by Aer-ki Jyr
“These streets are the right size for those mini-tanks too,” Randy pointed out as they began to move together in a tight formation, Megan still in the lead.
“Should have held onto that other rocket,” Paul commented.
“If there is one, let’s find it before the others get here,” Jason suggested as they came up to a five-way intersection. He fired off a quick pair of shots at a nearby pedestrian, dropping him to the ground with two chest hits while Randy tagged another on the left.
“This way,” Megan said, leading them upper right down a short alley.
Emily jumped over a computer terminal row and kicked the man reaching for his sidearm in the chest, knocking him backwards onto the ground. Her body slid across the console and she landed feet first on top of his abdomen, firing four shots directly into his sternum. The pistol fell out of the unconscious man’s grip and Emily kicked it aside, raising her rifle to shoulder level and scanning the area, finding that her team had already taken out the few Chinese manning the docking station on the number 3 pad.
From here they could extend the docking umbilical when their dropship arrived and make for a smooth transition for their reinforcements. Two other landing pads were adjacent to this facility, but they each had their own terminals, meaning that her team was going to have to secure them all with five men.
“Brian, you’ve got this one,” she said, stepping off the unconscious man and heading for the perimeter tunnel that connected to the other two stations.
“On it,” he said, picking the best defensible position on the far side of the control station, with his back to the tunnel his teammates were heading down, giving him a good field of fire on the far side tunnel as well as the entryway into the rest of the city.
Ivan, Dan, and Kip followed Emily around the long, curved tunnel in a staggered line, loping oddly to keep from bouncing too high when they ran. Their legs gave quite a bit with each step, making them look like they were running through sand in order to keep a good cadence. When the curve of the tunnel finally cracked a peek at the next terminal, Emily saw that there were a good more number of personnel on station, with several being assault rifle bearing soldiers.
“Heads up,” she said, taking aim and firing off several distance shots. The Chinese were becoming aware of their presence and starting to redeploy their security forces…maybe they’d even detected the approaching dropships from orbit and had come down to secure the landing pads? Either way, they had to clear and hold this area. One pad would have done, but there were six dropships of reinforcements coming their way, and the more offloading positions they could take, the faster this invasion would proceed.
Kip fired off several rounds as well, running just beside Emily’s left shoulder and a step behind. His stingers passing within inches of her shoulder didn’t concern her. She’d been fighting next to Kip and the other 2s for more than a decade and they knew each other’s movements and habits well enough that a few inches of firing clearance was more than they needed for a ‘safe’ shot.
Both Archons took a few rounds on their armor before the shooters went down, then several more came out from behind the corner to respond to the attack…but by that time the attackers were at the station, jump kicking or punching the soldiers off their feet while the following pair stun the downed men into unconsciousness.
The entrance into the city was a set of wide open double doors with three more soldiers milling about, seemingly shocked at the presence of the red armored attackers. Their hesitation was rewarded with green paint splatters across the chests of their dull brown uniforms. They dropped to the ground almost in unison, revealing a clear hallway behind them that led into another cargo module.
“I’ve got this one,” Ivan called, kicking a body aside as he picked up the rifle pinned beneath the man’s arm as his teammates moved on. He continued to clean up the loose weapons, keeping an eye on the three attack angles around him, then bound the hands of the unconscious men. He stacked the bodies up against the side of the left tunnel wall, out of the way of any potential weapons fire coming from within the city.
“Station secured,” he heard Emily report over the comm. “Dropships, you’re clear to land on all three pads. We’re holding the door open for you.”
“We copy,” Sam’s voice said from the dropship containing his 9s along with other reinforcements and supplies. “ETA 18 minutes.”
4
Paul and Jason passed by the elevator on level 6 of the Chinese building and climbed the stairs up to level 7 while Megan and Randy continued up behind them to take level 8. As soon as Jason opened the door onto the level of the mini skyscraper he walked ahead, covering Paul as he opened the first side door and scouted out the inside.
Jason waited a meter past the door in the hallway as he heard his teammate fire off several puffs to the screams of the people inside, then switched with him when he came back out. Paul held position in the hallway while Jason took the door on the other side of the hall. He forced his way in quickly, banging the door aside and immediately taking fire from a man with a sidearm hiding behind a conference room table.
A single shot from his stinger rifle splattered on the tabletop just short of the man’s face and sprayed him with numbing specks. The man blinked and shuttered, not understanding why his left eyelid wouldn’t fully open and he couldn’t feel his lower lip. A second shot from Jason nailed him in the forehead and he went down hard, banging his head on the edge of the table and cutting a nasty gash on his chin before falling to the floor.
Jason shot three other people hiding in various nooks and crannies around the room, then did a quick circular sweep to make sure he didn’t miss anyone and that the ones he’d shot were truly unconscious, then he left the prisoners for the bagging team that was following them up the building.
He swapped back again with Paul and covered the hallway as he cleared the next room, making sure nobody switched rooms while they weren’t looking. They proceeded across the entire level, some 22 rooms in total, then made their way back to the staircase.
“Level 7 clear,” Jason reported over his comm. “Proceeding to level 9.”
“Copy that,” Harrison-167 reported. Archon Epsilon team were backing up the 2s foursome while they cleared the building, restraining and collecting the Chinese prisoners that the trailblazers were efficiently racking up. As it was, they were having a hard time keeping up, even with there being a full 10 of them with Knight backup to handle the transfer of prisoners to the makeshift detention area in one of the smaller perimeter buildings where the dome wasn’t as tall.
Paul and Jason moved up and pacified level 9, then took the top level while their counterparts were finishing up 10. Most of the upper level was a luxury suite that had several chambers, designed to house a family by the looks of it, but for whatever reason it was uninhabited at the moment, giving the Archon pair an easy finish to an overwhelmingly easy assault on this particular dome.
Reports from the other teams were coming in with similar results. The Chinese were throwing very little resistance at them, which made Jason think that they hadn’t planned on Star Force getting this far. They probably hadn’t thought past their assault on the spaceports, figuring that they’d be safely in hand by now with Luna becoming defacto Chinese territory.
Jason was happy they’d caught the enemy off guard, but for some reason it seemed a little too easy. Too anticlimactic.
“Level 10 clear,” Randy reported.
“11 is empty,” Jason added. “Move on to the next.”
“Copy that, we’ll take 1,” Randy said as he and Megan headed back down stairs.
Paul peeked out one of the wide windows that afforded a good view of the top of the dome and the shorter buildings to the north of the main tower…though there was another just as tall to the northwest and south, both of which they’d be taking momentarily. “Wouldn’t want to be in here if a meteor hit.”
“I know,” Jason echoed. “That dome is just asking to be bre
ached,” he said as they paid the window one last glance then headed back to the staircase and down to the entrance where they passed the other red-armored Archons carrying prisoners by the twos, one over each shoulder, out of the building and off to the left in a stretched out line, making them look like worker ants.
They passed by one of the white-armored giants at the entrance of the building, standing guard to make sure the building stayed secured and no one slipped in or out until the dome was completely cleared. Jason nodded to the man as he transitioned into a run and gestured to another as he and Paul headed over to the next skyscraper, seeing their cohorts just entering the building down the narrow road.
The other Knight followed them, his long strides eating up the ground as he dragged his large shield over his right shoulder. When Paul and Jason entered the building he stayed behind, guarding the entrance and acting as liaison to the other personnel that would be coming over soon to deal with the new prisoners.
The four Archons made their way up through the levels without serious incident. A few armed denizens were encountered, but not so much as one properly armed soldier. All were rendered unconscious and bagged by the recovery team, then eventually transferred out through the secured portions of the city to the dropship pads, where they were loaded up and flown over to a nearby spaceport, allowing the Star Force troops to slowly clear and evacuate the entire Chinese city.
The 1s and 9s were also working on their own sections of the city and making good time at it…as it was there was always a line of prisoners waiting for transport near the landing pads, with the dropships running nonstop to absorb the load.
It took more than 2 days for the city to be completely cleared of enemy personnel, after which an army of Star Force techs and engineers came in to appraise and catalog everything. Very little damage had occurred to the city, but as usual Star Force was going to be methodical and assess every inch of the interconnected facilities, after which the Archons and/or Davis would decide what to do with the place.
Same went for the auxiliary sites within the Chinese territorial zones, and the zones themselves. Star Force was washing away any claim the belligerent nation had on Luna, including future zone allotments. As soon as the last of the prisoners were removed, what once belonged to the Chinese would become Star Force property, no matter how much they or anyone else diplomatically complained about it.
Most of the Archons left the cities along with the last prisoners, transferring back over to Star Force spaceports while a few remained behind just in case the civilians ran into anything unusual while cataloging and mapping out the cities. Secondary or hidden chambers weren’t entirely out of the question, and until they had documented every square inch of the place they weren’t going to leave the civilians by themselves…at least not until additional security forces arrived, which were in short order these days with so many having been killed and the replacements that were incoming being devoted to replenishing the existing sector security teams.
Paul was not one of those staying behind, nor was Jason. Both immediately transferred up from the spaceport to a ship waiting for them in orbit. Once onboard the Cougar the pair raced back down to low Earth orbit while the rest of the Archons waited for redeployed cargo haulers for a lift back down to one of the starports where they’d hop an Earth dropship and return to Atlantis at a much slower pace.
The reason for the dedicated Cougar and quick transit for Paul and Jason was that the pair weren’t going to Earth, rather they were transferring to the Orion to take command of the ongoing naval war against the Chinese fleet. While it was true that they could have directed the efforts from the Archon sanctum or Atlantis, Paul didn’t want to waste the additional hours it would take to get there, so when the small starship pulled up next to the mammoth command ship a small shuttle was immediately sent over to retrieve the two military commanders.
It docked with the Cougar then hurried back over to the Orion’s hangar bay, with the Archon pair heading straight through the ship to the bridge, not even bothering to stop off and change out of their armor.
“Report,” Paul demanded when he hit the bridge, eliciting mildly shocked reactions from the crew.
“Four kills, with a fifth imminent,” Minsk said, not missing a beat. “We’ve identified the location of the Chinese carrier in a holding position in zone 6, with most of their fleet having gathered around it. A few other ships are scattered about, but most of their firepower is right there,” the Captain said, pointing to a position on the orbital map.
“Any further losses on our part?” Jason asked.
“No, we learned our lesson and have been attacking from range. They haven’t so much as scratched us since.”
“No surrenders?” Paul asked.
“We’ve been offering prior to combat, per your orders, but there has been no response.”
“Do we have all their ships accounted for?”
“17 of the 18,” Minsk said, running his finger in a circle around a particular position on the map. “There’s a frigate somewhere in this area, but we haven’t been able to pin it down just yet. We should have the location in a day or two, and neutralized not long after that.”
“Have they made any aggressive moves against our stations?” Jason asked.
“Fortunately no, we’ve pretty much had them on the run ever since you let us off the leash, though they could have done a hell of a lot of damage if they were of a mind to. 90% of our infrastructure is still on the waiting list for the basic defense packages to be installed.”
“What about the rest of the fleets?”
“The other nations are keeping their warships at home. Those that were on patrol were pulled back as soon as the fireworks began. My guess is they don’t want to get caught up in the fighting and are waiting to see how this plays out.”
“At least they’re showing some sense,” Jason commented, still perturbed that the Chinese really thought they could get away with this despite Star Force having informed them of just how strong their fleet was.
“Where are we at?” Paul asked, looking for their own warship icons on the extensive tabletop map.
“The Turok is gathering our assault fleet here,” Minsk said, pointing at a position in zone five just ‘below’ the Chinese fleet but above one of the major inhabited orbital regions. “The Mjolnir is enroute on the other side of the planet while I’m coordinating the hunt for the remaining strays. If the Chinese battle fleet stays put, we’ll be ready to engage them inside of 3 days, 4 at the most, depending on how fast Harper chooses to get in position. He’s been complaining about having to be married to the tanker fleet just to be able to move around, which I can empathize.”
“Prototypes,” Paul reminded him, “are always slow. The important thing is we’re faster than the Chinese. We’ve got engine upgrades coming down the pipe and new systems on the drawing board. From here on out you’ll see a steady flow of improvements, but for now this is what we’ve got to work with.”
“You don’t mind playing moon, now do ya?” Jason asked sarcastically.
“Not with the firepower I’ve got to hide behind,” Minsk responded. “And she’s still faster than a station.”
“That’s the spirit, Captain,” Jason said, mirthfully.
“What have you been able to find with regards to the Chinese civilian fleet?” Paul asked.
“They’re still running without transponders, and seem to be keeping away from non-Chinese installations. Other than that they’re ghosts.”
“Let me see the sensor records you’ve got…”
After Paul and Jason finished on the bridge and made sure everything was set in motion they retreated back into the upper section of the armored ‘needle’ that housed the gravity cylinders at the heart of the command ship. They moved up through the ring-like levels until they came to a large door, code locked, that was off limits to the crew and even the Captain.
“Are we the first ones to go in?” Jason asked as Paul input the Archon
code.
“Unless someone has snuck onboard without me knowing, yes,” he confirmed as the thick doors slid apart, allowing them access to the Archon sanctum. When they entered the doors closed behind them, locking once again and giving them the privacy their rank afforded.
The sanctum was a tiny version of the main facility situated alongside Atlantis beneath the Pacific Ocean. It contained all the necessary equipment for their core workouts, along with some auxiliary training devices, ambrosia stores, weapons, spare armor components, uniforms, and everything else they required. The cafeteria was still located with the crew, but other than that it was a home away from home for the Archons who gladly shed their armor and dressed out in training gear, then headed over to the private track that ran the perimeter of the gravity cylinder.
It’d been days since they’d had a workout, and while combat had its own training effect, they knew it was necessary to get back into the traditional training groove as soon as possible. The moment they hit the track Paul immediately felt awkward, but accelerated up to his required pace, following the moving guide lights in the floor.
“Ouch,” Jason said, finding himself sore from having been loping around in 1/6th gravity for days.
“Best thing to do is flush it out,” Paul reminded him.
“I know. Let’s keep it short…5k?”
“Deal,” Paul said, finding it difficult to maintain pace. He too was feeling the transitional effects from the low gravity.
“Damn Chinese,” Jason said, focusing on relearning how to run a normal stride.
Paul didn’t say anything, but he agreed. Messing with an Archon’s workouts was a surefire way to piss them off.
5
March 26, 2060
Before the Star Force fleet could fully assemble, the Chinese warships sensed the threat and moved to intercept. The Mjolnir, a pair of cutters, and a destroyer had yet to arrive within weapons range, but all were close. The rest of the 23 ships were milling about in a holding formation, spread wide with the Turok in formation center.
