The Dogs of War (Ictarian-Kanggun War Book 1)

by Bret Brown

  On the Phantom, Seeker and P-T are sleeping in their quarters as everything on the ship is all quiet. Computer systems and life support are running at a minimum to conserve energy and to help conceal their position.

  In P-T's quarters, he is having a disturbing dream that is causing him to toss and turn in his fold out bed. In his dream, he is on a desolate, rocky planet. As he looks around, the starlit night gives shape to jagged mountains found far away as the land meets the sky. Along different points on the horizon, three yellowish, crescent shaped moons fill the retreating night while the sun brings the early dawn in opposite them. As P-T looks down, he finds himself near an open valley with a deep ravine several thousand yards away.

  There's no vegetation in sight and the air lacks humidity; drying out his mouth. The ground cracks beneath his feet, as the soft shale breaks apart from his weight. Boulders and jagged rocks of different sizes mar the valley's floor, while the vastly different earth tones make up the rock wall across the valley.

  P-T is covered from head to toe in composite plated combat armor. He's much skinnier and looks many years younger as well. In his hands, he is holding an EM rifle; a common rifle used in the Ictarian-Kanggun war. The EM rifle is a high energy projectile weapon, firing small mass rounds at exponential hypersonic speeds creating massive impacts. Perfect for tearing its victims to shreds as it maintains a high capacity clip and low physical wear on the user. Surrounding him are several hundred divisions of troops totaling hundreds of thousands of soldiers, all standing poised for an assault.

  Suddenly from behind, hundreds of flares hurl through the air toward the center of the valley, illuminating the early dawn's sky. On cue, P-T and the entire troop charge the opposing ravine in the distance. As they get closer, thousands of flashes of light come from the darkness of the ravine, as mortars begin to erupt the surrounding ground.

  Bright blue energy bolts whiz by P-T. Their distinct high pitched sound, shrieking past and cutting down the unfortunate who are in the bolt's path. Running at top speed, P-T finds a spot for cover behind a protruding rock formation five hundred yards from the ravine. Close enough to get a glimpse of the massive opposing force, he sees thousands upon thousands of soldiers, scurrying about in their trenches.

  Glancing back at his allies, he sees hundreds of casualties strewn on the cold rocky surface; torn apart from the impact of the energy bolts. The gruesome sight and haunting screams are horrifying to witness. Still, countless thousands of soldiers continue to press on, firing on the ravine as they close in.

  Four other soldiers run up and find cover behind the same rocky protrusion with P-T. Looking at the soldiers next to him, P-T gives a quick nod without uttering a word, and the soldiers swing out and starting providing cover fire as P-T charges forward. He gets about twenty yards’ down field before he is hit by an energy bolt in the upper chest, stopping P-T in his tracks. The battle armor he's wearing offers little resistance to the bolt ripping into him.

  Several more energy bolts hit P-T, penetrating his torso and limbs, spinning him around. The impacts from direct hits are so hard, his left arm is severed just under the shoulder, and his right leg is separated at the knee. His mangled remains drop completely to the ground facing upward. Like an 'out of body experience' from above, P-T sees dozens of bodies of other fallen soldiers pile on top of his, with only his face exposed. With his last breath, he cries out as loud as he can, "Arggghh!"

  Snapping back into reality, P-T wakes up from this dream in a panic. His body is covered with thick, large bony plates protecting his vitals. Sharp, bony spikes almost a foot long protrude from his torso and joints. On his head, his brow has enlarged with smaller bony spikes covering the ridges over his eyes. Three thick bone plates where the skull fissures meet, cover the top of his head. Both hands have morphed into razor bone swords. Upon realization of where he is at, P-T calms down and all of his armor and weapons begin to morph back into his original fatty state.

  Sitting up on his bed, he puts his feet on the cold floor of the ship and sits there for a moment staring down. He rubs his face with his hands wiping away the confusion and gathers his composure before standing up. He grabs a S.L.A.G. bar and starts to eat it as he gets dressed. Exiting his quarters, P-T enters the cockpit of the ship and sits quietly as he watches the universe around them while they orbit the moon.

  Seeker emerges from his quarters several hours later to find P-T deep in thought in the cockpit. Still shaking off the sleep, Seeker says mid yawn, "Shit, I was hoping that I wouldn't your ugly face so damn soon."

  After a quick glance at all of the systems and sensors, Seeker says, "Well fuck... since you're here and I'm bored... have you ever been to Denabari 5?"

  P-T shakes his head no.

  Excitedly, Seeker continues, "Man the whores on that planet," he says with a chuckle. "Whew wee! You've never a lived a damned day in your life until you've been there. I was-"

  On the console from the cockpit a sensor begins to sound off an alarm. Seeker moves closer to investigate, "Well looky at what we have here. I'm gonna have to tell you that story another time. Our shipment has arrived. You'd better get ready. We only have fifteen minutes to dock and lock the transport before the systems start to thaw all of its guests."

  The Phantom breaks its orbit with the moon and throttles its engines to full speed. In the distance, a very large transport ship is making its way through the outer rim of the solar system.

  As the Phantom approaches, Seeker starts to notice the massive size of the transport. "Fuck me!" He says excitedly. "Hey fat man... not to discourage you or anything but this looks like it could hold a couple of divisions. That's like twenty thousand fucking units! This is bigger than anything we've taken before. On the plus side, I would guess that the hyperspace transit crew shouldn't be more than thirty running around on a ship like that. Unless they're fucking in the middle of rotation. Just focus on the task on hand and... ah... don't ya go dying on me in there, and this will be a massive payday. Hahaha"

  As he is putting on his combat armor and eating one of his S.L.A.G. bars, P-T grumbles in an earpiece communicator, "Fuck you."

  The Phantom begins it approach to dock with the transport. Seeker, piloting the ship with one hand and is typing on a computer with the other hand. "I can't get into their systems to open their hangar. You'll need to do a direct hack from the hatch."

  Docking at a fast speed, the Phantom stops abruptly as the magnetic docking clamps grip the hull of the transport. The collision makes a deafening bang as the metal screeches when it makes contact with the massive transport; shifting everyone off balance inside the Phantom.

  P-T opens the internal hatch on the side of the Phantom and steps inside the airlock pressurization room. He then taps on a keypad by a second hatch. The light changes from red to green and the exterior hatch to opens up; exposing a maintenance hatch of the transport.

  Forcing his way into an exterior access panel on the transport, P-T opens it up and begins to cut and splice wires, as well as rerouting circuit board modulators. The sounds of electricity sparking and zapping rapidly fill the tense silence. Shortly after, the maintenance hatch opens and exposes the inner workings of the transport.

  The maintenance shaft, although small, is large enough to walk upright as the ships mechanical systems line the walls. With the massive weapon he took from the Kangguns, P-T enters the transport closing the Phantom's hatch behind him. Talking through the communicator, P-T says, "I'm in."

  P-T works his way through the dimly lit maintenance tunnel in the bowels of the ship. Using a schematic that is displayed on his HUD through the visor of helmet to guide him, he is able to quickly navigate the tunnels leading him to an access point on the transport. The soft green light of his HUD display on his face is the only thing that can be seen as he is well camouflaged in the dark.

  So far, no resistance to his presence, but he knows that can change at any second. He gets to a door and begins to hack its panel to enter a passageway of
the ship.

  The door slides open with a small hiss as pneumatic pistons open the door. Slowly entering, he cautiously peeks around to see if anyone is in the hallway. P-T quickly pops back into the shadow as he sees a security patrol of a dozen men running away from his position towards their destination.

  Having the advantage of their flank and the element of surprise, P-T steps out with the Kanggun gun held hip high and points it at the patrol. As he pulls the massive trigger with his whole hand, a giant, bright blue-green ball of energy erupts from the weapon emitting a deafening sound. The recoil is so massive it sends P-T's six foot four inch three hundred and twenty-five-pound frame airborne, sending him flying backwards ten feet.

  The ball of light nearly the envelops the entire hallway as it barrels down rapidly towards his victims. The shot easily hits his targets disintegrating their organic matter; leaving a pile of ash and non-organic material on the floor. Carbon outlines imprint the walls where their bodies leave their last pose; silhouetted against the ship's interior.

  P-T gets up slowly, gathering his senses. His ears are ringing madly as only muffled sounds stemming from hearing loss are heard. Seeing the devastation, he gives a giant grin from ear to ear. With no time to waste, he runs up to the remains and grabs a couple of their more appropriate sized EM rifles as back up and slings them over his shoulders.

  Barely able to hear the transmission coming through on his earpiece, P-T gets a message from Seeker. "Hey, what the fuck you are doing over there?! You'd better quit fucking jerking off, and hurry the fuck up. The fucking second transport is early and the longer you fuck off, the harder it'll be to take over."

  With all of his newly acquired weapons and his new favorite, P-T runs as fast as he can to the bridge of the transport. As he comes to a corner of an intersection, he carefully peers around to see if it is clear. Quickly popping back into complete cover, he sees the door to the bridge. It's heavily guarded by twenty guards.

  Taking a chance, P-T boldly steps out, this time bracing himself against the recoil of the Kanggun gun, and fires another round. This time he is only sent skidding back several feet back as his boots drag across the floor; screeching as they move. The impressive weapon kills the entire guard leaving only ash, non-organic material, and silhouettes again.

  P-T approaches the door to the bridge, ripping off the paneling and starts to hack the entrance open. After some quick cuts and wire splices the door pops open. He grabs the giant Kanggun gun and gets ready for his next assault. Knowing that the crew of the bridge is ready for him, he crouches down with his back against the wall; planning his next move.

  He reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a small disk that is nearly the size of the palm of his hand. Pressing a small ruby colored button, he activates the disk and then tosses it in the middle of the doorway. The disk projects several red laser lights as it surveys the bridge, giving P-T a glimpse through his HUD on his helmet. Before it can finish its scan, the disk is shot and destroyed.

  The scan provides a partial three-dimensional layout of the semicircular, bi-level bridge, giving P-T a tactical view of where the enemy is located. A formidable force of eight crewmen on both levels patiently wait for P-T to try and pass the threshold.

  Seizing his opportunity, P-T slides the giant, bulky Kanggun gun in front of him on the floor for cover as he pushes forward on the attack. Shots rain down on his position from all directions on the bridge as he takes cover behind the gun.

  Using the smaller weapons he took off of his victims earlier; and the partial scan, he pops up and fires a couple of shots killing his targets before returning to cover. Energy bolts landing above P-T are causing havoc all around as debris crashes near him. The Kanggun weapon is taking its punishment as well; making it useless for future use.

  Popping up again, P-T fires several more shots only killing one of his targets. He changes from his cover point behind the Kanggun gun and moves to the helmsman's console, firing blindly as he sprints.

  He grabs another small disc from his back pocket to get a new view of the battle and sends it to the center of the room. Planning his next move, P-T leans against the console; readying for his next attack. As shots come over his head, he pops out firing and killing three more crewmen. With two crewmen left, P-T gets set for his final attack. He stands up with a weapon in each hand and kills the last of the bridge crew.

  On the communicator, he contacts Seeker. "We're good" as he works on a computer console, opening up the hangar bay for the Phantom to enter.

  Seeker, annoyed at the situation replies, "Fucking 'bout time. That other transport could be thawed and having a full crew running it. Get the hangar open and meet me there. I'm not giving that transport up without a fight."

  P-T, a little pissed from that comment says, "Easy for you, asshole." He then heads down to the hangar as fast as he can; grabbing two unused weapons from his victims. When he gets to the hangar, he sees hundreds of drop ships stored in the massive hangar. Spotting the Phantom and Seeker hobbling away with his limp, he runs to the ship and gets in the cockpit. He fires up the engines and exits the hangar bay through the center of the floor.

  As P-T makes his way over to the next transport, Seeker exclaims through the communicator, "What the fuck happened here?! Did it fucking occur to you that I might need to pilot this fucking beast and I may need to use the fucking controls? You'd better fucking hope I can get you access to their computers and get you in."

  P-T, continuing his trajectory, has the engines on full throttle on approach to the hangar bay doors for the next transport ship. Looking at the console in front of him, the computer has a red lock symbol over the doors. Closing the distance at a rapid speed, P-T repeatedly checks the console to see if any changes have come on the lock. Without reducing speed and with a certain degree of a death wish, he heads for the center of the hangar doors on a collision course. Just mere seconds before impact, the computer chirps and shows green as the doors finally open up.

  The bay doors have barely opened as the Phantom passes through the threshold. As the ship slips through, it grinds the edges of the doors making a horrific screeching noise of metal squealing as sparks fly out.

  Quick to react, P-T hits the reverse thrusters on full. The Phantom is within inches from impacting the ceiling of the hangar. The thrusters burn fiercely, instantly melting the metallic ceiling panels directly over the articulating thrusters; creating hot globs of molten metal. The Phantom, pulls away, narrowly avoiding the catastrophe. Inside, P-T is still struggling to get the ship righted.

  After all of his near disasters, he says "Fuck me!", through gritted teeth, as he lands the Phantom in the hangar.

  He chooses a place furthest away from the entrance, behind a drop ship on the flight deck, giving him cover to exit the Phantom out the rear cargo ramp.

  A squad of thirty crewmen, heavily armed, enter the hangar three hundred yards away and take cover behind munition and equipment containers.

  Seeing his welcoming party, P-T moves quickly and takes his own cover, using the closest drop ship. As he checks his surroundings, he sees a lever that will open the rear ramp giving him access into the drop ship. Pulling on the lever, the low hum of the hydraulic pump starts as the ramp slowly lowers, allowing P-T inside the ship.

  Finding the cockpit, he fumbles around the controls to get the ship running. After trying a few switches, the ship's cockpit lights up as the systems power up. At the pilot's console, the screen activates giving him guidance systems. He then locates the weapons on the ship and activates its forward cannons.

  Piloting the drop ship towards the squad of the transport, P-T unleashes a massive barrage of firepower on them. Whatever they used for cover, wasn't strong enough to withstand the energy rounds coming at them as their torsos, limbs, and heads explode in a bloody mess flying apart in pieces everywhere near the entrance.

  Having killed the entire group at the entrance, P-T clumsily lands the drop ship, as it hits hard on the flight deck;
bouncing the landing gears a few inches off the floor. He exits out the back ramp and quickly presses forward to the bridge command, nearly slipping several times on the blood and gore near the entrance of the hangar in his haste.

  He enters a hallway cautiously as the entire transport crew is aware of his presence. Seeker comes through on the communicator, "Six... Six. Hey, this place is filling up with transports. I'm getting the fuck outta here before this shit gets reclaimed. You'd fucking better hurry up and quit jerking off over there before you get killed."

  In a basic acknowledgement, P-T removes the earpiece and continues down the hall. He comes to a corner and leans out to take a quick glance. A firestorm of energy rounds hail toward him destroying the corner and nearly decapitating P-T. Twenty crewman with a mounted cannon are blockading the next turn with heavy firepower.

  Clearly out gunned, P-T takes a moment to think of a strategy. He remembers passing a maintenance access panel back about fifty yards. Without many options, he back tracks to the panel. Using his HUD in his helmet, he maps out that this coolant coil shaft can lead him behind the blockade.