Talosian Chronicles 6: Armageddon

by Ben Winston

  "Bastards are coming here!" Tonya said. "They figured out this is the command center for the whole damn area and they coming to take us out."

  "Paul, prepare the garrison for ground assault. Stage them along the southern edge of the park." Adam turned to another man, "Parker, get our ESAR drones heading out to help the navy guys."

  "Enemy ship has slowed and is approaching Battery Park," the soldier reported.

  "Tonya, if those assholes come up seventh avenue, can you use one of the guns on them?" Adam asked.

  "Only if you don't care about the damage it'll do to the midtown buildings. At the very least it'll shatter every window in the district, it could cause a few of the older buildings along seventh avenue to collapse," Tonya replied.

  "But aren't the FROGs equipped with the same gun?" Paul asked.

  "No, it's the same principle, but a very different weapon. Our guns are designed for surface to low-orbit use; larger caliber, high velocity, and a different round design. The FROG Drones are equipped with a ground assault version; smaller caliber, slower velocity, and a different projectile composition. It's like comparing a Minute-Man II ballistic missile to one of your TOW anti-tank missiles," Tonya explained. "I can tell you that if that ship makes it all the way to this park, it won't be leaving. Our three guns at point blank range will shred it."

  "What about the surrounding buildings?" Paul asked.

  "We put stabilizers on all the buildings in a three block area surrounding the park. I'll grant that will strain them, but they should be fine," Tonya replied.

  "Enemy ship approaching the Village and turning on seventh avenue. They've slowed way down, seventy-five miles an hour and dropping," the soldier reported.

  "They're getting ready to drop their troops," Adam said and touched a comm channel icon. "Major Hughes, the enemy is deploying troops along seventh avenue near the Village. Head out and stop them."

  "Understood Command. Any idea how many we're facing?" Adam's field commander asked.

  "Intel says the ship can carry a reinforced battalion; based on it's flight profile, the most likely load is three companies of infantry and a company of armor," Adam replied. "You're in for a serious fight, John. Remember to use those heavy drones and that armor."

  "Understood, we'll stop them," the man replied.

  In the Holotank, Adam could see that Major Hughes was deploying his forces down fifth, sixth, seventh and eight avenues.

  "New York Command, this is Condor Borealis, it looks like you have a pest problem. Fighter command says we can assist, but might get called away in a hurry," a woman's voice said over the comms.

  "Welcome to the party, Borealis. Yeah, we have a fat pig moving up seventh avenue and it's about to drop a whole load of rats on us. Please make their life hell for us," Adam replied.

  "We'll do what we can, but if we hit her reactor, it'll level lower Manhattan," the woman replied.

  "That would not be good, we have friendly troops in the area, Borealis," Adam replied.

  "We see them now. Be ready for a rush assault; once we start this, they may goose it and try to drop on top of you," the woman replied. In the holotank, Adam could see the icons for the fighters working up behind the transport. "Confirmed, they are dropping their troops. Along seventh avenue beginning at west fourteenth and it looks like up to east twenty-third street. Mostly infantry, but there are tanks and armored troop carriers."

  "Commander, if you work the armored stuff, we'll handle the big bitch; after all, she has to pop up out of there sometime," Tonya replied.

  "Transport is accelerating staying on seventh avenue and low! She's rushing us!" the soldier replied.

  Tonya put her hand to her personal comm. "Guns Bravo and Charlie, reorient to the south! Caldarian assault transport will be emerging from seventh avenue. As soon as it's clear, scrap it!"

  "I heard ya, command, I'll warn my kids to stay low." Borealis replied.

  "Command this is Strike One, we have enemy contact and are engaging. The bastards seem to be in a hurry," Major Hughes reported. "Their ship is heading for you."

  "It's a blitz attack, John. The armor is moving up behind their grunts, be ready," Adam replied. "Fighters are trying to keep the armor busy, but the closer they get to you…"

  "Yeah, it's a bitch to be so popular," the man replied.

  "Major Hughes, this is Captain Miles. Caldarian soldiers will never allow themselves to be captured. If any of them go down and let you approach, suspect a trap. They would consider it a great honor to kill themselves and take some of you with them."

  "That's all well and good, Captain, but what are we supposed to do with them if that happens?" Hughes asked.

  "Kill them, John. Trust me here, they would not hesitate to do the same thing to us," Adam replied.

  "That still doesn't make it right, Adam," Hughes replied.

  "No, it doesn't, but Caldarians never surrender and they will do everything in their power to make sure you and our men are destroyed. You have to kill them, or they will kill you," Adam replied.

  Whatever reply Major Hughes said was lost in a loud rumble and the heavy shaking that suddenly strike the command center. The lights flickered, but came right back on, none of the equipment cut out at all. As no sooner had that passed when most people in the room were thrown to the floor as the room rocked.

  The guard at the door called out."Colonel, the hallway outside caved in!"

  "What the hell was that?" Adam asked.

  The truth of the situation was in the holotank. The Caldarian transport ship had burst forth from the seventh avenue entrance to the park, but before it could fire it's weapons, the two big guns Tonya had tasked for this began firing. They were at such a low angle that it shook the ground in the area. The combined firepower of the two big guns made very quick work of the transport; they ate though the shields and armor in seconds. The big ship lost power and crashed. It rolled to a stop directly over the underground armory which is what caused the outside hallway to collapse. Somehow, it missed destroying the large gun near the entrance.

  "Moderate damage to the Armory; the drones are on it!" the damage control officer reported.

  "Any damage to the hospital or the shelters?" Adam asked.

  "Superficial only. However, the people in the shelters are pretty scared," the officer reported.

  "Okay, I'll handle it," Adam replied. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he felt he was ready, he opened a channel to the shelters. "Folks, this is Colonel Adam Wells in the command center. We just shot down a Caldarian ship and it crashed on top of us. By us, I mean the command center. There was some moderate damage to the armory, and some superficial damage to other facilities. It shook the ground, but that was it: we're good. Just hang in there, and we'll all get through this." He smiled confidently before closing the channel.

  "Borealis to NY Command; are you folks okay down there?" the woman asked.

  "We're good, Borealis, thanks for asking. Took some damage to the armory, but that's it; we're still in the fight," Adam replied. "How's it going out there?"

  "We took out most of the armor, but the rest are playing hard to get. We're working with your armor and heavy infantry to deal with the remainder on a case by case," the woman reported.

  Adam nodded. "Borealis, if you have the time, do you think you and your team could move up Long Island; the second group of transports looks to be giving our folks are very hard time up there. I'll send you the data," Adam nodded to one of the Terran techs working with them at the big table. "Contact Raptor T'gal for coordination."

  "Got it, we'll leave you a couple of fighters to finish with the riff-raff. We're moving. G'luck, NY Command," the woman replied.

  "Thanks, Borealis, you've been a huge help," Adam said. "Stay safe." He changed channels. "Hughes, this is Wells. I'm shifting the fighters up north to help Major F'ren. They'll leave you a couple of fighters two deal with the remaining enemy armor."

  "Command, this is Captain Marcelli, Major Hugh
es was wounded and has been evac'ed back to the hospital. We've managed to break the attack and pretty much stop them here, but we've taken casualties. These are some really tough mothers," the man answered. "Four of them tried to take cover behind a car, when it blew up we thought it would kill them. It did toss them a ways, but they got up and ran back to cover. I'm sorry to see the fighters go, but their job here is pretty much done. They'll be better used elsewhere."

  "Understood Captain. Is there anything we can do to help?" Adam asked.

  "We're pretty much down to simply slugging it out with them. Give us another hour and this fight'll be over," Marcelli replied. "Uh, we're also finding a lot of civilians out here. A few of them were homeless, but mostly it's just folks that didn't believe the warnings. We're sending them back to you as we can, but there a lot of dead people out here."

  "We didn't have time to do a proper sweep of the area before the attack and they probably would have either refused our help our hid from us. Those deaths are on them, Captain. Try to remember that. Once you get the Caldarians dealt with, sweep the area on your way back. Don't give any survivors a choice; arrest them if you have to, but get them back here," Adam replied.

  "Understood, Command. We'll handle it. Strike team out," Marcelli finished.

  Adam shook his head and sighed. "Idiots! How stupid do you have to be?" he asked rhetorically.

  "Sir, even after our existence became public knowledge, there were a lot of people that still refused to believe aliens existed. Whether it was a religious thing, or simply one of principle, there will always be folks that refuse to face the truth. I'd be willing to bet that even after all of this is over, there will be people that will believe this war did not involve aliens at all." Tonya snorted. "My money is on them thinking we are trying to take over the world, and that's what all the fighting is about."

  Adam nodded. "Still, there was a lot of people that died learning the truth. I really don't care what they chose to believe, as long as we find more survivors."

  It actually took Captain Marcelli another hour and a half to hunt down the remaining Caldarian force. The two fighters from Borealis squadron were instrumental in that as they used their more sensitive sensors to locate hidden pockets of enemy soldiers.

  The remaining enemy turned out to be the least problem for the strike team; The wind had shifted and was now blowing radioactive fallout into the city. Any unprotected civilians were now in serious and immediate danger. Even with the expansion Tonya had ordered, the hospital and shelters were nearing capacity. Adam ordered the garage the unit's old vehicles had been parked in emptied and for bunks to be built for the wounded. He knew he would have to explain the decision to his commanders once this was over, but he felt the people were more important. The vehicles were recycled by the drones for the raw materiel to built the bunks and other amenities the survivors would need.

  Captain Marcelli explained the situation to his remaining men and they fanned out, searching as much of the city as they could, as quickly as they could. Once they got far enough away from the main area, Adam ordered the shuttles out to pick up survivors.

  The morgue in the hospital filled up very quickly. Tonya had the base replicators begin making stasis units; self-contained 'coffins' that would preserve the bodies of the dead. There was no room for them to be stored, so they were stacked in special racks on the surface near the Metropolitan Museum. The bodies of the dead enemy were simply disintegrated by the drones due to biological contamination issues.

  Through all of it, the big guns and missile batteries continued to fire on unseen targets high in the atmosphere. The rate of fire had decreased, but they were still active.

  The fighting to the north had been very nasty. More transports had made their drops on Long Island than in Manhattan. F'ren had lost one member of her team, and half the soldiers protecting the area. When the fighters arrived, it had turned the tables. They attacked the remaining enemy armor, and one pilot had to eject when his ship was hit. The pilot was recovered and taken to the local weapons control center.

  The transports had been providing artillery support for the advancing enemy that had had been devastating to Earth forces. Caldarian soldiers had made it to the weapon emplacements, and the Earth soldiers had been fighting in their own compound. F'ren and her team deployed to help the Earth forces, while the Raptor tried to distract or destroy the transports and heavy armored units. In the atmosphere and at such close range, most of the advantage of stealth the Raptor used were no longer viable.

  While the fighting was taking place on the surface, the big guns had been retracted underground to be repaired. Once they were fixed, the command center warned their troops, raised the guns and blew the transports to scrap before resuming their mission.

  When the guns fired on the transports, the Earth soldiers had been warned and took cover. The Caldarian soldiers thinking they had an advantage roared forward. The shockwave from the hypersonic rounds passing only a few meters above them was not a nice surprise. Most were picked up and thrown backwards hundreds of feet. Their bodies mangled and shredded by the small rocks and metal the wave had also picked up. Miraculously, none of the ship's reactor blew when they were destroyed.

  However, after the ships were destroyed, The transport that had landed near the Smithtown emplacement decided victory was no longer an option and detonated the ship's reactor. The weapon emplacement and it's command center were destroyed. The shelters close by took heavy damage and there were a few civilian casualties, but remained mostly intact.

  The damage to the city and the surrounding area was incalculable, the death toll was also high, but there were survivors. Adam and his people were just starting to get the pieces picked up when reality intruded on them; the fight had only just begun.

  "Captain! We're picking up Imperial fighters entering the atmosphere. Terran Command has issued a general warning that Imperial forces have broken through to Earth space!" the tracking officer in the gun control center called. "We have more hostiles incoming!"

  Tonya nodded. "Damage control; focus on getting our shields back up, then get the guns repaired. We're not going to have time for much else!"

  Adam called his soldiers. "Marcelli, we have more hostiles entering the atmosphere. So far it's just fighters, but keep your heads down and be ready to get your asses back here asap!"

  "More Caldarians?" the Captain asked.

  "No, the Caldarians were just the warm-up in this fight. Imperial forces have made it to Earth," Adam replied. "Be prepared for possible chemical attack."

  "Sir, the civilians…"

  "I know, Captain. There isn't a whole lot we can do about it at this point. Just keep trying to save as many as you can, we'll keep you informed," Adam replied.

  "Understood Sir," Marcelli replied.

  "Command out," Adam replied. "Why do I get the feeling this nightmare has only just begun?"

  Williams Fighter Base

  New Talos, New Mexico

  Earth, Sol System

  Major Almas T'dran, Commanding

  Arlen was in awe, as he always was when he was in this room. The base command center was something straight out of a science fiction junkie’s wet dream. It was like Mission Control from NASA and a Combat Information Center aboard one of his nation’s aircraft carriers, had a bastard child. However, it was clear this 'child' had a very deadly purpose.

  From the beginning, this fight had astounded him. When the Caldaraian ships arrived, it hadn't taken long before the entire theater Williams base was responsible for was one large dogfight between fighters. There were a few tense minutes when the orbit of the damaged Super Nova had it crashing in Mexico. Now, since it had been destroyed, most of it had burned up in the atmosphere, but the bigger pieces had made it all the way down, but landed safely far out to sea.

  Currently, there were only a few remaining Caldarians fighters left and those were trying to ram the Terran fighters in order to suicide and still take an enemy with them in a Caldari
an 'honorable' death.

  Commander Almas had already begun ordering her fighters to return to base for rearming and repairs. She was taking advantage of the 'lull' in the fighting to give her pilots some much needed rest and to repair damaged fighters. There were still squadrons out, like the one assisting with the mess on the East Coast. Four others were hunting down transports, crashed fighters and fighter carriers. She already had her Marines out fighting the remaining Caldarian forces and lending aide to the people that had remained on the surface.

  The damage to the country was horrific. Even with the shields protecting the larger population centers, the collateral damage from missiles and lasers was staggering. When you considered the radioactive fall-out from the missiles, the fires and massive amount of property damage seemed to pale in comparison. Arlen honestly had no idea how they were going to survive this.

  "Attention all stations! This is Admiral Williams. Imperial forces have broken through our lines and are making for Earth. We are repositioning the fleets, but some of them are going to get there before us. Prepare for immediate attack! We don't know if these assholes are carrying chemical weapons or not, so try to keep them out of the atmosphere; if you need to, ignore the fighters and focus on the bombers and bigger ships. Try to buy us a few minutes folks, we're on our way," Ian said tiredly before his image disappeared.

  His appearance had shown that the space forces were not having an easy time of it either. Ian had a bandage around his head and covering one eye. He wore a sling around his neck that looked to be supporting his left arm. He was dirty; soot from fires smudged on his face and armor.

  "He looks like he's been having fun," Arlen said grimly.

  "Indeed. I've been focusing on our situation and have not had time to review the fleet status. It would appear that things are not going well for them," Almas replied. "Operations, get our people back in their fighters; this is far from over. Load the Condors and the Shadows for anti-ship work."