by John Walker
The gunships scattered, tossed about by a massive explosion. Scans indicated they’d taken a fair amount of damage but they were still functional and their weapons were online. Alma cursed as she returned to the others but she called for them to attack. “Give them everything you’ve got! I just sacrificed a lot of missiles for that!”
Wow, she went and jettisoned her ordinance so Rahan could make them blow. Those gunships can shoot them down but they were too busy worrying about her flying through them to bother. Interesting choice and good thinking.
Meagan increased her speed, taking several shots at the disarrayed enemies who were attempting to form up. They seemed disoriented from the attack, cast into a state of chaos temporarily by the massive explosion. The first barrage of pulse blasts connected with the side of Meagan’s target, ripping through the shields and hammering the hull.
Scans indicated she’d connected with some pretty decent armor but not powerful enough to avoid some internal damage. Sparks erupted from the side and it veered off, trying to protect the offended panels she’d torn through. As the others returned fire, Meagan went evasive again, flying out of their range for another attack.
So that’s how we handle you guys, huh? Treat you like capital ships and harass your flanks. I’ve got it now.
“I need to return to The Font,” Rahan said. “I’m losing maneuverability.”
“Get out of here,” Alma ordered. “I won’t lose another pilot to these idiots. And we’ve got six more incoming so fly fast, Rahan. That’s an order.”
“They’ve initiated microjumps,” Tular said. “You have a long trip ahead. I recommend getting well away from the dance floor before you start back.”
“If I make it,” Rahan said. “I’ll do what I can. Good luck, everyone.”
Rahan disengaged and flew off, climbing to avoid the other combatants. Meagan checked her scans and noted that the additional enemies would be upon them in less than ninety seconds. We haven’t even taken out one of these gunships yet! Meagan felt a sense of desperation build in her chest.
“We’re not doing very well here,” Meagan said. “What’ve you got, Alma?”
“My missiles were my risk and reward opportunity,” Alma replied. “Tular? Make it fast. We’re about to be dramatically outnumbered.”
“I may have an idea,” Tular said. “But…you won’t like it.”
“Fantastic. I love it when you say that.” Alma sighed. “Just spit it out.”
“The six fighters incoming…they can be used to our advantage. Let’s bring them close to the gunships and see if we can’t have them do some of the damage for us.”
Meagan shook her head. Her first instinct shoved it away immediately. They already had to fly in a totally defensive mode when getting too close to the turrets. Adding regular ships to the mix made the notion insane. Even if they managed to survive more than a few moments, there were only three of them against ten.
It won’t work.
“I’m not in favor of that one,” Meagan said.
“Daring, Tular,” Alma added. “I like it but how do you propose to turn us being shot at by ten different ships into a good thing?”
“The regular ships are much easier to shoot down. If they’re close to their allies, then that might cause damage. We leave the human pilot just out of the range of the attack so when the explosions happen, she can sweep in and clean up the larger ones. Our job is to survive and cause a lot of damage.”
“The first part of that seems unlikely,” Alma replied. “Surviving I mean. Meagan, are you dead set against this?”
“Tular’s plan makes it most dangerous for you two,” Meagan said. “If you want my opinion, I suggest we go back to the others and get some help. They’ll be here when we get back. We’ve proven they’re more than the four of us could handle. Their armor alone practically negated my attack that burst their shields.”
“And we lost Rahan,” Tular jumped in. “If my plan seems too outlandish, then I say we regroup and come back with reinforcements.”
Just then the gunships turned and started toward them, increasing speed. The other enemy ships, all six of them, would be in firing range inside ten seconds. Meagan chewed her lip, plotting a course back to the rest of the wings. If they were fast, they might be able to outrun the enemies but they’d have to go right away.
“Alma, it’s time to go, don’t you think?”
“Break off and withdraw,” Alma said. “Full speed back to the rest of the ships. If we get a head start we can avoid having to go evasive but do whatever it takes to survive the next few minutes.”
Meagan flipped her ship around and buried the throttle, engaging the afterburners. The sudden motion made her dampeners whine and she was pressed hard into her seat. The scanners showed that the enemy began pursuit, keeping pace with them. The good news is they won’t fire any missiles at this speed.
Launching a missile while going so fast meant they’d overtake the ordinance before it could really begin a decent thrust. They’d likely cause their own casualty at that point. However, Meagan realized there might be something she could do to help their odds of survival. Especially since the convention ships were catching up.
Alma and Tular were above her so she figured it would be safe to jettison some of her own missiles. She had the computer set them to detonate five seconds after they left the ship. Calculations suggested that would be the right amount of time to cause the most damage on her pursuers. They’d fly right beside them as they were blowing up.
If it slows them down, that’s a big win.
Pulse blasts flew past her ship, the one thing that could easily outrun them regardless of speed. Meagan tapped the screen and her ship rumbled for a brief moment as the missiles dropped. Losing the weight gave her an added benefit of a tiny bit more speed. She held her breath over the next five seconds, keeping one eye on the scanner and one ahead of her.
The explosion was a report on her computer screen. Meagan didn’t even see the flash but two enemy blips vanished from her scans. Wow, I would never have hoped to be that lucky!
“Great idea,” Alma said. “There are only eight following us now and it looks like another one lost their shields.”
“I’ve got them.” Tular broke formation and spun around, changing course. Alma protested but everything happened too fast. Meagan wondered if she should stop fleeing and engage the enemy. While contemplating her next move, another ship disappeared off the scans. Alma was shouting for Tular to get out of there.
“Relax, Vinthari,” Tular said. Her voice was entirely too calm. “Scratch one. And his friend ran into the debris, that’s pretty much scratch two. Six left.”
“Are you okay?” Alma asked. “Are they shooting at you?”
“Oh, yeah. They are most definitely shooting at me.” Tular paused for a moment. “Shields are holding. I’m leading them on a chase…they’ve disengaged from both of you.”
“We need to pull them off Tular,” Meagan said. She tapped her controls and prepared to throttle back on the afterburners. “Maybe this is our opportunity.”
“Tular’s buying us a chance to get back,” Alma said. “They were gaining on us. Your attack provided her an opportunity and she’s taking advantage of it.” She hesitated a moment, then addressed the other kielan. “Tular, I expect you to make it back to The Font without damaging that ship, do you understand? You’ll be on report otherwise.”
“If I don’t die, ma’am, I’ll be sure to take that into consideration.”
“Just hurry and keep ahead of them. You’re vastly more maneuverable.”
Meagan noted that the enemy was far enough away that she’d have smooth sailing back to the larger battle taking place nearby. They really went after Tular with everything they had. Even after the missiles she dropped, they wanted a piece of that other flyer. I guess they really didn’t like her taking advantage of the downed shields.
“Um…Vinthari?” Tular broke through the com again. “I might not be abl
e to follow your last order.”
“What’s wrong?” Alma asked. “I told you to get moving! You’ve got speed!”
“Not really…I mean, they’re pretty evenly matched. And they’ve taken enough pieces out of my shields that I think I need to try something new.”
“I don’t want any more heroics out of you. All your luck is used up.”
Tular clicked her tongue. “Don’t say that, ma’am. Especially as I’m about to do something particularly crazy.”
Meagan used a camera to get a good look of the fight going on some distance behind her. She watched as the enemy gunships practically barreled down upon her, unleashing a torrent of pulse blasts. Her evasions were good but they continued to chip away at her defenses. The conventional ships were right there with them and they operated as a perfect unit.
“Guess it’s time for a nice float,” Tular muttered.
“Don’t do it!” Alma shouted. “You can still get out of there!”
“Come on, Vinthari…you and I both know I’m in too deep.”
Meagan’s scanner began to beep and a red light flashed, indicating a power core build up. Tular was going to initiate a self destruct and the destructive potential just might’ve been enough to cause some real damage on her pursuers. Even if they didn’t get destroyed, they might be crippled for a time.
This is crazy! She’s going to kill herself!
“Don’t!” Meagan called. “There has to be another way! We’ll come back and pull them off of you!”
“My shields are down to ten percent,” Tular replied. “I’m ejecting in…well…now, I guess. See you both later. If search and rescue finds me that is.”
The com went dead. Meagan watched the ejection pod rocket away from the ship, small engine exhausting all fuel to get it as far from the reactor as possible. The enemy began to break, trying to flee the damaged fighter. Direct damage to them rarely caused a power core to explode, they were shielded so they wouldn’t cause harm to their allies.
When someone set them to go though, the damage potential was nasty. One of The Behemoth pilots had pulled off a similar attack during their recent missions and she’d seen the enemy attempt to do it as well. This time, it wasn’t capital ships in trouble but fighters and they would not have the defenses to survive if they were too close.
They began to fly away but the reactor went a moment later. The concussive force took out the conventional ships and one of the gunships exploded spectacularly, the one they’d damaged earlier. The other three continued on their course, flying off to some unknown destination.
To cause trouble somewhere else, Meagan thought. We went at them with four ships and lost two! They lost one and six conventional craft but at such a cost. God, I hope you’re okay, Tular.
“Let’s move,” Alma said. “This ill fated errand failed and now we’ve got two people who are effectively out of the fight. I’m going to beat myself up about this later but for now, we need to get back into the battle. You with me, Pointer?”
“To the end, Vinthari,” Meagan replied. “To the end.”
***
Gunfire erupted all around the marines, splashing into the walls. The noise added to the general chaos of combat, making the entire situation mind numbing. As men took cover in doorways and fell back to the corner, Jenks wondered exactly how anyone thought it was a good idea to go into the enemy station with so few men.
We lost an entire shuttle. That was another twelve we could’ve counted on but then again, these corridors are too tight for larger units.
Walsh pressed against the wall beside him, trying to catch his breath. The two men had to dash nearly fifty yards to get out of the line of fire. At least four enemies filled the hall with pulse blasts. Something messed with their scans, making the numbers squishy and they didn’t know they were about to be attacked until their point man took three shots.
His body hit the ground without a head and Sander ordered the marines to take cover. At least one more of their rank went down before they got to safety and they were able to return fire. Jenks thought back to what they’d learned from Trellan about the soft spots, the the kinks in the enemy’s armor.
It’s hard to aim at fine points when these animals are throwing around that kind of firepower.
“Listen up!” Sanders voice came as a harsh shout and Jenks winced as it managed to pierce through the cacophony of battle. “We have got to get some ordinance down there! I want grenades followed by some concentrated suppression! Fire team A, get your explosives into play. Fire team B, shoot on my mark!”
Walsh and Jenks belonged to B. Jenks gave his friend a look before drawing a deep breath and taking a knee, preparing to peer around the corner. Mortality jumped into his head, a sense of finality. The next few moments might mean his end. When he popped out to take his shot, he may well be blown away.
Depending on how the enemy responded to the grenades, they might all die in the next few moments.
I must stop thinking like this if I want to see this mission end. Favorably or otherwise.
“Grenades out!” Someone shouted. “Fire in the hole!”
The explosions made the floor rumble. Sander called for B to step up. Jenks swallowed back the instinct to ignore the order and popped out, depressing the trigger on his rifle. Rounds burst from the weapon and the first few cleaved the wall. That first burst allowed him to catch his bearings and take aim.
His target, an enemy who had turned away and was making his way back from cover, took the full brunt of several rounds to the joint where his arm met the shoulder. Jenks saw something spray from the entry point and the limb went limp. I did it! The alien dropped to the ground and rolled, returning fire.
The pulse shots went high, striking the ceiling. Jenks took the opportunity to aim again, this time for the chin. His shots danced up the thing’s chest, littering the armor before entering where the thing’s jaw should’ve been. The body convulsed a few times and went still but Jenks still gave it an extra two rounds, just in case.
Fire team A joined the fun and they started to drive the enemy back. Sander called for them to advance and Jenks wondered if the man might be insane. We should hold our ground until these guys are well and truly dead. We can’t survive their weapons in the open. But he prepared himself for the march and kept his mouth shut.
This is not the time to disobey an order or even question one.
Jenks and Walsh moved side by side, firing their weapons as they went. The grenades didn’t drive the enemy back and as soon as the rest of the marines made the hall, the aliens charged. Two soldiers were grabbed by one monster and smashed together, their bodies instantly turning to rag dolls.
As they were tossed aside, dead before they hit the ground, another one took a blow to the chest, sending him soaring back some thirty feet. Jenks began to feel the panic of defeat rushing toward him, a sense that they were not going to survive this encounter. After all the battles he’d been in, all the fights he’d won, he finally found himself nearing the end.
Don’t give into that bullshit! You’ve got this!
Jenks synced up his interface with Walsh and directed the man to fire on his mark. They aimed and shot, tearing through the waist of one of the enemies, knocking him to the ground. Blood spread over the floor and the alien didn’t seem to be able to stand. He wallowed around, becoming little more than an obstacle for the remaining two.
A scream echoed through the hall as one of the juggernauts dashed forward. Bodies flew in his wake and the unfortunate man he grabbed was torn in half. Walsh rolled a grenade toward the fiend and Jenks unloaded his magazine into the beast’s head. When the explosion went off, they were tossed several feet back, landing hard on the deck.
Jenks leaned up and saw the thing had lost its leg but still drug itself toward them. Disorientation gripped his senses and he couldn’t stand but he edged back, pushing with his feet to escape. The thing reached for his foot and he was convinced it was over…this was the end but a shadow c
overed him.
Sander stepped up and pressed his weapon against the back of the thing’s neck and pulled the trigger. The body convulsed just as its hand rested on Jenks. Walsh pulled him away from the body and helped him get to his feet.
“Where’s the other one?” Jenks aimed his weapon around him, scanning the area. “What happened to it?”
“He’s over there,” Sander said. “I got him. But we’ve got a problem.”
Walsh looked around. “Are you…are you serious?”
Jenks took a moment to realize they were the only soldiers standing. Only the three of them remained. He ran a quick scan, checking his fellows but they were all dead. His heart hammered in his chest and his stomach was doing flips. He turned to the lieutenant but couldn’t find the words to even ask a question.
Walsh stepped in. “What are we going to do? This is our third encounter! If there are any more out there…”
“I know,” Sander cut him off. “Hold on. I’ll try to raise The Behemoth.” He stepped away.
“This…” Jenks shook his head. “We can’t do it.”
“We should get back to the hangar,” Walsh said. “Get reinforcements. Something!”
“What about the agent?” Jenks asked.
“Screw him, man! He wanted to go off alone and he thinks he’s got it so…we should tell him we’re on the way out.”
Sander returned, “I can’t get The Behemoth. There’s some kind of interference in this place. It’s preventing external coms. I can reach Trellan. Let’s fall back to some cover in case more of those things show up.”
“We should get out of here!” Walsh gestured sharply back toward the hangar. “Right now!”
“Stow that,” Sander said. “We need to keep our heads right now. There’s a guy out there by himself and he’s still alive. Now we tried to do the frontal thing, as the Lieutenant Colonel told us to and it didn’t work. I’m changing our tactics and making this work. The three of us are veterans and we’ve got this. Are you with me?”
