Sweat dripped down her forehead, but she kept the alien in her sights. It was big… broad at the chest, its face slightly wider than the others. They followed it around as it walked toward the edge of the mine. She had a clear shot, one she knew she could make every time, even with the slight breeze. She accommodated as the wind speed increased, and waited, her finger steady beside the trigger.
The mines were noisy today, so loud, she hardly noticed the slight change in the air as the ships roared toward them from the west. The aliens looked to the skies, and Sylvie’s face scrunched up as she pulled the trigger. Blood burst from the leader as he tumbled forward into the mine. Her reinforcements were here. She reloaded and found another target.
Alec
“Looks like we right in time for da party,” Whittaker shouted, sending their ship to the side as they approached the enemy’s fortification. They’d made the trek through Saskatchewan, up into the Arctic Circle, before using the emptiness of Greenland to once again head south. The oceans were a free-for-all, and they encountered no opposition along their route. Seeing the world like this was eye-opening after years stuck inside a warehouse making the Gate in Detroit.
Alec had been through a lot of the States now, mostly because of his trip with Monet and subsequent journey with his uncle, but nothing had prepared him for the beautiful and harsh nature of the Arctic, or the expanse of the ocean. His heart filled with something he’d never felt before. His eyes were open, hope and longing for a different end for humanity enveloped him. This had to work. “It has to,” he whispered.
“This is it,” Izzy said, just loud enough over the roar of their ship to hear.
The mine was massive, far bigger than the one Dex described in northern Michigan, and he was glad for that, since Cole and Soares were scoping it out now. He couldn’t think about their mission, only his, and he focused on the task at hand.
“Over there!” Bailey yelled, pointing toward the vast windows.
Alec noticed the other ships, two of them, both like the one they occupied, but there were intricate crowns painted on the sides of these. The Barony was here. This Jack Paulson seemed like a strong leader, and Alec was looking forward to meeting him later as they found their rendezvous point after the battle. If there was a battle.
Their ship jostled hard, sending Alec to his ass. Izzy was above him, clutching a cloth strap that kept her on her feet. She helped him up, and their vessel shook again as another projectile struck them from the ground.
“I think they’ve spotted us,” Izzy said.
“Whittaker, bring us up. We need to find the misters’ location,” Alec ordered.
“Sylvie told us it’s near the outbuilding, a squat structure adjacent to the south edge of the mine,” Bailey said, and Alec used the ship’s controls to access the undermount camera system. He spotted the transport ship, and sent Jack a message. “We’re landing a mile north. Target is here.” He keyed in the coordinates from his screen, and hit send.
“Land us,” Alec told the old man, his hair even wilder today as he nodded fervently.
Another blast struck their hull, but they moved on, settling to the ground a mile away, a distance still within range, but far enough that the tanks seemed to have an issue with aim. Alec ran to the drones, slamming his hand against the hatch-release button. He used his tablet to wake the robots, and on his orders, they rose, exiting through their opening on the side of the hull. He cringed as they whirred and buzzed, weapon systems powering up.
The Seekers and Trackers had their targets. The aliens. The Overseers would feel the Reclaimers’ wrath, a penance for murdering so many innocent humans with the very same drones. Alec felt satisfaction as he watched the last of their collection leave the ship, and he shut the hatch, returning to the bridge.
In the sky, the Barony was wreaking havoc on the mine, but the two tanks guarding the area were blasting toward their allies’ ships.
“Bring us into the fight, Whittaker.”
“Yes, sir.”
Chapter 18
Sw-18
[STEALTH SETTING ENGAGED]
[SCANNING…]
[FOUR AERIAL SURVEILLANCE DRONES DETECTED – HUMAN DESIGNATION: SEEKER]
[SCANNING…]
[SEEKER DRONES ON SET PATROL PATTERN]
[SUCCESS PERCENTAGE OF DRONE DESTRUCTION WITHOUT DETECTION… 87.4%]
[CONFIRM OVERSEER PRESENCE: TIMES THREE]
[BIOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT INDICATES ADULT MALES]
[DESIGNATE TARGETS: 1,2,3]
[ARMAMENTS INDICATE PERSONAL WEAPONS LOADOUT ONLY]
[ASSESSMENT: NOT PREPARED FOR IMMINENT HOSTILE ACTION]
[DISTANCE TO TARGET 1 – 312 METERS]
[DISTANCE TO TARGET 2 – 344 METERS]
[DISTANCE TO TARGET 3 – 345 METERS]
[ASSESSING CONDITIONS…]
[TEMPERATURE 53.6 DEGREES]
[WIND SPEED: NEGLIGIBLE]
[LIKELIHOOD OF PRECIPITATION 29.7%]
[TWO HOURS FOURTEEN MINUTES AND NINE SECONDS UNTIL SUNDOWN]
[SENDING REPORT TO HUMAN CONTROLLER…]
[…]
[…]
[ORDERS RECEIVED]
[RECOMMENCING GUARD PROTOCOLS]
Cole
Cole handed the tablet over to Soares and watched as the former United States Marine scanned the information and nodded before returning it. Cole wasn’t sure if he was satisfied with the intelligence that the drone had gathered or whether it was appreciation for his idea to use it.
The instructions weren’t difficult to provide; he just told the soulless machine to describe and assess the enemy and the conditions before reporting back, at which time he set it to return to protect them for a lack of any other ideas.
They weren’t expecting to witness any major occurrence, but they needed to know the lay of the land before the expected convoy arrived to haul away the raw materials the aliens wanted to transport back to the Gateway and through to wherever it went.
Neither of them said anything about it, but both knew deep down that the chances of them returning were slim. They were actually planning to go through an alien portal to another world—at least they assumed it was to another planet and not some collection site in the vacuum of space—and given how neither of them understood much about space, then their hopes of survival were a shot in the dark to say the least. As if reading Cole’s thoughts, Soares stretched and spoke in a low voice.
“You know, not long after I got outta the military, we had a new branch called the Space Force,” he said. Cole scoffed involuntarily, watching Soares out of the corner of his eye in case he took offense. He didn’t, and couldn’t, resist his own subdued laughter.
“Seriously, I mean, we all thought it was a joke, but it was for real. They had an emblem and everything, like it was straight outta Star Trek or something.”
“Star Trek…?”
Soares, already lying on his front on top of his sleeping bag, thunked his face into the material and the foam bedding roll beneath.
“Aw, kid, I can’t even begin to fill that knowledge gap for you… forget it. Anyway, like I said, we all thought it was a joke, but straight up, they started recruiting. They took a lot of crap for wanting to be Space Marines. Gotta admit, though, I had half a mind to re-enlist for it, but then I was accepted to Capitol PD… anyway, what I’m saying is we were on the verge of having our people in outer space in case shit like this happened and we had to fight or something.” He laughed again, this time darkly and without any trace of humor. “When these bastards came, they wiped us out in minutes. I saw F-18’s going down like we were using wooden bi-planes against modern fighter jets. We didn’t stand a damned chance. It was like they were playing college football against us and we were high school freshmen.”
Cole stayed silent, not understanding most of what he said but getting the feeling that Soares was describing an unfair fight. He let that silence stretch out until Soares groaned and climbed to his feet to take something from his
pack and walk toward the other end of their now warm and dry cave.
“I’ll be right back,” he called. “We’ll eat and get some sleep, ready for tomorrow.”
Cole looked down at the tablet.
“Sounds good,” he said to himself, taking one last glance at the immobile statue that was the drone guarding their position.
Alec
Chaos had erupted everywhere. The mine in Spain was a flurry of activity, and they’d only been there for a few minutes. The Barony pilots were good, weaving the huge ships with greater ease than Alec had thought possible. The tank fire was erratic, only blasting toward them every minute or so, sending an energy array into the sky. It was clear they needed time to recharge, and Alec questioned the poor technology. The Overseers hadn’t been expecting retaliation. They never did.
Their biggest concern was destroying the misters during this attack. It was the main piece to the puzzle. Cut off their supply of the things keeping them alive on Earth, then making them sick with the replacement batch. If Cole and Soares could sabotage the gates, then they had a real shot at this. His hands sweated as he used the weapon controls, dropping everything he had on the site below.
The mine was a mess, the deep walls crumbled under the barrage of artillery, and the excavating machinery lay in heaps under the rubble. As soon as they’d destroyed the cutting machines, the entire area grew eerily quiet, and all he could hear was their ship’s engines, the sound of tank fire, and his own heart beating hard in his chest.
Then a newer version of the hovercars entered the fray, lifting from within a bay beside the residence.
“Barony, target their building!” Alec shouted, using the tapped-in frequencies of the mine’s robots now, not caring who heard them. Even if their enemy translated their dialogue, it would be too late.
“On it,” the reply came, quick and terse, and Alec noticed one of the Barony ships leave its partner, heading above the incoming hovercars.
These vessels were faster than the other models, and a projectile shot from the lead vessel blasted their spacecraft. The ship shook violently, sending Alec reeling, but he was smart enough to hold on this time.
“Think we gonna crash here.” Whittaker’s voice was shrill.
Alec aimed, firing a rapid volley of shots toward the twin hovercars, striking one hard. It smoked, spinning erratically, as it hurtled into the obliterated mine below.
Whittaker was right. They were going down. “Bring us near the misters!” Alec shouted, his voice straining to be louder than their whining engines.
“Barony, cover us! We’re going to the ground.” Alec dropped the comms, pulling Izzy with him to the rear of the ship. Bailey followed along with her top five soldiers near the exit. They were armed to the teeth, explosives prepped, M16s locked and loaded. Bailey’s eyes were hard, focused.
“You stay in here,” she ordered.
Alec shook his head. “We’re coming.”
“Fine, but at least put one of these on.” She reached to the wall, tossing them thick Kevlar vests. Izzy fell to the floor, sliding away as Whittaker directed them to the softest landing he could. They hit hard. Alec slammed down, trying to soften his blow, and when the ship creaked to a halt, Bailey pressed the doors open. The Reclaimer soldiers rushed over the ramp, Alec following. The lead soldier dropped to the packed ground; head half gone.
Aliens were pouring from the transport vehicle, probably happy to have targets on the ground. Alec had never seen any like these. They were bigger, faster, angrier than the sullen, sloth-like Overseers from the factory. It hadn’t occurred to them there might be different groups of them, soldiers, scientists… factory managers.
He didn’t have time to dwell on the fallen soldier as he jumped over him, gun in his grip. He followed Bailey’s lead as they moved for the mister transport. She fired at the incoming enemy, striking a few from a distance. Two of the soldiers stopped, aiming their weapons. They swept the rocky path, hitting more aliens, and sending a plume of dust into the sky as they drew a line in the sand.
Alec noticed a few Trackers stalking toward the aliens, and for a moment, he thought they might turn on the Reclaimers’ programming. Instead, they opened fire, causing the aliens to seek cover.
They stopped, and Alec glanced to the sky. It appeared as though they were winning the battle. Only two tanks were left from what he could see, each at least a half mile from their position. Something exploded with a massive concussion, and everyone turned their eyes toward the building the Barony had been sent to destroy. All that remained was a smoldering hole, the spaceship swooping overhead so loudly, it sounded like the atmosphere was being torn open.
A pulse of energy shot at them, and then another. The Overseers had broken from their reverie and were fighting back. Alec glanced at Izzy, who wore a deep frown as she stepped out from behind a rock. They were everywhere here, giving the Reclaimers some cover, but the aliens were pressing forward. Alec rose, aiming and pulling the trigger. His shots went wide, and he adjusted. There were over twenty of them, and a few ran at their group.
Bailey crouched between two boulders, and Alec noticed her hitting one of the rushing aliens in the knee as it bounded forward. It fell, sliding on the ground. Its ally used it as a steppingstone to push forward, offering no indication of assistance.
Izzy cursed, her Beretta magazine empty. “Always bring a backup!” Bailey shouted, tossing one to her. She fumbled with her gun, trying to catch the incoming with her one hand.
Another of their soldiers was struck with the energy blast, a gaping hole in her chest.
Alec gulped, turning to return fire. They were holding their own, but there were still two aliens coming straight for them, somehow avoiding death. Bailey stood there, her gun clicking empty as the nearest jumped, flying ten feet in the air to land right before her.
Sylvie
Sylvie reloaded, setting her sights on the two stampeding aliens. They were fast, hard to track with the zoomed in scope. “Come on. Stop. Stop.” She took a deep breath, holding it as she moved her finger to the trigger. Her heartbeat, twitching the aim ever so slightly.
The monstrous alien jumped, so high, and landed right in front of the Reclaimers. She was about to pull the trigger when the alien dropped, a bullet through its head.
She glanced to Maxime, who let out a cheer from his hidden position. Good work, kid. She moved the aim, finding the second arriving creature, and one of the Reclaimers tussled with it before another arrived to shoot it point blank in the head.
She breathed smoothly, once again, moving her target to the distant aliens, waiting near the mister transport. She aimed and fired. Again. Again. The Reclaimers were close to them now, proceeding forward with speed. Maxime took out another, and soon there were no enemies between the transport and the Reclaimers.
Alec
Alec patted his chest, finding no holes. His heart raced so hard, he thought it might explode. Three of their soldiers were down, Izzy was bleeding from her right arm, but she swore it was only a graze.
The transport was quiet, and Bailey raised a hand, silently indicating she was going around the vessel. Alec guessed they might find some hidden enemies inside or around the edge, but she came back, walking with confidence. There were at least ten Trackers in their vicinity, another twenty or so shiny metal drones in the air, telling Alec their adversaries were taken care of.
“It seems we’re alone,” Bailey said as the engines fired up on the transport. An alien head was visible from inside the cockpit, and the ship rose, plowing into the woman as it took off.
Bailey crumpled to the ground, and Alec ran to her side, peering up at the escaping supply of misters. He grabbed his tablet, plugging the earpiece into his ear. “Barony! Get that ship! I repeat, get that ship!”
Jack
“Sir, it’s getting away,” Laurie said, pointing at the radar.
“Shit. Barony Omega, take the last tank out. Olivia, hunt the bloody thing!” Jack bit down hard, nickin
g his tongue as they jerked upward. He took the weapon controls, firing toward the transport vehicle. They knew why the attack had taken place. Their hope had been that the Overseers would see the misters being destroyed as happenstance of the mine assault. They needed to end it now.
“Tank destroyed. All enemy defeated,” Omega vessel communicated.
“Not all of them.” Jack fired again, the transport moving over the ocean now. He smiled as he realized their target couldn’t outrun them. It was slow, didn’t maneuver well with the tiny thrusters. It was meant to deliver goods, not fend off battles. Jack breathed easier, focusing his aim. He tapped the trigger, the missiles releasing from the underside of their old alien space craft. The transport exploded, instantly falling toward the water.
The crew let out a cheer, and Jack grinned. It felt good to finally be out of the shadows, and in the fight.
Alec
The second Barony ship arrived a half hour after the transport had departed, dragging the broken container full of misters with it.
Alec glanced at the bodies of the four fallen Reclaimers and counted themselves lucky that was all they had lost. Somehow, they’d managed to destroy the entire mine, and a couple hundred aliens with only the loss of Bailey and her three soldiers. It still felt like too big of a loss.
Izzy set a hand on his back, comforting him. “We did well.”
The other Barony ship had landed, and together, they’d cleared the whole mine, circling around to ensure no aliens were hiding, and that all of the tanks were indeed destroyed. The mining equipment still burned inside the crumbled pit, and the entire region reeked of metal and something more primal.
Rise | Book 3 | Reclamation Page 12
