Sanctuary (Rise of the Empire Book 2)

by Ivan Kal

  As the Sowir troop ship entered orbit of Nuva it released five dropships and then used Nuva’s gravity to slingshot around and exit on a course out of the system, away from the space battle that was still raging. As the Sowir landing points became apparent Laas Rett started sending their militia troops to meet them, after some more “discussion” between Company Leaders and Laas Rett, Company Leader Okoro turned and walked over to Sahib.

  “Adin, take yours and Monifa’s platoons to these coordinates, you are to reinforce the militia squad sent to deal with one of the dropships.” Company Leader Okoro said as he sent the coordinates to Sahib’s implant. Sahib could detect a trace of annoyance in his tone.

  “And the rest of our people?” Sahib asked.

  Okoro shook his head. “The fools are keeping us back. It’s their show, I barely managed to convince them to let me send two platoons as backup.” He sighed. “This needs to be fast Adin. These people don’t understand what is happening, they are giving their opponent time to dig in, they think that because the fleet got one troop transport there is no danger. These guys know how to fight, I can tell just by looking at them, but they don’t understand how to wage war.” Okoro looked Sahib directly in the eye. “Assist their militia, and make sure that you get every single Sowir.”

  “Yes, sir!” Sahib said and saluted. Then he turned and went to find Platoon Leader Nissah Monifa and then to get their platoons.

  ***

  Sahib swayed gently as the TTV or tactical transport vehicle turned a corner. He was standing in the TTV alongside the rest of his platoon. After Sahib found Nissah, both he and she got their platoons into their TTV’s and immediately started towards the position of the militia force. The TTV’s were armored vehicles designed to be used in high threat situations, transporting troops through contested territory. They remained almost unchanged from even before Olympus got into space, with only a few additions.

  “Reaching the coordinates in 5 minutes.” A voice over the internal speakers in Sahib’s helmet, as it did in that of every soldier in the TTV’s.

  “Alright, everyone get ready.” Sahib said. Looking at his HUD, he saw the updated info on the situation sent from Company Leader Okoro. The militia forces had engaged the Sowir, and were losing badly. Laas Rett sent 700 militia to deal with 300 Sowir soldiers. Militia with limited training and equipment against 300 fully equipped soldiers. Sahib shook his head. It was stupid. Even this small force will be able to do enormous damage before it was defeated unless Laas Rett started acting competently. TTV’s came to a stop and the back opened. As soon as the two platoons left them Sahib started giving orders.

  “Squad Claw and Paw reinforce militia positions, setup turrets and keep them bottled. Nissah, you hit them from the east. I’ll try to come from their backs, see if we can take their dropship.” Sahib said, and Nissah saluted. Claw and Paw squad took out two boxes from the TTV and then started towards the militia positions, Nissah’s platoon took off to get in position. Sahib turned to his two remaining squads, Alpha and Fang.

  “Let’s go.” Sahib said. They were provided with detailed maps of the city by the Laas Rett, and Sahib’s HUD was constantly updated with enemy positions. They chose to take a long round route around the contested area, hoping to avoid any Sowir forces until they got into position. At first Sowir landing points seemed random, as there was no significant point of interest they could be going after. Until he realized that all of their droop points were in close proximity to the underground shelters. Logic dictated that those were their targets and that they had some knowledge about them, even though the shelters were supposed to be undetectable from orbit. Sowir were throwing their troops away, but also trying to wreak as much damage as they could. Sahib constantly got updates from Claw and Paw squads, they had set up defensive positions one on the street level and one on a nearby building, from where they managed to halt the Sowir advance. Sahib had sent his thoughts on the Sowir objectives to CL Okoro, and both he and Laas Rett concurred. The militia has been taking heavy casualties simply due to them being outmatched. Claw Squad Leader Lee “Noose” Sato commed Sahib to let him know that their weapons proved very effective against the Sowir, unlike those of Nel militia.

  After fifteen minutes they reached the back of Sowir position. “The Sowir dropship came down somewhere behind these buildings.” Sahib said, highlighting them on his and the rest of his people HUDs. “Fang scout ahead. See how many are guarding the dropship.”

  Without a word Cheat took his squad through one of the buildings that connected to the square where the dropship was supposed to be.

  Sahib took his own squad to the side, where he could quickly respond should Fang need help, or attack the dropship. A few minutes later Cheat commed in.

  “There are four Sowir in front of the dropship, can’t say if there are more inside Alpha.”

  “Can you take them down?”

  “Yes.”

  “Ok, wait for my signal.” Sahib said. He moved his squad closer, and then gave the signal to Fang. Alpha squad ran out of cover towards the dropship, using their suits powered systems to increase their speed in three seconds they covered over 160 meters. Sowir noticed them and started to turn just as four shots rang out, dropping them in a shower of blood. Sahib ordered two of his squads to secure the dropship. Then instructed squad Fang to spread out around the square and provide cover. After the dropship was secure and they made sure there are no more threats around them, Sahib looked down at the Sowir bodies. There was much more blood and gore than he expected. The bullets from their sniper rifles ripped through the Sowir suits and their bodies, taking with them huge chunks of flesh. It was as if a cannonball punched through. The Sowir looked like some kind of octopi, only with seven arms instead of eight. The arms weren’t really anything like that of an octopus, there were no suctions or ridges of any kind that Sahib could see, they looked more like Elephant trunks, long muscles ending with four small finger like appendages. The arms were close to two meters in length, and their center of the body looked like a big blob about a meter across. All shots were in the center of their mass, as that was where their major organs were. Looking down, he couldn’t see for sure what their skin looked like as it was covered in a brownish suit, but the few chunks he could see were grayish in color. The center of their bodies was encased in a kind of armor, although Sahib couldn’t tell what it was made from. The center blob had something mounted on it that looked like it could be a weapon of some kind, while two of its seven arms had things attached that definitely were weapons.

  “Why the hell didn’t they have more guarding this thing?” Cheat asked over the comm.

  “I have no idea. They are alien, who can say. And I don’t think that they planned on getting off this planet alive.” Sahib said.

  “But that makes no sense. They can’t possibly hurt Nuva enough to warrant the sacrifice of their soldiers.” Cheat said. Sahib didn’t respond, he felt the same way. Sahib decided to leave two of his men to guard the dropship from a safe distance, but he had them put explosives on the dropship.

  “If more Sowir than you can handle come this way detonate the charges.” Sahib told the two. They saluted and went to find sniping positions. Then the rest of Fang and Alpha squads continued towards the back of the Sowir positions.

  ***

  Squad Leader Lola ‘NGD’ Petrov and Squad Leader Lee “Noose” Sato sat behind the cover guiding their squads, they had set up a defensive perimeter in one of the main streets that lead to one of the shelters, which as it happened Sowir wanted to reach. They set up two HO-32 turrets on the street level one on a nearby building so that it could cover the west approach, and one closing off the adjacent street. That meant that Sowir had to go through them if they wanted to get to the shelter. And as they learned that wasn’t going to happen, they were at an impasse. Sowir couldn’t get pass the turrets and militia positions, and the militia couldn’t get to them. The Sowir positions were in a series of small streets, which with their hig
her speed and agility meant that anyone going in there wasn’t coming back out. Before the humans arrived militia was getting hammered. They simply didn’t know how to position themselves, nor did they have any kind of training that could help them. After the two squads arrived and set up their defenses things changed. The turrets started laying waste to the Sowir that were running down the street trying to overwhelm Nel positions. They lost at least fifty before they wised up and moved back. Now the Nel militia was at least positioned correctly to protect the area, under the guidance of Lola and Lee. All of their commanders died in the fighting before humans arrived. Sowir now kept to their side of the street, trying to snipe at the human positions, without much success. Each time they did a shot rang out, and a Sowir died.

  “These Sowir aren’t all that smart. Didn’t they bring any heavy weapons?” Noose asked on a private channel to Lola “NGD” Petrov.

  “I don’t know… Maybe they’re planning something? They must have brought something, they couldn’t have taken the planet otherwise.” NGD answered.

  “I don’t know NGD. These Nel aren’t all that better either, I bet those three hundred over there would have taken care of the militia forces easily if we weren’t here.” Noose said.

  “They can’t possibly be this mindless? They are acting like a swarm not a military force.”

  “They are aliens after all, more so than Nel are, who knows what they are thinking.” Noose said.

  Lola kept quiet, she couldn’t understand anyone just sending their people to die with no reason. Then another shot rang out.

  “Got another one.” A voice said over the comms. Lola shook her head, they just don’t learn. Then she got a comm from Platoon Leader Adin.

  “Nissah’s platoon is in position. And we will be in ten minutes. Get the militia ready, we are going to attack them from all sides.”

  “Yes, sir.” Lola sighed, she got up and went to convince untrained militia that their best option now was to attack advantageously positioned Sowir.

  ***

  “What does it looks like?” Sahib asked.

  “I have no idea, they are just standing there in the alleys not moving a muscle. Then one would peek out of cover trying to get a hit on one of our turrets, die and the others would shift places.”

  Looking over his HUD map Sahib started highlighting certain areas. “We will pass through this street here, there are twelve hostiles there, we should catch them by surprise, and that street will then open a straight path at their back. Fang, you guys will take positions up on this building.” Sahib said, highlighting a building that was about a hundred meters down the street from Sowir positions. “Nissah’s platoon will hit them from the west, we will follow after. You’ll know her platoon started fighting when you hear explosions, they will start with a few RPGs, fired from this point here.” Sahib highlighted a building on the west side. “Then squads Claw and Paw will strike with the militia from the front, and we from the back. Understood?”

  “Yes, sir!”

  “Good. Let’s go.”

  His squads got into positions, and soon after three explosions rang out. Sahib immediately ordered his people to attack.

  The militia along with Claw and Paw got hit the Sowir positions first. Nel energy weapons bathed the street in light, mingling with return fire from the Sowir. As Sahib’s team entered the street, they saw a swarm of Sowir, moving incredibly fast towards the forward positions to meet the militia. As soon as Sahib got into range he opened fire, his squad mates doing the same. Bullets from human weapons ripped through Sowir armor in a single shot, while militia's energy weapons took more than one hit on the same target to burn through. The few Sowir weapons that hit the human suits, did nothing more than disrupt the suit's systems for a moment and two. Then Nissah’s platoon joined in from the west and the street became a slaughter house. Sowir didn’t even try to run away or get to cover, they just mindlessly ran at the Nel militia, a few managing to reach their positions, killing scores as they fired their weapons point blank and used their powerful arms to break the necks of those close enough. But they couldn’t match the human weapons, and quickly there was nothing moving in the street that wasn’t human or Nel.

  “Fucking slaughter.” Cheat said over the internal comms, as Nel militia started cheering, it was the first time Sahib saw a Nel show any kind of emotion.

  “Why the hell were they so ill equipped for this?” Lola asked.

  “I have no idea.” Noose answered.

  Sahib just shook his head, and contacted Company Leader Okoro.

  “It’s done, sir.”

  “I know Adin, militia at your position already called back and reported to Laas Rett. Their other positions are taking a pounding, one of the Sowir landing groups punched through and found a shelter they are trying to enter even as we speak. Laas Rett finally decided to let us fight, I’m sending all platoons to help. I need you to go to these coordinates.” Okoro said, sending the coordinates to Sahib’s imp.

  “Yes sir. But sir, these Sowir. I don’t think they are soldiers sir.” Sahib said.

  After a moment of hesitation Okoro responded. “I know. There is something very strange going on here. We’ll talk later.” With that, he closed the comm.

  “Alright platoon, gather your gear and meet at the TTV’s we got more work to do.”

  ***

  Leviathan

  Force Leader Nenad Krylov watched the holo as his ship took the combined fire of six Sowir heavy cruisers. The Protector was able to intercept most of their missiles, but their lasers had started to become a problem, and Krylov didn’t know how much more his ship could take. In that moment he noticed that one of the six heavy cruiser’s drives were damaged by a couple of Protector’s missiles that managed to pass through its point defense. Immediately Krylov ordered focused fire from Protector’s powerful railgun turrets, and they started raining fire on the ship that was unable to evade it. Massive metal slugs shredded the ship and after a few seconds its drives exploded, followed by the rest of the ship. Then Krylov noticed pressure on his ship lessen as task force consisting of light cruisers Sting and Swift, and heavy cruisers Freedom and Enterprise commenced firing on the Sowir ships back. Krylov ordered his ship in closer to the Sowir keeping pressure on them. The overwhelming firepower of the human ships overpowered the Sowir noteworthy defenses.

  ***

  Adrian watched on his command board as the Protector and the task force destroyed another heavy cruiser, leaving only two remaining. On his side of the battle, Leviathan managed to destroy one Sowir battleship, Valor and its escorts one more, and another one fell to the Battle Song. Force Leader Altsoba Smith proved incredibly competent when she suckered the Sowir battleship into overextending and then smashed it with her railguns. Now only three battered battleships remained, and the combined fire from the human and Nel ships was overwhelming them. Leviathan’s railguns fired constantly on the battleship designated as H6, its hull was now sporting hundreds of small holes and scorch marks, its weapon fire diminishing until finally they were dead in space. Adrian immediately sent orders to leave that ship alone, and focus on the others. He had plans for that one, if they manage to take it. Retsar Isani acknowledged the communication from Adrian, and his ships focused on the two remaining ships. The last two battleships died within minutes of one another. When the last one exploded, Adrian leaned back in his chair, releasing a long breath.

  “We won.” Iris said.

  “We won.” Adrian agreed. Looking at his command board, he saw countless reports. Injured count was constantly rising, as was that of the dead or lost. Damages to the his ships, and lack of reports from two ships griped at Adrian’s heart. Sitting up in his chair, Adrian started giving orders for rescue operations. There were still things to be done.

  Chapter Thirty

  March 2170 – Sanctuary

  Seo-yun sat in her office at the palace. Tomas was in a meeting with Laura and Elias discussing the battle at Nuva. Seo-yun couldn’t sit
there and listen to the endless death reports. She felt guilty, as if she was betraying those people that died by not listening, but she just couldn’t make herself go. It was her that sent them there, using technology that she rediscovered. She knew intellectually that their deaths weren’t her fault. But emotionally she couldn’t help but feel at least partially responsible.

  So she sat in her office busying herself by reading reports on various projects.

  “You should go, Tomas might need you.” Luna said in her head.

  “I can’t. And he is a big boy, he can handle it now.” Seo-yun responded.

  “Perhaps then, you need him.”

  “What I need is a little time alone. Tomas had five years, all I ask is a few hours.” Seo-yun said harshly, and immediately regretted it, but she didn’t apologize. Luna remained quiet.

  Seo-yun spent the next ten minutes in silence, only statistics and graphs occupying her mind. And then Luna spoke again.

  “Seo-yun?”

  “I’m not going to the meeting.” She said out loud.

  “It’s not about that. The fleet just received a message for you, they forwarded it to me.” Luna said.

  “Who is it from?” Seo-yun asked.

  “I don’t know, but the message is encrypted and from out of the system.”

  “Nuva?”

  “No.”

  Seo-yun accessed the inbox on her holo-table. When she tried to open the message it asked for verification. She entered her key, and her holo cleared. Then a small hologram appeared on her table.