He instinctively took cover. “Shit! Did you see that, Motor? That guy saw me...we’d better split, mate!”
“My thoughts precisely!” came Motor’s urgent reply.
They both lay prone on the deck and engaged their suit thrusters. They flew just feet from the surface, keeping the rocky outcrops between themselves and the advancing Korgax troops. Top speed eventually put them below the horizon and out of the enemies’ viewpoint.
“What about Thruster #3?” asked Chip, concerned that they hadn’t completed their mission.
A second drop-ship had descended below the horizon to their right.
“It looked like they could see us somehow...” replied Motor.
Takai interrupted, “It may be because Sarai and Chip were exposed to the nano-particles – they might have made you visible to their sensors. The intelligence on the new detectors theorised this...”
“Then why don’t just you and Motor go back and try to upload the program to Thruster #3?” suggested Chip.
They attempted to go back, but by time the third drop-ship had landed, it was clear that the Korgax had locked the place down. The enemy rapid-reaction force had surrounded all three thrusters and set up additional, mobile detectors. During their retreat, Chip had drawn fire for a second time, leaving no doubt over his visibility. With no chance of getting near Thruster #3, Takai and Sarai argued over whether two of three thrusters was enough. They reached no conclusion as they made their way back into the Foxbat. Once again hidden, they waited for a chance to escape and hoped they’d done enough to divert 375 Nemesis.
***
January 12, 2064: Mount Hazard, Large Continent, Planet Gaia
After traversing the two open blast doors, Zeta-One patrol mapped the forward route with a Hummingbird drone. The 3D LiDAR map confirmed their infiltration route via a side tunnel, which branched from the main lava tube. After further branching, they worked their way through the pleasures of the Korgax sewerage system until they reached the manhole cover. They’d slogged up a thousand metres of elevation in heavy gravity, leaving them winded. The unpleasant conditions in the sewers would have been even worse had they not been largely isolated from them by their battlesuits. Another thing to thank the makers of the battlesuit for, thought a grateful Sorensen.
Wasting no time Jen said, “Go ahead, have a look up there with your fibre probe, Jonah.”
He got out the probe and sent the feed to all four contact lens HUDs. After poking the hair-like fibre through one of the cover’s lifting holes, they saw what was up there – a dark, deserted corridor. Although there was some dim light, Jonah switched to night vision on the probe to get a better look. To the left and right the corridor went on for around ten metres in each direction before both ways took a right-angle turn away from their position. Opposite the manhole cover was a doorless entrance to a room. Inside, a relatively small – although still at least two metres tall – Korgax stood, back to the probe. The bipedal, scaly-skinned humanoid was not the size of Korgax warriors, who were, without exception, much larger than he was. He was mostly still and wore a metallic visor – a head-mounted display of some kind. In front of him was a waist-high workstation – a desk with some sort of device on it, which was hard to see. The blinking glow of coloured lights reflected dimly from the dark, satin surfaces of the walls and floor. There was a sign over the doorway in the usual Korgax script.
“Above the door...what does that say, Lakai?” asked Sorensen, hoping for confirmation.
“Yes, this is the place we are looking for. It is the ADS Control Room,” replied Lakai.
This was the first objective of their mission: to take out the Air Defence System. The ADS coordinated the dozens of particle beams, plasma cannons, and heavy-calibre CIWS dotted around the mountain. Without success here, the Korgax leadership would be well protected.
“Right...the coast is clear, so let’s just do it,” said Sorensen, with energy in his voice.
Jonah removed and stowed the fibre. He gently shifted the manhole cover aside and hauled himself up, cloaked to almost all sensors. He took up a position covering one way down the corridor with his battlerifle – his shoulder pod scanned behind him the other way. Next through was Jen, who covered the doorless entrance. Lakai came after and ghost-walked into the corner of the ADS control room, unseen by the two Korgax operators inside. Finally, Sorensen pulled himself up, struggling like the others against the heavy gravity. He quietly replaced the manhole cover and joined Lakai inside the room. Sorensen painted the second Korgax, who was deeper inside the room, also engrossed in his head-mounted display. After Lakai painted the first operator, two silenced single-shots puffed in quick succession. Both headshots found their marks, causing them to drop where they stood.
“Both hostiles neutralised,” came Sorensen’s call.
They would need to work fast now, as they knew some Korgax military had life sign monitoring. Lakai planted two remotely activated demo charges inside the small control room. Sorensen placed another two. Jen set a remote camera just inside the control room, opposite the entrance. They formed up outside and advanced to the left and around the corner. They continued along the gloomy passageway with Jonah monitoring the HUD map.
“In here...should be the stairs up to the chambers,” he said, as they ducked into a left-hand entrance and started climbing the stairs.
Jen was checking the camera feed from the ADS control room in her HUD as she climbed the steep, wide staircase. She rounded the corner behind Jonah, and started on the next flight, in the opposite direction.
“The security team just arrived in the ADS control room. Light the fuse, guys,” she said. After she said it, she thought Lakai might not understand. Moments later, it no longer mattered as the charges went off in quick succession, blowing the ADS room, and the enemy, to pieces.
“They know we’re here now,” gasped Jen, as she worked hard to power up the staircase.
A set of double sliding doors presented themselves at the top of the staircase. As Jonah neared them, they whooshed open. He flattened himself against the wall as a security team of four rushed onto the staircase. The other friendlies did the same, avoiding the collision. The body-armoured Korgax soldiers continued down the stairs, towards the scene of the explosion. There was no visible or audible alarm, but Sorensen had no doubt that the enemy knew they were under attack. They passed through the doors and travelled, unhindered, through another three passageways. They avoided two more security details on the way, but eventually they arrived at the large, domed-ceiling chamber. They stood on the gallery looking down at the two hundred metre wide, circular chamber. A security team of four was positioned on the opposite side of the gallery. The room was mainly white, apart from the domed roof, which was black. Thousands of tiny points of light studded the ceiling, providing the sole source of illumination. There were sentry cannons mounted around the dome ceiling – camouflaged in black, but visible to the enquiring eye. Around a hundred Korgax leaders stood facing the table of five superiors at the front. In the centre of the five was the Supreme Leader, chairing the War Council that was in session. Something was closing shut over the War Council below – it was the transparent, protective dome that intel had warned them of.
“They’ve triggered the protection dome, as our spies told us they would,” said Lakai. “They do not want to interrupt their session at this time of war.”
“Well, what’s it made of?” asked Jonah.
“It doesn’t matter – nothing we can shoot our way through or blow up!” said Jen, a little short of patience at this slightly tangential question. “Lakai: can you confirm the presence of the Council members we need?”
“I have matched ten...eleven...yes, all twelve key members are there. Plus many more as you can see...” Lakai paused a moment, distracted by his HUD. “I have received a new message from our spy. He tells us this session will last one more hour.”
A number of security teams came swiftly in from side entrances around th
e base of the dome. They double-timed and started forming a lose cordon around the base of the clear protective structure.
“We need to get them now, while they’re all in one place. Time to call on your Navy buddies, Sorensen,” said Jen.
***
January 12, 2064: Earth
Shortly after the jamming started, the invasion began. From Latin America to Africa to Asia, tens of thousands of drones swarmed across Earth’s skies. Within the first few hours, they had wiped out the minimal, disorganised human air forces – both in the air and on the ground. The orbital bombardment had already destroyed all hard runways, so the remaining human drones and fighter planes were limited in number. With no functioning radio communications and inferior aircraft, humanity’s command of the skies was lost, perhaps forever. Once the Korgax had achieved air dominance, the tens of thousands of drops ships touched down throughout the Tropics. They carried millions of Korgax troops and their weapons of war. From Hover Tanks – sporting powerful plasma cannons – to Armoured Fighting Vehicles to Troop Hoverships, they attacked all human resistance they encountered. They did not distinguish between military and civilian, armed or unarmed. Korgax field commanders called in strikes from orbit – particle beams systematically cleared the lines of advance, burning away anything that moved or breathed. They were cleansing all human life from the Tropics, while leaving the rest of the World unable to assist overtly, for fear of annihilation. Vacate or die was their long-stated threat; they were carrying it out with brutal efficiency. Their leadership knew this would be a long and bloody conflict, but one that would secure their dominance of a second planet for them to exploit. Yet again, the regime leadership were finding war very profitable indeed. Their forces were well and truly committed now, but the humans had so far proved weak and unworthy adversaries. With the Outcasts cowering in their last stronghold – Exelon – the regime knew they were on their way to controlling both star systems. Despite their ruthlessness, the Korgax had not seen fit to use nerve agents – yet. With their overwhelming military superiority, they had no need. Besides, they wanted to have the option of keeping human slaves in future. They’d already drawn up plans for widespread use of their mind control implants. As the turning of Bekov had taught, the trick was getting the human leaders first. Once they had control of them, the rest would be easy to capture and implant en masse. No, polluting the planet with deadly nerve agents would not be conducive to their longer-term aims. Had they known the full extent of the threat they faced on Gaia, they may have reconsidered.
Chapter Fifteen
January 12, 2064: USS Esperanza, 480km Due West of the Large Continent, Gaia
“Well that was one hell of a strange experience,” commented a dazed, but lucid Captain Carter. They had just jumped successfully through the FTL gate and into the night-time dark of the alien sea. “Report please, Lieutenant,” he instructed his XO, George Nomura.
“Sir, all systems normal. All sections report the crew fine and well. Still straight and level at fifteen knots. Bearing forty-three degrees. Depth of twenty-metres, sir. And yes, I agree...that was a weird feeling – it felt like I blacked out for a while there...”
They could maintain twenty metres in the clear Gaian sea so long as it stayed night-time. Carter was expecting launch authorisation imminently – Earth-side Command had timed the FTL jump to reduce their pre-launch exposure. They’d need a keel depth of sub-fifty metres for birds-away.
“Keep us moving away from the jump-in point. Change bearing to due north. The last thing we need is a British sub up our behind. Have Comms establish an EQP link with Exelon Command,” ordered Carter.
“Yes sir,” said Nomura, before relaying the orders.
Comms established the messaging link with Exelon Command. The EQP allowed the Esperanza to keep running silently. Intel told them there was no serious opposition in the seas of Gaia, but no one wanted to take any chances. Exelon Command transmitted three things. First was a target list update. This would be the final pre-launch list for Esperanza, based on the latest field intelligence. Sorensen had only called in his top priority strike minutes before, allowing Command to finalise the list. Without confirmation of the Korgax leadership’s presence in the War Council, the strategy of decapitating the regime would be in serious doubt. It was confirmed, but they wouldn’t be in session forever. The clock was ticking.
Second was launch timing and sequence. USS Esperanza carried one-hundred and twenty-eight stealth cruise missiles – the state of the art Scimitars. They could launch the full payload in under four minutes. The authorisation was for immediate launch of all missiles. No one knew how the Korgax would respond, but they wanted to hit them hard with a knockout blow, while they still could. The time window was pressing for the Mount Hazard strike Sorensen had called in. Time to target – fifteen-hundred klicks away – was fourteen minutes.
Third, was launch authorisation in the form of the authentication codes themselves from President Powell and Secretary Romero on Exelon. Carter and Nomura verified the codes as authentic. The wheels for the massive nuclear strike had been put in motion. Carter took a few seconds to reflect, and said a brief prayer to himself, heard only by his mind. Dear God, please guide us and give us strength in what we are about to do. We make war so that we may have peace and be delivered from this evil. Amen.
“Lieutenant, have Weps bring us to launch readiness,” Carter instructed.
“Yes, sir,” confirmed Nomura.
He relayed the targeting orders to the Weapons Officer and went to safe number two with a young Petty Officer named Haynes, who kept watch. Nomura typed in the six-digit PIN and the light turned green. The keypad not only verified the code, but also read the RFID chip embedded in the thumb-web of his right hand. He placed his right eye to the retinal scanner and the safe bolts whirred open. He retrieved his physical launch key and retook his place beside Carter. The Captain had already done the same and looked to Nomura, nodding, ready to do it?
“Trigger mechanism installed and armed, sir,” reported Weps.
Both Carter and Nomura rose and inserted their keys. They turned them simultaneously, allowing release of one-hundred and twenty-eight Scimitars.
A few moments later Weps reported, “Fire control systems are online...the missile doors are open...missile launch mechanisms are up and running...and all motors are armed.”
Weps looked to Carter, as if asking for permission to take the final action before launch. Strange how instinctive behaviours like this emerge, even when not protocol, thought Carter before nodding his assent. Weps removed the safety cover, touched the red launch button, and then pressed it down hard.
The high-pressured gas ejection systems kicked in, ejecting the first of a hundred and twenty-eight missiles from their launch tubes. The first Scimitar breached sea level, rising at a rate of knots. It leapt above water line and its booster-stage rocket fired, lighting the dark, still sea for miles around. Other missiles followed, as the first Scimitar levelled off at Mach-five and engaged its scramjet accelerating it faster still. It dropped down to an altitude of fifty-metres as it powered to its cruising speed of Mach-nine. If all went to plan, in twelve minutes, the Scimitar would burst open close to Mount Hazard releasing its eight warheads. The one-hundred and twenty-seven Scimitars that followed would rain down on targets all over Korgax-controlled Gaia. They were designated strategic and military targets, which, if neutralised, would, cripple the Korgax war machine...or so it was hoped.
By the time the fifteenth bird had flown the nest, HMS Wellington and HMS Waterloo were already lurking in the vicinity of the USS Esperanza. They too were establishing contact with Exelon Command and preparing to target the enemy all over Gaia. They would soon be joined by up to five further SSBNs, all of them bearing ICBMs – Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles.
The launch tubes of Esperanza finally fell silent and she slipped away, diving into the relative safety of the dark Gaian sea.
Several minutes later, HMS Welling
ton launched her twenty-four Trident V missiles. In less than one minute, the dual-stage rockets powered their way towards orbit. If they made it past the Korgax space forces, they’d decimate enemy bases and industrial facilities all over the Large Continent. As her sister ship dived into concealment, HMS Waterloo fired off most of her Trident V with one missile failing to launch.
Minutes after Esperanza’s launch, the Korgax scrambled interceptor drones from their coastal base 750km away. They were eight minutes from the site when Wellington launched; and four minutes away when it was Waterloo’s turn.
The Vassal World (The First Exoplanet Book 2) Page 19
