Mark nodded, as he called up the schematics on his HUD of a Kleese exploration cruiser. They needed to find more of their people as well as take over one of the flight bays as a fall back point. “Lieutenant Nelson, I want you to take your platoon and go to section twelve, flight bay six. There should be an assault ship in the bay. Get it operational and ready to depart. I’ll fight a holding action and continue to look for the rest of our people.”
“Major, we can’t exit the flight bay while the cruiser’s Fold Space Drive’s activated.”
Mark drew in a deep breath and then his eyes hardened. “Just get your people to the bay, I’ll find a way to get us out of Fold Space.”
“Yes, sir,” replied Ryan, wondering what Major Stevens had in mind.
“Let’s go,” Ryan ordered over his comm to his squad in the cargo compartment.
He then sent a comm message to the rest of his people to meet at the training facility; from there they would go to the designated flight bay and hope there was an assault ship there. Ryan was deeply concerned about the Marines who hadn’t been located and what the Kleese might do. Those Marines still had their collars on and they were not deactivated.
Chapter Fourteen
Ryan met the rest of his platoon at the hatch to the training facility. Everyone was in their Type Four battlesuits and ready for action.
“Report!” ordered Ryan, looking at Casey and the two corporals.
“We didn’t find any more of our Marines,” Casey said, sounding a little flustered. “For all we know they could be on the far side of the ship.”
“These corridors have become strangely empty of Nabians,” added Lauren, as she glanced down at her RG rifle making sure it contained a full magazine. “Even the corridors we haven’t been down are vacant.”
“They’ve pulled back,” suggested Alexander, cradling his RG rifle in his metal arms. “They know we’re loose and the alarms are sounding.”
“They’ll hit us shortly,” Ryan said. He just hoped the first thing they didn’t do was activate the explosive collars. They still had a number of platoons they hadn’t found, including Colonel Stratford.
“We have orders to proceed to one of the assault ship bays. If there’s an assault ship inside we’re to take control and prep it for flight.”
“Then we’re getting out of here?” asked Casey. She had been afraid they didn’t have the forces necessary to take the massive exploration ship.
“Yes,” Ryan answered evenly. “We’ll get the ship ready and then wait for the others to fall back to the flight bay.”
“What about the exploration cruiser being in Fold Space?” asked Lauren. “We can’t exit the bay as long as the main drive is on.”
“That’s being taken care of,” Ryan answered. He wondered just what Major Stevens had in mind to force the exploration ship to drop out of Fold Space so they could escape. “We’re going to section twelve flight bay six.” He quickly transmitted the schematics of the exploration cruiser that Major Stevens had downloaded to Ryan’s battlesuit to Casey, Lauren, and Alexander.
“Where did you get this schematic, sir?” asked Lauren as she began studying it in her HUD.
“From Major Stevens. The schematics are readily available at Centerpoint. I’m sure that’s where he got this. Corporal Parker, take the point with your squad. Consider any Nabians we come across as hostile. Corporal Adams, cover our rear.”
For several minutes, the platoon navigated the numerous corridors, which led toward section twelve. Over his comm channel, Ryan was listening to Major Stevens’ squads report in as they searched more of the ship for locked up Marines. Suddenly, firing broke out in front of them. Ryan heard Alexander swear and order his squad to take cover.
“I’ve got eight to twelve battle suits in front of us,” Alexander reported as he fired his RG rifle down the corridor toward the enemy. He grimaced as he felt several RG rounds bounce off his chest armor. “Their rounds aren’t penetrating.”
“They’re not using armor piercing rounds for fear of damaging the ship,” spoke up Lauren as she checked the corridor behind them, concerned this might be a dual pronged attack. So far, the rear area was still clear of threats.
“Take them out,” Ryan ordered. Most of the platoon had taken up positions inside of several adjoining corridors.
“Let’s go!” shouted Alexander as he fired a long burst from his rifle at a Type Two suit. If these Nabians didn’t have armor-piercing shells, the Marines had nothing to fear. The Nabian went down with a line of holes stitched across his chest and red blood pouring out.
The firing grew intense as the two groups got closer and then merged. Several of Alexander’s squad drew their Energy Lances and began striking at the Nabians in their battlesuits. A Type Two suit was not immune to the Energy Lances and every cut went through the armor. More times than naught, the lance went all the way through, either cutting the suit in two pieces or cutting off the Nabian’s head. The fighting was quite gruesome with Nabian bodies all over the deck.
“Clear!” called out Alexander as the last Nabian fell.
Looking at his HUD Ryan saw only one Marine was showing as injured in the fracas. “Private Hatterson, what’s your status?”
“Only a minor injury,” she reported. “A round went through the connecting joint at my ankle. Suit’s injecting meds and painkillers and I’m good to go.”
“Move out, Corporal Parker,” ordered Ryan, satisfied everyone was still capable of combat.
Down more corridors and past several open compartments they went, not encountering any more resistance. However, over the command channel Ryan knew this wasn’t true of Major Stevens and the Marines with him.
“Lieutenant Nelson,” Stevens’ voice strained came over the command channel. “We’ve found one more platoon of Colonel Stratford’s and that’s all we’re going to find alive.”
“Why’s that?” asked Ryan, fearing the answer.
“Lieutenant Felton just reported finding a sealed hatch and upon opening it found all the Marines inside dead. Their explosive collars had been activated.”
Suddenly Ryan knew why they’d faced so little resistance. The Kleese hadn’t realized some of the Marines had freed themselves of their collars. They probably thought by activating the collars the human threat would be eliminated.
“I’m sending Lieutenant Guthrie and Sergeant McElroy to you,” Stevens added. “Hold that bay until the rest of us can get there.”
“We will, sir,” Ryan answered. “We won’t be leaving without you.”
-
It took another ten minutes but they arrived at the bay without further resistance. They encountered only a few Nabians, who quickly scurried back away from the advancing Marines.
“I’m at the hatch,” reported Corporal Parker. “It’s shut; should I open it?”
“Yes,” answered Ryan. “Be prepared to meet resistance if the Kleese have managed to get any battlesuits into the bay.”
Alexander took a deep breath and then pressed the control to open the large metal hatch. It swung inward and the corporal and his squad charged in finding the bay empty other than the assault ship nestled there. “I want four of you up that ramp,” he ordered, pointing toward the open ramp which led into the ship. “The rest of you check the bay to make sure we’re alone.”
Ryan stepped inside and breathed a deep sigh of relief at seeing the spacecraft. “Sergeant Hunter, I want you and Corporal Adams to take a squad and make sure that ship’s secure. Then make your way to the Command Center and see if you can get it operational.”
“On our way,” Casey said. Then over their private channel, she added. “Be careful, Ryan; we’re almost out of here. I don’t want to lose you now.”
Ryan watched as Casey and Lauren, along with six other Marines, hustled to the ramp and entered the ship. “Corporal Parker, take four Marines and secure the outside corridor. Lieutenant Guthrie and Sergeant McElroy should be arriving shortly with their platoons.”
> “Yes, sir,” Alexander responded as he moved back out into the corridor with four members of his squad. He was glad the others were on their way.
Ryan turned around to look at the other five Marines who had just finished checking the rest of the small flight bay. They’d found no one else hiding amongst the equipment or crates stacked next to the walls. “The rest of you get inside that assault ship and make sure there are no Nabians inside. I want every compartment searched, including the drop ships.”
The five hurried off and soon disappeared into the ship’s hatch. Ryan continued to listen to Major Stevens over the command channel. Both his platoons and Lieutenant Felton’s were involved in heavy fighting with large groups of Nabians in battlesuits.
“Still no sign of any Type Threes,” Stevens reported to Ryan. “We’re trying to push through to Engineering so we can shut down the drive.”
Ryan called up his schematic of the exploration ship. The ship was twelve thousand meters across and two thousand four hundred meters thick.
“Sir, Engineering is a hell of a long ways from this bay.”
“Once we’ve disabled the drive we’ll make to the nearest flight bay that contains an assault ship. As soon as the ship drops out of Fold Space, you’re to leave. We’ll follow shortly after.”
Ryan was silent for several long moments. He was growing deeply concerned Major Stevens and his people might not make it off the ship. A commotion at the hatch drew his attention as Sergeant McElroy and his platoon entered followed by Lieutenant Guthrie.
“Sergeant McElroy, get your platoon up that ramp and into the assault ship. Is there anyone who can help fly it?”
Several hands went up as many of the Marines in the Type Four suits in Lieutenant Guthrie’s platoon had also attended the academy at Vesta or the fleet facility on the Moon.
“Report to Sergeant Hunter in the Command Center and she’ll give you your assignments.” He quickly contacted Casey and told her more help was on the way.
Lieutenant Guthrie placed one of her squads outside the hatch with Corporal Parker and sent the rest into the assault ship. “Ryan, what’s Major Stevens up to? If he makes it to Engineering and shuts down the Fold Space Drive, I don’t see how he can make it to a flight bay.”
“I don’t either,” admitted Ryan, his eyes shifting over to Autumn. “The major’s been around for awhile. Maybe he has a trick or two up his sleeve.”
“I hope so,” responded Autumn, looking at the hatch wishing the major would come through.
-
Major Stevens drew in a sharp breath as several more of his Marines were cut down by heavy weapons fire from Nabians in battlesuits. They were now using armor piercing rounds, which were deadly if they hit critical areas. Major Stevens and Lieutenant Felton had started out with seventy-four Marines. They were down to fifty-eight and the resistance was growing heavier as they neared Engineering.
“We’re pinned down,” Lieutenant Felton reported over the command channel. He had his platoon and one of Colonel Stratford’s going toward Engineering in an adjacent corridor.
“We need to join forces,” Mark said as an explosion went off up ahead. He had given permission to start using RG explosive rounds as needed in order to reach Engineering. “There’s a junction up ahead. “We’ll move along it and take the Nabians pinning you down from the rear.”
“One more thing,” Felton added over the Comm. “Corporal Slocum found our nukes in a nearby storage compartment. I have half a dozen of them with me.”
“Don’t lose them,” Mark ordered. “We’ll be at your position shortly.”
Mark ducked as several RG rounds struck the wall near him. The corridor was full of smoke, and they were using the sensors in the suits to help find their targets.
The fighting grew more intense as they neared the junction. The Nabians were desperate now to push the Marines back as more reinforcements kept appearing. Explosive rounds were going off nearly nonstop as the Marines pushed steadily forward. The Nabians weren’t firing any back and Mark strongly suspected they didn’t have them. The Kleese obviously didn’t want their exploration cruiser damaged any more than necessary.
Mark nearly tripped over a prostate battlesuit and, looking down, recognized it was one of his Marines. Glancing at his HUD, he saw Corporal Banister’s icon blinking red.
“We’re at the junction!” yelled Sergeant Owens.
“Go to the right,” Mark ordered. “That will put us behind the Nabians who have Lieutenant Felton pinned down.
Moments later, they poured heavy weapons fire into the Nabians who were now pinned between Major Stevens and Lieutenant Felton’s Marines. In less than a minute, the opposition had been eliminated.
“What now, sir?” Felton asked as he walked up to the major.
“The Engineering deck is close,” Mark replied. “We’ll push on toward it using our explosive rounds. Right now, that’s our biggest advantage over the Nabians.”
“Let’s do it, then,” Felton said. “I suspect Lieutenant Nelson and Guthrie are anxious to get off this tub.”
“Brice,” Mark said in a lower voice on the command channel. “We may not be able to get out of this. “We’ve lost a lot of Marines getting here and we still have a ways to go.”
Brice was silent for a moment and then nodded. “At least Ryan and Autumn will get away. Now, let’s go kill some more of these damn Nabians.”
“Sergeant Owens, move out!” ordered Mark. He allowed himself to grin slightly; Lieutenant Felton reminded him a lot of a younger Lieutenant Griffith. For the first time, he was glad his best friend hadn’t accompanied them on this mission.
-
The four greatly reduced platoons of Marines continued to advance toward Engineering. RG explosives were now the prevalent ordnance being used with regular RG rounds doing the mopping up. Mark estimated he was losing one Marine for every ten Nabians they were taking down. The corridors they were going through were now blasted, smoking ruins with torn and shattered battlesuits scattered on the deck. They were stepping through blood, both human and Nabian.
“We’re at the main hatch to Engineering,” Sergeant Owens reported. “It’s sealed from the other side.”
“Blow it,” ordered Mark. He wanted to get inside and disable the Fold Space Drive before the Kleese could send in additional battlesuits.
Moments later a large explosion echoed down the corridor as a flash of light and fire breached the hatch. The Marines charged in encountering heavy weapons fire.
As Mark stepped through the hatch, he saw a large number of Nabians in battlesuits and many without. Even more importantly, he saw four Kleese standing by the main control panels watching the fighting. None were armed or in battlesuits. Two were holding the small black control boxes repeatedly pressing the controls attempting to set off the collars the humans no longer wore.
“Stop, humans!” one ordered. “If you come any nearer you will all die.”
“Not by any of you!” roared Mark as he glared in anger at all the red icons on his HUD. So many good men and women had died to reach this compartment.
Reaching down, Mark grasped his Energy Lance and activated it. A blue glow surrounded the lance and a low humming sound came from it. He moved determinedly toward the Kleese followed by a number of his Marines. He lost track of the fighting in the compartment as he swung his lance at the first Kleese, instantly decapitating it and sending a shower of blood over his battlesuit. The other Kleese were suffering the same fate as other Marines used their lances, and soon all four were dead. Their arachnid bodies lay twitching in growing pools of blood upon the deck of Engineering. Never again would they be a threat to any human or other race.
Around him, the fighting subsided and looking around he saw all the Nabians were down. Looking at his HUD, he felt a sickening feeling. Only eighteen icons were green and amber, all the rest were blinking red.
“Lieutenant Felton?” Mark called over the command channel. There was no answer. Rechecking
his HUD, he saw one of the blinking red icons was the lieutenant’s. Mark took several deep breaths and slowly shook his head. The lieutenant had been a good officer and Marine.
“We’re not getting out of here, are we, sir?” asked Sergeant Owens. Owens was a career military man. His only family was a brother, who worked as an instructor at the flight school on the Moon.
“No, Sergeant,” Mark answered grimly. “We don’t have the people to fight our way to one of the flight bays. If we try to, we’ll either be killed or captured.” It surprised him that the Kleese hadn’t sent more Nabians with stunners to try to stop the Marines advance on Engineering.
“I don’t want to become a prisoner again,” uttered the sergeant, looking intently at the major.
“Neither do I,” Mark replied. “Corporal Slocum, do you still have those nukes you found?”
“Yes, sir,” Slocum replied as he limped over to where the major was. His battlesuit had a jagged hole in one leg. Two Marines behind him were carrying a small metal case between them.
A wolfish grin spread across Mark’s face. He had one more surprise for the Kleese. “Sergeant Owens, I want the Fold Space Drive taken off line and then the controls destroyed. We need to give Lieutenant Nelson time to get off this ship.”
“Yes, sir,” Owens replied as he gestured for several Marines he knew had some technical knowledge to follow him to the Fold Space controls.
-
In the Command Center of the exploration ship, Minor Overlord Creedanth gazed in growing anger at Queex and Gureen. Both had been summoned to the Command Center as soon as word of the human revolt had become known.
“How did these humans get their equipment?” demanded Creedanth, his multifaceted eyes drilling sharply into the two frightened Nabians.
“Their equipment was stored a considerable distance from them,” Queex hastily replied. He then shifted his eyes toward Gureen. “It was the humans Gureen was responsible for who started all of this. I have a confirmed report from one of my fellow Nabians Gureen moved several of the humans’ battlesuits to a compartment near them and even allowed one of them access.”
Galactic Empire Wars: The Alliance (The Galactic Empire Wars Book 4) Page 21
