“Private, let me introduce you to my kin,” said a familiar voice.
Jack looked to his right and then his left before spotting Jae Jaan. The Khreenk commander must have arrived on one of the other Maulers before they had. Jack nodded but had no idea what to say. Jae Jaan noticed his confusion and signaled for the two to approach Jack. They stopped and extended their hands in the common sign of friendship in the Alliance. Jack shook them both and noted how like all the Khreenk, their bodies and armor were modified and customized to the individual.
“I’m Private Jack Morato, 8th Marine Corps Battalion.”
The first of the two new Khreenk released his hand.
“I am Tessuk, commander of the First Fist.”
Jack looked to Jae Jaan for an explanation.
“Ah, I see. First Fist. It is the name we use for the standard combat unit on board one of our Corsairs. Your equivalent would be…uh…”
“A Captain,” said a gruff voice.
Jack noticed the shadow across Jae Jaan’s torso and moved his eyes to the shape of Colonel Gun. A bodyguard unit of Jötnar, as well as a handful of heavily armed Vanguards flanked him. Jack felt like a child in comparison to them. Gun extended his armored fist to the Khreenk commander and shook his hand.
“Commander Gun, your reputation is well known to us.”
Gun didn’t seem overly impressed by that.
“Yours will be determined very soon.”
He then looked to Jae Jaan.
“Do your warriors have everything you need?”
Jae Jaan nodded.
“Yes. Our positions have been marked out alongside your own. All we need is somebody to shoot.”
This finally brought a different look to Gun. He struck Jack on his shoulder.
“Yes, we will all get a chance to kill a few of our friends very soon. Just make sure your positions are ready, and remember, watch the skies!”
CHAPTER FOUR
The arrival of the comet in the Helios system surprised everybody, including those members of the Narau defending the Black Rift. Promises had been made to the Alliance that the area of space around the defunct Rift could be rendered useless; just months after the arrival of the comet, this promise proved to have been misleading. The Black Rift Stronghold, as it was known, contained both the generator equipment to create a new, super-long Rift to the enemy’s homeworld, and also the ancient weapon used by the T’Kari and the Helions to collapse Rifts. The promised weapon to stop a Rift even being formed proved to have been a promise too far, and one that would cause much enmity leading up to the comet’s approach to Helios Prime.
Accounts of the Prophecy of Fire
The journey to the designated zone for 2nd Squad took nearly thirty minutes through the city. By air it could have been done in less than a minute, but following lessons learned on Eos, the marines had made some changes; that meant it would be almost impossible for them to make the trip by air. Jack spotted some of these as they made their way down one of the busier streets. Large metal and concrete spikes extended upward in all of the main open spaces, and more were being erected even as they passed.
“Sergeant, who came up with that idea?” Riku asked.
Sergeant Stone had been watching from his command cupola atop the Bulldog and had to drop down to see her.
“The spikes?”
Riku nodded. “Yes, Sergeant.”
He rested his arms on the brackets below the cupola and looked at the small group of marines, each jammed tight inside the Bulldog. There was little free space, and if there had been anymore, it would have been filled with even more marines or equipment.
“That is what is known as an air defense spike. They are quick, cheap, and perfect for causing trouble for rapid air assaults.”
The Bulldog hit a bump, and the Sergeant moved up into the cupola and narrowly avoided hitting his head on the metal frame. The Bulldog slowed down, and he looked back at the marines as if nothing had happened.
“We have substantial air defenses manned by Helion soldiers, the majority positioned on both sides of the chasm. If they are stupid enough to attack there, they will suffer massive losses. If we’re lucky, then that is exactly what they will do.”
He looked to the left, looking at something as they moved past. His cold, hard eyes watched for several seconds and then turned his attention back to his unit, as if the focus of his attention had never been there in the first place.
“Check your gear again. We arrive in thirty seconds.”
They made their way through the last of the recently cleared streets and past the lines of Helion civilians being evacuated to the other side of the chasm. It seemed to take much longer than thirty seconds, but finally they were there and on the furthest section of the city that was still occupied. The Bulldog slid to a stop, and the door opened before the dust even cleared.
“Go, go, go!” Sergeant Stone shouted.
Jack was first out of his Bulldog and stopped upon reaching the ground. The city was in an even worse state of repair here and the number of civilians reduced substantially. Wherever he spotted an open space, there were at least five of the vertical poles pushing up into the air. This world was very different to the design of Helios Prime or Eos. The buildings were lower and the streets narrow. It had more in common with a human world, and that surprised him.
“I don’t think those things will stop a Biomech lander,” he said quietly.
Riku tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to another group of marines moving about a command Bulldog. It was markedly different to the other vehicles by the amount of antenna and extra equipment fitted to it. Dozens of robotic mules, known as Rams, moved at the speed of a quick walk, carrying supplies and equipment to the dozens of squads preparing their positions. Colonel Gun had beaten them to it and was marching about issuing orders to the waiting Alliance officers while a group of Khreenk commanders watched on. Jack and the others moved closer until they could hear his voice. Jack spotted the man furthest to the right was Lieutenant Elvidge, his platoon’s commanding officer.
“Look, the LT,” said Callahan before Jack could say a word.
“This is the first line of defense,” continued Colonel Gun.
The others watched intently as he showed them a view of Spascia City. Jack stopped and watched from a short distance but was quickly spotted by Sergeant Stone.
“Private, that’s none of your concern. Leave planning this operation to the officers. I have some work for you that is just up your street.”
He fell in with the rest of the platoon as a column of marines filed past the officers. Jack only managed to hear one last piece about the marines in this sector would be assisting in the defense of the outer perimeter. They moved to the other side of the street where the buildings had been smashed down to no more than two stories in height. Nestled amongst the ruins were trailer mounted anti-aircraft guns. Jack peered at the first and noticed Helion civilians were operating it. He looked back and found Sergeant Stone right next to him.
“Problem, Private?”
“Uh, no, Sergeant.”
“Come on, Lad, if you have something to say, spit it out, or don’t waste my time to start with.”
Jack considered keeping his mouth shut, but the question just kept bouncing about in his head.
“Sergeant. If we leave our marines out on this perimeter, won’t we lose the mobility advantage that the Marine Corps has?”
The Sergeant nodded in agreement.
“That is not a bad point, Son. Luckily for us, Command has decided to keep all Bulldogs in reserve for just that. If we hit trouble, then there will be armor to extract us. Hammerheads are being armed and fueled at the landing platforms all over the mountain fortress. This isn’t Eos. This time we’ll be ready.”
Jack kept on moving, but no matter how hard he thought he couldn’t shake the images of yet another bloodbath. Even as he looked about at the ground they would be defending, he could see images of death before the fight
even started. He shook his head, but the shattered bodies of marines appeared as if ghosts in his visor.
Man, you need to snap out of this, now!
He looked to his left at the Sergeant looking right back at him.
“Good. Now, all of you get to work with the defenses around these flak guns. CES engineers will be here within the hour, and you will assist them with constructing lines of defense around the designated positions showing on your heads up displays.”
Jack’s comrades had now reached him, and each waited as the Sergeant pointed out the key points of their defense. Lieutenant Elvidge walked over to them, along with Jae Jaan and Tessuk.
“Sergeant Stone. What is our status?”
The Sergeant saluted smartly, and the rest of the marines straightened up at the sight of their officer. All three squads merged together into a substantial block that was two deep and packed with fully armored marines.
“Lieutenant, the entire platoon is present and accounted for. We’ve been fully reinforced and rearmed as per orders.”
“Excellent work, Sergeant.”
The Lieutenant grimaced for a second, as he turned from the Sergeant and looked at the marines and checked the first few in turn. A good number he recognized from their brief but violent action on Eos, but over half had come from other units, and there were many fresh faces he hadn’t even seen on the ship prior to their latest operation. There was not one among them who hadn’t seen combat though, and as was traditional, the marines never hid the scars and marks of war from their armor. The Marine Corps artificers would tidy up the paintwork and repair damage, but they were ever present, each one a reminder of the struggles taken in the past.
“We’ve been given an important mission, Sergeant. 2nd Squad has been chosen to defend this section of the line.”
He pointed out to his left and right.
“Now, we have three companies of marines along this entire front, plus a company of Khreenk warriors under the command of Tessuk here. Colonel Gun has sent us a platoon of Jötnar, all of them packing some of the newest kit we have available. I am stationing a four-man fireteam of them with you to bolster this section of the line.”
Tessuk nodded in agreement.
“My unit will be two hundred meters back and in cover. If you need assistance, just call us. We will be ready.”
Jack spotted a dozen or so of the alien warriors in the distance. They wore dark clothing with the usual assortment of mixed armor and edged weapons. They would normally have made him nervous, but today he was just thankful they would have a reserve of some kind. Even so, Jack’s first thought was that it sounded like a lot of combat units for such a small area, but at second glance, he could see they would need an entire company to fully defend just this one block. Instead, they had enough to hold only a fraction of the ground. The Lieutenant could see the worry on his face and varying levels of confusion amongst some of the other marines, but especially with Corporal Frewyn.
“What is it?”
“Well, Sir. After what happened on Eos, why would they land outside the city? Surely they will either bombard the mountain fortress itself, or just directly assault the city by dropping troops in the middle.”
“Or just land on the other side of the chasm where they can directly access the entrance to the mountain,” Private Jenkell added.
Sergeant Stone made to cut them off, but the Lieutenant waved him back.
“No, it’s okay. They are all good questions, the same ones I’ve been making to Command.”
Jack felt his heart sink for a moment. He had no problem fighting, but the thought of another Alliance debacle left a sick feeling in his stomach that he wished he could drown with something, anything. Lieutenant Elvidge must have spotted him because he moved closer, doing his best to hide the pain as he walked.
“Luckily for us, the eastern approach to the city is mainly rough terrain and mountains, and they have kept it that way deliberately. Two hundred meters below the surface of that sector are support facilities, living quarters, and enough space to house almost twenty thousand soldiers.”
Even Jack was surprised at this. Riku turned her head just a few degrees to look at him.
“Is it me, or have they been expecting this attack?”
Jack shrugged, but he had to admit, her logic was sound.
“The NHA is putting ninety percent of their air defense units to cover the approaches to the mountain, and that’s right where the weapon system is stationed. Alliance air units are spread out over two-dozen temporary air bases that we’ve established within a hundred kilometer range of the city. The only viable approach to attack in numbers is to strike from the west, right over there, while keeping us busy with aerial assaults.”
He pointed away from the city and out toward the flat country that extended as far as the eye could see. The surface was full of jagged remains of buildings that had been abandoned long ago.
“The rest of the city has been divided up into segments, each of which is based around a fortified zone. This time it will be different to Eos. Instead of holding a line, we will be holding a small fortress, with overlapping fire coming from the next two along and one behind us.”
He pointed to the north, east, and then finally to the south.
“There is a single platoon stationed at each of these redoubts, and I want you to make sure ours is strong, and I mean impregnable. We are not planning on holding the entire perimeter by ourselves. All we have to do is defend this block of sixteen ruined buildings surrounded by what’s left of these old streets, and we have only a day to prepare. Intel has the Biomechs making landfall here first, and in approximately twenty-nine hours. We have to be ready for whatever they throw at us. We will need heavy weapons at every point, and make sure we have plenty of cover.”
He looked to Sergeant Stone.
“Get markers out there to designate ranges in all directions. I want accurate, targeted firepower in this fight. Also, I we need a covered trench to the rear.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“And those, Sir?” Jack asked.
He pointed at the shape of the mobile Helion anti-aircraft mount that was moving to fit itself directly in the middle of a smashed room. It was a tight fit, but with low walls that provided protection on three sides, it was obvious why the crew were so keen to place it there.
“Yes, a good point, Private. The Helion 10thAnti-air Unit has spread thirty-seven of these mobile units around the outer perimeter of the city limits. That mean one for most of the redoubts, and that one is for us."
Jack looked back at the equipment, and only then did he spot the long hair on the Helions. There was a crew of six, and all wore cloaks covering them from their shoulders downwards. Most had their hair tied back or pulled under the cloaks but one, the tallest of the group, had hers running down over her shoulders.
"They're all women," he said, louder than he intended.
Riku saw him watching and bashed him on the forehead.
"You've never seen female soldiers before, Jack?"
He looked back to her, and at this distance, it was impossible to avoid the scorn showing on her face. Lieutenant Elvidge ignored their discussion and pointed back to the shattered block they'd been chosen to defend.
"If this goes to plan, the Biomechs will be forced away from the canyon and will land out of range of our main guns. That’s if they want to live and that's when we can expect trouble. The perimeter flak guns will be there for air defense and also as improvised heavy weapon emplacements."
He paused for a moment while checking details on his helmet visor and then looked to Sergeant Stone.
"News from the fleet. The enemy's Ark is coming into range. All assessments suggest they will be engaging it very soon."
The Sergeant nodded grimly and then twisted his head back to look at the thirty-six marines, each of them waiting patiently.
"Right, corporals get here now. I want this place bottled up in under six hours. Whether the fleet is victor
ious or not, we have to make sure we’re ready. They are busy doing their job, and if it comes to us, and the Biomechs get here…”
He gave a grim smile to them all.
“Well, we’re going to give them hell to pay!"
* * *
The Spascia Fleet flagship, ANS Victory moved slightly ahead of the battle line and turned five degrees to the right. The massive engines of the Crusader class warship burned hot in the cold vacuum of space, and added to the scores of other lights that marked out the engines of the Alliance fleet. There were now thirty-four ships spread out along the front, the seven Narau advanced cruisers mixed in amongst them. Their number had been reinforced with the addition of four more third tranche ships to boost the number of Crusader class ships up to twenty. Four Hunter class frigates and ten of the new Liberty class destroyers under the command of Commodore Hampel provided the fighter and missile defense screen for the entire fleet.
“Are we ready?” asked the acting Admiral of the fleet, Jose Pezal.
“As ready as we could ever be, Admiral,” replied Commander Keegan.
The Admiral had only been given his command in the last ten hours, and he was already finding the strains of commanding a force of seventy-one ships almost impossible.
“Good. This is going to be a complex operation, and if it’s anything like Eos, the entire thing will turn into a massive mess in seconds.”
“I agree. The splitting of the fleet will make it easier to respond to problems, just as long as the squadron commanders do their jobs.”
Admiral Pezal nodded.
“True. Still, a single third tranche Crusader leading a six-ship squadron should prove more than manageable.”
Star Crusades Nexus: The Third Trilogy Page 7
