The Battle of Titan

by Sudipto Majumdar

  Titan had a wide variety of ice owing to its lower temperature, higher pressure and the fact that all geological features were made of ice on the surface, so the mountains of ice put a lot of pressure on the ice at the lower layers.

  Yusuke had studied the various layers of ice forming the pass and noted the various types of ice they were formed out of. While there was no cause for immediate alarm, he had noted how the lower layers of the hills around the caldera were formed out of ice that was inherently unstable compared to the upper layers.

  It was probably due to the history of the volcano itself, and how it had slowly raised the mountains around the caldera. The pass was the weak point in the structural integrity of the entire hills surrounding it. The fracture in the hill, which was the pass, meant that the two sides of the pass did not mutually support each other from lateral forces.

  In his journal he had noted that any further fractures near the pass by a by a major eruption, could put enough stress on the fragile lower layers of ice of the hills near the pass, turning them powdery and bringing the collapse of the hill over the pass.

  It would not be a neat and clean sealing of the pass however. The surrounding hills would collapse on either sides both towards the center of the caldera where the human base was located as well as outwards towards the plains where the alien hordes were massed.

  During the planning of their defense, when the leadership team were being briefed at the hopelessness of their situation, and things had gone grim, Yusuke had joked that they could just bring the structurally weak pass down on the aliens and be done with it.

  While Yusuke was joking, a look at military men’s eyes told him that they weren’t. He had quickly gone on to explain that it was really a bad option. It could cause bad damage to their habitat, even wipe it out completely.

  The military men had still been interested. Perhaps they were just desperate. In any case he had explained the detailed nature of the faults and cracks on the various layers of the hills surrounding the pass. He had to give them a crash course in the various phases and types of ice, and how they behaved under various conditions, especially under pressure and lateral stress.

  To their credit the three military leaders understood a fair amount of it. Tactical and strategic demolitions of natural structures are a standard staple of any military discourse. Thus was formed what they informally called the LDM plan, which simply meant ‘Last Desperate Measure’.

  Yusuke was shaken out of his reverie about LDM when he heard Leanna’s voice shout urgently and repeatedly over the public channel. “LDM fuse lit. Evacuate. Evacuate. Evacuate. Repeat. LDM fuse lit. Evacuate. Evacuate. Evacuate.” Yusuke was in the last row pushing, hence he was the first to be able to retreat and make the mad dash to what was hoped as the safe refuge for evacuation.

  Other than Ramesh, who was at the ridge of a hill on the opposite side and probably safe, every other human was near the pass. They had 120 seconds to evacuate to what was hoped would be a safe location. It had to be some place which the humans could reach in 120 seconds from the pass as well as the habitat, and it had to have a broad access path so that a lot of humans rushing towards it together would not hamper progress.

  They had chosen a small hillock with a plateau on top. It was about half a Kilometer away from the pass and only about 70 meter higher than the floor of the caldera. It had gently sloping sides to reach the top in most directions. Most importantly, it was not connected to the hills on both sides of the pass that were expected to collapse.

  Two minutes to climb a hillock half a kilometer away in a suit, is still a stretch for civilians even in the low gravity of Titan. Yusuke scrambled and noticed that the soldiers had outpaced him ahead within no time. He dashed ahead madly trying to keep pace with them, suddenly afraid that he was moving too slowly. He could see many suits next to him making a similar mad dash. He risked taking a glance behind and was relieved that there were people behind him, so he was not going too slowly.

  The mass of dead aliens that had worked to the Shaitan’s advantage, as a buffer who could not be killed any further in their push inwards, now worked towards the alien’s disadvantage. It acted like a plug to the pass, which had to be pushed through completely before the aliens could enter the caldera.

  The aliens must have surely noticed the sudden lowering of resistance to their push inwards. The sure sign of that, was there were now some aliens climbing over the dead bodies of their comrades trying to reach the caldera. They would have sensed the lack of the human defense line, and hence there was nothing to fear.

  The majority of the alien hordes were still pushing the dead alien bodies inside to clear the way. That fact acted as a perfect timer, because it took them approximately 2 minutes to push all the dead alien bodies inside the caldera and clear up the pass.

  The ESA-ISRO team which had the primary responsibility of habitat building had carried a few kilograms of high explosives with them. It was not meant for war. It was meant to clear out dangerous ice structures in the process of habitat building, if required.

  There are not too many effective ways to use commercial high explosives in a military situation. The lack of fragmentation effect means the energy is wasted if you throw it at the enemy, and lighting a fuse and timing it in a combat situation is next to impossible. The military leadership had still intended to plant it on the floor of the pass initially as a line of defense, until a better use was found for it.

  Holes had been drilled in the ice along one of the wall of the pass. It was thought that if they collapsed only one side of the hill, the collateral damage to the caldera would be minimized, while still devastating the pass.

  A specific layer of ice had been chosen, which was particularly vulnerable and it was just 15-20 meters above the floor of the pass. The holes were inserted with sticks of high explosives, all taped with their fuses sticking out. Then the fuses were attached to electronic timers which ran back all the way to a point 20 meters away from the entrance to the caldera where Leanna had triggered the explosives.

  The entire line exploded in unison within a millisecond of each other. The heat of the explosion liquefied a portion of that layer of ice for a few seconds before freezing it back to ice, but now in a powdery form. The shock of the explosion gave that powdered layer enough lateral stress, to start off a chain reaction.

  Gravity took over as the entire weight of the mountain added to the sideways lateral stress, since the layer was not exactly horizontal. The mountain literally was trying to slide away to one side on the powdery layer. That further stressed the vulnerable layer turning more of it to a powder, until the process was unstoppable.

  The entire hill face on one side facing the river started sliding down towards the floor of the pass. Millions of tons of ice rock came down crashing, devastating the pass and filling it up almost 40 meters high. Nothing that was in the pass stood a chance. Yusuke had almost made it to the top of the plateau when he heard the first rumbles.

  Sound travels very well in Titan. In some ways even better than earth. His external mikes were picking up the sound, but that is not what was terrifying. It was the shaking ground and the rumble he felt through his feet that really scared Yusuke.

  As a scientist he knew what was happening and that he was probably not in danger. But there some part of his primal brain, where flight response are hardwired as in every animal that has evolved on earth, to try and escape earthquakes that was sending him terrifying signals.

  As feared the devastation was not limited to the pass. Large blocks of ice rock came hurtling out of the pass to smash into anything in its path inside the caldera, and the habitat modules were in its path. The fact that the damage to the habitat modules was extensive was beyond doubt. Whether it would be catastrophic for the humans was yet to be seen.

  Of far more immediate concern to the humans standing on the plateau, was that no huge boulder should be coming their way. Since the plateau was at an acute angle to the pass meant it was unlikely,
but they could get unlucky.

  The only consolation the humans got while watching their camp being destroyed was that an equal amount of destruction was taking place on the opposite side of the pass, where the alien hordes were massed up. ‘Hope those bastards are smashed to pulp’ was the common refrain.

  It took nearly five minutes for the last of the falling rocks to subside. There was heavy dust obscuring the view to the pass. It was not really dust, but ground ice blowing as fine powder. One might even call it snow!

  Cheng was the first to gather his wits and rally the soldiers towards a few alien stragglers who had managed to come through before the collapse of the pass, and had been lucky enough to survive. Most of them had been at an acute angle to the pass where the impact was the least.

  Yusuke could not count more than fifteen such stragglers, and he was confident that this could be handled by humans. He did not want to shirk from doing his bit, so he rushed out behind the soldiers to help them in any way he could. As he ran Yusuke noticed through the settling snow that in an irony of sorts, the blast which was designed to close the pass had opened up another one besides the pass it had just closed.

  A whole section of the mountain had crashed on the pass and the river adjoining it. That collapsed mountain had created a gap which was only about 20 meters high, and probably ran right through the mountain, opening up to the plains on the other side.

  Cheng noticed a lone figure descending the mountains, as he ran to meet the alien stragglers. He knew who that was. It was Dr. Srinivasan abandoning his watch post. He had no energy left to admonish a civilian for abandoning his post without orders. If the aliens came in numbers from any direction, the humans were screwed anyway. It really did not matter. Perhaps he would be able to do more good here.

  Most of the stragglers were showing some signs of disorientation. Dr. Manning had hypothesized that the aliens used sound as one of their primary senses. They would perhaps be far more sensitive to sound than humans.

  The collapse of the mountain had sent a huge pressure wave. It had been felt even through the suits of the humans, but the loud noise had automatically been filtered by their helmets. The aliens being closer and more sensitive to this must have suffered more.

  Fighting the aliens in the open was not as easy as fighting them from prepared positions, as they had been doing till now. The aliens could see or sense in all directions simultaneously and equally well. Their limbs could strike out in any direction equally well. Their circular body and the equally spaced six limbs around the circular body meant that they had no front, and hence no back. The humans took injuries though thankfully no fatalities, and a long time to dispatch these fifteen odd Shaitans.

  When the last of the aliens had been dispatched, a collective cheer rose through the human ranks. Despite their tiredness, injuries, loss of friends, the potential loss of their habitat and the prospect of eventual death, they were alive for now. That was worth celebrating. They were in high spirits, as humans who are forced to live moment to moment are, when they see a small glimmer of hope.

  The shouting and cheering continued for some time until one of the voices started sounding discordant. It was not shouting but screaming, and the tone was one of panic.

  It was Lt. Ma, and she had forgotten the common etiquette in the camp. She was not speaking in English but screaming frantically in Mandarin, and pointing her fingers in the direction of the pass. The humans followed her fingers and they did not need to understand Mandarin to figure out what Lt. Ma was screaming about. She was not exactly pointing at the old pass that had been closed now with over 40 meters of rubble. She was pointing next to it at the new pass that had opened up.

  Standing at the edge of the 20 meter drop from the new pass to the floor of the caldera, was a row of Shaitans, and another row behind it could also be made out. They had not jumped into the caldera yet. They were waiting at the edge, probably waiting for the rest of their comrades to join and form up before attacking. There were no more tricks that the human had that could stall the inevitable. The aliens would descend in numbers, and the humans had to fight them in the open.

  Someone sat down on the floor and started speaking in the most despondent voice possible. “This is not fair! This can’t be happening. We killed them. There can’t be more. How can we fight so many? Oh sweet Jesus, where is the mercy? Where is the justice in this?” He was sobbing softly and almost incoherently. Nobody else was saying anything, but every human was feeling the same way as this despondent man.

  Leanna stepped toward the sitting man and shouted. “Franz! Stop this crying!” She was stopped by Takamori who stepped forward himself towards Franz, and gently helped him stand up and said facing him but to all the humans gathered there.

  “Many of you would have heard of my famous ancestor. All my life I have wondered what it felt like for Saigō Takamori and his samurai warriors to be standing on the hills of Shiroyama, facing an enemy they could not possibly defeat? What was going through their minds, as they stared at a certain death? Were they brave or were they despondent? Was their minds filled with hatred and anger? Did they feel regret for the things they would never do in their lives again? Were they missing their loved ones at that moment?

  Now I know what was going through their minds and what they felt on those hills of Shiroyama. They did not feel hatred or anger. They felt calm. They did not feel regrets for what they would never do again, because they were doing their duty at that moment, and if death was the consequence, then they were never meant to do anything more.

  They simply thanked their makers for the life they had been given, and for all they had done with it. Their life that was now being taken in the course of the duty, had also been deemed so by the maker. No more glorious or honorable an end could a human expect.

  If there was an anxiety that they felt, it was a prayer that they give a good account of themselves in this final battle and the final task laid out by the maker, so that they can meet their ancestors with their heads held high. So I ask you ladies and gentlemen, why worry about things we cannot change? Why worry about death?

  If this is to be our Shiroyama, let us give a good account of ourselves to our ancestors, to our maker and to humanity. Let them be proud of us for eternity. Let there be stories written in every human language in human history, about this battle as glorious as Shiroyama. Yes there will be a human history, for we shall prevail and live on, for today we kill Shaitans, today we embrace death!”

  To say that human mind is complex is an understatement. The fear of death is not uniquely human. Every living creature on earth has it genetically embedded in them, since the day life began. The act of putting one’s own self in danger and sacrificing one’s life for the good of the community or species is also not uniquely human, even humble ants and bees do it. Every species which indulges in self-sacrifice for the common good has it genetically hardwired into them.

  What is unique, is that humans are the only living beings who can be talked into losing their fear of death. In some cases as now, humans would openly embrace death. There was a bloodthirsty echo of voices as they chanted a single word. “Death! Death! Death!”

  No one commanded, no one asked anyone to move forward, but the group as a whole moved together on some unheard command, slowly and deliberately towards the gathering lines of Shaitans. Alex had been given the field command by consensus between the three senior military leaders, and he organized the group for what he knew would be his last act of command.

  He organized the human group in a single line. There was no more choke points to defend with a second line. There weren’t that many humans left anyway. The single line would try to block the entire mouth of the new passage that had opened up.

  There were still seven long spears with the group and he placed them evenly along the line, as he also did with the Marines left with their shields and swords. He placed civilians in between soldiers for better mutual support, and that was all the battle plan they had. They w
ould stand their ground as the aliens charged and kill as many of them as they could, before they died.

  The aliens saw them coming in a wide line, and realized the objective was to block the passage. That hastened their plans, and they started jumping to the floor of the caldera and start charging. There were no more clever tricks, it was all blood, gore and guts.

  Humans stood on the ends of their spears in this far away moon as their ancestors had done on earth and blocked the charging enemy where they could. Others took the battering on their shields. Some were knocked over while others were able to knock back. They stabbed and slashed with their swords, and got stabbed and slashed back in return.

  It was all a blur with screams and shouts flying in all direction, but not a single scream of terror. There were only screams of bloodlust or screams of pain. The humans had almost given up any concern for their flesh.

  When they got stabbed or slashed, they would try to apply the foam to their suit, so that they could live longer and kill a few more aliens, but they did not bother about the wounds inside. They were so high on adrenalin, that the wounds to their flesh and muscles were immaterial. The pain never felt. All that mattered was that they kept repairing their suits, so that they could keep breathing and keep killing.

  Alex was fighting next to Sasha. Both of them had snagged the claws of an alien in their shields and were pushing the alien while trying to reach out and slash its limbs. Sasha had always been popular in the camp, and Alex liked him too, but after this battle Alex had started considering him as a brother marine.

  He had stood side by side with the marines and fought like a marine, had put his life on the line many times for the marines. He regretted that he would not get to know this guy better in life. Perhaps even be good friends. Sasha was Alex’s friend, good friend now. So what if it was for only a day. It was the last day of his life, so they were life-long friends now!