Extinction Wars: 02 - Planet Strike

by Vaughn Heppner

  The android frowned. He even had a line in his forehead, a thick one. “The life-readings are coming from the T-missile,” N7 said.

  “Say again,” I told him.

  Before N7 could manage, the T-missile burst apart. It didn’t do so as before with a thermonuclear explosion. The missile parts flew away as if ejected by magnetic force. Smaller pieces like interior pellets began to brake, causing long fusion tails to burn at us.

  “What are those pellets?” I asked.

  “I’m analyzing, Commander,” N7 said.

  “Ella, get the laser back online now. Quit hiding it behind the armored bulkhead.”

  “That’s what I’m doing, Commander,” she said. “It’s almost ready.”

  “N7,” I said, “I’m still waiting for an answer. What in the hell are those things.”

  The pellet-shapes burst apart as the T-missile had, through the power of magnetic force. In the pellets’ place were several thousand individual soldiers. At least, those sure looked like soldiers in heavy powered armor.

  “Is what I’m seeing real?” I asked.

  “I do not understand this,” N7 said. “The readings make no sense.”

  “Tell it to me anyway,” I said.

  N7 looked up from his board. He looked as confused as the android ever did. While his face was humanlike, the mobility of his features lacked our range of differences.

  “I’m tracking Lokhar life-readings,” N7 said.

  “As in: Lokhar legionaries?” I asked, dumbfounded.

  “Yes,” N7 said.

  “Tigers?” I asked, as if that would clarify the situation.

  “Yes, Commander,” N7 said. “Those are Lokhar legionaries flying toward our battlejumper. It is my belief they are attempting a storm assault.”

  “Why are the tigers aiding the Starkiens?” I asked. “I thought Lokhars hated the pirates.”

  “They do,” N7 said. “I find this inexplicable.”

  I stared at the main screen. Is this what it had been like on D-Day for the Germans, staring into the sky and seeing thousands of Allied paratroopers coming down on their heads?

  This didn’t make any sense at all.

  -8-

  “Listen up,” I snarled. “I see Lokhars coming for our battlejumper. I don’t know why they’re so far out from us, but we’re going to use that against them and take the tigers down hard.”

  As I spoke, another T-missile materialized in close range. We’d spotted three of them coming through the jump point near Neptune. Therefore, this seemed like the last one we’d have to deal with. It reacted as the second missile, spilling more braking pellet-shaped craft, which in turn put more Lokhar power-armored legionaries into space.

  “How many of them are you counting, N7?” I asked.

  “Five thousand,” he said. “This is an entire legion.”

  “Perfect,” I said. “How are the ejectors coming? Have they launched one yet from a shuttle bay?”

  “You’re going to blow a nuclear warhead among the enemy?” Ella asked.

  “You’re reading my mind,” I said. “I want your laser back on target. We have more beamships to kill if we’re going to win the fight. N7, tell them to launch the second ejector. It’s possible the tigers have anti-missile tech.” I drummed my fingers on the console, debating whether to use some of the regular Jelk missiles I’d saved. If the legionaries reached us…

  We launched three more missiles, the big Jelk ones. If we lost the battlejumper, I’d never need those missiles anyway.

  The minutes flashed past. Soon, our ship-killing laser burned into the void. It seemed like the spotlight of Death Search: a grim, interplanetary game. Just as good, I watched our first ejector accelerate toward the cloud of approaching Lokhars.

  “This seems reckless and senseless on their part,” I said. “Do you think the Jelk captured the Lokhar soldiers at Sigma Draconis and have forced them into service?”

  “I do not deem that as likely,” N7 said. “Lokhars are notorious and well-known for fighting to the death. They would never surrender to Jelk.”

  “Just like they fought to the death in the Altair system?” I asked. “If I recall correctly, Lokhar legionaries fled from us like wet hens.”

  “The Altair episode still does not compute with me,” N7 said.

  “No,” I told him. “You should say, ‘it doesn’t make sense.’ To say it doesn’t compute makes you sound like a computer. You may not be human, but you’re no computer.”

  Finally, our laser began torching the second Starkien shield. At the same time, an ejector approached the Lokhar mass of soldiery. I was feeling hopeful again. But some of those legionaries must have been carrying semi-portables: infantry heavy beam weapons. Rays flashed in the darkness, hitting our warhead.

  “Should I ignite the ejector?” N7 asked.

  “It’s still too close to our battlejumper,” I said. “The blast will hurt us.”

  “You must decide quickly, Commander.”

  The enemy’s semi-portables burned against ejector armor, chewing into the heavy plating. More rays appeared, adding their help. The legionaries that fired the lasers no longer came at our vessel. Their individual mass was practically non-existent compared to the beam wattage, which acted like a propellant, pushing the shooters away from us.

  “Do it,” I said. “Explode the first warhead.”

  “It’s too late, Commander,” N7 said, as red from his panel flashed against his face. “The Lokhars destroyed it.”

  I came to an immediate decision. “Accelerate the three Jelk missiles. Let those reach the legionaries first as decoys. We can’t allow those warheads to explode this near the battlejumper anyway. We have to get our Earth nuke among them if we’re going to save ourselves. The Jelk missiles will simply take all of us down.”

  After N7 made the adjustments, he came upon a startling discovery.

  “You’d better look at this, Commander,” N7 said.

  “What now?” I asked.

  “There is another vessel coming through the Neptune jump point.”

  “More Starkiens?” I asked.

  “Negative,” N7 said. “It is a Lokhar dreadnought.”

  The words didn’t register right away. Maybe because of my confusion, my head swiveled away from the main screen so I faced our android. “What did you say?”

  “I’m magnifying the image,” N7 said. “You should see this for yourself.”

  I regarded the main screen again. I couldn’t believe what I saw. The dreadnought looked exactly like the monstrous vessel that had attempted to wipe out the human race a little over a year ago. It seemed as big as Rhode Island or a large asteroid. This one had fins like a ’57 Chevy, but it was a metal construct: a thing aliens had built.

  “That just came through the Neptune jump point?” I asked.

  “The image is over four hours old,” N7 said. “Otherwise, that is affirmative.”

  I didn’t know what to think or say.

  “Commander,” Ella said. “That’s the same jump point the Starkiens used to reach our solar system.”

  She was right. That was weird. “Is the dreadnought hunting down the Starkiens for taking Lokhar soldiers?” I asked.

  “I believe we should hail the dreadnought.” N7 said. “They should have the superior Lokhar comm-tech, allowing near-instantaneous communication. Speaking with them might clarify many things.”

  I walked off the command deck toward the main screen. What was going on? What had happened at Sigma Draconis after we’d left?

  “What are you going to do about the approaching legionaries?” Rollo asked. “They’re going to board us soon if we do nothing. They’ve already managed to take down one of the Jelk missiles, and they’re beaming the other two.”

  “This changes nothing,” I said. “We’re still going to blow up the legionaries.”

  “A Lokhar dreadnought is coming,” N7 said. “We cannot defeat such a vessel. It may be unwise to kill so many Lokhar legionaries wi
thin their visual range.”

  I whirled around toward the others. “Blow them up!” I shouted. “The Lokhars destroyed our planet and most of our race. We’re going to kill them because of that. Ella, detonate the Earth warhead. Do it now before they destroy the last ejector!”

  The color drained from Ella’s face. Her mouth opened, maybe to speak. She was a scientist first. Maybe I asked her to do more than she was capable. It was one thing to fire a laser at an enemy vessel. That was impersonal. You destroyed a machine. You could block the idea of killing all those people aboard. With the tigers coming at us individually, there was no way to fool yourself about what you were doing.

  I dashed onto the command deck, shouldering Ella aside.

  “Commander,” N7 said. “The dreadnought captain is hailing us. He wishes to discuss terms for our surrender.”

  “I’ll give him terms,” I said, and I tapped the red image on the board.

  The legionaries coming in their individual thousands used semi-portables and rifle lasers to disable the last of the three Jelk missiles. Now a mass of beams shot toward the final ejector.

  I ground my teeth together in frustration. Was it already too late? Lokhar legionaries were considered some of the finest fighting soldiers in this arm of the Milky Way Galaxy. They must have trained for such a tactic as I used against them.

  Then, outside the battlejumper, the nuclear warhead originally constructed to detonate against Chinese or Russians blew up against the alien world-killers.

  I sagged in relief. That was the first reaction. The second was to grin like a manic: fiercely glad to destroy alien bastards. I wanted to take down the entire race of Lokhars if I could. They’d tried to annihilate us. I would destroy them whenever I had the chance.

  The thermonuclear blast lacked the punch of the first T-missile or our own Jelk warheads. On the other hand, it ignited closer to our ship than the first alien warhead had. Even so, the battlejumper’s laser survived the explosion and so did we. The Lokhars legionaries coming for us—not so much.

  The front mass of them disappeared in a fireball of atomic annihilation. It was beautiful. Others farther away blew backward, carried by the wave front of flying particles. Many of the powered armor suits melted away, exposing tiger flesh. I imagine that those who kept their suits intact boiled like lobsters in a pot. Others looked like machine-gun victims, their suits riddled by speeding particles.

  My grin continued to widen like little Red Riding Hood’s wolf. Did that make me despicable? Maybe it did. I was a soldier, an assault trooper. The Jelk had trained me to kill. I was doing my job. If I did my job well enough, the human race survived. If I fouled up or got soft, we died. So if I happened to enjoy my job, well, that’s the breaks. I’m the one who had to live with it. I’m the one who stood in the breach for mankind. If you feel you can judge me, go ahead. If I have nightmares sometimes because of the things I’ve done…

  No, forget it. I’m not apologizing to anyone. At least not yet, I’m not. I killed the incoming legionaries because I did my job for keeps.

  “Commander,” N7 said. “The dreadnought captain wants to speak with you.”

  “Tell him I’m busy.” I tapped Ella’s board, and I brought up the far-range teleoptics. I did it in time to witness our laser burning through the second Starkien shield. Soon, the second beamship exploded, and this one seemed to damage a third vessel.

  “We’re doing it,” Rollo said. “We’re killing them.”

  I raised my right eyebrow questioningly at Ella. Quietly, she returned to her station as I moved aside.

  “The Lokhar captain demands your attention,” N7 said. “He is very insistent.”

  I took a deep breath. “What’s his dreadnought doing?” I asked.

  “Accelerating for Earth,” N7 said.

  “What’s his flight time look like?”

  “He had a greater initial velocity upon entering the solar system. He should be here in a day. Of course, it depends if he plans on braking or if he will chase down our fleeing freighters.”

  I had to reach out and steady myself. It hit me then what had happened. The Lokhars were back in the solar system. I became lightheaded and felt like vomiting. The Lokhar dreadnought was returning to Earth. Had the captain come back to finish what he’d started a little over a year ago?

  I checked the others. Rollo looked pale, and his right eye twitched. It did that sometimes when he became frightened. Not that he’d ever admit to the fright and not that I’d ever call him on it.

  Well, I couldn’t worry about the dreadnought now. We fought the Starkiens. One battle at a time, right? Hmm. Now that the baboons were out of T-missiles, we could beat them, the flotilla of theirs anyway. There was no way I could destroy the tiger dreadnought. If I recalled correctly, the Lokhars didn’t have too many of those. Was that the same ship that had polished off my old man?

  I shook my head. None of the dreadnought questions mattered. The Starkiens…

  “The tigers have never spoken to us before,” Ella said. “To finally talk to them would make this an historic moment.”

  I scowled. That’s why Mad Jack Creed had gone up in his shuttle that day. During their first visit to our solar system, the Lokhars had acted like the Sphinx, silent and inscrutable. We’d desperately wanted them to communicate with us. They ignored every plea and brought about Armageddon.

  “This is an opportunity for us to study them,” Ella said. “You must speak to the Lokhars, Creed. What can you lose?”

  “Keep targeting the Starkiens,” I growled. “Finish them.”

  “I understand your single-mindedness,” Ella said. “But you must broaden your approach this time. We lack data, and we will be dealing with the Lokhars shortly—if we survive the Starkiens.”

  I watched our laser stab a baboon shield. Maybe I could do two things at once. The dreadnought would be here soon enough. Our scientist had a point.

  “All right,” I told N7. “Open a channel with the tiger. Let’s see what he has to say.”

  “Naga Gobo also wishes to speak with you,” N7 said.

  “Forget him,” I said. “He’s dead to me, and good riddance.”

  “Maybe he wishes an alliance against the Lokhars,” Ella said. “Shouldn’t we pursue all options?”

  “No,” I said. “Naga Gobo had his chance. He played his last card and found himself with a losing hand. The way I see it, he reaps the reward of gambling and failing. Like candles in the dark, we’re blowing them out one by one.”

  “But—” Ella said.

  “You know we can’t afford to do anything less or we risk the battlejumper. Besides, his beamships won’t make any difference against the Lokhars. An alliance with him is meaningless.”

  “I’m putting the Lokhar captain’s image onto the main screen,” N7 said.

  I ran my fingers through my hair. I was going to do what my dad had tried to do and failed: talk to the Lokhars.

  On the main screen, the latest beamship with its blackening shield disappeared from view. A proud Lokhar military officer stood in its place. A large flag with zigzagging lightning bolts wavered ever so slowly behind him. It reminded me of the times the President of the United States used to address the nation.

  The Lokhar was taller than we were, I knew, a little over seven feet tall. He was broad shouldered and muscular. There were subtle differences to his face so he didn’t look exactly like a bipedal tiger. For one thing, the braincase was larger and the features more narrow. His eyes were yellow, with tiny slits in them. The uniform was black and orange, with golden braid and shoulder tabs. He wore medals, and carried a large blaster on his hip. The cap stood higher than a human would have it, and had a crest on the front of crossed blasters, with a tiger’s clawed paw in the background. Well, instead of paws, it had fingers, or a cross between fingers and paws. The Lokhars were clearly into fancy dress uniforms. That was interesting right there.

  The jaws moved but no sound came. Like a bad old Japanese movie, the
voice was out of sequence with the lips. The tiger must be using a translator. I’d spoken with corporation Saurians who had done the same thing. At first it was disorienting, but I quickly became used to it.

  “I wish to address the battlejumper’s commanding officer,” the Lokhar said in a deep voice.

  I put my right hand on my chest. “That would be me,” I said.

  The Lokhar studied me intently. “Do you possess a name of office?”

  “I’m Commander Creed.”

  The Lokhar cocked his head. “That is the office’s designation?”

  “Commander is my title. Creed is my name.”

  “I comprehend. I am—” The Lokhar turned sharply to his left. He blinked his eyes several times. The fur around his face stiffened. When he regarded me again, his eyes seemed to shine with rage.

  “How do you do that?” Rollo asked me. “In less than a minute the tiger already hates your guts. That’s got to be a record.”

  “You detonated an atomic warhead amongst the 121st Legion,” the tiger said. “You vaporized my men.”

  “Oh boy,” Rollo said.

  “Those were yours?” I asked. “I’m sorry. I thought they were renegades who had hired out to the Starkiens. I thought you’d be glad for what I did.”

  The tiger worked his jaws for several seconds and his shoulders hunched as he lifted his arms. He was the picture of a Lokhar ready to pounce and rend to death.

  “You are barbarian swine,” the tiger spat in feline fury. “Not only did you butcher them, now you attach degradation to noble warriors who died for the Lokhar Pride.”

  “Pride?” I whispered.

  “You humans call it ‘empire,’” N7 said. “A Lokhar calls it ‘pride.’”

  “Oh,” I said.

  “The Starkien scum would never command Pride legionaries,” the tiger spat at me. “Soldiers of the Race possess honor and loyalty. On oath to the Creator, they serve the Jade League and protect this quadrant of the galaxy. Needlessly murdering them is a barbaric offense of the first order. Besmirching their holy honor is a crime beyond words.”

  “So sue me,” I said. Genocide against humanity was no big deal to them, but if one singed a few tigers, they became a holy terror. I was sick of the double standard.