by Jeff Kirvin
Slowly, the transport rolled up to the edge of the XT camp. Jack watched as the aliens gathered around the front of the vehicle. He was able to study the creatures more closely now, having nothing else to do.
The males were the larger of the two types, and Jack felt the same sense of dread looking at them now as before. All the males wore armor over their yellowstriped red skin, and held meanlooking weapons in their clawed hands. They reminded Jack of Terran dinosaurs, a vicious species known as Velociraptor. Their saurian eyes stared unblinking at the transport, but they did not open fire, or seem overtly threatening.
Behind the males the smaller, redstriped on green females stood their ground. Several of them directed male warriors to new positions, but none of them were armed directly. Behind the females stood the massive war machines, gun pods tilted upwards, away from the transport.
Overall, the impression from the aliens was one of caution, but no real threat. They seemed to be deliberately trying not to threaten the transport.
Could I have been wrong? Jack wondered.
"Today will be long remembered by the human race,” Chenzokov said at the back of the transport, near the exit hatch. “Our first contact with a sentient species other than our own. I am deeply honored to lead you."
Chenzokov opened the hatch, and extended the ramp down to the ground behind the transport, the side farthest from the aliens.
"Into history!” Chenzokov said as he and the other colonists started down the ramp.
Jack watched on the viewscreen and external camera monitors as Chenzokov and the others made their way around the massive transport. They would be in view of the XTs any second.
As he and the others stepped around the corner, Chenzokov spread his arms wide. “Greetings from Earth!” he said with a large smile.
The alien reaction was dramatic and swift. The females screamed and gestured wildly. The males opened fire.
Chenzokov was hit by the first volley and killed instantly. The other colonists dropped to the ground, some dead, some wounded, others scared out of their minds.
Jack was on his feet and bolting for the door even as Chenzokov fell. He unholstered his tiny pistol and swung around the back of the transport, firing at the closest Saurians. His bullets ricocheted off the armor of the males, but two females went down, and they pulled back.
Jack started ushering the wailing colonists back into the transport. An overtheshoulder glance told him the giant war machines were on the move, and they didn't have long if he was to get warning to the colony. A Saurian energy bolt grazed his left arm as he dragged a hysterical man back to the transport, the pain intense enough to knock him to his knees. As he turned around, the Saurian male warrior walked towards him warily, weapon up and ready. Human screams, Saurian screams and weapons fire filled the air.
They're still cautious, Jack realized. They didn't think they could beat us. He raised his pistol and shot the alien in the face, one of the few unarmored body parts he could see. The Saurian fell to the ground, screaming its parrot scream.
"We're going,” Jack said to the colonist, and he got up and ran for the transport, the other man staggering after him.
* * * *
Only Jack and five colonists made it back to the relative safety of the transport alive, but that was only a temporary measure. The Saurian war machines were moving, and preparing to fire. Jack settled behind the transport controls and fired up the engine. One of the machines already had its guns trained on the transport, and Jack didn't want to give it a stationary target.
"Here we go!” he shouted as he threw the transport into full reverse just as the Saurian machine fired. The ground where the transport used to be exploded in a rain of rock and dirt, and the transport backed away, bouncing over the uneven terrain.
Jack keyed the radio as he spun the vehicle around. “Killian to base camp. Do you read?"
"Roger, boss,” Robyn answered. “Five by five. What's your situation?"
Jack accelerated the transport as fast as it would go, but the Saurian walkers were having an easier time on the rough ground, and they were gaining. “The XTs attacked us on sight. Chenzokov is dead. I need you to start the evacuation immediately, and send anybody you can spare to our beacon to provide cover fire.
"Shit!” Jack added as one of the Saurian blasts came a little too close.
"Roger, sir,” Robyn said. “Will comply. Over and out."
* * * *
Robyn was stunned but she didn't let that get in her way. No sooner did she break communication with Jack than she was on the colony PA system.
"Attention, please. This is Lieutenant Robyn O'Reilly of the security team. We are evacuating the colony. I repeat: we are evacuating the colony. Please drop what you are doing and report to the shuttles immediately."
After programming the PA system to repeat her announcement in a loop, Robyn ran out of the communications building, switching to her armor's tacnet. “O'Reilly to team. Shimura, Ahiga and Bersi are to supervise the evacuation. Everyone else, with me."
As Robyn's armored strides sped her to the northeast gate, the armored forms of Jabari and Girish formed up at her side. “The boss is in trouble,” Robyn explained as they ran. “The XTs attacked on sight, and now they're in pursuit. We need to home in on the transport beacon and provide cover fire for the transport. Questions?” she asked.
"No ma'am!"
Robyn checked the radar on her HUD. The transport wasn't far, but there were five huge signatures practically on top of it. Jack had to be doing a helluva job of driving to keep away from them, but he couldn't last much longer. The alien machines were trying to outflank him and cut him off.
"O'Reilly to Killian,” Robyn broadcast over the base radio. “We are en route to your position. What's your situation? Over."
"Agh!” Robyn heard Jack answer, along with what sounded like an explosion way too close to the transport. “Transport is heavily damaged. The XTs are trying to outflank me."
"Roger that,” Robyn said. “ETA thirty seconds. Over."
As Robyn and the men crested the next rise, they saw the transport and its pursuers. “Oh my God,” Robyn said.
Surrounding the transport were five alien war machines, each a bipedal, metal monster a dozen meters tall and weighing tens of tons, judging by the depth of their footprints. They were built around a bulky, horizontal fuselage, not unlike the snout of a dropship. Underneath the fuselage were two birdlike reverse articulated legs, ending in splayed metal feet three meters across. The machines also sported a wide variety of weaponry attached as “arms", missile racks, autocannons and energy weapons that made Robyn's plasma rifle seem like a kid's water pistol.
In short, the machines were exactly as Jack had described them, the weapons of a race that knew how to fight. Wait until you see them, and you'll understand, Jack had said. Robyn understood.
"O'Reilly to team,” she said over the tac net. “Fire at will. Fire at will. Protect that transport!"
Running down a slight grade and on an intercept course with the transport, Robyn opened fire.
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(CC) Jeff Kirvin 2005
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