“Like Captain Stockton said, this won’t be easy,” said Captain Garcia. “A lot of those civilians will be poorly supplied and not prepared for traveling much less living in the mountains. We could lose a few. This won’t be a weekend camping trip. Hell, as frightened as they’ll be they could even shoot at us.”
“We’ll do the best we can,” answered Mark. “Once your men get to the supply caches get the civilians organized. If any Army units are with them, put them in charge of security with strict instructions not to engage the Trellixians. There will be tents, bedding, medical supplies, food, and water in the caches.”
“Maybe we should place a rifle squad at each supply cache,” suggested Captain Stockton. “If regular Army units are with them, the rifle squad could help coordinate the defense of the civilians and use the regular Army units to beef up their numbers.”
Mark thought for a moment. If he assigned a rifle squad to each of the twenty locations that would still leave him an effective force in the bunker of over four hundred Rangers. “Let’s do it. First thing in the morning a rifle squad is to head out to each of those twenty locations. Captain Stockton, we’ll use your company for that. You’re to secure the supply caches and then set up a defensive perimeter around each. If anything moves near one of those caches I want to know about it.”
“What about heavier weapons?” asked Captain Stockton. “If the Trellixians show up we could use some.”
“I’ll send out a couple ATVs in a few days with some M240s,” Mark said. “They’ll also have M136 AT4 rocket launchers. Once we get a feel for the number of civilians and Army units we’re dealing with we can add more weapons later. This main bunker is well stocked with everything we need.” Mark was only now beginning to realize all the thought that had gone into building and stocking the bunker. He wondered how many other bunkers there were like this one. He suspected there might be quite a few.
“How long do we have to do all this?” asked Captain Grumman.
Mark paused and then answered. “According to Colonel Branson it may take the Trellixians weeks or even months before they come into the mountains. The enemy will have to deal with a lot of survivors in the cities and the countryside first. Many of those civilians are armed and some regular Army units are still operating in those areas. What I want now is to get some order out there. We’ll have thousands of civilians and even a few Army units moving around setting off forest fires and everything else if we aren’t careful. We have a region of over eight hundred square miles assigned to us. It’s our duty to gain control of it and maintain order.”
“We’ll get it done,” promised Captain Garcia.
“Captain Garcia, stay behind for a moment.”
After the other three captains left Mark pointed to an area on the map. It was near the center and marked by a large blue X. “Take your company and set up camp here.”
“Why there?” asked Garcia, confused.
“The blue X means it’s a military supply cache with heavy weapons and ammunition. You’ll take command of it and then set up a skirmish line five miles to the east of that point. All the supply caches are behind that line. Any civilians who come through who our people have missed you’re to direct to the supply caches. If any Trellixians show up take them out. Use any of the weapons at the supply cache to make that happen. Don’t get into a full-scale battle with them. This will be guerilla warfare. Take them out in ones and twos. If a big force comes in fight a delaying action and report back to me.”
“Yes, sir,” said Garcia anxious to see some action. “Anything else?”
“Yes, one of those three specialists who came in will go with you. It’s their duty to learn all they can about the Trellixians and they can’t do that staying here inside this bunker.”
“Which one?”
“Captain Reynolds. And Juan, make sure nothing happens to her. I’ve been told the lives of these three specialists are more important than our entire battalion.”
“Damn!” said Garcia, his eyes widening. “Just who are those three people?”
“I’m not certain but their orders come directly from the president and the DOE.”
Garcia nodded, impressed. “I’ll keep a close watch on her and make sure she doesn’t come to any harm. I just hope she can keep up.”
Mark nodded. “Get your people ready. You’ll be leaving at first light.”
After Garcia left Mark leaned back in his chair, thinking about the events of the last few days. Colonel Branson had told Mark that Mark’s sister had survived the nuclear attack on the battlecruiser above Dallas and was working in one of the surviving hospitals on the outskirts of the city treating the injured. Branson was trying to get her pulled out and to a secure location as her medical talents could be useful but he wasn’t sure if he could pull it off. A lot of the communication lines and towers across the country were down, making communications difficult. The EMP blasts had screwed up a lot of things.
Mark just hoped Jennifer made it through this. He had seen the casualty estimates from Houston, as well as a map showing the exact coordinates where the nukes had devastated the city. There was no doubt if his parents had been home they hadn’t survived; the radiation would have killed them. He could only hope his dad had heeded Mark’s warning and fled the city before the battlecruiser was nuked.
-
Battle Commander Balforr frowned at the latest reports from Battle Commander Traven. Resistance was much heavier than expected. It seemed the Humans had managed to disperse many of their military units to outlying areas before the nuke attack. Additionally, in some regions of the planet even the civilians had weapons. That was particularly true of the United States, the country Balforr had been negotiating with.
On one of the main viewscreens, a close-up of a battle on the planet was being displayed. Trellixian hover tanks were heavily engaged against what appeared to be a Human armored division. Massive explosions struck the energy shields of the hover tanks, threatening to tip them over. In return the hover tanks fired their energy weapons, cutting right through the Human armor. The hover tanks were also launching splinter grenades containing hundreds of small flechettes which could easily penetrate a soldier’s body armor, causing either serious injury or death.
“This is going on all over the planet,” reported Second Officer Jaltor. “We’ve lost a few troops as well as several hover tanks. Every place we land troops we’re encountering resistance, some of it quite heavy.”
As Balforr watched a squadron of Trellixian attack craft appeared and dove, firing warp missiles at the Human armor. The warp missiles made a high-pitched screaming noise. Every time a missile hit a Human vehicle it vanished in a bright fireball.
“It’ll take us forever to clear the Humans off this planet at this rate,” said Jaltor, shaking his head. “I’ve never seen anything like this before.”
Battle Commander Balforr watched as several rounds from the Humans managed to tip over a Trellixian hover tank. Then some type of antitank missiles hammered the tank until its shield failed. Moments later the hover tank exploded as a missile blew it apart.
“Contact the High Command and tell them resistance is much stiffer than projected. We need the third invasion fleet dispatched immediately and preparations should be made for a fourth.”
“Four invasion fleets,” said Jaltor in surprise. “That’s never been done before!”
“We’ve never encountered a planet before with such large ground armies,” replied Balforr. “Computer estimates indicate we took out between 60 to 70 percent of their known forces in our nuclear strikes. However, that still leaves millions of their military unaccounted for.”
Jaltor looked at the main viewscreen showing the planet. A lot of ash and contaminants remained in the upper atmosphere. The amount of sunlight reaching the planet had been reduced by 28 percent though the atmosphere was expected to begin to clear in thirty to sixty more days. Within one hundred and twenty days it would be back to normal. This would prevent the e
cology of the planet from being seriously damaged. If that were to occur, it would make the immediate colonization of this world impractical.
“I’ll send the request to the High Command as well as the records of our actions so far.”
“Do so,” ordered Balforr. He had not expected to be engaged in cleansing this world for so long. Originally four weeks from the initial bombardment and his fleet should have been entering hyperspace for their next target. As it was it might be months before this planet was cleansed of the Humans. Balforr leaned back in his command chair, a deep frown on his face. He wondered what other surprises the Humans might have in store for him.
Chapter Six
Lisa was worn out and trying not to show it. They had hiked nearly twenty miles to the military supply cache, pausing only a few times for brief breaks. Captain Garcia had pushed them to get to the cache as soon as possible. There were 142 men and 8 women in the company. Lisa knew, with the high training demands for the elite Ranger battalions only a few women had made it through. She also knew only a few years back no women were in the Rangers.
“Tired?” asked Corporal Sampson as he offered Lisa a bottle of water.
Lisa gratefully took the water and twisted off the cap, taking a long drink. “I didn’t realize how out of shape I am.”
Sampson laughed. “Don’t fool yourself. You did great. A twenty-mile march through the mountains with a full pack is no easy task for anyone.”
Hearing Captain Garcia, the two looked where he was directing a number of Rangers opening the cache and sorting through the supplies. The military cache was full of weapons, ammunition, MREs, water, and other basics. This one was inside a man-made cave hidden from view by a grove of towering Douglas fir trees. Several Rangers were inside inspecting the supplies from several lists they had been provided.
“A lot of supplies are in there,” Sampson said. “That cave goes way back into the side of the mountain. I think we could all hide in there if it were necessary.”
“Let’s hope it’s not,” Lisa said, putting the cap back on the water bottle. The long hike had given her more time to think about her family and Streth. She had to accept their deaths, not letting her emotions hinder her and possibly harm the others around her. She knew her parents and Streth would want her to go on, to survive, to help others survive and to learn how to stop these aliens so they couldn’t do this again to any future world.
She didn’t know what that entailed, but Professor Wilkens had a plan and was counting on her, and she was determined not to let him down. Besides, she wanted to find out what ad astra meant in practical terms. Why had Professor Wilkens mentioned those words to her? Only by completing her mission would she find out more about ad astra.
-
Captain Garcia headed over to a large table that had been set up which held several round tubes. Garcia removed the lid from one and pulled out a large detailed map of the area. He gestured for Lieutenant Symington and Sergeant Anderson to join him. “Lieutenant, take ten rifle squads and set up a skirmish line along this creek.”
Lieutenant Symington looked at where Garcia pointed. The creek wound twelve miles through the forest before emptying into a small river. It was about five miles east of their current position. “That’s some pretty rough country. It won’t be easy spotting the civilians. What if we miss some of them?”
Garcia nodded his agreement. “It will be up to our people on the ATVs to find them and guide them to us. If you look at this map there are a number of game trails and even a few hiking trails civilians can use to go deeper into the mountains.” Garcia knew sometime in the past great efforts had gone into making these detailed maps. Game trails were not normally marked on maps but they were on these.
“The Trellixians could use them as well,” muttered Sergeant Anderson. “What if we take some claymores and set them up on the main trails with remote detonators? We will let the civilians by but if we spot a Trellixian we can set them off. It might be the best way to take them out.”
Garcia looked at Lieutenant Symington who nodded in agreement. “We’ll be spread pretty thin, covering twelve miles along that creek. At least the creek gives us a clear area where we can spot anyone coming across. Also, by focusing more on the game trails and the few hiking trails which cross that creek it gives us a better idea as to where to place our people.”
“What about Captain Reynolds?” asked Symington, gesturing in her direction.
Captain Garcia turned toward Captain Reynolds who was talking to Corporal Sampson. “She’ll be going with you. Take Corporal Sampson along and two other Rangers. They’re to stay with Captain Reynolds at all times. See what she needs to take along. I understand she has some special surveillance equipment that might prove useful.”
-
Lieutenant Symington looked at the young woman. She wasn’t a Ranger but she was still military. He noticed she had a 9mm Glock strapped to her waist. He hoped she knew how to use it. “What about supplies? How long will we be gone?”
“I spoke more with Major Dolan before we left. The entire battalion will be rotating through this skirmish line. Machine-gun posts are to be set up where the major game and hiking trials cross the creek. Once you’ve surveyed the area let me know what’s needed and I’ll send it.”
Lieutenant Symington studied the map deep in thought before speaking. “The Trellixians worry me. I have no idea how hard it will be to bring down one of their soldiers. How about taking a couple mortar teams? A few M224s might be useful if we run across a squad or more of Trellixians.” The M224 mortar had an effective firing range of 3,800 yards.
-
Garcia bent over the map, doing some figuring. “Take six mortar teams. Put them in secure locations and I’ll see what I can do about getting Major Dolan to send more Rangers. I don’t want any civilians or Trellixians slipping through the skirmish line.” Garcia paused and looked at Lieutenant Symington and Sergeant Anderson. “We have no idea what’s out there so be careful.”
“What about any regular Army units that come through?”
Garcia blinked his eyes and looked thoughtful. “Keep all the Reserve and the National Guard troops with the civilians as well as a few regular Army units if you run across any. Depending on the numbers we might put some of the regulars on that skirmish line. I would feel a lot better if we had it covered more thoroughly. As it is a few civilians may slip through undetected.” He knew if they did there was a good chance they would end up dying in the mountains. This was a dangerous place for the inexperienced.
“How soon do we leave?”
“Take a few hours to rest. That was a pretty long hike. Get your supplies gathered up. We’ll stay in contact with our short-range communications. Nothing long-range; I don’t want to risk the Trellixians picking it up.”
“I’ll start getting everything organized,” said Symington.
“I’ll get the mortar teams set up,” Sergeant Anderson said as he turned and walked toward some of the Rangers waiting for orders.
“Be careful,” said Captain Garcia. “We have no idea what weapons the Trellixian infantry may have. With any kind of luck we’ll find enough regular Army units to strengthen the line so we can hold it if any Trellixians show up.”
Symington let out a deep breath. “As Major Dolan said it might be months before they begin to search the mountains. By then we’ll be ready for them.”
“Let’s hope so,” replied Captain Garcia. But in the back of his mind he was deeply concerned. From the reports they had received back at the base the Trellixians were rampaging across the planet, crushing any and all opposition. It wouldn’t be long before they turned toward the mountains.
-
Lisa drew in a deep breath. They had walked another six miles to a wide stream where Lieutenant Symington indicated for everyone to come to a halt. Lisa slid her pack off her shoulders and sat down, leaning against a large tree. Looking up she could barely see the sun through the branches. She took out her canteen and had a
sip of water. It was so peaceful out here in the mountains. It was hard to imagine what was going on across the world with the Trellixians.
-
“This is the largest hiking trail on the map,” Symington said as he eyed the footpath which stopped at the far side of the creek and then began again on the side where he stood. A small wooden bridge accessed both sides. The bridge was just wide enough for two people to walk across side by side. It looked as if it had been recently repaired. “Corporal Sampson, you and your team will stay here as well as one squad.”
Sampson eyed the bridge and the trail beyond. “Wish we had brought a couple of MK48s with us or even one of the M240s.”
“Maybe later,” said Sergeant Anderson. “Once we get everyone into position we can better reevaluate what weapons we need. No point in carrying stuff we don’t have a use for.”
“We’ll leave a mortar team here as well,” said Lieutenant Symington.
Corporal Sampson nodded. “What about radio contact?”
“Regular check-ins every four hours. Make them brief.”
Symington looked at Sergeant Anderson. “You take four squads and head north and I’ll take the other five heading south. Our primary concern needs to be the hiking trails. If I was a civilian or military unit fleeing into the mountains that’s what I’d use to put some distance between me and what’s going on in the cities.”
“What about the mortar teams?”
“Your discretion,” Symington replied. “Put them where you think they’ll do the most good. Once we’ve got everyone situated I’ll contact Captain Garcia and have the machine guns sent out.”
A few minutes later they moved out, going in opposite directions.
-
Lisa had listened to the entire exchange between the three. At least with the rifle squad remaining, plus Corporal Sampson, the mortar team, and her two escorts it left fourteen Rangers at the bridge plus herself. It made her feel a little more secure.
Earth Fall: Invasion : (Book One) Page 8
