First Strike (The Kurgan War Book 1)

by Richard Turner

  The whoosh sound of incoming missiles told them that a deadly volley fired by enemy drones hovering above the river was about to strike. All along the Marines’ defensive position, the heavy weapons teams suffered crippling losses as the drones flew above them firing everything they had, trying to silence the weapons. The hellish noise all around the bunker was deafening. A second later, dozens of anti-aircraft missiles fired by Marine air-defense soldiers, well back from the battle, surged up into the night sky blasting several drones out of the air. The remainder quickly ducked down below the height of the houses and then skimmed just above the river as they maneuvered to a new position to continue the fight.

  Hundreds of Marines hidden in the trenches along the riverbank popped up and joined the fight. Tracers tore through the dark. For every tracer round, four other bullets were fired, killing and maiming dozens of enemy soldiers at a time.

  With the far bank cleared of opposition, the Kurgans, ignoring their growing casualties, brought forward a company of tanks to bring fire down on the defenders. Sheridan saw that they were not the massive Destroyer tanks they had first used, but were lighter ten-wheeled armored vehicles with 180mm cannons on them. The tanks quickly formed a firing line and began to pound the trench line, trying to silence the men fighting back.

  “Over there,” called out a hoarse voice.

  Sheridan tried to see what the man had spotted. He adjusted his potion and then saw what was coming their way. Two large Kurgan armored bridge layers rumbled past the tanks and then stopped at the river’s edge. Almost right away, the vehicles began to extend their collapsed metal bridges across the river.

  “I don’t get it. Why aren’t they shooting at the bridge layers?” Cole asked Sheridan as he watched a company of Chosen engineers rush forward to help finish building the two bridges.

  Sheridan looked over and saw that the Marines were firing on the tanks and the foot soldiers only. It was as if they could not see the long metal bridges being built right under their noses. He turned to face a major and said, “Sir, what gives? Why aren’t your men trying to destroy the Kurgan bridges before they get built?”

  “Wait for it, Lieutenant,” the major replied bluntly.

  Sheridan looked at Cole and shrugged his shoulders. Below at the water’s edge, some of the Chosen engineers jumped up onto the bridges and secured them to the far bank. Others ran to the other side to fasten it to the steep riverbank just below the marine trenches. They were close enough that Sheridan could hear them talking to one another. Through the swirling smoke, he spotted a couple of the tanks edging down until they were on the bridges. Behind them, Chosen soldiers cheered and ran to join the attack. They began to chant to God, in Kurgan. With their officers leading them, the enemy warriors were eager to get to grips with the Marines on the other side of the river.

  “That’ll do,” announced the regimental commander. “Fire the demolitions.”

  “Yes, sir,” replied an engineer lieutenant as he pressed down on a red button on an old-fashioned electric firing board.

  Sheridan expected to hear a massive explosion. Instead, nothing happened.

  The officer pushed the button frantically a couple more times. “The wire must be cut.” Jumping up onto his feet, the lieutenant ran to the back of the bunker and out into the open where the cable was laid. He made it less than ten meters before he died in a hail of bullets. His sergeant and a corporal tried as well but met the same fate.

  Sheridan swore. The tanks were already half-way across the river. “Take over the firing board,” he said to Cole. Before the sergeant could tell him it was suicide, Sheridan was on the move. As he stepped outside of the bunker, brought his fingers up to his mouth and let out a loud whistle. A couple of Marines looked his way. “Pop smoke and cover me!” Sheridan yelled.

  With a hiss, several smoke grenades tossed by the bunker began to emit a thick gray cloud covering the area in front of the shelter. Sheridan saw where the engineer officer had fallen and ran to his side. Desperate to stop the enemy from crossing the river, he dug his hands into the muck. A couple of seconds later, he found what he was looking for. He picked up the wire and began to follow it, looking for a break. All around him, bullets whizzed through the air and struck the dirt. After ten agonizingly long seconds searching, he found the split in the line. Dropping to his knees, he pulled out his knife and hurriedly cleared off the dirt and rubber coating from the electrical wires. With bullets whipping around his head, Sheridan quickly wound the two ends together. He could see Chosen warriors barely twenty meters away pointing at him, trying to warn their officers.

  “Now!” hollered Sheridan as he threw himself face first into the mud.

  Cole muttered a prayer and pressed his thumb down on the firing button. A split-second later, the entire far bank of the river vanished in an ear-splitting detonation. Hundreds of Chosen warriors waiting to cross the river were instantly killed by the thunderous blast. Thousands more were horribly maimed and wounded. The men and tanks on the bridges were hurled into the water and swept away as the bridges buckled in on themselves and then fell apart from the force of the deadly explosion. A thick, black cloud of smoke blanketed the river.

  Cole was up and out of the bunker before the falling debris had stopped falling on their side of the river. He could not see Sheridan in the smoke, but he had a good idea where he was. He slid on his backside down the muddy slope until he found Sheridan lying motionless in the muck. Cole grabbed hold of Sheridan’s shoulders and rolled him over. The young officer’s face was caked with mud. A second later, he opened his eyes and gasped loudly as he took in a lung full of air. Coughing and wheezing, Sheridan was lucky to have only been winded by the blast.

  “You’re one stupid officer, Lieutenant Michael Sheridan!” said Cole, helping him to his feet. “You could have been...no, you ought to be dead.”

  “Yeah, you could be right about that,” Sheridan replied.

  What neither man knew was that the division’s entire supply of artillery shells had been secretly buried on the other side of the river. With their guns out of action, the artillerymen, working with a handful of combat engineers, had prepared their shells for detonation.

  General Gruber had gambled and won.

  Chapter 35

  Tarina listened to Wendy’s voice as she counted backward from ten. As soon as she reached five, Tarina gripped the joystick of her Avenger and waited for the harsh jolt to her body that would come when they came out of their jump into Derra-5’s atmosphere. Even though she had prepared herself mentally for the kick, her body still felt the full force of the impact.

  The ship’s sub-light engine kicked in. Tarina reached over and activated her ship’s thrusters to control the rapid descent.

  “The arena’s playing field looks empty,” announced Wendy as she looked down at thermal image displayed on her console.

  “How long until our friends arrive?” asked Tarina.

  “Now!” responded Wendy. A large landing craft suddenly appeared several hundred meters directly above their heads, blocking out the silvery light from one of Derra-5’s moons.

  Tarina banked over and lined up her craft to land in the schoolyard as she had the last time. She reached up to key her mic to talk to the landing craft, but remembered that everything on the planet was still being jammed.

  Wendy turned in her seat and looked behind. “Looks like they’ve slowed their fall and are going to make a smooth landing in the arena.”

  Tarina felt a wave of relief wash over her. As she brought her craft down, she could see the fires raging all along the riverfront. It looked like a scene straight out of hell. Her thoughts instantly turned to Sheridan. She wondered if he was down there in amongst the flames. She tried to block her thoughts and concentrated on landing her ship safely.

  A cordon of heavily armed soldiers met the Avenger while Tarina popped open the cockpit, removed her helmet and climbed down onto the snow-covered ground. A sergeant greeted Tarina and asked her to
follow him to the headquarters.

  At the arena, the second the landing craft touched down, all of the exits opened. Hundreds of Marines carrying all of their equipment on their backs sprinted out. They had ten seconds to disembark. Even if not all of the men were off in ten, the doors were closing and the landing craft was heading back to the fleet.

  A sergeant at the front exit counted down on the landing craft’s PA system. He grinned when he saw that they were going to make it. The last soldier was out the door with two seconds left to spare. Automatically, the doors slid closed and the landing craft began to lift back up into the night sky. An automated voice told the crew to prepare to jump in five seconds time.

  Unseen among the burnt out buildings ringing the arena, a Kurgan drone tracked the massive ship as it rose up. It locked all of its missiles on the ship and fired. The landing craft did not stand a chance. One second before it was to jump away, the deadly projectiles struck the rear of the ship, igniting the fuel cells. A brilliant orange and red fireball lit up the night as the ship blew apart. Flaming wreckage rained down to the ground, killing a handful of Marines who had still been out in the open.

  Tarina heard the thunderous explosion, stopped in her tracks and looked up in horror as the burning debris tumbled from the sky. She swore. Twenty people had just died in the blink of an eye.

  “Ma’am, this way, please,” said the sergeant. “It’s not safe out there.”

  “Yes, of course,” numbly replied Tarina.

  After trudging through dimly lit trench system for a few minutes, Tarina soon recognized where she was. Inside the headquarters, the mood was the exact opposite of how she felt. Men and women were enthusiastically congratulating one another. People wanting to shake his hand mobbed the commander of the newly arrived battalion of Marines. From the way the people were acting, you would have thought the war was over and that they had won, thought Tarina.

  General Gruber welcomed the lieutenant colonel before handing him off to his chief of staff. He looked around the room. The second he saw Tarina, he smiled from ear to ear and strode straight towards her. “If it isn’t my favorite transport pilot,” said Gruber with a wink as he shook Tarina’s hand.

  “They took out the landing craft, sir.”

  “I know,” replied Gruber somberly. “But we have gained eight hundred fresh soldiers. And I desperately need those men to make up for the losses I suffered earlier tonight.”

  Tarina unzipped a pocket on her survival suit and handed a couple of computer drives to the general. “Sir, I was told to give these to you. They’re from Fleet Headquarters.”

  Gruber called his operations officer over and gave him the drives. He set a hand on Tarina’s shoulder and said, “I have some information that I need you take back with you. My staff should have it all packaged up and ready to go in a couple of minutes. Until then, I’d like you to meet some of my people.” He guided her through the throng of people still celebrating until they came to a quiet corner of the room. She could see two Marines drinking coffee, caked from head to toe in mud.

  “Gents, I’d like to introduce to you Second Lieutenant Tarina Pheto. This young lady is the bravest pilot I have ever had the honor of knowing.”

  The soldiers looked a mess. Their ragged uniforms were filthy. Both men needed a shower and a shave. They barely looked like Marines.

  “Hi, Tarina,” said one of the men covered in mud.

  Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Sheridan’s green eyes looking back at her. With a scream of joy, she wrapped her arms around Sheridan’s neck, pulling him in close.

  Gruber stood there with an incredulous look on his face.

  “Officers,” said Cole dryly.

  Wiping the dirt from Sheridan’s face, Tarina leaned forward and kissed the man she once thought she had lost forever.

  “I take it you two know each other?” said Gruber. He waited a couple of seconds until the two young officers let go of one another.

  “We knew each other at the academy, sir,” said Sheridan, sheepishly.

  “Must have changed since I went there,” observed Gruber. “A simple handshake was good enough in my day.”

  Tarina blushed. “Sir, sorry, it’s just that I thought Michael was dead.”

  Gruber looked over at Cole. “Feel like getting a fresh cup of coffee, Sergeant?”

  Cole grinned. “Sounds good, sir.” They walked away, giving Sheridan and Tarina a minute or two of privacy.

  Tarina looked deep into Sheridan’s eyes. “Michael, I was told you were dead.”

  “I know. It’s a bit of a long story. How are you doing?”

  “I’m fine. Your father’s the one who told me you were still alive. He asked me to tell you that he loves you and that he’s proud of you.”

  Sheridan shook his head. “They’re just hollow words from a man who barely knows me.”

  “Michael, you’re wrong. I saw the look in his eyes and heard the pain in his voice. He misses you.”

  “I’ll have to wait to pass judgment until I meet the admiral again.”

  Tarina did not want to be dragged into another family discussion. Not again, not when they had so little time to spend together before she had to leave. “Michael, any second now I’m going to have to leave. Is there anything you wish me to pass onto to your father?”

  Sheridan took a deep breath and said, “Please tell him that I’m alright and that I look forward to seeing him again when this is all over.”

  Tarina saw an officer walking towards them. Her heart ached. She knew it was time to go. She let go of Sheridan’s hand, took the drives from the major and slipped them into her pocket. Trying not to cry, she said, “Time to go.”

  “Lieutenant Sheridan, I want you to personally make sure my favorite pilot gets to her ship safely,” said Gruber.

  Sheridan smiled at Tarina and playfully said, “Lead on, general’s favorite.”

  Five minutes later, at the Avenger, Sheridan stood facing Tarina. He held her hands in his. “I won’t ask you when you’re coming back, because the odds of us bumping into one another again are probably slim.”

  Tarina stepped close. “I’m sorry I broke it off with you. I should have ignored your mother.”

  “No, you were right. It was the kick in the pants that I needed. Unfortunately, it took a few months to sink in before I knew how right you were. I love you, Tarina.”

  “I love you too, Michael.” With that, they embraced and kissed with a passion that both had missed from their lives.

  “Excuse me, you two, but there’s a war on and I don’t want to go down in flames like the landing craft did,” said Wendy from the cockpit. “While you were busy, I redid the calculations. We’ll jump three seconds after take-off. There’s no way in hell that a drone can spot, lock, and fire its missiles in that time.”

  “Got to go,” Tarina said, letting go of Sheridan.

  “Stay safe, Tarina Pheto.”

  “You too, Michael Sheridan, you too.” With a heavy heart, Tarina climbed up into her ship, placed her helmet back on and then turned to take one last look at Sheridan. He waved up and then stepped back so she could engage the sub-light engines. Tarina closed the cockpit and switched on the craft’s engine. She turned her head away and focused on her job. A second later, the Avenger began to lift up into the night sky.

  Wendy’s voice filled Tarina’s helmet. “Engage the jump engine in three-two-one.”

  Below, Sheridan watched as Tarina’s ship climbed ever higher and then in flash it was gone. Slowly a smile crept across his face. She had never said she loved him before. They were the sweetest words he had ever heard. Turning his back on the Marines standing around the landing site, Sheridan made his way back to the headquarters. Until now, he had just fought to keep himself and his people alive. Now he had someone in his life worth fighting for.

  Chapter 36

  Sheridan found Cole sitting with Garcia, Roberts and Tammy in their bunker. A chemical stove in the corner of the room kept
the bitter cold away. A warmed up ration pack awaited Sheridan’s return. Before Sheridan could take a seat, there was a knock on the door. Garcia opened it and welcomed into the room a mother with a small child in her arms.

  Cole nudged Sheridan’s arm and quietly said, “Garcia has been cleaning out and treating wounds suffered by kids during the last bombardment. The field hospital is overwhelmed with military casualties. They’re turning away civilians who aren’t in need of immediate lifesaving care.”

  “We don’t have a lot of medicine ourselves,” pointed out Sheridan.

  “One of the medics who arrived with the reinforcements is a friend of hers, so he gave her a top up of her med bag. I told her it was ok to help out.”

  Sheridan took a seat and watched while Garcia treated the child for burns to her arms. When she was done, Garcia gave the women a small bottle of ointment for the wounds and a couple of fresh bandages. The woman thanked Garcia and turned to leave. Roberts jumped up and held the door open for the woman and her child.

  Cole waited until the door closed and then handed Sheridan his food. “I take it, sir, that the young woman, you kissed back at headquarters, is the one your mother doesn’t approve of?”

  “Correct,” Sheridan responded as he took a seat on the floor.

  “What young lady?” asked Roberts.

  “What’s she look like?” prodded Garcia.

  Cole said, “From what I saw, she’s quite beautiful, slender, bald and has a strong South African accent.”

  “I’m not fond of bald women,” confided Roberts. “But I do like accents.”