Extinction

by Korza, Jay

  “My thoughts exactly.” Shorty continued, “I can't tell which click is for on and which is for off. I've a got a fifty-fifty chance either way so I'm just going to nut up and do it on the next cycle.”

  Another single comm click from Surgeon. Shorty then heard the camera's soft click and he put the visor in place and secured it. Shorty dropped from his line and brought his weapon up towards where his enemy would come from, if the enemy ever came. He wouldn't be able to hear the next camera click now that he was away from the camera, but he counted to himself and knew the camera had moved onto the next cycle a second or two after he came off the line.

  With forty meters of hallway between him and the adjacent pod, it was better to face forward and prepare to fight if necessary rather than turn his back towards a potential threat and then run to the nearest cover. He could hear at least two of his teammates running towards him to help out in case the plan didn't work and an enemy came from around the corner. By the time they arrived, they all had the same thought: the plan must have worked because there should have been an alarm or something set off if the enemy had been alerted to their presence.

  They slowly backed away from the corner, moving towards the rest of the team at the elevator. The three things you always want in any dangerous situation is time, distance, and shielding. This concept is true regardless if you're working with radiation, bullets flying at you, or an ex-girlfriend. The farther they could get from the corner of the hallway would give them time and distance; shielding wasn't available but you take what you can get in combat.

  By the time Shorty and his cover operators got back to the elevator, the rest of the team was waiting to descend into the complex. Seth was speaking to Surgeon. “Like I said, I have no idea which floor we should start on. I'd say we go to the floor that seems to have the most elevator traffic. This button has more fingerprints around it than the others.”

  Surgeon looked at the panel of twenty buttons. Symbols next to each button were probably floor numbers or descriptions but they had no idea what they were. “That's as good of a plan as any. Use a mark of some sort to show which floors we've been to. My luck we'll have to go through every floor before we find our people.”

  The alien warriors were so much bigger than humans, so there was plenty of room in the elevator for everyone. Some engineering designs seemed fairly common between bipedal species as it was in this case in that the elevator had an access hatch in the roof of the elevator car. No matter the builder, every piece of equipment needed repair or maintenance at some point or another.

  Surgeon put four operators through the hatch and on to the top of the car. This would protect them from an ambush if any enemies were waiting for the elevator doors to open at a certain floor. The four extra guys could then join the fight during a moment of opportunity and add some unexpected guns to the battle and hopefully turn the ambush to their favor.

  The car descended twelve floors before the doors opened. The warrior who stood at the doors was just as surprised by the humans standing in the elevator as they were to see him. Action is always faster than reaction but both sides were starting from almost the same point and reacting to each other's unexpected presence.

  The warrior's reaction was just a bit faster, though, as he reached into the elevator with his two lower arms and grabbed Shorty, who was closest to him. With his two hands wrapped around the human's skull, he began to squeeze while using his two upper arms to push away from the elevator, giving him some distance from the armed enemies the elevator contained.

  Surgeon reached for Shorty but he wasn't fast enough and his friend was pulled away from the rest of the team. Surgeon heard and then saw Shorty's skull cave in under the pressure of the warrior's grip. At this point, there was no saving his friend and the enemy was using Shorty as a shield. Several operators had begun shooting the warrior, aiming for the areas Shorty's body wasn't blocking.

  Surgeon fired multiple rounds through Shorty's crushed skull and consequently began to tear the enemy's hands apart. Some of the rounds also continued through the warrior's hands and into his face. The other operators followed Surgeon's lead and began choosing their points of aim on what they thought were crucial points rather than worrying about hitting their buddy.

  The warrior went down quickly, taking Shorty's body with him. During the contact, the operators in front had taken low positions and began advancing on their target while the next few operators stayed standing and also fired on the enemy. In the two to three seconds it took for the fight to start and finish, several operators had moved out of the elevator; those operators now pushed past the fallen enemy and took up firing positions in case any more came to their location. Other teammates exited the elevator and took up positions to cover unprotected angles. Those who needed to reload did so.

  At first, Surgeon was a little concerned at the amount of firepower needed to take down the warrior but as he inspected the body his fears were somewhat relieved. This alien didn't have a personal shield like the first one they encountered, so all of their rounds actually caused damage. To the team he said, “We put a lot of rounds into this guy but from the looks of it, we really didn't need to. He didn't have a personal shield like the first one. Also, the rounds to his head and chest seemed to have the desired and common effect of anyone else we shoot.

  “I know our first encounter made us a little heavy on the trigger for this contact but let's dial it back unless we know they've got a shield on.”

  He got several affirmative head nods and a couple of “Copy” responses. He gave the signal to start moving out and that's when the first plasma bolt took one of the operators off his feet and burned through his chest. The team dove to positions of cover as best they could.

  The hallway was longer than the one they had just come from but this one had several doors and rooms coming off of it. The team members started dumping into rooms for protection. The first two or three men in the room cleared the room while the last man took up a firing position in the doorframe to attack or defend against the oncoming enemy. The doorways were large enough to fit at least two defenders in each one.

  The four operators still on top of the elevator held their position. Joker was in charge of this team. “Hold fast, guys. Jumping into the car now would just get us killed.” Turning to Beast, he added, “Get a drop camera and put it in the elevator so we can view the hallway.”

  Beast grabbed a drop camera and tossed it into position near the elevator doors. He then ripped the roof hatch off of its hinges and tossed it on the floor in a position that wouldn't allow the doors to close. Joker gave him a quick nod, showing approval of Beast's forethought.

  On the camera, they could see the battle unfolding. Without personal shields on, the warriors were a bit more conservative with their tactics. They were setting up firing positions that were typical in this given situation. They were feeling out their enemy's tactics and resolve and not pushing things too far at this point.

  The warriors' plasma bolts had less effect on the hallway walls than the operators' bullets did. Joker made a mental note to get a sample of the wall after the firefight. He also put the note into his visor's failsafe memory. If Joker died, then everything in his failsafe memory would be transmitted to the team leader's visor.

  As any species progressed in weapons design, the structural technologies changed to match the weapons' abilities. You wouldn't want a military structure to be completely vulnerable to the weapons you just made, so you had to beef up the materials. Joker theorized that the hallway walls were built to provide some protection from plasma fire but projectile weapons are so ancient to this species that the walls are less able to withstand hits from them. If the Coalition could figure out what is in the walls, then maybe they could make body armor out of the same materials.

  In the hallway, the firefight raged on, this one much longer than the previous. Neither side gained ground as both probed the other for weakness and general tactics. Eventually one side would have to give
and both knew that most likely it would be the invaders.

  The home team always had the advantage in this sort of situation. They had more supplies, usually more soldiers, more knowledge of the battlefield and just generally more of everything needed in this sort of situation. Surgeon knew it and the enemy knew it. But Surgeon knew one thing that they did not: he had four operators hidden above the elevator. He just had to figure a way to get that leverage into the fight.

  He put the question to the team. “I think we all know that we need to start pushing this fight to them. I can't see what everyone else is looking at so I'm open to suggestions here.”

  Ratchet spoke up from one of the forward rooms. “We've got some sort of gas cylinders in our room. We don't know what they contain but based on their construction we're guessing it's under a lot of pressure. So even if the gas inside isn't combustible, it should vent pretty damn fast. I think the cylinders are meant to vent rather than explode, so maybe we could launch them downrange and see what happens.”

  Surgeon wasn't completely against the idea. “Let's hold that one for a minute. Anyone else have anything less Hail Mary-ish?”

  The weapons fire from both sides had slowed to a trickle as the temporary stalemate became more obvious. Joker was looking at his team for ideas when he saw something he hadn't noticed before. “Can anyone down there see vents in the ceiling? And if so, how big are they?”

  Seth keyed in a command on his visor. “I see one. I'm sending you my visor feed.”

  Joker smiled. “Okay, guys, here's the plan: we have a vent access hatch in the elevator shaft that looks like it links up with the one Cadet is looking at. My team is going to strip down our gear and get in the vent system. Hopefully we can get on top or behind the enemy. We'll drop down some grenades and assault from there.”

  “Sounds good, buddy.” Surgeon added, “If you can't get through the vents on their side, do something, anything, to get their attention turned around to you so we can push our assault from this side. Also, Ratchet, I want your idea in place and ready to go as a last resort.”

  Ratchet had already started making preparations for his idea and had six of the heaviest cylinders ready near the door.

  Cadet also added to the plan. “We'll need to keep them distracted while Joker's team is moving above them. We also need to conserve ammunition, so when Joker starts moving we'll start a three-round rotating volley.”

  A rotating volley would have each operator rapidly fire three rounds followed by the next operator doing the same thing and this continued in a clockwise rotation from the starting point. This volley caused a constant stream of rounds to go downrange from different points, making it seem like more rounds were being fired than what actually were being fired. With how many operators they had, they would each be firing three rounds about every ten seconds so they wouldn't even be using an entire one hundred fifty round magazine in five minutes of shooting and that should be long enough for Joker to get into place.

  Joker's team was already getting the vent cover off and putting their first man through when Cadet had finished his comment. When they were about halfway down, Joker put the rest of the team into action. “Let's start up that volley fire, guys; we're about halfway to them.”

  The team started firing their three-round volleys and achieved their desired effect. The trickle of gunfire turned back into a full-fledged gunfight. Initially, the alien warriors were taken aback by the increased rounds but then they began unleashing more plasma bolts into the hallway and a couple even moved forward towards unoccupied rooms nearest them.

  Surgeon would've let the enemy come to him if the tables were reversed so he was a bit surprised to see his enemy leave cover just to gain a paltry ten meters of ground. One of the warriors paid the price and went down after two rounds went through one eye. “Nice shot”, he said to no one in particular, unaware of where the rounds came from. The other warrior made it to his intended destination and took up the first foothold in the hallway that his side had been able to attain up to this point. Surgeon wanted that foothold to be their first and last.

  “Ratchet, put one of those canisters in the hallway but don't light it off yet.” Surgeon just wanted to see how his enemy would react to the gas cylinder in the hallway. If they became more cautious, then it was probably a good idea. If they didn't care about the cylinder, then it was probably not going to help them. If they all ran like hell at the sight of it, then it would probably be best not to shoot it.

  Ratchet placed one of the cylinders on a dolly that was meant for moving them around. He rolled the dolly into the hallway and pushed it forward. The dolly ended up in the middle of the hallway and pointed in the right direction.

  Initially, the warriors in line of sight of the cylinder ducked but then cautiously peeked around the corner to see what the invaders were up to. The volley fire continued but the next shot from the warrior was clearly aimed at the cylinder, though it missed. Surgeon aimed and fired one round directly into the valve mechanism on the neck of the cylinder.

  The bottle vented as Ratchet theorized it would and the cylinder became a missile. It wasn't a fast-moving missile as missiles go but at about a hundred kilometers an hour, it would severely injure or kill anyone it hit during its travels.

  The warrior who had taken the room in the hallway peered out just in time to see the cylinder fly within centimeters of his head and continue down the hallway. The near-miss caused panic fire from the warrior and he let lose a plasma round.

  The plasma passed through the vented gas from the cylinder and there was no more question of whether or not the gas was flammable. The vapor ignited and a brilliant greenish purple tail of fire chased the cylinder in an attempt to catch the source of the venting gas. And the tail did catch the cylinder a half second later and the explosion put both sides on their respective asses. Most of the gas must have vented before the explosion because it wasn't as bad as Surgeon would have expected.

  The team was back up and the volley fire resumed. “Do you think we can repeat that but in a controlled and purposeful manner?” Surgeon was taking his turn in the volley fire.

  Ratchet was already thinking the same thing. “I don't think so. If we ignite it too soon, then it explodes on our side of the fight and if it hasn't had a chance to vent a lot of gas, I'm pretty sure it would kill us.” There was a small pause. “But I do have some empty bottles in here.”

  “Good call.” Surgeon was reworking his plan. “If we can get them far enough down the hallway, it will cause them to duck and cover. If we can't get them far enough, then the cylinders will draw their fire as they attempt to explode the gas on our side. Either way, we should get one or two small windows when our guys aren't taking direct fire. Let me know when you're ready.

  “Joker, are you getting close?”

  Joker and his team were having a more difficult time getting in position than they had expected. “We're almost there. Give us two more minutes.”

  Joker knew as well as Surgeon did that two minutes was a lifetime in a firefight, so if that's what Joker said he needed, Surgeon had to trust him that it couldn't be done in less time. “No pressure, buddy; we're all just waiting on you. The fate of the galaxy and all that.”

  More weapons fire from the hallway rang out through the ventilation system Joker's team was pulling themselves through. The ducts divided and went in opposite directions of where they wanted to end up. On the squad push, Joker relayed their readiness. “We've reached the end of the line. The ducts split and go away from our targets. We didn't get as far behind them as we had hoped; in fact, we're pretty much right on top of them. In ten seconds, start your diversion and then we'll make our move when we see the best window of opportunity.”

  Joker put two operators in the middle while he and Beast went to vent openings about five meters apart. As Joker's team was getting set, Surgeon's team got started with the diversion.

  Ratchet had the near-empty cylinder ready to go. Surgeon pointed at Ratchet a
nd then gave him the thumbs-up. Ratchet sent the cylinder flying down the hallway and he received the response they were hoping for. All except one of the warriors ducked for cover as the impromptu missile sped their way.

  The one who did not take cover attempted to shoot the cylinder as it came towards him. After two shots went wide, he dropped his weapon and stepped into the hallway in front of the projectile. If the cylinder had been full, his plan wouldn't have worked: the cylinder would have at the very least taken him along for the ride, if not tearing through him first. This cylinder was almost completely empty, so it only had enough gumption to get itself down the hallway and at a fairly slow speed.

  The warrior caught the cylinder in all four arms and was pleasantly surprised to have not been killed by the impact. And although that was a fortuitous happenstance, Surgeon's men were well equipped and trained to take advantage of unforeseen outcomes. Two of the operators immediately opened fire on the still slowly venting cylinder. There wasn't enough gas or pressure left to cause an explosion but there was enough left to start a fire. That fire blossomed instantly to engulf the previously safe warrior.

  Joker saw the warrior catch the cylinder and figured this was a good time to start his assault. He gave the command to fire and the two operators in the middle of the duct began shooting through the duct work and ceiling. They didn't know exactly where their rounds were going but based on the video feed they were still receiving from the drop camera in the elevator, they were pretty sure they were close to their targets.

  One of the warriors who was ducking for cover felt the heat from his brother's living funeral pyre and then felt a few of the human's rounds go through his leg. The wounds didn't hurt so much as his brain registered an injury that needed to be taken care of later. He also reflexively pulled his leg away from the incoming bullets and began to turn to face his enemy. In the hallway stood an opponent worthy of his time. The non-human roared a challenge and raised an edged weapon that was all too familiar to the warrior; he knew it had once belonged to one of his brothers.