“Uh, Spartan, look!” said Gun.
Spartan followed his gaze and quickly identified the glowing shape of a superheated object dropping out of orbit. No sooner had it levelled off before three much smaller vessels gave chase. Spartan didn’t recognise any of them, but it was clear they weren’t friends. The largest of the four seemed to split up into smaller components. Each of them moved apart and turned in the direction of the valley leading to the artefact. The pursuing craft fired a variety of weapons at the targets, but in just seconds two had vaporised, leaving the third to turn and desperately try to escape. The pursued turned to the pursuer, chasing it relentlessly until finally striking it with continuous gunfire.
“”I don’t like this,” said Spartan. “We need to fall back. They’re coming this way.”
With that, he took a few steps back from the soldiers. One of them spotted his movement and watched him move away. The soldier tapped the side of his helmet and the front lifted up and into the back of the armour, revealing a pale white, almost alabaster looking face. A face that was female and definitely human. The soldier spoke, but her language was completely alien to him. He was about to lift his hand in confusion when the rough synthesised sound of the soldier’s suit started speaking.
“We...danger, must leave…follow!”
Her visor clamped back shut, hiding her face as before. The soldier extended her right hand, exposing a control unit on her arm. She tapped three buttons, and a gentle rumble started from her left. Spartan glanced in the direction of the sound to see a sliding door expose a tunnel under the ground. The entrance was at least the height of the Jötnar and wide enough for three of them to stand abreast. It was no simple door either. As the three soldiers ran over to the hole in the ground, it was clear the outer layer was almost half a metre thick and plated with multiple sections on the inside. The three disappeared inside, leaving just Spartan and his team to await the arrival of the other vessels. The female soldier moved back and looked towards Spartan.
“They come for us...follow,” and with that she was gone.
Spartan connected back to the Bulldog.
“Issac, what’s your status?”
The reply was rough, probably from the jostling and jumping about as the Bulldog made its way back to the base.
“We’re almost back to the ridge. Team Bravo has already left with two engineer teams, and they’re halfway back. My sensors show those craft are coming down to land. They’re after you with a purpose, old friend.”
Teresa grabbed Spartan’s shoulder.
“We have to get back to the camp. If we wait any...” The whistle of missiles from the approaching vessels cut her off. Now that they were closer, they could see the craft were almost the size of Alliance transports and heavily armed. The missiles slammed into the positions around the retreating engineers, and at least one struck Issac Ocano’s Bulldog as it continued its final struggle up the ridge. Gun grabbed Spartan and threw him inside the hatch, and the others all rushed to follow. As Teresa reached it, another volley of missiles exploded around them, and she was thrown full force to the ground. She blacked out, but not before she spotted the hatch starting to close. The last thing she saw was movement outside, then blackness.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Titan, the old moon of Saturn saw new life with the creation of the Interstellar Network. The moon had been settled for centuries, but its standing as the first among many colonies gave it an almost mythical reputation. As the development of the Old Solar System began, so did the interest and pilgrimages to what was considered by some to be the spiritual home of those who had left Earth for a new life. Titan became to the Alliance what the Holy Lands had been for Western Civilisation on Earth.
The Lost World
Jack was the first to reach the port side weapons array on board the stricken frigate. It had taken almost fifteen minutes to get there, but luckily, they’d managed to avoid running into any hostile forces or problems. That was at least, until they approached the large metal blast door that led into the compartment. Not only was it shut, but was mechanically sealed from the inside.
“We’ve got a problem,” said Jack in a dour tone.
Wictred pulled himself into position around the door, jamming his body to the wall so that he could exert as much effort as possible onto the lever. He groaned as he used every ounce of strength to try and force it, to no avail. He loosened his hold and looked back to Jack.
“It’s locked.”
Jack shook his head at his old friend.
“You don’t say.”
Anne tapped her hand on the thick metal three times and then called out.
“Is there anybody there? This is Nurse Anne Fitzgerald. We need to come in.”
A dull clanging sound issued from the other side, and in one slow movement, the door slid open. Wictred moved to the opening, only to stop himself at the sight of three rifle barrels. Jack lifted his hands and placed them in front of his friend.
“He’s with us. We’re from APS Corporation.”
“Get in here, fast!” said a gruff voice from in the shadows.
Jack moved in first, and the other three followed right behind him. As soon as they made it inside, the great metal door slammed shut behind them. A gentle glow from the far corner showed up the shapes of the marines hiding behind what cover they could find.
“Who’s in charge here?” demanded Jack.
A shape moved closer until a squat looking man wearing half of his PDS armour stood just half a metre to his front.
“Lieutenant Veeranki, ship’s security. What the hell are you doing on my ship? The order to evacuate has already been given.”
“No shit!” said the marine that had come with them. “We are all that’s left. What are you doing holed up in here?”
The Lieutenant seemed to soften at the sight of one of his own.
“The lifeboat isn’t functioning properly. We’ve got a Navy tech guy working on it, but he reckons another thirty minutes before the system his workaround is in place. You know what’s going on here?”
Jack looked to Wictred, who seemed to have little interest in contributing to the conversation. It was one of those peculiarities of the Jötnar. Although they were interested in battle and adventure, they rarely said anything unless they had something genuinely to contribute. It was both a benefit and a curse, and right now, Jack would have liked to hear something from his friend. His attention was drawn to Anne. She was moving about, speaking quietly to the other marines. Even in this situation, she seemed more interested in doing her job. At least one of them was badly in need of some help, with two arm wounds.
Maybe it’s just keeping her busy.
He looked back to the marine.
“There’s a fleet of ships out there, and they are attacking Alliance vessels. I don’t know what they want, but negotiation doesn’t seem to be at the top of the list.”
He pointed back to the door.
“They have a ship running abeam and had troops move inside to disable us.”
A head appeared from the entrance to the lifeboat. It was a much older looking man in grubby overalls, and the interior lighting of the lifeboat backlit him neatly.
“Did you say one of them is alongside us? I thought they would have left sometime ago.”
Jack nodded. “Yeah, why?”
“Well, as the Chief Engineer, I’m the only one of us here with access codes for the primary server. With my information, you can trigger the auto destruct. It might be the only way to stop this ship getting any closer to the Spacebridge.”
“So?” asked one of the marines.
Wictred looked at the man and then slammed his oversized fist into the bulkhead.
“He means we can destroy the ship, and maybe take theirs with us, before they can cause any more trouble.”
At that one comment, the small storage area seemed to fill with agreeable faces.
“Alright, sounds like a plan, but you’re forgetting one small de
tail. We are still stuck here. I don’t know about you, but I have no interest in burning here. What did you have in mind?”
“I’ll show you the route. It will take you about fifteen minutes to get there, and then sixty seconds to start the sequence. It’s only a three minute countdown, so you won’t have time to get back.”
“Great, I assume you have a plan for that as well?” asked Wictred.
“Yeah,” answered the Chief smugly. “I’ll meet you at the Six Alpha docking point. It’s three sections from where you’ll be anyway. It’s normally only used for cargo and the like, but there’s no reason why a pod or lifeboat can’t dock there, force a magnetic seal, and trigger the airlock. It will need some pretty good flying. Lucky I’m good at that, as well!”
“Isn’t that cutting it a bit fine? What if you can’t get the lifeboat working?”
He looked inside the craft and back to Jack.
“Oh, she’ll fly, don’t worry about that. What you need to worry about is the guns on that thing outside. The last lifeboat we launched was vaporised once it hit the ten thousand metres marker. This might be our only way out of here. We need to be hitting the five thousand metres mark when the auto-destruct activates.”
“What about the shock wave?” Wictred asked.
The Chief shook his head in an irritated fashion.
“Don’t you kids learn anything in school now? There won’t be a shockwave in space. There will be a very short-lived heat bloom though that will vaporise anything within a kilometre of the frigate, probably more with the enemy ship combined. Depends what’s on board and how they built her.”
Jack nodded slowly. “Okay, what do we need to know?”
* * *
Spartan activated his thermal and infrared overlay as they continued deeper underground and through the tunnel system. Teresa stood at his side, and the rest of the APS team followed directly behind with their blades drawn and at the ready. They’d been inside now for almost five minutes and continued on the gentle gradient deeper into the site. The three soldiers had vanished long ago, as they moved with greater speed. Spartan was not happy, and it was just as well he was at the front, so none of the others could see his expression.
We have a lot of good people on the surface. Are any of them still there?
He checked his IFF system, but even this short distance underground had completely blocked his medium to long range communications. The only good news that he could see was that a small number of his people had made it to the vicinity of the encampment. That was all he had, but he did know the site was well protected with automated turrets and contained enough weapons and supplies for multiple APS teams if needed.
I just hope they keep their heads down. Last thing we need is a massacre on Hades.
Teresa nursed her head as she did her best to maintain Spartan’s fast pace. The blast as they’d entered the tunnel had knocked her out cold, and the pain in her skull was ever present. Even so, not one of them wanted to lurk near the surface to face whatever was going about its business.
“Where are they taking us?” she asked suspiciously.
Spartan trudged onwards and shrugged at her.
“Who knows? It’s pretty clear they live here though, and they were trying to keep us away from the artefact at the dig site. We must have disturbed something down there.”
Teresa nodded as ideas gelled together in her mind.
“Like Jack and Wictred did when they found those machines?”
“Maybe,” he replied.
The idea made sense. There had been no violence until particular sites on the moon had been interfered with. First was the marine unit under Colonel Daniels. Then had came Jack, and now this catastrophe at the dig site.
His attention was drawn ahead as a bright light appeared directly in front of them. It took a moment for the suit to adjust to the brightness, but Spartan kept moving forwards. A few more steps, and they reached the end of the corridor and stood on the perimeter of a vast cavern that had been cut into a beautifully intricate structure. It immediately reminded him of the exquisite architecture of Terran Nova with its detailed arches and columns. The designs here were not identical, but the artistic design and quality of work were evident. Most of the area was open, but the walls were filled with columns and small buildings that although very narrow, seemed to reach up and merge with the very rock itself.
Waiting almost fifty metres away were two-dozen of the warriors. They stood in what looked like an open plan temple. Columns ran in a circle around them, and in the centre was a hexagonal stone object covered in tubes and wiring. Above it floated a holographic model of a dozen spheres.
Planets? Spartan wondered.
All were armoured in the same fashion, apart from the woman they’d met previously. She took one step away from them and waved her right arm in some odd and flamboyant fashion before stepping back. A different soldier stepped forward and deactivated the complex helmet arrangement; to Spartan’s surprise it was another female face. She then spoke in much the same fashion as the first; her alien sounding tongue quickly masked by the synthetic tones of her suit.
“Greetings, Spartan, Commander of the Alliance. Welcome to our home.”
Spartan looked over to Teresa and then to Gun, but neither said anything. Every one of them seemed as surprised as him. He returned his look to the pale, pallid face of the soldier.
“Greetings to you. What is your name? Who are you?”
The pale-faced soldier moved her head and looked around at the underground facility, returning her gaze to Spartan.
“I am Ayndir,” she said slowly, lifting her hands to indicate those behind her, “and we are the T'Kari. The last of our race.”
Spartan’s mind rushed as a hundred questions entered his thoughts.
“How can you understand us?” It was the first question he really wanted answered.
The woman nodded and continued speaking.
“We have listened to your data since you came here. Our technology has deciphered your tongue. Our suits can translate for us.”
She paused as though wanting to say something uncomfortable.
“Spartan, Commander of the Alliance. Why have you come here? Why have you disturbed our buried dead?”
She then stepped closer and raised her tone.
“Why did you awaken the machine?”
The inside of the structure vibrated violently. Small chunks of stone broke from the ceiling, dropping down almost a hundred metres and then crashing to the ground. Teresa grabbed him as he lost his footing from the shaking, but then it died back as quickly as it had arrived. Off to the sides of the open space, a number of armoured doors opened. Small groups of people, this time unarmoured, appeared to look at the new arrivals. One, a tall woman with long white hair approached, looked at them and launched into a long discussion with Ayndir. Half way through their conversation, the woman lifted out an object from her robes. It flashed and displayed a holographic image of the surface of the moon. It showed the Alliance encampment and the arrival of four APS Bulldog vehicles. Dozens of people were rushing about, and Spartan was sure he could see several of his operatives in full armour taking up positions on the perimeter.
“Hey, what’s going on?” he demanded.
Ayndir lifted her eyes to him but waited until the unarmoured woman finished speaking.
“Your people, up there,” she explained, looking to the ceiling. “They have brought the wrath of machines back to our worlds. It will not be long now.”
Gun stepped forwards to Spartan.
“What’s the plan? We can’t leave them alone up there. This is a war!”
The other Jötnar growled in agreement. Khan even turned to head back the way they had arrived, but Ayndir lifted her hand in an obvious gesture.
“Your people will be safe up there...for now,” she said calmly.
In the background, another group of a dozen of the soldiers ran past and into a different tunnel entrance. Gun immediately suspe
cted betrayal; his patience now starting to wear thin.
“Explain!” snapped Gun.
“The machines know some of our people still live. They will finish what they started nine hundred solar cycles ago. Our doom approaches. Your people will suffer...after our fall.”
“Bullshit!” shouted Khan angrily. He swung his blade, creating a whirring sound that caught the attention of all the soldiers. Spartan noticed their interest and could only assume it was the complete difference between the Jötnar and him and Teresa.
Activity inside the open area continued, as what could only be assumed were civilians lined up near to two large structures. They were being handed weapons, much like those carried by the soldiers. Interestingly, these civilians were a mixture of male and female, but he spotted no children or youths of any age. Spartan knew immediately that something bad was about to happen. He grabbed Teresa by the shoulder.
“You don’t arm civilians unless things are bad.”
He then turned to the others.
“Get ready.”
The soldiers split from the centre of the space and rushed to a variety of doorways along the outer rim. Only four remained, including Ayndir as well as the civilian. The civilian spoke in hushed tones to Ayndir who then repeated them through her suit’s translator.
“The machines left this sector seventeen of your solar cycles ago. Their military base was destroyed, and our race was extinct. At least, they thought we were, until now. They have many enemies, but you have reminded them of us, and our resistance. Now it is the end.”
A repeating tone appeared from nowhere, and it seemed to galvanise the T'Kari who rushed to cover, preparing for the end. Every structure, column and building seemed built with the dual purpose of being a defensive position. Loud thuds came from multiple directions deep inside the thick stone.
“You are already?” asked Spartan to his tiny group. Teresa and Spartan both had their carbines loaded and lifted to the shoulder. The Jötnar lifted their weapons while Gun raised his arm-mounted weapon.
Legions of Orion (Star Crusades Nexus, Book 1) Page 23
