finger at the aide. “That rat-bastard isn’t running away on us! Security to hangar two!”
“He’s powering up weapons!”
“Give me a visual of the hangar.”
The sleek craft’s lasers fired with a blinding light. It was a modest cannon but more than enough to cut a gaping hole in the metal door. It kept firing, digging a tunnel through the earth piled in front of it to conceal its existence.
Security burst into the large room in time to see the fleeing ship rise off the floor and ease its way out.
Her nails cut into her palms. “Coward!”
***
Dalton’s arrow-shaped ship was accelerating hard for the gate. The enemy was too consumed with the battle at hand to worry about a lone vessel trying to avoid the fight. The moon was ahead of him, and he planned to use its gravity to increase his velocity.
He leaned back in the pilot’s chair, a seat he chose to occupy even though the computer was doing all of the flying. A deep sense of relief washed over him. I’m free. At last I am free. A couple weeks, my time, and I’ll be safely through the gate.
“Entering lunar orbit,” the AI announced.
What colony should I retire on? Which one will the Keepers visit last, huh?
He gained speed rapidly, zipping over the cratered surface ever faster.
“Enemy ships detected.”
His eyes shot wide open. “What?”
Thousands of silver fighters were sitting, waiting, above the dark side of the moon. They were scattered along the bleak landscape like reef sharks.
The ship stuttered. Alarms sounded.
“Report!”
“We have been struck by enemy fire. The engines and communications have sustained serious damage. Both systems are inoperable.”
Sweat boiled from his forehead. “Can you self-repair?”
“Negative. Damage is too extensive. We require a maintenance vessel or tow to the nearest service port.”
His hands trembled. “Activate the distress beacon!”
“Inoperative. Communications are down.”
“Fix it!” He hammered the panel with both fists. “Fix the engines! Fix communications!”
“Cannot comply. We require...”
“How the hell can we call for a repair ship or a tow to a service port without communications?”
“Unknown.”
Red-faced and soaking wet, he collapsed into the chair. The navigation panel showed his course. The strike had altered his trajectory. His speed and direction were locked for eternity. He was heading away from the gate, toward the emptiness between the stars.
Staring out the forward viewport, the gravity of his situation dawned on him.
His power and hoarded supplies would last years. He was imprisoned aboard his escape vessel, one he knew he’d never escape now. He was even too afraid to kill himself.
Chairman Dalton just sat there, silently looking into nothing. His future.
***
“I’m about to get gang-banged!” Susan called out, flipping her Avenger over into a steady dive in an attempt to lose the three on her tail. It worked, but another two picked her up where they left off. “Fuck! Can I get any help?”
Of the hundred twenty fighters that had gone into the fray, only fifty remained. They were busy just trying to survive against the last three hundred enemy contacts. All of their drones were gone, as well as their expendables.
She banked hard right, managing to snip off another kill in the process. It was only a matter of time, however, until a lucky shot got her.
West, I could really use your help right about now. I’m so sorry.
“New contacts,” Valkyrie reported.
“Oh, Christ, more? How many?”
“Three hundred.”
Shit. Guess I’ll be seeing you soon, baby.
“This is Commander Albert McCloud of the First Home Guard Fighter Wing. You folks wouldn’t happen to be in need of some assistance, would you?”
“Cut the shit, commander, and get us out of this mess!” She pulled up, losing another would-be slayer.
“We’re on max burn to do just that. In ten seconds we need you all to dive hard. We’ll clear the sky.”
“Acknowledged. About damn time!”
Susan and her remaining comrades hit the deck. Overhead, the clouds were torn apart by nuclear shockwaves and a storm of KKC rounds directed at the few remaining Keeper fighters.
She exhaled a breath she’d been holding for at least a minute. “Thanks, Home Guard. You saved our asses.”
“No, commander, you saved ours. Thanks for not forgetting about us. We can cover your ground pounders for now. I’m sending you the coordinates for our airbase. Hurry and get your people rearmed while it’s still there.”
“Roger that.”
***
Trent stood atop a ridge looking into the jagged terrain of the Cape Fold Mountains. “Sergeant Roth, Admiral DeWalt is approaching for another drop. Get com working on finding whoever’s in charge of Earth’s defenses. It’s time we clued them in.”
“On it, sir.”
Five minutes passed before the com officer called back. “Admiral Walker on the line for you, sir.”
He smiled. “Supreme commander, glad to hear you’re still with us.”
“I’m tougher than I look, general.”
“Yes, sir!” He smiled wide. “I’m glad to see you’ve survived. I’m guessing you’re wondering what our plan is.”
“As a matter of fact, that had crossed my mind.”
“Apologies for the secrecy, but we didn’t know the enemy’s capabilities for signal intercepts.”
“Just tell us what you need now, general.”
He straightened up. “Sir, I need every trooper you can spare here at my location ASAP. This is where it all will end.”
“You got it, Maxwell. Everything I can get there is on its way.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Just make damn sure my trust in you isn’t misplaced.”
“It isn’t.” I hope.
***
“All orders are away.” Wills looked up from his terminal. “Every unit within five hundred klicks is marching in as we speak. I’ve got every shuttle on planet ferrying soldiers until the LZ gets too hot. I’m not sure it’s enough, but it’s all we got.”
“Not quite.” Walker turned to her aide. “Get my battlesuit and gear. Have my shuttle prepped for immediate departure.”
Wills cocked his head. “What are you doing, sir?”
“If this is indeed the end game, I’m sure as hell not going to spend it in a fucking bunker thousands of kilometers from the fight. I’ll take these stars off my collar and fight in the trenches like a grunt private, if I have to.” She looked around the room at the stunned staff and raised her voice. “I’m leaving in ten minutes. Any of you with a pair is welcome to join me.”
She marched out of the command center and everyone looked at each for fifteen seconds before following her. After all, how could they not after that?
***
“Admiral, the shuttles are away.”
“Excellent.” DeWalt opened his mouth to give an order when a giant blob appeared on the holo cloak display over the moon. “What is that?”
Agonizing seconds past until an answer came. “Sir—it’s, it’s fighters. Enemy fighters, thousands of them.”
What? Why didn’t they throw them at us before? Unless...yes, they wanted the package to land. His eyes shifted to the pyramid. Didn’t you, you clever bastard? Well, it’s not gonna be that easy. “Attention all ships, max deceleration! Prepare to engage the enemy fighters. Maneuver to keep them between us and their mothership.”
King stepped into the cloak. “Sir, should I coordinate with the Home Guard fighters?”
“Negative, commander. Keep them in the atmosphere to cover our ground forces.” He cleared his throat. “We’ll deal with these pricks ourselves. Prepare a full spread of nukes. None of them will make it planetside.” His eyes closed to slits. “I swear it.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
All Things
“United States is down!” The com officer practically jumped from his seat. “They’re abandoning ship!”
DeWalt’s nostrils flared. “Maintain course!” The scent of oily smoke burned his nostrils. “Weapons, redirect fire to cover the States’ escape pods. Maybe some of them can reach the surface.” I don’t see how, though.
His holo cloak was filled with swirling formations of glistening fighters. Having unloaded their final drop, the fleet was running away from Earth by wading through the meat of the enemy strength. He wanted to destroy as many as possible in one pass, diminish their numbers enough that the planetside Avengers could handle them. A second run wasn’t likely, not when they formed up with the Keeper vessel moving into position for a shot.
A bright light flashed, demanding his attention. One of his ships had been reduced to an expanding ball of plasma.
King coughed. “Pearl Harbor is down! Enemy ship in firing range in twenty-five seconds.”
DeWalt cleared his throat. “All ships, launch nuclear strike plan bravo! Max acceleration in fifteen seconds from … mark!”
“Aye, aye, sir!”
Blue dots sprang from the remaining twenty-four ships in his fleet. The first wave of missiles detonated a mere five kilometers from their motherships. The strike killed clusters of attacking fighters but also bathed the humans in dangerous doses of radiation.
The missiles kept coming, unleashing their atomic fury deeper into the enemy formation, erecting a wall of hard rads.
The Keeper prepared to fire. DeWalt’s heart stopped as the rivers of energy joined in the center. A bolt rushed at them but missed the aft section of the Finland by the smallest of margins.
They’ll get two more shots off. He took in a breath and held it.
Another streak came at him, seeming to cross his display in slow motion. Its impact against the Cambodia was almost unreal. The mighty battleship’s forward section was separated from the rest of the ship. The pieces twisted, falling away from each other.
You get one more, you son-of-a-bitch!
The battlecarrier Warrior Race had her engines ripped out. She fell out of formation and was engulfed by the reforming fighters who ate away at her like piranha.
He closed his eyes and turned his back on the horrific scene.
The sensor officer exhaled. “Enemy vessels are not pursuing.”
“Put us into Mars orbit. We’re not abandoning the system.”
***
Reinforcements poured in from around the globe. A slow trickle of soldiers from nearby units ran into camp, but the shuttles were what brought the true bounty. A seemingly endless supply of them unloaded fifty at a time. Humans had gained control of their native airspace only by the temporary forfeit of their distracted opponents.
This opportunity wouldn’t last long, and every pilot on the planet was taking advantage of it, ferrying whoever wanted to fight to the frontline.
“I’ve got another dozen coming in from Brazil.” Amanda pointed at the western horizon. “Where do you want ‘em?”
“What, already?” Trent looked up from his terminal.
“It’s a big country. We had a lot deployed there.” She put a hand on her hip. “Where do you want them? Or should I tell them to go home?”
He consulted his tac-map. “Put them in sector six. They can add some weight to the flanks. In fact, divide everything incoming between six and seven until I say otherwise. Tell ‘em to dig in deep and hard. They’re the weakest spot in the line.”
The Cape Fold Mountains run east to west, not far from the ocean, in South Africa. They’re known for a series of parallel ravines and the sharp peaks that separate them. Trent had arranged his growing force along the northern border of the range, where the depressions weren’t as dramatic. He utilized the mini-canyons as natural trenches with most of his strength facing north. It was possible the enemy ship could drop forces in his rear, but that area was extremely rugged, hard for light infantrymen to transverse, let along the bulky drone soldiers of the Silver Horde.
He stared off into the distance, gazing upon the open plain before his line. “Colonel Altmeyer, come in.”
“Altmeyer here, sir.”
“Colonel, how are your engineers progressing? What’s the status?”
“It’s crude and rough around the edges. It sure as hell won’t be comfortable, but it’ll get the job done.”
“If it does, colonel, I don’t give a damn about comfortable. Otherwise we’re all just wasting our time.” And a whole lot of lives.
“General,” Ananda’s voice cut into his head, “I’ve got a shuttle inbound.”
“We have
hundreds of shuttles inbound, sergeant. Split ‘em up like I said.”
“This one’s different, it’s carrying Supreme Commander Walker. She wants to know where on the line she can take her place.”
He spun around like he was looking for her. “What? Put her through.”
“Go ahead.”
“Admiral Walker, is that you?”
“I’m almost there, general. Requesting permission to join the line.”
He paused. He had a very specific battle plan, and second opinions weren’t productive at this point. “Ummm...”
“Relax, Maxwell. I’m not interested in your command. I’ve watched damn near three billion people die while I’ve been running the show, keeping my ass warm in a bunker. I’m just here to fight. Where do you want me?”
I always knew I liked her. “I could always use some top brass right smack in the front middle. It’ll be good for morale. Think you can handle it?” He looked to the sky and found her ride.
“Aye aye, sir.” Her shuttle broke right and dove for the front line.
You’ll get all of the fight you’ll want.
***
Susan was over Siberia, tracking the Keeper mothership. “It’s lifting off from outside New Delhi.” It had landed in India, its fighters close by, to load up the drones stockpiled there. “Looks like it’s heading for Southern Africa.”
“Roger that, Dark Knight One. Get out of there before they decide you’re annoying enough to deal with.”
“Bugging out now. Let those punks on the ground know the party is coming.”
***
Gabriel hugged the earth, stalking forward with careful, deliberate movements. A dip in the ground provided a bit of cover. “Max zoom, Hottie.”
Kilometers ahead, the pyramid did what it had been doing for a solid twenty hours: depositing thousands of its minions north of the mountain line.
Finished, it rose. Hundreds of fighters circled overhead, giving the evil ship a beautiful halo that sparkled in the sunlight.
Off to make another run, are we? This is going to be one for the ages. Bring it on! This is my planet and I’m kicking your ass off it. I almost gave my life for my country near this stretch of land, and I have no regrets about giving it for Earth.
The Last Charge of the 1st Legion (The Last Hero Trilogy Book 3) Page 26
