MissionSRX: Confessions of the First War

by Matthew D. White

  I walked up the stairs to the upper deck, taking an extra-long step to avoid the fallen grenadier. There was a clear line of sight to the other shield tower, and to the rest of the team that was still pinned down outside. My brain kicked up a few notches and processed what I was seeing. Smoke was rising from the structure, the devices on the roof, and from the ground all around. I couldn’t make out many individual soldiers in the dust, but couldn’t see many firing back at the alien defenders.

  Switching radio frequencies, I hailed the other team, trying to get an idea of their situation. A specialist returned the transmission, sounding panicky and desperate.

  “Sir, we’re still fifty meters out and we’re not going anywhere. We’re already down half our strength, and everyone who sticks his head out gets it shot off!!”

  I grimaced behind my face shield. “Stay down, hold on. We’re on our way.” I switched off the mic and immediately realized what I have just promised. I was down over a third of my force. We were in no shape for another suicidal sprint across the open ground. We’d just end up getting shot and pinned down too. Shaking my head I tried to think. As luck would have it, my gaze fell on the stack of rocketeers’ weapons.

  One was still clutching an empty launch tube. I pulled it from its grasp and looked the device over. It was extremely similar to an older version that I had seen in training a few years ago. The controls and hand holds were different, but I thought I could still operate it. I dug into the nearest case of ammunition and pulled out a shot with triangular sides about 25 centimeters long and no stabilizing fins. The body itself must have provided enough control to maintain the trajectory. We really needed to stop compromising our arms. Dark as it was, I smiled ever so slightly.

  “Hey!! I need some volunteers!!!” I shouted back through the radio to my soldiers clearing the room below. Several exploded up the steps, ready to move. “Grab a rocket launcher. They’re like 11-Zulu-Bravos.”

  That clued them in. The other soldiers scooped up the weapons and loaded them up like old pros. We got on line, looking across at the far bastion. “Take aim.” I commanded, and peered through the targeting scope strapped alongside the tube. The picture was grainy but I could make out the structure and the lasers painting the future points of impact. “Our guys are on the ground outside. Aim for the DFP’s. Don’t hit the shield generator on the roof yet.” I took a breath; held it momentarily. “FIRE!” Steams of fire leapt forth from both ends of our launchers. The first wave seared across the space between us and slammed into the alien battlements with devastating force.

  We didn’t hear the impacts or feel the shock waves, but we sure saw the explosions of deep red fire erupt from the enemy’s position. Smoke poured out and rose straight into the inky black sky above. I didn’t want to give them the chance to react. I turned away and pulled out another round. “Reload!” I ordered, “Fire at will, don’t let them get a shot off!”

  In seconds we were back on line and let another volley fly. More explosions ripped through the structure, blowing out walls and scattering debris around the area. I scooped up another rocket, loaded it, and shot it right into the center of the building inferno.

  “The wall’s down!” One of the soldiers across the way reported back. “Cease fire! I think we have a way in.”

  I waved my free hand to get the attention of the others around me. “Hold up. Ground forces are moving in.” The final round hit the structure and we took cover. “You’re clear.” I radioed back. “Take ‘em out.”

  From my vantage point, looking over the edge of our wall, I watched them break from cover and file into the building. A few flashes of light and in seconds it was over. One soldier walked back out through the smoke. He raised me on the comm. one more time. “All clear here. There were only two left. We’re setting charges on the shield generator.”

  “Roger that.” I replied and switched back to the aircraft’s channel. “We’re one minute from destroying the shields. Standby to deploy air support.” I advised, and looked over at the massive set of doors that stretched out for at least a few hundred meters. I could see divisions between adjacent panels but I couldn’t make out any tracks or containment devices attached anywhere. That didn’t matter. We had enough power at hand to break through.

  I transmitted and descended back down to rejoin my squad.

  They had scrounged up a pile of the unspent rockets, wrapped them with det cord, and had wound them around the support element in the center of the room. “Sorry, sir. No one made it with the high explosives. We had to make do with this.” One of them apologized.

  I nodded in approval. “It’s alright. This will suffice. Start clearing out; the transport’s gonna make a bombing run on the rim.”

  We cleaned up whatever other salvage we could carry, and retreated back to the perimeter where we positioned ourselves for the attack earlier. One of my sergeants handed me the detonator. I didn’t waste any time. Flicking over the safety lever, I warned my soldiers to get down then ignited the charges.

  More fire and stone exploded from the still burning structure in all directions. I covered my head for protection as the shock wave hit and dropped stone and frag down on us. Far to the right I saw the second site cook off in unison with ours.

  Again I felt a rumble in the ground. Looking up I saw the remains of the shield generator swaying from the hit. There was nothing left of the base that held it in place. It rotated about without a hint of stability and shattered the lasts few bits of the roof that held in place. It paused only a second before succumbing to gravity and toppling over. The tower fell fast in the absence of air and slammed down in a cloud of dust. I was back on my radio before the dust even settled. “Shields are down. Hit the doors!”

  “On approach.” The pilot confirmed. “Stay down until the shots connect.” It was a simple suggestion but I kept my rifle trained on the doors. We were out far enough that I didn’t think we’d get fragged even if we were standing in the open but I had a clear line of sight and that was enough.

  Out of the darkness the transport swooped expertly into view. It burned in over the crater’s edge and picked up a tight turn right above our heads. The pilot dropped a line of weapons out back to back, strafing both the doors and the ground before them. Streaks of fire crossed above our heads and slammed deep into their targets, disintegrating entire panels of the wall before even detonating.

  The munitions exploded out, engulfing the target in a raging inferno. I waited for a moment to judge the effects. At least half of the panels were down and I estimated that would be enough space to get us through. “Transport, stand down. We’ve got it from here.” I pulled my legs in and stood up with my eyes still on our destination. “Clear! Everybody up. We’re moving out!” I ordered to the soldiers around me.

  We made it past the wreckage of the shield generator and carefully approached the remains of the base entrance. The doors still burned in the crumbling pile of debris on the threshold and I kept my guard up. Smoke was pouring from every crack and crevice.

  To my right I saw the other team approaching in a wide formation similar to mine. Every weapon was at the ready, trained ahead. I modified my gait to a quick step and planted my battle rifle into my chest, peering straight down the reflex sight. Nothing the aliens could throw at me would escape alive, or so I thought.

  I was over halfway across the runway with only another hundred meters or so to go, when they fired back. We still didn’t have any sight through the fires, but the remaining defenders chose the moment to blindly lob out a few dozen grenades, flashes and rockets. I watched the first wave sail out and saw them land. “Incoming!” I shouted, and dove to the ground.

  I glanced to the side looking for cover but didn’t have time to move. Explosions shook the ground beneath me as the charges ignited, sending walls of frag and dust raining down on us. “Stay Down!!” I commanded while searching for cover. There was nothing even close. We were all completely exposed.

  Another wave of project
iles came flying from the hangar and I dared not move any more. I could see the smoke clearing from the rubble and in its place a whole column of alien infantry took its place. They wedged themselves among the busted stone, staying safely behind significant cover, and began to open up with more small arms fire.

  I returned fire as well as I could, but the bullets rained in all around me and the rest of my men and I could hardly get a shot to come close to a target. I emptied my magazine and shifted my weight to reload. As I twisted around, another grenade detonated only a few meters away. The frag missed me but the shock wave hit me like a shovel being swung at the side of my head.

  We had to get out of the shooting gallery quickly before the rest of us got taken out. My ears were ringing beyond the point of hearing from the blast but I got the radio channel opened by memory. “Listen up, we’re moving out. First squad, give covering fire on my command. Second squad; take a ten second dash back to the shield post. Drop at ten seconds, provide cover to First and we’ll walk ourselves out of this. Ready. Move!”

  I didn’t wait for confirmations; just opened fire on everything that moved before us. A sliver of my brain continually counted down the time on my wristwatch. It hit eight, then nine. “Second Squad, cover fire! First Move!!” I coordinated while I turned and rose, sprinting back the way we had come only seconds before. The other soldiers did likewise all around me. From my brief observation, only a few didn’t rise again. Again the seconds ticked down.

  “First, Drop!!” I shouted again and slid into the powdered dust like a baseball player hitting home plate. My weapon was up with the trigger down before my chest even hit the ground. More aliens had joined the fight since last I had seen them, or maybe it was just me.

  Dozens more were on the clear ground before the hangar entrance, dragging shards of damaged ship hulls with them to use as cover. I had little chance to hit them so I stayed on the gunners already engaging us. It was a dangerous move on their part, but I didn’t have insight into what they were planning.

  We took three more dashes before diving back behind the remains of our burned out shield generator station. The debris field was thicker than it had been before and we all took care to dodge the random wreckage and dislodged stone wall remnants. I cleared the edge of the building and tumbled to my knees, amazed to have survived the onslaught.

  The retrograde had bought us a momentary reprieve but hardly an advantage and was a far cry from victory. My able soldiers took positions behind the cover of the building and I crawled through the demolished structure up to the rocket team’s deck. The roof had caved in but the deck had survived the blast and was still the highest position available.

  As I moved through the mess, I could see the alien ammunition cases still intact and mixed in amongst the stone. I was surprised it was non-volatile, especially with the heat and shock of the detonating charge.

  Carefully, I approached the edge of the exposed rocket deck and peered out and down at the field. The aliens had drawn out what must have been half of a ship’s fuselage onto the landing pad as a series of walls and fortifications with more on the way. Just the ones I could see outnumbered us at least three to one and they had no problem laying down a constant wall of fire in all directions.

  Shots exploded on the stone around my head and I stayed behind the battlements as much as I could. In the shadows of the hangar, I could make out something moving. I originally thought it was a mass of alien soldiers until a familiar form emerged above the wall of debris.

  From the darkness and clearing smoke out slid the nose of an alien fighter, identical to the one I had recovered earlier. There was no light or sound from it, so I didn’t know if it was powered or just being pushed out by hand. Five more inched forward to each side of the original, all in the same slow, deliberate manner.

  They were lining up to fire, I had no doubt. When I had flown in the alien fighter before, I hadn’t experimented with the weapons very much, but I couldn’t see any other strategy for them. “They’re rolling out fighters.” I warned, “Everybody dow-“

  I didn’t complete the statement before every ship opened up in unison and engulfed with a hail of projectiles. The wall exploded only a meter away and sent me tumbling backwards. I crawled back quickly before they adjusted their fire any closer to my position.

  There was no way my rifle could effectively return fire. Somewhere there had to be more rockets. At this point I would have accepted anything. There were still a few cases of rounds but I didn’t see a launcher anywhere. I started digging through the scattered debris, trying to find one. “They’re firing with grounded fighters! I need a rocket launcher!” I called out as I searched.

  Another blast of energy surged right above my head and nearly took it off. I ducked lower and kept looking.

  “Down here!!” one of my soldiers shouted. “I’ve got one!”

  I peered over the edge just in time to see one of my corporals make a mad dash out in the open to retrieve a rocket tube. “What are you doing?!” I yelled down at him over the radio. “You’re gonna get yourself shot!”

  “No! I’ve got it!” he responded, breathing heavy. He slid down low and grabbed hold of the weapon’s carry handle before pushing off in another sprint back towards the outpost. Two more beams of energy sliced past, narrowly missing his armor.

  I didn’t have time to think. I put my hand out as the soldier reached the wall once more and threw the tube up at me. I solidly caught the carrying handle and pulled it in as another blast put one more hole in the wall beneath me. I could see my runner was still in one piece, on a knee retrieving his rifle.

  My concentration moved back to the task at hand. I fixed my eyes on the nearest fighter as I slipped the first round in the chamber. My gaze was as ice despite the fire and I leveled the weapon downrange. One trigger pull and the first shot was away.

  It streaked towards its target and scored a direct hit on the nearest ship. I had hit it right above the main cannon and must have brushed the cockpit. A fireball instantly engulfed the ship in the detonation, catching the fighter to the right and at least four aliens on the ground as well. Any other time I would have watched them burn; Instead I dropped back to reload.

  There was only a shallow wall remaining on the hot side of the rooftop. Between the shots from the aliens engaging me and our charges from before my cover was crumbling fast. I stayed low, retrieved another rocket from its case and loaded it up. Taking a deep breath and waiting for a lull in the incoming fire, I paused momentarily on my knees.

  My mind prepared the opportunity. I pointed the sights downrange, ignited the round and watched it guide into the next fighter. It hit low, exploded upwards and the twisted remains went flying in all directions.

  It was still spinning while my left hand grasped for the next charge. I dropped down again, loaded it up and rolled back to my left. I took aim on another fighter to the right that was engaging the other outpost and let it fly.

  The streak of fire flew across the plain, nearly reaching the edge of the alien battlements before it exploded in mid-flight. The flash overwhelmed my sight before I was able to adjust and it threw me out of my zone. My heart skipped a beat as I fumbled for another round with my left hand with my head still planted on the launcher. Then I saw it.

  A few aliens had taken positions with more rockets on the other side. They had intercepted my last shot. As I watched, they took one out from the other team and were loaded back up before I could even react.

  I cursed again, jammed the next rocket in the tube and lit it up. I led it on a widely arcing path but the alien gunners adjusted and took that one out with just as much ease as the last. For a moment from my position I could see their team. They waved small arms above their heads and I imagined them joking at our ineffectiveness. Their celebration didn’t last long, though. Before I could draw my rifle, they had ducked back down and reloaded.

  “Listen up!” I keyed my radio again. “I’ve got a team of three aliens to the front left
that are taking out my rockets. Next time they give you a shot, take it!” I ordered.

  I heard a few confirmations back as I loaded up my launcher again. “Look sharp!” I warned, and pulled up my weapon to fire. This one I sent out to track on a path sweeping in from the left. The alien rocket team didn’t even make an appearance. The muzzle of another rocket tube extended only a few centimeters out from their cover, fired back, and scored a direct hit on my round. They exploded together harmlessly a few dozen meters out.

  Multiple radio transmissions back echoed my frustration. I was at a loss myself as to our next step. “Keep your heads down!” I shouted out and slid back from the leading edge of the rooftop. “Keep them pinned down but don’t waste ammo if you don’t have to! We need to find another way across!”

  “Wasn’t there a passage underground?” a soldier suggested. I looked over to where the rest of the building had been standing before. The service tunnel was hopelessly buried under an immense pile of rubble. I didn’t have a better idea. “It’s buried under the roof. Give me some volunteers to get up here and dig it out.”

  I looked over my platform to see four of my soldiers rush to my position and scale the wall. I gave the last two a hand up and they started in on their task. The stone looked incredibly heavy. Back on earth, concrete bits of the size they were moving wouldn’t have caused an issue if given enough time. Out here the density of the rock combined with the instability of the gravity and my soldiers nearing exhaustion made a laborious task that much more difficult.

  Back in the battle, the alien defenders had cleared off several of the wrecked fighters and had moved the remaining ones forward to give them clearer fields of fire. Reinforcements had joined the fight behind multiple emplacements and our casualties continued to mount. I saw two rush to the leading barriers and I dropped them with a single burst from my rifle before rolling aside and letting the fighter harmlessly return fire. This wasn’t working and we still needed a plan.