“Surrender and you won’t be harmed,” called out Major Winfrey over the comm system, hoping they could hear and understand him. This far in the empire these conscripts might not be used to combat. “Your explosive collars have been deactivated so there is no reason to die for the Kleese.”
Several aimed their weapons at the Marines and were quickly blasted down. Around the spaceport other drop ships were landing, expelling Marines down their ramps. Some were in Type Four suits, but the majority were Type Threes.
A number of the conscripts, seeing all the Marines in battlesuits, turned and ran, throwing their weapons down. Others began firing at the Marines as they realized this was an actual invasion.
“Don’t let them get organized,” ordered Dylan as he fired a quick burst from his RG rifle at a conscript next to a building who was firing on them. The conscript went down and stopped moving.
For the next few minutes, there was sporadic fighting as the Marines quickly mopped up any resistance. Most of the fighting was feeble and when it finally came to a stop, they had nearly one hundred and twenty captured conscripts. Under orders from Dylan, the conscripts opened up their battlesuits and stepped out. They were a humanoid race with pale skin, large eyes, and very pronounced eyebrows. They seemed dazed and confused over what had just happened.
“There’re no Kleese here at the spaceport,” Sergeant Morris reported as she walked up to the major. “That’s why resistance was so light. There was nobody to order the conscripts to attack.”
“They must all be in the city,” responded Dylan, opening the visor on his suit. This battle could have been intense if any Kleese had been here to force the conscripts to fight to the death. “They need to be found and eliminated as soon as possible.”
“Corporal Steel is reporting he has made contact with several Deltons who work here at the spaceport,” Olivia continued. “They claim all the Kleese are in the capital building where the Delton High Council meets.”
“Then that’s our next target,” Dylan said as several hover tanks rolled down a ramp from a nearby cargo drop ship. “I want the hover tanks to proceed immediately to the capital building and ensure the Kleese can’t leave. We’ll follow.”
-
It wasn’t difficult to follow the hover tanks since a Marine in a Type Four or Three suit could move faster than an Olympic sprinter. Within twenty minutes, they had the capital building surrounded and were ready to enter.
“We may have a problem, Major,” Sergeant Morris said as she listened to several reports over her comm.
“What is it?” asked Dylan as more Marines in their battlesuits arrived.
“Most of the damn corridors in the building are too small for our battlesuits. The Deltons aren’t exactly a really tall race.”
Dylan stepped back and gazed at the large structure. Olivia was right; the average Delton was less than four feet tall. He could call down a railgun strike to destroy the building, which would eliminate the Kleese inside, but he hated the thought of destroying the Deltons’ capital building. There were probably quite a few Deltons still inside, including some government officials.
“Major,” Sergeant Morris spoke as the main doors to the building opened and a number of Deltons walked slowly out, holding their hands out before them indicating they were all unarmed. Each one wore the Kleese explosive collars. Directly behind them came ten Kleese. None were in armor.
“Hold your fire,” ordered Dylan not wanting to risk injuring the Deltons.
“The Kleese are holding collar detonators in their hands,” Olivia quickly pointed out.
Dylan used his suit vision optics to check and sure enough, each one of the Kleese was holding one of the small black detonator boxes.
“Humans,” called out the center most Kleese. “I am Minor Overlord Craed and I demand your immediate surrender.”
Dylan stepped forward, coming closer to the huddled Deltons and the Kleese. “What if we don’t?”
“Then these Deltons will die,” replied Craed harshly, raising his arm up and gesturing toward the black box in his hand. “These obedience boxes can detonate all the collars on every Delton on the planet.”
Dylan continued to walk forward with Sergeant Morris close behind. He passed through the frightened Deltons until he was standing directly in front of Craed. “There are only ten of you,” Dylan said evenly. “Our fleet is in orbit around Delton and there is no hope of your rescue. If you kill the Deltons, what would stop us from doing the same to you?”
The Kleese was silent for a long moment as if contemplating Dylan’s words.
“I have heard you humans don’t like to see the death of innocents,” Craed responded. “Even though the Deltons once were nonaligned due to their technology, they are still an inferior race. Put down your weapons and you may serve the Kleese as conscripts in our military.”
“Press your buttons,” Dylan said, reaching down and drawing his Energy Lance. The meter long metal rod hummed with power as a blue glow surrounded it. Behind him, Olivia drew hers also.
“Human vermin!” barked Craed, his multifaceted eyes glaring angrily at Dylan and Olivia. “The Deltons’ deaths are on you!” With fury, Craed brought his finger down on the small button on the control box. His eyes widened when there were no explosions. His fellow Kleese began pressing their buttons, but only silence met their efforts.
“We disarmed all the collars on this planet,” Dylan explained as he swung his lance at Craed’s head. With a hissing noise, the lance cut through Craed’s neck, severing the Kleese’s head from his body. His headless corpse fell to the pavement to lie there, twitching as dark red blood poured out.
Sergeant Morris didn’t waste any time as she waded in swinging her own Energy Lance at the nearest Kleese, cutting its body in two.
Behind her, the frightened Deltons began running, trying to get away from the carnage. It was as if two demons had been let loose in the middle of the Kleese. The Energy Lances flashed time after time and after each telling blow, a Kleese fell to the pavement. In less than a minute, it was over. The Kleese were all dead, either headless or their bodies cut in two.
Dylan stood looking around at the dead Kleese at his feet. With a deep sigh, he deactivated his Energy Lance and returned it to his waist. He saw Olivia do the same.
“Damn, that felt good,” she said as she used her armored covered foot to roll a Kleese over to ensure it was dead.
“They would have killed thousands,” Dylan spoke as more Marines ran up and began checking the Kleese to make sure they were all dead.
“We must thank you,” a Delton voice spoke behind Dylan. Turning around he saw one of the Deltons who had come out of the building standing before him.
“You can remove your collar,” Dylan said. “We’ve deactivated all of them.”
The Delton hesitantly moved his hand to his neck and, with a look of bewilderment, removed the collar and let it fall to the pavement. “How?”
“We have friends that are very familiar with Kleese obedience collars; they have shown us how to deactivate them.”
“You must have some powerful friends,” the Delton commented. “I am Serte Achlyn, a member of the Delton High Council.
“Achlyn,” Dylan said, realizing who was standing in front of him. “Your cousin, Fleet Commander Achlyn, is in orbit. He’s brought a fleet to evacuate some of your people.”
“Then this isn’t permanent?” Serte asked in disappointment.
“I wish it were,” Dylan replied. “We have come to rescue as many of your people as we can from the Kleese, then we must go before their fleet returns.”
Serte was silent for a long moment. “You must be the humans we’ve heard rumors about. The Kleese are not happy with your race.”
“I would hope not,” Dylan said, raising his visor and smiling. “Someday we will destroy their empire.”
“I hope I live to see that day,” Serte replied gravely. “Can you make arrangements for me to speak to my cousin?”
<
br /> “Yes,” Dylan replied. “I’m sure he’ll be pleased to hear from you.”
-
Wade listened as the reports came in. The spaceport was secure with negligible damage, the capital city was now under Alliance control, and all Kleese were dead. High Councilor Serte Achlyn had been located and was in the process of contacting Fleet Commander Achlyn.
“A successful mission,” commented Commander Greer with a pleased look upon his face.
“No causalities and only a few minor injuries,” Wade responded. It was far less than he’d been expecting.
Now he needed to spend some more time talking to his Kleese prisoner, Betel. Wade wanted to know where the Minor Overlord thought Ryan and his Marines might have been taken. Once the evacuation of the Deltons was complete, Wade fully intended to launch several attacks against the facilities where they were possibly being held. Already, Admiral Rivers had sent eight assault ships off on spy missions to the Kleese home system as well as several other star systems, which held a large Kleese presence. Very soon, the Kleese would know the wrath of the humans for what the arachnids had done to Earth.
-
“Are you certain?” Ryan asked in disbelief. Many of the ship’s Marines had rushed to the Command Center upon hearing the rumor that an Alliance fleet was in orbit around Delton.
“Yes,” Casey answered. “It’s Fourth Fleet as well as a number of Alliance ships, particularly Delton. The communications channels are full of orders to various ships. There’s some type of massive evacuation taking place.”
Ryan turned toward Private Hopper, who was sitting at the ship’s sensors. “What are the sensors showing?”
“I’m not sure,” Jasmine replied with a trace of frustration in her voice. “The problem with our power system is playing hell with the sensors. I think those are Alliance ships. I can’t be certain, but I believe the troop assault ship Argyle is in high orbit above us.”
“It could be a trap,” warned Lieutenant Guthrie. “If the Kleese suspect we’re here on the planet somewhere, they could be broadcasting Alliance messages hoping to draw us out.”
“Casey?” asked Ryan. Autumn was right; this could indeed be a Kleese trap. The Zaltule had been pretty intent on finding them.
“I’m certain it’s Admiral Rivers and Fleet Commander Achlyn.” Casey’s eyes took on a determined glint. “I know I’m right, Ryan; you have to trust me.”
“That would explain the encrypted messages Casey heard earlier,” Lauren added. “I agree with Casey, it has to be the Alliance. They’ve come to evacuate more Deltons, just like Marken did with the rescue mission to Kivea.”
“But look how far we are into the Kleese Empire,” Sergeant McElroy spoke up, shaking his head with doubt in his eyes. “We’re only about a week’s flight from the Kleese home world. It would be suicide to launch a rescue mission this deep into Kleese space.”
“But what if is it them?” asked Private Hatterson with hope in her eyes. “We could go home.”
“We need to contact them,” Private Rios said. He knew his cousin back at Luna City had to be deeply concerned about his disappearance. His cousin was Juan’s only surviving family member from the catastrophe that overtook Earth.
Many of the others in the Command Center nodded their heads in agreement. Every day more systems on the assault ship were failing. It was only a short matter of time before the ship became too dangerous to live in.
“The question is how?” asked Ryan.
“The drop ships have communications equipment,” suggested Casey. “We could use one of them to send a message.”
“It won’t be encrypted,” Ryan replied with a deep frown. “If this is a Kleese trap they would be able to pinpoint our location rather quickly.”
“What about your command suit?” suggested Lauren. “It has a short-range communicator that can reach low orbit. It also has standard encryption hardware for secure communication.”
“It would be wise to attempt contact from a site that’s a considerable distance from the ship,” Autumn added still concerned this might be a Kleese trap.
“I can hike out of the valley,” Ryan said after a moment. It wouldn’t be too difficult in his Type Four command suit.
“I’ll go with you,” volunteered Alexander. “We don’t know what may be out there or who may respond to your distress call.”
“I think a full squad should accompany the lieutenant,” added Sergeant McElroy, standing up straight. “We can be ready within the hour.”
Ryan looked around the crowded Command Center, seeing the hope in his people’s eyes. “All right; Sergeant McElroy, Corporal Parker, we leave in an hour.”
“We’re going home,” yelled Private Cassie Littrel.
“Maybe,” responded Private Swen from her side. “Let’s just hope that is the Alliance in orbit.”
-
Four hours later Ryan stood atop a small ridge looking out across the forest. They’d trotted beneath towering trees and across several small streams to reach this point.
“The Delton’s have a beautiful planet,” commented Alexander as he gazed at the forest, which seemed to go on forever. He and Ryan were alone on top of the ridge. Sergeant McElroy had placed his squad around the lower perimeter of the ridge just in case they were attacked.
“Here goes nothing,” spoke Ryan as he activated his long-range communicator and took a deep breath. “This is Lieutenant Ryan Nelson. I am on the surface of Delton with fifty-seven other survivors. We were abducted from the nonaligned world of Diadem. We managed to escape in an assault ship from the Kleese and are in a hidden location on the surface. Please respond.”
For a full minute, Ryan waited for a response. All he could hear on his communications channel was static. He wondered if his message was getting through. Then the channel seemed to clear and a human voice spoke.
“This is Commander Anton of the troop assault ship Argyle. Please respond with your Marine service identification number.”
Ryan felt his hands start to shake at hearing Commander Anton’s voice. Trying to keep his voice as steady as possible, he gave the commander the long number, which identified him as a Marine.
“It can’t be them!” Ryan heard an astonished female voice speak in the background.
“Give me that comm!” the same voice demanded. Then a voice Ryan had never expected to hear again came over the com. “Ryan, this is Beth. Is it really you?”
Ryan nearly choked up as he responded. “Yes, Beth; it’s me. Is my brother around?”
“You damn right he is,” Beth answered in a joyful voice. “Give me a minute and you can speak to him.”
Over the comm channel, Ryan heard Beth arguing with the ship’s Communications officer. “I don’t give a damn what your orders are about communications. That’s Colonel Wade Nelson’s brother and I want a secure line to the Defender, now!”
-
On the Defender, Wade hurried into the Command Center wondering why he had been summoned. He’d been interrogating Betel when the summons had come for him to report. Stepping inside he saw huge grins on everyone’s faces.
“What’s going on?” he asked, feeling confused.
“We have a message from the surface being relayed by the Argyle for you,” spoke Commander Greer with a wide smile on his face.
“Did we find more Kleese?” Wade asked as he stepped up to Communications and nodded at the Communications officer. “This is Colonel Wade Nelson; who am I speaking to?”
“Hello, big brother,” a familiar voice spoke over the comm channel.
“Ryan,” whispered Wade, instantly recognizing his brother’s voice.
“Yes,” Ryan replied. “I don’t suppose you could send some shuttles down to pick us up? We’re sort of hungry.”
Wade could scarcely talk, he was overwhelmed with emotion. “How?” he managed to croak out.
“I’ll explain when I see you,” Ryan answered. “It’s a long story.”
“How many are with
you?” Wade managed to ask, taking a deep steadying breath.
“Only fifty-eight,” Ryan answered with great sadness in his voice. “We lost Colonel Stratford, Major Stevens, Lieutenant Felton, and a lot of others. But we made the Kleese pay!”
“I’ll be down shortly,” answered Wade, standing up straight and looking over at Commander Greer, who nodded. “We’ll send some ships down to pick you up. Ryan, it’s good to hear your voice.”
“See you shortly, big brother,” Ryan answered as the line went silent.
Wade turned around as the Command Center erupted in loud cheers and clapping. He felt tears in his eyes and didn’t know what to say. However, the joyous looks on the crew’s faces said everything. Their missing Marines were coming home.
Chapter Twenty
Ryan watched as several large shuttles set down in the clearing in the center of the green valley where they’d hidden the assault ship. Casey was standing at his side, holding his hand with a happy look upon her face. It all still seemed so unreal. What were the odds of an Alliance fleet showing up at Delton where Ryan and his Marines had taken up refuge? He’d spent some time thinking it over. It made sense that once they escaped from the Kleese they’d seek a safe haven on a world where they were familiar with its inhabitants. It also made sense that Fleet Commander Achlyn would want to rescue more of his people. Ryan was just relieved everything had worked out.
“Now what?” asked Casey. The other Marines were coming out of the assault ship excited about going home. Even Lauren and Alexander were walking side by side with big grins on their faces.
“Look,” Ryan said, pointing toward one of the nearby shuttles and the man and woman coming down the ramp under the escort of several Marines in Type Four battlesuits.
“Wade and Beth!” gasped Casey with wide eyes. She hadn’t been expecting them to come down to the surface. Even more surprising, Beth was wearing a colonel’s uniform. There’d definitely been some changes while they were gone.
Galactic Empire Wars: The Alliance (The Galactic Empire Wars Book 4) Page 28
