“They are gradually expanding the areas they control,” reported General Briggs. He stepped over to a large map spread out on a table. Five red areas showed the current territory controlled by the Trellixians. “We have then in the Central United States in northern Kansas and southern Nebraska, and so far we’ve limited their expansion. We have a number of special military units harassing them anytime they attempt to move out of their landing area. The Trellixians have made some progress but not much. The same in the United Kingdom. They’re just south of London, and the British have them pretty much bottled up. However, in Germany the Trellixians are already pushing into France. They’re also claiming large chunks of territory in Russia and China.”
“So far they’re skirting any cities with energy shields,” added Colonel Fields. “They’re putting a few troops and hover tanks in place to make sure we don’t venture out.”
“What about the people who aren’t in protected zones?” This concerned General Mitchell because he knew some people had returned to their homes rather than the safety of the secured cities. This was true all over the world, particularly in China.
“We’ve tried to pull in as many of them as possible,” said Major Thomas. “We do have a few units assigned to that. There has been some contact with Trellixian forces, but, for the most part, they’re avoided.”
General Mitchell looked at the four large green spots on the map. “What about our spaceports?”
“Once again the Trellixians have encircled them but at a distance,” reported Colonel Fields. “They moved in troops and hover tanks, using their shuttles flying at low altitudes. They don’t want to come within range of any of our energy cannons. We also have quite a few troops protecting the spaceports as well as some air assets, if they’re needed.”
On the map several red icons represented destroyed facilities. “The Trellixians have taken out some of our energy cannons,” said General Briggs. “In each case we’ve made sure they were demolished to the point the enemy can’t get any useful technology from the wreckage. They’re using a new assault shuttle that’s heavily armored to move about.”
“We believe they’ll create holes in our defenses, so they can land more troops,” said Colonel Fields. “In their original landing, we destroyed nearly 43 percent of their inbound troop shuttles. Since then there have been no more attempts at landing. We believe they’re waiting until our defenses have been significantly weakened to reduce their losses.”
General Mitchell spent a few more minutes examining the map and discussing what the Trellixians might be up to. The enemy didn’t want to risk landing more troops until they could do so safely. In orbit, the Trellixian battlecruisers and troop ships were staying just out of range of Earth’s primary energy cannons.
Mitchell looked at a large viewscreen. On it a counter sat at zero, marking six months since the exploration mission had launched. Today was the day the Constellation and the Vengeance were due back. So far there had been no sign of them. Mitchell needed to head over to Complex One to brief the president. He wished he had better news.
-
In orbit, Trellixian Battle Commander Traven was extremely satisfied with the way the attack against Earth was proceeding. Already they had opened up a hole over the Pacific Ocean, where he could send the rest of the troop shuttles down if he wanted.
Before he sent that order, the current troops on the surface had missions to complete. The first was destroying as many of the Humans’ energy cannons as possible. Most of these sites were heavily defended. In the past week he had used his troops and a few assault shuttles to locate as many as possible. In some instances troops had landed and mounted successful attacks against the energy cannon facilities. They had designed a new weapon specifically to assault these locations.
“Numerous cities on the surface are protected by energy screens,” reported Second Officer Baalon. “The same for all the Human military bases we’ve located.”
“They will be dealt with in time,” replied Traven, folding his powerful arms across his chest. “We will secure as much of the planet as possible and then clear entire regions of the Humans. If necessary we will use our fifty-megaton fusion missiles against the protected bases and the cities.”
Baalon looked surprised. “That will send the planet into a long-term nuclear winter, one which could seriously harm its biosphere.”
“Perhaps not,” responded Traven. “We’ll use the weapons directly on the energy shields. That will prevent ash and other pollutants from entering the planet’s atmosphere. Even if we do damage the biosphere, it can always be repaired at a later date. We have done it before on other worlds.”
“We should test that theory,” suggested Second Officer Baalon. “In the past we’ve only used the smaller twenty-kiloton missiles, not the fifty-megaton ones. I believe the use of fusion weapons on the surface will result in massive areas of contamination. We could be delaying colonization by decades.”
Battle Commander Traven was silent for several moments as he thought that over. The pressure from the High Command for more worlds to colonize grew every day, particularly with so many battle fleets dealing with the Humans and the Voltrex. Traven was also concerned as he had had no word from the High Command on updates regarding Voltrex-controlled space. Commander Balforr was supposed to be conquering one of the Voltrex colony worlds, but no mention of that had been made for several weeks now.
“Very well, choose a city in the United States for a test.” That particular country had been the biggest problem from the very beginning of the invasion of this world. If the attack worked, then they would choose other targets to assault. Traven still wanted full control of the planet within a month. Time to be finished with this world.
-
In the Colorado Rocky Mountains, several Trellixian assault shuttles flew in low and set down a few kilometers from a Jelnoid primary energy cannon. The shuttles were reinforced with better battle armor and shields. They were also armed with small missiles with a five-kiloton warhead. The shuttles had eight energy beam turrets, and the energy shields could operate even while the shuttles were landed. As soon as the shuttles were down, forty heavily armed and armored Trellixian soldiers exited the hatches and headed toward their target.
-
Sergeant Anderson and several squads of Rangers were at the energy cannon site. All across the mountains and other areas where the large primary cannons were located, military units had been deployed to keep the Trellixians away. “Report,” he ordered over his comm link.
“We have four pulse cannons set up and a ring of claymores surrounding the site,” replied Private Richards.
“Everyone stay sharp,” ordered Anderson. “We have an unconfirmed report of several Trellixian shuttles heading our way.”
Anderson looked around the site. In the center the large primary cannon towered over everything. A small control building nearby housed the eight men and women responsible for operating the cannon. It had thick armored walls as well as a small energy beam turret on top for defense. A weak energy shield protected the cannon itself.
“Our scouts report no contacts,” said recently promoted Corporal Donley.
Sergeant Anderson walked to the Control Center. He had two Rangers stationed at the entrance for added security. Inside was a large control room where all eight former or current National Guard members of the installation were busy. They were in constant communication with General Mitchell’s command base and were ready to fire upon a moment’s notice. The cannon had its own targeting system and could hit a target nearly one thousand kilometers above Earth.
“Sergeant,” greeted Ron Clarkson, the civilian in charge of the cannon. Ron was a former national guardsman.
“Any reports from base?”
Ron shook his head. “No, they tracked a few Trellixian shuttles headed our way but lost them when they entered the mountains.”
Sergeant Anderson was afraid of this. These new shuttles were harder to track and, from earlie
r reports, much heavier armed. “Are you picking up anything on your sensors?” All energy cannon Control Centers had special sensors able to detect Trellixian battle armor.
Ron looked at Lindsey Hastings, a corporal in the National Guard.
“Nothing,” she answered. At that moment a loud explosion occurred outside, shaking the Control Center.
“Seal it up,” ordered Sergeant Anderson as he turned and hurried to the door.
Moments later he stood outside, near a large smoking crater beside the cannon. “What the hell was that?”
Suddenly another explosion shook the ground as a bright flash of light erupted from the cannon structure.
“Some type of missile,” replied Corporal Donly, stepping close to the Control Center, using its wall for protection.
Two more missiles slammed into the energy shield protecting the cannon.
“Some claymores just went off to the east,” reported Donly as reports came in from several Rangers. “We have movement. Several scouts are reporting Trellixian soldiers inbound.”
Suddenly the crackling noise of a pulse cannon firing could be heard.
“Targets!” called out Private Richards.
Pulse rifles fired as armor-covered Trellixians emerged from the forest. The Trellixians replied with their energy rifles. The battle intensified as weapons fire caught the surrounding forest on fire. Several Rangers fell as Trellixian energy rifles found their targets. Trellixians were also falling as the energy beams from the pulse rifles penetrated their body armor.
Then in rapid succession six more explosions rattled the large energy cannon. The energy shield seemed to flicker, and a round detonated against the cannon itself. With a cracking sound, the large cannon seemed to vibrate and then, almost in slow motion, it collapsed.
The energy turret on top of the Control Center began firing, forcing the Trellixians to take cover. Over a dozen fell to the ground, unmoving, as the energy turret swept across the armored Trellixians.
The fighting quickly died down as the surviving Trellixians hurriedly withdrew.
Sergeant Anderson stood in shock, gazing at the ruins of the cannon. How had the Trellixians penetrated the energy shield protecting it? Anderson needed to get this information to Major Garcia quickly. If the enemy could get through the shields protecting the cannons, could they get through the ones protecting the bases and the cities?
-
General Mitchell listened as more and more reports came in of destroyed primary energy cannons. The Trellixians had found some way to penetrate the protective energy screens. Of course those energy screens were not nearly as powerful as the ones protecting the bases and the cities. “How?” he asked Professor Wilkens.
“We’re not sure,” replied Wilkens. “Professor Fournier believes a chemical explosive causes a vibration in the energy shield. Once enough of the chemical has become entrenched in the shield, another missile is launched that uses the vibration frequency to penetrate. Professor Fournier is working on a fix to the energy shields. Once it’s ready, we’ll test it to see if he’s correct.”
“Let’s hope he is,” replied General Mitchell. If they lost too many of the cannons, it could endanger the entire planet. The cannons kept the orbiting Trellixian fleet at bay.
-
Trellixian Battle Commander Traven and Second Officer Baalon had chosen the first target to use the fleet’s fusion missiles against. A large number of missiles would be launched, though most of them would be decoys. He expected the Humans to shoot down most of the inbound missiles, which was fine as long as a few of the real ones made it through. His first target was a city in what the Humans called Kansas.
“Missiles are ready,” reported Second Officer Baalon. “The Humans will not be able to detect the real ones from the decoys. We can play the same game the Humans had with their defensive satellites and decoys.”
Traven turned his attention to one of the large viewscreens in the front of the Command Center. “Launch!”
-
From twenty Trellixian battlecruisers, a rain of missiles dropped toward the Central United States. The city of Salina, Kansas, and its sixty thousand people were the target.
-
In General Mitchell’s Command Center, alarms sounded as the missile launches were detected.
“Inbound missiles,” reported Colonel Fields. “Target is Salina, Kansas. Energy cannons, both primary and secondary, are engaging. Civilians have been ordered to take cover.”
General Mitchell looked with growing concern as the tactical display filled with small red threat icons, all descending through the atmosphere. Even as the first wave dropped, a second wave was being launched.
“Can we get them all?” asked General Briggs as he stepped closer to the tactical display. “Salina is sitting in a ring of primary and secondary energy cannons.”
“We’re detecting over two hundred missiles just in the first wave,” reported Colonel Fields. “We can get most of them but probably not all of them. We’re going to take some hits.”
General Mitchell folded his arms over his chest. “Most of those are probably decoys. Can we tell the difference?”
Colonel Fields shook his head. “I’ve tried scanning the warheads, but they’re covered in a substance that prevents the scans from getting through. There’s no way we can tell the real ones from the decoys.”
On one of the viewscreens, bright flashes appeared high in the sky. Primary and secondary energy beams took out many of the missiles. They had some missile interceptors, but most of them were deployed around the spaceports and the main bases.
Looking at the screen, General Mitchell could do nothing more but hope they could take out all of them. He knew, in Salina, the warning alarms were sounding, and the people would take be taking cover.
-
Nearly all the first wave of missiles was wiped out before the first one struck the energy shield above the city of Salina. Fortunately it was a decoy and merely obliterated itself when it hit. The second wave was more overwhelming. Four missiles penetrated the defensive fire from the energy cannons and struck the energy screen. All of these were decoys as well.
The third and fourth waves were closer together. Three decoys struck their target before a fully functional fusion warhead slammed into the protective screen. In a brilliant flash of light a massive explosion tore at the screen, trying to knock it down. Moments later two more decoys followed by another fusion missile struck the energy screen. The surrounding countryside was hit with ferocious winds, tearing up trees and smashing buildings. Farms were blown away, and crops leveled.
More fusion missiles reached the protective energy screen, threatening to overload it. Inside people sought safety in basements and tornado shelters or the long tunnel that led to the underground transit system. Then four fusion missiles stuck the screen at once, causing it to flicker and allowing some of the raw energy from the explosions to get inside. In an instant, the city of Salina was incinerated, and the energy screen collapsed. The next fusion missile struck the ground, sending up a huge plume of ashes and pollutants as well as the tell-all form of a huge mushroom cloud. The cloud was visible for over two hundred miles.
-
“Salina’s gone,” said General Briggs as he gazed grimly at the destruction on the viewscreen. “They never stood a chance. I’m not sure even those who made it to the underground tunnel could survive that blast.”
“That’s lot of dust and pollutants going into the atmosphere,” said Colonel Fields with a deep frown. “It won’t take many of those to put the planet into a long-term nuclear winter.”
General Mitchell took a deep breath. This was something he had hoped he wouldn’t see. “How many missiles did they use?”
“Over a thousand,” replied Colonel Fields. “I can’t say how many of those were real and how many were decoys.”
“How many detonated against the energy screen?”
“At least twelve,” replied Colonel Fields. “All in the fi
fty-megaton range.”
General Briggs looked at General Mitchell. “They’ve demonstrated they can destroy our cities. If they use this method of attack, they can destroy our military bases as well.”
“They’ll destroy the planet,” said Major Thomas. “Even if some of the cities and the hidden complexes survive, we can’t grow food on the surface. We can’t grow enough underground or in the cities with energy shields to feed everyone.”
General Mitchell took a minute to weigh his options; none were good. “Order the increased production of secondary energy cannons. At least they can be used to shoot down the missiles.”
“We may not have the time,” said General Briggs. “The Trellixians still have a lot of ships in orbit that are full of missiles.”
Mitchell knew Briggs was right. His gaze wandered to the long-range sensor screen. No green icons were visible. Everything in orbit was gone. The only asset remaining was the moon base, and the Trellixians were staying away from it. Why should they attack it? Without supplies, the crew on the moon base would eventually starve to death. No need for the Trellixians to risk any of their ships in an attack there.
-
President Hathaway stood at the window in her office, looking out over the underground city. Earlier she had been briefed by Major Cunningham on the destruction of Salina. It seemed as if nothing could stop the Trellixians from destroying what was left of their world.
“What are we to do?” she asked with a deep sigh. “If the Trellixians cause a long nuclear winter, they will destroy our world.”
“We don’t know what they’ll do,” replied Professor Wilkens.
Katelyn turned toward the professor. “Do you still believe the Constellation and the Vengeance will return?”
Wilkens slowly nodded his head. “I have to believe. That’s a very special group of people on both of those vessels. I don’t believe they will fail.”
“The only problem is, by the time they return, it may be too late.”
Earth Fall_To the Stars Page 31
