Exodus: Empires at War: Book 7: Counter Strike

by Doug Dandridge

  “That damned thing in the subbasement. When I found out what it was doing, I wanted out, but I saw what the damned thing did to my buddy, Gavin. No one should be torn apart like that.”

  “And where is this, thing?” asked Rykio, not really interested in what happened to Gavin.

  “In the room, under the subbasement,” stammered the man. “Go into the subbasement and look for another lift at the northeast corner. It goes down about fifty meters, then it’s a maze down there.”

  Police started coming down into the room, SWAT troopers in heavy suits. The backup that the Lieutenant had requested. “Let’s go, people. We’ve got a monster to hunt.”

  It was easy enough to get into the subbasement, as the lift they had found in the basement went down there. Two men rode the lift down, then the rest jumped down onto the roof a pair at a time. The other lift was a bit more difficult to find, hidden as it was behind a false wall. A couple of the commandos carried deep radar sets, and after a complete sweep of the northeast corner the door was found and pulled open.

  “The lift is not here,” said one of the commandos, looking down the shaft. “And too far to jump.”

  “Then we go down the old fashioned way,” said the Lt. Commander

  The commando he was talking to nodded, then pulled a slender cable from a side bag. The man pushed the end of the cable against the plasticrete wall, let the nanites on that end bond, then pulled the cable to test it. Satisfied, the man went down the cable, rappelling against the wall. A moment later he was joined by another commando, coming down a second cable. They hit the roof of the lift and one started to open the top hatch. He only had it partially opened when a particle beam sliced through and came close to spearing him. Only his augmented reflexes saved him, and the two commandos blasted through the top of the lift with their own particle beams, firing until their proton packs were empty.

  With a nod one of the commandos lifted the ruined hatch again while the other threw a stun grenade into the cab of the lift. Both men grabbed their cables and pulled themselves up the wall a bit. The grenade went off, partially lifting the hatch. The men jumped back to the roof, one opening the hatch while the other dropped through. The second man followed, and two more rappelled rapidly down to the roof, then into the cab.

  The buzz of a couple of particle beams came up the shaft, and Rykio cursed that he wasn’t down there. “We’re taking fire,” said one of the commandos over the com. “No one hit, but we’re returning fire.”

  Two more commandos headed down the cables, dropping onto the roof, then through the hatch in swift motions. The firing intensified, the angry buzzing noises growing in volume as more weapons added their fire.

  “I’m going down,” said Rykio, grabbing hold of a cable.

  “Wait a moment,” said the Lt. Commander, putting a hand on the Detective’s shoulder.

  “Clear,” shouted out the Chief Petty Officer from below.

  “Go ahead,” said the Lt. Commander.

  Rykio nodded and started down the cable. Haven’t done this in quite a while, he thought as he rappelled down, the cable feeding through his gloves. In a moment he was on the roof, then sliding through the hatch, hoping that the way was truly clear, and he wasn’t walking face first into enemy fire.

  The scorched meat smell hit his nostrils as soon as his feet hit the floor of the lift. One commando waited for him, the others had fanned out across the room, taking cover positions that let me see and aim down the three openings that led into the chamber.

  “There were three of them,” said the Chief, pointing over into one corner of the room, then another.

  “That doesn’t smell quite right,” said Rykio, gagging slightly.

  “They weren’t quite human,” said the Commando. “They burned just fine though, once the protons sliced through their outer covering.”

  Rykio nodded and stepped out of the lift. A moment later the Lt. Commander and another Commando came down, followed by the last pair just moments after.

  “We’ve stopped a couple of them from getting through,” came the voice of the SWAT commander over the com. “They were coming up some of the tunnels, moving quietly as you please. Not quietly enough.”

  “And prisoners?”

  “No, Ishuhi,” said the other man, also a Police Lieutenant. “They didn’t seem to be in the mood for being captured. And I wasn’t about to risk my men trying to bring them in alive.”

  “Fair enough. Keep an eye out for some more. I believe the only way they can get out of here is underground. Or so they’ll believe.”

  “We’re ready to move out, Commander,” said the senior commando officer. “Three men down each side tunnel, four down the larger central one with me. And we’ll depend on your SWAT for backup.”

  “I’ll go up the central one with you, Commander,” Rykio told the officer. He turned as something heavy landed in the lift cab, to see the first of the SWAT heavy suits had arrived.

  “Let’s go then,” said the officer to his men. “The sooner we get done here, the sooner we go home. If the attack on the Emperor isn’t still going on.”

  “The Emperor?” blurted Rykio, his eyes widening. “He’s under attack?”

  “He was when we came down here,” said the Lt. Commander, nodding.

  “Then why aren’t you there?”

  “Look, Commander,” said the commando officer, looking like he would have wanted to be there if possible. “There are over twenty thousand people there already, between the Fleet, Marines, Army and police. The eleven of us really aren’t enough to make a difference, and it’s also important to get these bastards.” The man stopped and looked at his three men. “Let’s move out.”

  * * *

  Prime did not really feel fear as most sentient beings did. He knew he was but one cell in the greater organism that was the Yugalyth. His end was regrettable, but as long as some of his kind got out of here, it would be OK. Unfortunately for him, he had no way of knowing if any of his progeny had escaped. His kind did not communicate by radio frequencies like the Margravi. Telepathy was a fantasy, as far as anyone knew. He could communicate through pheromones when his kind was close. Otherwise, he had no means of contacting them, as the use of communications devices, even highly encrypted ones, would give away the location of their users.

  The sound of particle beam weapons came down the tunnel and through the closed door. The sound rose, and the Prime knew it was because the enemy had brought more warriors into the fray. He knew he didn’t have any more to commit, as he knew that there was only one outcome possible for his outer defense. It would be overwhelmed.

  After a few moments the buzzing stopped, and there was only one explanation for that as well. Prime waited, a particle beam gripped in one of its many arms. The others were grown into claws, weapons it could hopefully use to rend its enemies. Unless they were wearing battle armor, in which case the claws would prove useless.

  It took some minutes before it heard something at the door, moving the manual opening lever after the electronic lock didn’t open it. The door swung open, and Prime went into action.

  * * *

  “Be careful,” said Rykio to the Commando at the door. “There’s definitely something behind that door.” He looked at his HUD, which showed a chemosense trace coming through the door, which was not airtight.

  “Opening,” whispered the Commando, who then turned the handle and jerked the door open, two other men right behind with weapons ready.

  None of them were ready for the clawed tentacle that came through the opening and grabbed the Commando around the shoulders. The man had time for one brief cry before he was snatched into the room.

  “Kill it,” yelled the Commander. The other two Commandos raised their rifles, but hesitated to fire with their compatriot in the way. Another tentacle came out, reaching for another victim.

  Rykio didn’t hesitate. He jumped through the door, batting aside the second tentacle, twisting in the air to dodge the particle beam
fired by the one human looking arm on the, thing, that squatted in the room. Whatever it was, it was like nothing he had ever seen before. It must have massed several tons, with claw tipped tentacles waving around it, two moving toward him. There was a head like appendage on the top, and the thing was dragging the Commando it had grabbed toward a wide orifice with large, sharp teeth.

  First things first, thought the Detective, whose mind had gone into combat overdrive, his mental processes running several times faster than normal. He fired his particle beam, vaporizing the arm that held the creature’s one high tech weapon. The thing’s particle beam rifle fell onto its mass, and a tentacle tried to grab it, failing as its clawed digits were unable to find the right grip on the weapon.

  The creature pulled the Commando to it and popped the rating’s head into its eating orifice. The Commando was wearing a soft suit of impact armor, including a high collar, and a tactical helmet. What he didn’t have was anything protecting his upper neck, and the creature’s teeth sheered through to decapitate the man. It tried to chew the head, but failed because of the tactical helmet, and swallowed the man’s head whole.

  “Goddammit,” yelled Rykio, raising his rifle and aiming at the creature’s head. He wasn’t sure if that was where its brain resided, but it was worth a try. Before he could get off the shot, something fell from the ceiling, grabbing his rifle and jerking it out of his surprised hands. He caught sight of something about the size of a child, malformed, with no legs, rolling off the mass of the creature and trying to control the rifle. Then two tentacles grabbed him and pulled him toward the eating orifice as well.

  * * *

  The mobile unit waited until its two brothers were slaughtered by the SWAT cops before it made its move. It knew the hunters had chemosensors, which were probably flooded by the scent of the two Yugalyth they had just killed. If it could only move silently enough. With a slow move it was through the opening, and into the sewers that ran under the building. This was a main, a meter and a half of filthy water and waste running through a two meter wide channel.

  The Yugalyth crawled into the water, careful to not make a sound. The gills on its neck extended as soon as it was under, and it allowed the current to pull it along. Within minutes it was a kilometer away. In no hurry to leave the sludge, it rode the current until it got almost to the treatment plant, then crawled out and looked for a worker it could take into the darkness, eventually to impersonate. It would take time, but it had time, and eventually it would make more operatives for this planet. And then the humans would pay for killing the Prime, as a new Prime went to work.

  * * *

  Rykio struggled against a creature whose strength made his augmented abilities look like those of a child. It pulled him toward its eating orifice, popped his head in, and bit down. While the commandos were wearing only soft skinned impact armor, and had exposed flesh that could be rended, the Detective was wearing the same kind of combat armor as that worn by light infantry. It was hard but flexible alloy, much too tough to be penetrated by teeth, no matter how large. The creature’s teeth splintered as it bit down, and Rykio grabbed the sides of its mouth with his gauntlets and ripped into the flesh.

  The creature started to scream, the sound coming from another orifice lower down, while the eating orifice writhed in agony. The smell coming through his nostrils, brought in by the openings in his helmet, was strong and sickening, and the reason the creature was in agony. The tentacles whipped him through the air and against the hard wall, where he fell stunned to the floor.

  Now he could hear the hum of particle beams, a continuous sound, competing with the hiss of vaporizing flesh. Rykio looked up to see the creature in a frenzy, tentacles waving, first one, then another seared off at the root. He backed himself into the corner, pulling his mag rail pistol from its holster and adding his fire to that of the commandos.

  Suddenly the creature, or what was left of it, stopped moving, its remaining tentacles flopping onto its body.

  “Cease fire,” yelled the Lt. Commander.

  “Continue to fire,” yelled Rykio. “It might be bluffing, and I want this thing dead.”

  The other officer acknowledged, and the beams started eating into the creature again, which screamed and started lashing again with its remaining tentacles. After a few more minutes, and a change of proton packs for all involved, the creature and all of its half sized minions, picked off as they tried to get at the commandos, were broiled, what hadn’t been vaporized.

  We got it, thought the Detective Lieutenant, shaking his head. But we didn’t get it in time, did we?

  Chapter Nineteen

  War should be the only study of a prince. He should consider peace only as a breathing-time, which gives him leisure to contrive, and furnishes as ability to execute, military plans.

  Niccolo Machiavelli

  CAPITULUM, JEWEL. DECEMBER 12TH, 1001.

  Sean reacted immediately as soon as he saw the flash of red out of the corner of his eye, well before the sound of the beams reached his ears. He grabbed Jennifer by the arm and flung her back into the church, then ducked down and tried to get a bead on whoever was attacking him. A half dozen of the officers who had formed the archway were down, one missing his entire head and torso. The sickening smell of scorched flesh reached his nostrils, and he knew that the odor was made up of particles of people he knew.

  Beams were coming down all around, a dozen of them, ripping through the people nearby. Citizens were screaming, trying to push away from the crowd in a panic. Marines in heavy armor were flying over the crowd, getting themselves and their better protection between the shooters and the Emperor.

  He looked back to see Jennifer trying to get out the door and to him. She was cradling her left forearm, and he was pretty sure that he had broken it when he threw her. Better that than letting you stand here and get killed, he thought, looking in approval as Cornelius grabbed the new Empress and carried her back from the entrance. She’ll be safe with him if with anyone, he thought with approval, then turned his attention back to the immediate threat, the people shooting at him, and hitting his people.

  Something exploded high up in the air, followed by another. Over a hundred armored soldiers boosted into the sky, some on a direct path toward, something. The others forming into a shield to protect those below. Particle beams came lancing down, most hitting the electromag fields of heavily armored soldiers, all of whom were now firing back.

  “What’s going on, Colonel?” asked Sean, running in a crouch toward a regimental commander in heavy armor who had established an open air command post on the top of the steps.

  “Your Majesty. Some men in combat armor flew over the plaza with their full stealth packages on. We didn’t even know they were there until they opened fire. Stingships got a couple, and my soldiers got the rest.”

  “All of them?”

  “I think so, your Majesty. But we can’t be sure right now. It would be better if you and the Empress didn’t try to fly to your reception until we do a complete sweep of the area. If they have missiles?”

  The Colonel didn’t have to complete that last sentence. If someone was hanging in the sky, stealthy, unnoticed, they could bring down a transport with a missile.

  Sean looked out over the plaza, at the clumps of people who had been killed or wounded, emergency personnel clustered around them. He felt the shock of the attack finally coming over him, his hands shaking as he thought about what almost happened to himself and his bride.

  “It might be a good idea to just cancel the reception, your Majesty,” said the Colonel, retracting his faceplate and looking at his Monarch.

  “Not on your life, Colonel,” said the Emperor, shaking his head. “That reception is more for our people than for myself and the Empress. They deserve the celebration, not the cloud this act will cast over the event. If I give in to terrorists, they have already won.”

  Sean could see the combination of concern and admiration on the officer’s face. He couldn’t r
eally care less about the admiration. He was not doing this to look the hero, but because he had meant what he said. They could not postpone things because of acts of terror. He looked at the closest clump of casualties, cringing as he saw the half body of a child. We’re lucky they didn’t deploy small yield nukes, he thought.

  “It’s clear, your Majesty,” said the Colonel.

  “Did you get them all?”

  “We’re still not sure about that, your Majesty. Some may have gotten away. But we’re sure there are no more in the area. Complete close range, full power sensor scans have been run over all the nearby buildings up to ten thousand meters.”

  And why wasn’t that done before the attack, thought the Emperor, holding back the words. Because we didn’t expect such an attack like this, we were lax, and now we paid the price.

  “I must check on the Empress,” said Sean, getting up from his crouch and running into the church.

  * * *

  Cornelius had been quite a bit back from the Emperor and Empress when they had walked through the door. As far as he was concerned, his part in the ceremony was over. He and his family were expected to be guests at the reception, both the public one at the nearby civic center, and the private one at the Palace.

  His enhanced hearing had no problem picking up the angry buzzing of particle beams just outside the church, along with the screams and shouts of people. The Ranger didn’t know what was going on, but it didn’t take a genius to realize that there was trouble out there, and his friends were right in the middle of it.

  A woman came flying through the entrance, instantly recognizable by her red hair and light blue ankle length dress. She hit a man, hard, both going down, and Cornelius knew where he needed to be.

  The Ranger shoved people out of the way as he pushed through the crowd. A few tried to shove back, and found themselves losing to his enhanced strength. Most glanced at him, and realized that he was going where he was going no matter what they wanted. Some higher ranking people started to protest, but he ignored them as he fought his way to Jennifer.