I placed my hand on the barrel of the cannon as I looked it over. “Do you think you can activate it? The targeting module, I mean.”
Hicks nodded his head. “If it is like everything else around here, it will be a cinch. Just about everything we have come across has been well designed. I wish we could get some of those engineers back on the Grid for a bit.”
Hicks looked over at a corporal standing at the door controls. “Give us a sec to close up, then open those doors!”
Hicks motioned for me to close up my helmet. The air outside was breathable, but the oxygen levels were not high enough to sustain Human life for any length of time.
Several loud clangs could be heard as the safety locks on the maintenance doors released. Vacuum pumps could then be heard as the air pressure inside and out was equalized. The maintenance doors then rumbled as they opened.
I spoke. “Bring the targeting module online.”
Hicks replied several seconds later, “Targeting is online, Sir. Take your pick of the two and we will give it a go.”
I checked over the console display. “Hit that one on the right side. It’s over in the direction we want to put up that comm array.”
The right ship was selected and the generator power switched online. The barrel of the pulse cannon glowed red.
Hicks spoke. “Ready when you are, Sir.”
I replied, “Take the shot. Corporal Bellows! Be prepared to shut that door on my command!”
Sergeant Jefferson Hicks flipped a switch enabling the handgrip. He squeezed the trigger.
Fwuump!
The pulse cannon sent out a compressed gravity pulse at just below light speed. The targeting module worked as designed. The pulse impacted the right-hand ship.
The port video sensors showed the damage the enhanced pulse cannon had delivered. A twenty-meter depression formed on an otherwise flat surface area of the ship.
Hicks spoke as the ship began to descend towards the ground. “Sir, it doesn’t look bad from the outside, but there has to be a tremendous amount of internal damage to leave that kind of depression on an external skin. She is coming in hot, Sir. Impact looks to be about two kilometers west of here.”
I replied, “What about the other ship?”
Hicks switched console scales as he attempted to follow the second Colossun ship. “She’s heading to high orbit, Sir.”
I switched comm channels. “Major! Assemble a team and head for that downed ship. We place it about two kilometers west of here. It came in hot, but we didn’t get any type of explosion. They may have managed a hard landing. I want to know if we can get on board before those Colossun troops make it there or before they can make repairs!”
The major concurred, and four squads were quickly assembled.
I turned back to the sergeant. “We were talking about putting this thing up on a raised platform. How quick can you do that?”
Sergeant Hicks replied, “We have most of the parts to build a simple scissor lift. Give me about forty minutes and we can raise her up if needed. You want to take another shot at that downed ship?”
I paced for a moment as I thought. “That might be a good idea, Sergeant. What I was thinking was that we turn this cannon on those Colossun troops if they begin to head this way. Out in that open tundra, they won’t have any defense against it.”
Hicks smiled. “I have another idea for you, Sir. We have three more of these cannons out there in the main bay. I think we should begin conversion of those immediately. If we can round up enough ion cable from the wreckage of our transport, we should be able to power all four with this generator. We only ran that last shot at 18 percent peak power.”
Sergeant Hicks sent word to several other squads. They would begin work on transforming the remaining pulse cannons to run off our generator. While the other teams scrambled, the sergeant took several shots at the remaining Colossun ship. The targeting module of the pulse cannon did not have the resolution necessary for an accurate shot at that distance. The Vulture, as it had been named after its continuous circling, was safe for the time being.
Being the action junkie that I was had me itching to go out to the downed Colossun ship. I slung my AK over my shoulder and loaded my satchel with supplies. Before I could make the move to join the squads heading out to the ship, I was confronted by Ashley.
Ashley spoke. “And where do you think you are going?”
I replied, “I’m going out to check that ship. I’m hoping I can come with a different viewpoint than what the Marines are taking out there.”
Ashley shook her head. “A different viewpoint? Really?”
I replied, “Hey, aren’t you supposed to be resting? I thought we agreed you would stay off of that until it had time to heal.”
Ashley leaned her crutches against the table and sat down in a chair. The Grell who had been assisting her had crafted a crude prosthetic that allowed her put a slight pressure on the damaged leg without aggravating the wound. She used it as a reason to come topside.
Ashley spoke. “I can’t just sit down there any longer, Don. I guess I just don’t have the patience for healing. And if you are worried about me asking you to not go out there, all I can say is, please at least let me tap into your comm. I can watch your helmet-cam. And I promise to not interfere. I just want to see what is happening.”
I replied, “I wish I could take you along. This is the sort of thing your mil-intelligence background is made for. I’ll open up the channel. And if you see anything that I may be missing, just speak up. We are all on the same team here.”
Ashley smiled and waved me over for a kiss. After several seconds of reward, I turned and sprinted to catch up with the others. I hurried through an air lock and up through a door onto the surface.
Inside the insulation of the combat suit, I could not feel the bitter cold outside, or the biting wind that accompanied it. The cold, however, was evident as the joints in my suit slightly stiffened. I quickly caught up to the first of four squads being led by Lieutenant Harmon Baxter.
Baxter spoke. “Mr. Grange. I hope you don’t mind, but the major asked me to keep an eye on you. If you catch me sneaking a look from time to time, don’t get yourself worried. I don’t have any special feelin’s for ya.”
Baxter grinned and turned away before I had a chance to respond. He was stout for an officer. Most members of the officers corps were tall and thin, while the ground pounders and ship stormers had a build similar to Baxter. His sausage-like fingers and thick forearms told me that he wasn’t to be messed with. I took no issue with his assignment to look after me.
As we jogged along, I had a sudden realization. Each of the Marines was carrying a Colossun pulser rifle.
I reopened the comm channel to Lieutenant Baxter. “Are those Colossun pulsers?”
Baxter replied, “Yes, Sir, we found their armory and helped ourselves to what they had. There were only twenty of these rifles in there. The major told us to take them. I just hope they are effective against those androids, or we are going to be running for our lives.”
Word came over the comm as we jogged out to the downed Vulture. “This is Sergeant Hull. The major told me to pass along the latest on the Colossun troops to the south. They stopped their march at about twelve kilometers and have been taking up a formation. They count about eight hundred now, with more arriving in the column behind them.”
I replied, “Tell the major thanks for the updates. I will let him know as soon as we arrive at the ship. If anything new develops on that end, please pass it along. We are about as exposed as you could be out here.”
Hull replied, “Roger that, Sir; will inform the major.”
The two kilometers was a short jog with the slightly lower gravity of Ponik. We stopped just short of the ship using a low dune as cover.
Baxter spoke. “Grimes, take your squad about a hundred meters left, and Verona, take yours to the right. And keep out of sight. If we choose to go in there, I want it to be a surprise.”
The aliens were a short, squatty species with arms that made their hands almost drag on the ground. As one looked over the damage and radioed information back to those inside, the other appeared to shiver from the extreme cold.
I spoke. “Baxter, are you catching that one frisking his arms? Looks like he is cold. If so, those suits they are wearing aren’t space worthy.”
Baxter replied, “I wouldn’t call those battle ready either. Those are just heavy uniforms.”
I nodded in reply. “Are you feeling the urge to just charge in there? If they only have two soldiers with them, it shouldn’t be much of a fight.”
Baxter turned towards me and replied, “Give us a few minutes. The guys are working on their comm right now. We cracked the encryption on those androids. These little guys are using something different. Techs think they can crack it, though, so we’ll give them a few extra minutes.”
Baxter’s gaze returned to the new alien species. As he had predicted, the techs soon cracked the new Colossun code.
The alien words soon came through. “We can’t fly without the port dampener! The gravity forces would crush us if we attempted any strong maneuvers. We can’t risk taking to the air with that cannon they have. We will just have to wait for the others. When we have that port, repairs can be made.”
Baxter again turned my way. “Sir, if others are coming, I think we should go ahead and make our move.”
I replied, “Give the order. And from here on, I’m following you.”
Baxter set his plan in motion. A member of the left squad stood and fired a pulse into the air. He then disappeared behind the dune he had risen from. As the Colossuns turned to investigate, the right squad sprinted from their position.
The soldiers were the first to be targeted as Baxter gave the command for the remaining two squads. I soon found myself running, covering twenty meters with each stride. The Colossun soldiers returned two pulse blasts before the lieutenant’s men overtook their position. Their own rifles were highly effective when used against them.
As we arrived beside the ship, the two aliens had gone back on board. Small compartment doors then began to open on the front and back of the ship. Pulse cannons began to fire. Grimes’s squad was caught in the open.
As they turned back towards the cover of the dunes, gravity pulses began to impact the ground around them. Frozen chunks of dirt flew in every direction. Their battle suits performed as they were designed to do, but the physical forces were too much for the Marines as they were tossed about like bags of sand. Grimes dove on the ground and fired back at the ship, striking one of the cannons and stopping its train of pulses, but the other cannons soon took their toll.
Half of Verona’s squad made it back to cover, minus their squad leader. Our own fate had been determined by our approach to the damaged section of the ship.
I spoke. “We have to take out those cannons, or this quickly becomes a stalemate. Did anyone see how the two aliens got back aboard?”
A private responded, “Yes, Sir. They went through a hatch just under here. They sure moved quick for being little butterballs!”
I asked the others to stand back. “Let’s see if their shielding can handle these pulsers. Lieutenant, hit that door!”
Four pulses were fired. No damage could be seen as a result.
Lieutenant Baxter spoke. “Everyone take a couple steps back. Put everything you have into that damaged section. Maybe there is a breach in whatever they use as shielding.”
The eight members of our squad stepped back and began to fire.
Fwump! Fwump! Fwump! Fwump! Fwump!
Baxter again spoke out. “Everyone focus on that plate to the left!”
Fwump! Fwump! Fwump! Fwump! Fwump!
The armored plate began to peel back from the inner skin of the ship. We soon had the breach that we were looking for. But the aliens inside were not giving up. The engines of the small warcraft sprang to life. Without thinking, I switched to my ion blaster and sent a flurry of blue bolts directly into an activated thruster nozzle.
Pzzzt! Pzzzt! Pzzzt! Pzzzt!
The engine hissed and went silent. A second and a third nozzle then shut down. The alien craft was not leaving.
Our weapons were focused back on the breach, and a hole soon began to open to the interior of the ship. I opened a comm channel to the frequency they had been using.
“This is to the ship’s captain. Give up now and you will not be harmed. Shut down your weapons and come out peacefully!”
Several seconds passed before I received a response. “How do we know we can trust you?”
I replied, “You really don’t have much of a choice. You either stay inside there and die once that hole becomes large enough for us to enter, or you surrender and live. Seems like an easy choice to me!”
Several seconds passed before the alien responded. “We are coming out. Weapons are offline.”
Baxter held up his hand, and our assault on the alien vessel ceased. The hatch on the bottom of the ship opened, and two oversized Tribuks dropped out onto the ground.
I spoke. “I’ve met other Tribuk before; they were skinny. Why are you two so… robust?”
One of the Tribuks spoke. “They were of a lower class. You must be referring to the missing ore hauler. We are a fighting ship. Our meals are of a higher quality.”
The second Tribuk spoke. “And quantity! We eat like…”
The first Tribuk put his hand in front of the other. “Shut up, Riffus. I will do the talking. The quantity is also generous.”
I turned to Baxter. “Check them out and have two of your men stay here. Get any injured back to the port, and get these two back for interrogation.”
Baxter spoke over his comm. “Sharky, you stay with me. Randall, take any in need of attention back to the port immediately. We will be along after we check out this ship.”
I spoke. “On second thought, you, Mr. Quantity, you stay here, and your friend there, the bossy one, is going back with them.”
The first Tribuk began to speak, and I quickly held up my hand. “Woap! You aren’t in charge here. It would be better for you if you remained silent right now.”
The Tribuk closed his mouth and gave a slight bow in acceptance of my statement. Corporal Randall soon had the others on their way.
I turned back to the now-shivering Tribuk. “I take it that heavy uniform is not made for hanging around out here. Let’s go inside and you can show us around.”
The Tribuk nodded enthusiastically and turned for the hatch. I grabbed his shivering arm and pulled him back a step.
I spoke. “Mr. Baxter, would you care to go first?”
Baxter replied, “I believe I would, Mr. Grange. Thank you for the courtesy.”
I gestured, and Lieutenant Baxter moved up into the hatch to the interior of the ship beyond. The Tribuk went second, followed by myself and Private Sharky. The temperature inside was warm and comfortable.
I spoke to Riffus. “The other guy—I guess that is your captain?”
Riffus replied, “Yes. He is the captain of the Yorm.”
I continued. “There are only the two ships here on Ponik?”
Riffus again replied, “Yes.”
I sat back in the captain’s chair, which was surprisingly comfortable given its small size. “How close is the nearest base or colony? When can we expect more Colossun ships to arrive?”
Riffus hesitated. “I… I cannot be certain. I was not told of such details.”
I replied, “Was this something the captain would know?”
Riffus sniffled and coughed as the remains of the cold outside air lingered. “The captain would know. He has been there, but he will not speak of it to me.”
Word then came over the comm of a second column of Colossun soldiers coming from the east.
Lieutenant Baxter spoke. “I think it’s time we head back to the port, Sir. We don’t want to be caught out here by ourselves. I say we send out a team of Grell to see what they can do about moving this ship back there also.”
I replied, “All good points, Lieutenant. Let’s get started back.”
I looked at the still-shivering Tribuk. “Do you have any gear that will let you travel out there? The walk isn’t long, but there is no reason for you to freeze if you do not have to.”
Riffus replied, “Yes, yes, thank you, Sir. I could use the captain’s dress coat. It is made of Felupe hide. I could return it to him when we arrive. He will not be pleased, but I will be warm.”
I shook my head. “You get that coat, and we will tell the captain that I insisted. Grab it and let’s go.”
As we stepped out of the lower hatch, a bright green beam shone down a few hundred meters from our position. It was followed by a thunderous explosion of sand and frozen dirt. The Colossun ship in orbit had begun targeting its downed partner.
I raised the major over the comm. “See if you can force that ship to stop firing! I want to drag this thing back to the port if we can. Maybe we can make a few mods and get it flying!”
Several minutes passed before the particle beam blasts came to an end. The pulse cannon in the maintenance bay had been used to send a stream of pulses in the orbiting ship’s direction. It had been forced to cease firing and to pull back even farther. We made it safely back to the port ten minutes later.
Chapter 12
The Grell were industrious and soon had a force of two thousand workers in and around the downed Colossun gunship. Any number of tracked maintenance vehicles had been taken from the port in an attempt to move the ship from its vulnerable desert position into the safety and security of the main port bay.
I joined Ashley as she was giving Chimuk Peel, the downed ship’s captain, a good working over. Once the reality of his captivity had set in, he was eager to cooperate in any way he could.
Ashley spoke. “This Colossun base you visited—how long does it take a ship to reach here from there? And, is that the closest Colossun vessel besides the one in orbit up above?”
AMP Colossus Page 12
