“Lieutenant,” Jack said with a slightly raised pitch to his voice.
The adrenalin was now pounding through his body, and he could feel a violent rage starting to build up inside him. He tried to focus on the data from the drones, anything to try and stop his blood from boiling inside.
“There are more inside the building. We need to secure it, and fast!”
Lieutenant Elvidge nodded in agreement.
“Good work, marines,” he said, turning to speak with Sergeant Stone who had only just arrived with another four marines.
“Sergeant Stone, secure this position and the prisoners. Guard this door, and make sure they don’t double back. Morato, Riku and...”
“Callahan, Sir,” answered the marine.
“Yes, the three of you come with me. We have work to do.”
Jack was surprised to see the green officer to be so fit and keen to get stuck in. The run across the open ground from the ambush location had been significant, yet the officer showed no obvious signs of fatigue. Even better was the fact the man stopped at the entrance and checked carefully before entering.
So, he isn’t just a pretty boy from Terra Nova, he thought optimistically.
Then they were inside and moving through a narrow corridor. There were no lights, and so as not to give away their position, the four marines used their thermal and infrared overlays to allow them to see in the darkened structure. Callahan went first with Jack following. The Lieutenant came next, and Riku brought up the rear with her L48 rifle now slung on her shoulder.
“Can you hear that?” asked Jack.
The sound amplification unit built into their suits was capable of identifying discrete sound and located them in both direction and distance. His suit had amplified part of the sound, and he could hear what sounded like something heavy being dragged across a floor.
“I hear it, sounds like equipment,” suggested Riku.
“Maybe, it could also be an attempt to barricade themselves in,” Jack added.
The Lieutenant cut them off.
“It doesn’t matter either way. We have to get in there and stop them. The last two ambushes failed, but they still managed to escape. We need prisoners and a successful counter-operation. This will be it.”
Jack wasn’t so sure, but they moved on until the passageway widened the split with the hall on one side and a staircase leading up on the right. Callahan lifted his carbine slightly and aimed up the staircase.
“Up, Sir?”
“Affirmative.”
It didn’t take long for them to reach the next level up in the narrow stairwell. The doors were all missing, and refuse and debris filled the hallways. They ignored it all and moved on to the next and final level. Halfway up the stairs, Callahan stopped and lifted his hand. The group stopped and automatically dropped down to one knee.
“What is it?” asked Riku.
There was silence for perhaps three seconds, and then an insurgent appeared and looked down at them. The breathing apparatus hid his face, but his body language suggested he’d been caught by complete surprise. Even the Helion’s rifle was hung low as though he had not expected to see a threat on the stairs at this point. Jack leaned forward, grabbed his lead arm, and yanked down. The insurgent lost his footing, and they stumbled down the steps until he reached Riku. Although slight, she had no problem in dropping her knee down onto his chest and pinned him to the step.
“Stay,” she whispered.
Callahan moved his carbine around the corner at the top of the steps and watched the video feed from the sight directly on his helmet overlay. It showed a short passageway of six to seven meters and then a broken doorway leading to a long passageway that must have run for the entire length of the building. He nodded and went ahead with Jack and the Lieutenant right behind. Their footsteps crunched on the flaked paint and dust that seemed to litter the place. Jack slowed his breathing, but his pulse continued to race as he watched for signs of the insurgents. He spotted the green shapes on his overlay; it was a group of Hammerheads that had landed near the Bulldogs.
Good, the Medevac teams are here.
There was little worse than the idea that you might be left injured on a battlefield, with no chance of help. They reached the broken doorway and fanned out, but it was clearly almost entirely deserted, but for one place, a large room with two doors that looked like a machine room. The door was missing, and Jack could see large pieces of machinery lined up, presumably refinery machines or tooling of some kind. He almost missed the twinkle of a gun sight and then dropped to the floor.
“What is..” started Riku, but a large caliber round burned a fist-sized hole in the wall exactly where Jack’s head had been.
Lieutenant Elvidge ducked to the left away from the doorway and toward the smaller entrance off to the left and further down the passageway. Riku followed in the same direction and was about to enter when Jack spotted something like a fine, silvery line, almost like a spider’s web.
“Stop!” he cried.
The gunfire from the machine room was light, but every single round was aimed through the larger doorway.
Yeah, they want us to take the other door.
“Looks like a booby-trap, Sir.”
Riku squeezed past the officer and bent down to check. It only took a few seconds for her to confirm Jack’s fears.
“Yeah, you’re right, it’s a trap all right. Tripwire and a thermal wall charge, we were lucky!”
The Lieutenant nodded politely to Jack, a modest gesture but one that meant a lot under the circumstances. He pointed to the doorway that Jack and Callahan were watching.
“Yours?”
Callahan was on his knees and checking the frame but staying back to avoid defensive fire. He finally lifted himself back up and spoke quietly.
“This one’s clear.”
Lieutenant Elvidge inched back with Riku in tow.
“Very well,” he considered his options for just a few seconds, “we have to clear this place. Suggestions?”
“Stun and run,” Jack said without even thinking.
Callahan looked at the Private, nodding in agreement.
“Yeah, it worked outside. They’re not prepared for a direct rush.”
“Okay, good. Two grenades, then we move in and fast, but I want prisoners. Shoot to wound, not kill.”
Callahan looked at Jack incredulously.
“Understood?” repeated the Lieutenant.
“Yes, Sir,” they answered in perfect unison.
Riku and Jack each pulled out a stun grenade and activated the timers. With a nod from Lieutenant Elvidge, they tossed them inside at opposite sides of the room. The countdown progress indicator showed up inside their helmets, so they could time it to the second. One second before the charges activated, they moved. Jack was through first, and then Callahan, and the rest close behind. As Jack passed through the doorframe, the grenades burst, and for a brief moment he lost his vision as the visor blackened. Then he was moving along the right-hand side of the machine room with his eyes wide open and his carbine at his shoulder and ready. Riku followed behind, and the others took the left-hand side of the room.
“Move it!” growled the Lieutenant.
An insurgent appeared ahead of them and opened fire. The stun grenades had done their work, and he sprayed gunfire in the rough direction of the doorway. Jack rushed to his side, slamming his carbine into the Helion’s chest. With a groan, he fell down. Riku knelt beside him to bind his hands. Two more insurgents remained, and both were waiting behind a long machine with dozens of static robotic arms extending upwards. Bronze colored rust covered the edges, and like the rest of the place, a thick layer of dust covered the rest. One pointed at Jack, and the second lifted up a heavy weapon onto the machine and opened fire.
“Watch out!” screamed Riku.
Both rolled to the ground and vanished from sight among the myriad of machines and pieces of heavy equipment. At this height, it looked more like a maze than a works
hop or refinery, and they were able to crawl along the floor while the heavy weapon continued to tear chunks from machines and the thick walls. Jack and Riku stayed down low. Callahan and Lieutenant Elvidge tried to move around the left flank.
“Morato, can you flank them?” asked the Lieutenant.
Jack crawled a meter and looked around the base of the machine. Another identical unit, turning ninety degrees back in the direction of the insurgents obstructed his view.
“Maybe, see what we can do.”
He slipped around the corner and slid along the floor. The slow thump of an L52 carbine firing came from the other side of the room.
Good work, Callahan, keep them busy.
It seemed an age before he reached the end of the next machine. Jack pushed out his carbine, using it as a viewing device to see around the corner. He could see the two remaining fighters loading a box onto the mounted weapon.
I have to go for it!
He didn’t bother with a grenade this time and instead lifted himself and hurled forward. His foot caught on the base of the machine, and he stumbled at them. He was on them before Riku even knew what was happening.
“Jack!” she shouted and chased after him.
Jack crashed into the nearest insurgent; the second flipped out a sidearm and shot twice. All three fell to the ground in a heap. Private Riku was on them as the second lifted to his feet. The other continued to grapple with Jack, but this fight was between the masked insurgent and her. He fired a shot with his sidearm that struck her carbine and tore off the pistol grip. She looked down at it, swore, and then threw the shattered frame at the Helion. He beat it aside; firing another shot that glanced off her armored pauldron. Her fist struck him in the chest, and she grabbed his arm. It was a classic lock, and although the Helion was strong, he was betrayed by the slight physiology of his race. Riku was also no weakling and twisted his arm so that he cried out in pain as she forced him to the floor.
“Got you!” she said triumphantly.
Callahan and the Lieutenant were now there and moved in to secure the prisoners. Meanwhile, Jack and his opponent were engaged in a violent fight and had moved from the floor and toward the open window.
“All units, building secure, hold your fire!” called out Lieutenant Elvidge as the two crashed out onto the balcony. The Helion was surprisingly quick and a good bit taller and larger built than the average. As they fought, the insurgent seemed to have even greater speed than Jack. They pushed apart and circled each other, just out of striking distance. The Helion muttered something and pulled back his cloak, revealing a gold colored armored breastplate with unusual marking running down it. Jack found himself staring at the design while his hooded opponent moved around him. The cloak remained around his head and shoulder, and the plated respirator and mask covered the alien’s face, making it impossible to make out any kind of facial expression.
“If you’re trying to sound tough, you’re wasting your time!” laughed Jack.
The alien struck three times in quick succession and managed to hit Jack on the shoulder blade with a hammer strike that dropped him to a knee. It wasn’t enough to slow the young marine down, and he locked the Helion’s arm and hurled him past. Anybody would have fallen, but not this one. Instead, he hit the ground, rolled, and landed back on his feet.
“Impressive.”
The other marines had already secured the machine room, but no one intervened with the personal fight between the two of them. Even so, Riku and Callahan kept their carbines ready, just in case. Jack would win one way or another. Now it was Jack’s turn to launch into a flurry of attack. He kept his guard close and his elbows tucked in while closing the distance. Each time the alien tried to defend himself, Jack struck out at his opponent’s limbs. It was slow, almost mechanical work but in less than thirty seconds, the alien fighter was suffering from the strikes to his unarmored arms. Finally, he managed to kick against Jack’s stomach and separated for a few seconds.
“Not bad, I think you can give up now.”
The alien simply laughed at his words, clicked his neck, and stretched. Jack’s face changed from amusement to annoyance, and then they were back at it. This time the alien was much more cautious, and Jack was forced to not over extend and leave himself vulnerable. The two moved about each other as they tried to strike with their hands and feet. Jack managed to land a number of blows, but each time the Helion leaned away and hit back. After a particular heavy miss by Jack, the alien slammed his knee into Jack’s stomach and followed it up with bringing his arm down onto the marine’s back.
“Enough!” roared Lieutenant Elvidge.
The Helion looked at the human officer with confusion, and Jack took the opportunity to jump back up and deliver a single powerful uppercut into the Helion’s chin. This time the alien staggered and collapsed to the ground. Jack pounced on him and rested his knee on the alien’s throat. Within seconds, the Helion was unable to breathe. Riku moved in beside him and fitted the bindings to his wrists before he could try to escape.
“Good work, everybody. Look what they were doing here,” said their Lieutenant with a measure of pride in his voice. It was only then that Jack, Riku, and Callahan gave the room a good look. Crates containing small metal devices were stacked inside, and the broken frame that would have supported a ground–based missile system lay twisted to one side with two missiles on the floor.
“What the hell is that?” asked Riku.
Callahan ran his hand along the frame, sighing to himself.
“This looks like a surface-to-air missile system to me.”
“And that’s bad, because?”
Jack closed his eyes and inhaled slowly, doing his best to calm himself. It took a few moments before he could open them.
“It’s bad because if it had been working, it could have shot down our Medevac Hammerheads.”
“Yeah,” Callahan agreed, “this place wasn’t just an ambush site. It was here to get us to abandon our vehicles and encircle the place. When support came in, they’d hit our air cover and then finish off our people on the ground.”
Lieutenant Elvidge stepped out onto the balcony and noted the smashed stone and metal from the impact of the drone Jack had sent directly into the building. There were also the bodies of the Helions that had died in the battle itself. He could see the rest of the marines in the open ground helping their own wounded and continue checking for signs of any more insurgents. Off in the distance, the shapes of the Bulldogs were slightly obscured by the recent arrival of the Hammerheads and their small units of marines and medical teams. He turned around to look at the three marines.
“Great work today. You stopped the loss of our air units and even better, by taking these guys without a major firefight, we avoided setting off of these weapons.”
He pointed at the rockets lying broken on the ground. It hadn’t even occurred to him that the rolling fight with the insurgents might have triggered the devices. The idea of them exploding with him and his comrades made him retch, and it took all of his self-control to not throw up in his helmet.
“Okay, bag them. The engineers are going to come in and sweep the area.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Ship boarding actions became commonplace in the Great Uprising, and though no particular action stands out, there were over two hundred recorded operations conducted in the first year of the War alone. Many of the advantages of the marines, such as their superlative mobility, were lost. These actions proved to be some of the deadliest during the War and were instrumental in creating better armor and rapid firing weapons. The Alpha variant of the PDS armor and the L52 carbine both came out of experiences learned in these bloody boarding actions.
Great Battles of the Confederate Marine Corps
Teresa was in trouble, and that had nothing to do with the fact she was low on ammunition. The crash landing had killed every member of her platoon, and now she was the last marine left atop the snow covered Atoll. The burned wreckage of a crashed Marine C
orps landing craft lay broken in three large sections. Around the spacecraft were scores of Biomech creatures of every shape and size. They hacked at the dead marines as if they expected them to jump to their feet at any time. One group had spotted her, and no sooner had one moved, and the rest were hurling toward her. She took aim and fired, each projectile killing one of the things with incredible precision.
Come on, die!
A dozen fell, yet more clambered over the bodies of their comrades and moved in for the kill. Her carbine seemed weak and ineffectual as she stepped back toward the edge. At this distance, she could see those at the front were identical to the beasts she had faced in the Uprising. As large as a bear, but grotesquely formed, she knew they were constructed from the shattered remains of human prisoners.
“Get back!” she screamed, but no sound left her mouth.
More of the smaller Biomechs swarmed like bugs, and she was forced to fire from the hip in a long burst that emptied her magazine. The weapon was now dry, and she hurled it at the nearest monster. The weapon struck the thing just a meter away, and again she moved back only to feel the edge of the Atoll. She glanced back and saw nothing but the great drop to nothingness.
No, not yet! I’m taking you with me.
She ripped out her knife from her side. It should have been a Marine issue combat blade, but inside it was long and curved, like the tooth from some monstrous beast. She looked at the object with fascination. It was smooth, yet the tip and edge seemed coated in a sharp layer of silver. Only the approach of more creatures tore her gaze from the object.
“This is the end!” hissed a voice from somewhere further back.
The mechanical voice sent a shiver through her body as though somebody had gently run a finger down her spine. She shuddered and adopted a solid fighting stance. Her left foot forward, knees bent, and both hands lifted as though about to box. The blade hung down in the classic ice pick grip favored by many knife fighters.
Star Crusades Nexus: The Second Trilogy Page 28
