Star Crusades Nexus: The Third Trilogy

by Michael G. Thomas

Jack ducked down behind a broken down SAAR robot, just as a burst of fire hit near him. Jana pulled at him and helped him get further back, but more rounds struck. One bounced off his left joint and embedded into the SAAR robot. Unable to hit him, the machine twisted about and opened fire on the other marine. It put a dozen rounds through the poor warrior’s visor, killing him instantly.

  “Animals,” he muttered under his breath.

  Jana looked down and slid open the lip of the weapons stowage bin. Inside was a pair of the Khreenk short-ranged surface-to-air missile systems. They were simple units, each one no bigger than an L48 rifle and fitted with a pair of short-range missiles. She lifted out the first and nodded to Jack.

  “Bring it down.”

  Jack placed the unit on his shoulder and tapped the activation toggle. Normally, it would connect to a Khreenk warrior’s armor, but he was forced to use it manually. The flip-up sight projected a small red circle over the drone and flashed to show a target lock. Other details also appeared, but none of them made any sense to him.

  “Do it, Jack, come on!”

  The machine must have spotted him because it opened fired once more. The small arms fire struck around the barricade. One of the SAAR robots rotated its turret and engaged the aerial vehicle with its own weapons. In seconds, the small machine was falling from the sky, trailing smoke. The robotic warrior was replaced by a cloud of dark shapes that materialized as hundreds of the butchered semi-human warriors leapt in. With the outer wall gone, it fell to the central defenses along the lower levels of the ground to provide the backbone. This was all that remained of the substantial earthworks and pillboxes constructed by the Alliance engineers. The defenders had dug more trench works and pushed debris and metalwork ahead to create a series of tall barricades that joined the towers into a triangular fortress.

  “It’s time!” said Corporal Frewyn.

  He lifted himself to his feet and moved up to the barricade. There were small slits that they could see through without having to expose themselves to fire. Jack was next and groaned as his left leg refused to function properly. The joints on the PDS Alpha armor had been causing trouble for hours now, and without some maintenance it was only going to get worse. A series of low-velocity shells struck the barricades and blew holes into the frontal sections. A single breach was created twenty meters from where they waited.

  “Here they come!” said the Corporal.

  Jack and Jana were alongside him, along with the rookies, Privates Jon Yule, Simon Hardman and James Rozoff. A few days before they had been total strangers with an almost insignificant level of experience or ability to offer. Now they were veterans with more experience than most marines had in an entire career. Private Rozoff moved his Helion thermal rifle about and put two rounds at point blank distance into a pair of Thegns. The weapon punched deep holes through their bodies, and then he ducked back down.

  “Yeah, that’s how you do it,” laughed Private Yule.

  The enemy was everywhere, with most moving in small infiltration groups about the eastern side of the fortification. The largest group swarmed around the Eques walkers and made for the center of the defenses, a point equidistant between the three towers. Further along the barricade, another trio of Khreenk took up station and next to them a SAAR robot. To their left an entire marine squad, led by the newly promoted Lieutenant Cemgil Kurt ran toward the breach and spread out around the rubble. Corporal Frewyn pointed to an area in front, and the marines spread out to form a firing line.

  “Kneel!”

  It was barely necessary, as their training had already kicked in. Every marine knew that if they were still for more than a fraction of a second, they would drop to one knee. A little longer, and they would go lower, and longer still they would start scraping material for cover.

  “Aim.”

  Each lifted their weapons to their shoulders and took careful aim. Jack watched a trio of Thegns scouting ahead of a Decurion. They moved behind a jagged piece of equipment and vanished from view for a moment. He continued tracking to the right, assuming correctly that the shapes would reappear. Three more Thegns scuttled ahead.

  “Fire!”

  Jack was the first to pull the trigger. The rest followed, and the entire barricade lit up with small arms. Most used the reliable L52, but a handful had now moved to weapons taken from fallen NHA and Khreenk warriors.

  “They’re coming over the top!” Jana yelled.

  She swiveled about and aimed right above them. From the ragged top of the barricade came the first of the horrific butchered creations. For every one that made it over the top, another two were cut apart by the myriad of tower guns. Four of them fell down and landed next to Jana. Private Yule didn’t hesitate and drove his bayoneted carbine into the chest of the first. The next one smashed Jana’s weapon from her hands, and she was forced to pull out her sidearm. The motion was quick, and she put a round into the thing’s face before it could reach her.

  “Aim low and put them down!” said Corporal Frewyn.

  Jana pulled Jack back and struck him on the helmet with the base of her pistol. There was nothing at first, so she struck him again, and this time he looked at her. His expression was confused and lost.

  “Get yourself together. We’re in trouble.”

  More Thegns appeared on the right this time. She put a hand on Jack’s carbine and pushed him about to face them.

  “Shoot them, now!”

  Jack muttered something and then pulled the trigger. He didn’t bother taking much aim and emptied the entire magazine. Luckily, his wild shooting coincided with dozens of the enemy surging through. The bullets struck four in quick succession.

  “Drop the mag, reload,” he said in a near robotic tone.

  The magazine slid and dropped into the dirt. He didn’t need to look and easily pulled out another and slammed it into the base. Jana fired a burst and then glanced over to him, making sure he was okay. This time he fired in short, accurate bursts, and each one hit an enemy soldier as they rushed about inside the compound. Fear had vanished, as had any other semblance of emotion. He simply loaded, aimed, and fired; motion drilled into every marine over months of training. The flashes of the explosions barely registered to him, not even the three bullet wounds he sustained in the hip.

  “The base is breached. Remember General Gun’s orders. Not one step back!” Corporal Frewyn called out.

  Yet another Eques walker pushed through a section of the defenses thirty meters away, and its turrets rotated to blast up to the towers. A series of small flashes marked where the gunfire struck. Jack aimed at the machine, but then he heard movement. He twisted about and took aim, expecting to see a Thegn with its weapons pointing right at him. But he was looking into the eyes of the haggard young female Helion. She led a group of five teenagers, each wearing a quilted jacket and carrying one of those assault lances tipped with explosive. Another pair followed, both of them buckling under the weight of a heavy metal tripod and a Marine Corps issue L56 Mark III support machine gun.

  “Biomech!” said the Helion.

  She turned and pointed to the machine. The pair of civilians dropped their tripod and began connecting the two ammunition bins to its feed. A blast of blue energy vaporized the first, but the second readied the weapon and turned it on the massive machine.

  “Get down, you idiots!” Jana shouted.

  Jack turned back to the fighting and continued shooting at any targets that moved into his sight. The female Helion looked at him with a confused expression, stunned at his coolness under fire. At the same time, a blast from one of the massive Eques walkers crashed down amongst the group, instantly killing two and injuring another. As the teenager screamed out in pain, the others ran at it with their weapons.

  “Stand your ground!” Jack said in a stoic, emotionless tone.

  They ignored him, either deliberately or because they had no idea what he was saying. In all the violence and carnage, he often forgot that it wasn’t just marines fighting here.
With Helions, Khreenk, and humans there was a bewildering array of language and dialects. As Jack kept shooting, he felt warmth returning to his body. He took a step to his left to get a better view, but again his leg slowed him down. He assumed it was the armor, not for one minute realizing that his armor had been breached and his leg torn by the bullets. Even so, he began to see what was happening.

  It’s a wonder anybody knows what the hell is going on here. We’re overrun.

  More of the Helion civilians ran out from their hiding places and attacked the machines with a bloodthirsty ferocity. A handful carried thermal weapons, but most were stuck with the improvised mining weapons.

  Brave, but bravery won’t keep you alive, he thought.

  The group mixed with those already there and then ran into the marines that were still fighting, and managing to knock one of them over. Another Helion jumped ahead and stabbed at the machine, only for the explosive to fail to detonate. A Thegn shot the Helion down and moved on to the next, the warrior operating with calm and efficiency in a similar fashion to Jack. The next Helion in line lowered the lance and charged. This time the device exploded on impact and took the Thegn and the Helion with it in a yellow flash. It even managed to partially damage the nearest Eques walker’s leg. Jack swallowed, the feeling of lack of control beginning to return.

  Keep in the fight. You can do this.

  Again he reached down for a magazine and found nothing. He looked to Jana, but she was too far away and busily helping to patch up two fallen marines. He looked to his left and found nothing but bodies and fighting. The tripod-mounted L56 sat impotently, both of its Helion crew now dead. Another Helion vanished in a bright blast, and he stumbled. The horror of the exploding Helions should have stunned him, but for now he felt numbed to the horror.

  “Jack? Jack?” Jana was calling.

  She lifted herself up and moved to him. He turned to her, but his face was blank, perhaps stunned at what he’d seen. She grabbed his arm, but he pushed her away and hobbled over to the knocked over tripod. Behind him, the surviving Helions threw themselves into the swarm of enemy troops. It was a futile gesture, and for every enemy they killed, they lost two or three of their own. Explosions and flashes engulfed the area, and they were quickly shrouded in a mixture of dust and debris. More gunfire from the towers ripped into the moving shapes, the projectiles striking friend and foe alike until there were no more siege lines, just individuals fighting to the death.

  Even as the Biomechs streamed through the breaches, the smaller guns of the nearest tower opened up with quad-mounted auto cannons. The combined firepower turned the ground into a bloodbath, yet still they came. Two Eques walkers were felled, but the following seven moved closer and closer. Gunfire flashed off their thick armor plating, and Thegn foot soldiers swarmed around their legs, taking careful aims at any defenders daring to raise their heads.

  “The breach!” Lieutenant Cemgil Kurt cried.

  The officer looked no different to the other marines, apart from the subtle stripe he’d added at some point in the last day. He pulled himself up, waved to his marines, and then rushed at the breach. He vanished into the maelstrom with his marines alongside, their bayonets fixed. Even as they vanished from view, a pair staggered back and then collapsed. More flashes of gunfire, and then two Eques walkers pushed through the gap and into the compound. Jack dropped to his knee and pulled the L56 machine gun from its mount. It was heavy, and he was barely able to move the thing. He turned about and lowered the unit onto a chunk of rubble. Five more Thegns rushed toward the marines. That was when he pulled the trigger. The five barrels poured round after round into the enemy, shredding the wall of flesh in seconds. Corporal Frewyn saw his chance as Jack continued to put down a heavy barrage of covering fire.

  “Let’s go!”

  He stood up from his position at the barricade and moved in to flank the machine. Jana took aim at its torso and fired a high-power shot. The blast ripped a small hole into the plating but had no discernible effect on its operation. The others joined in, firing a mixture of shots, but nothing seemed to slow it down.

  "Jack, Jana to the left, the rest of you with me," said Corporal Frewyn.

  They clambered over the rubble and did their best to ignore the streak of gunfire all about them. A fireteam from another platoon fell back from their defensive position just as a massive explosive charge tore it to pieces. The wounded marines staggered about, each badly hurt from the blast. One screamed across the open communications channel as his armor burned from a molten stream of thermite. Jack aimed at the poor soul’s helmet and pulled the trigger. It was a mercy killing, and right now he felt nothing but a burning inside of him that made him want to kill.

  "Jack, there's more of them," cried Jana.

  Jack turned to aim and spotted what must have been at least a hundred Thegns, with a similar number of monstrous creatures moving with them. Sergeant Stone appeared at the corner of the tower right at the base, and with a pair of marines flanking him. Both carried the L56 Mk III machine guns in improvised thigh mounts. He pointed at the horde and shouted something. Both marines poured a withering hail of ammunition at them. The Sergeant then look back and gave a hand signal.

  "What's happening?" Private Hardman asked.

  Private Rozoff shook his head as he kept shooting.

  "No idea, man, no idea."

  Jack could almost smell the fear coming from the two men, yet neither balked at their situation and continued shooting. Jana spotted the shapes first, and for a brief moment, Jack almost turned his gun on them. They were larger than marines, much larger and closer in build to the warriors of Gun's own people. One after the other the heavy robotic suits stomped passed them.

  "Vanguards," said Jack, almost in awe at the sight of them.

  There had been a time when the Vanguards were to become the standard trooper for the Corps, but the cutbacks after the Uprising meant they were never more than the heavy assault element, always vying for position with the Jötnar. Jack looked at them as the six heavily armed marines ran directly into the path of the horde. They stopped fifteen meters from them and then locked their legs. Each lowered its center of gravity and then aimed with both arms. Jack counted four L48 rifles fitted to them, each fed by motorized ammunition hoppers.

  "Kill the bastards!" Private Hardman yelled.

  The large caliber rounds exploded on impact, and in seconds the ground before them became a pool of shattered flesh and bone. Ten, twenty, and then at least thirty of the enemy were dead. But from the ruined bodies came more, and behind them the inevitable Decurion war machines, those fearsome metal monsters that moved with a speed and agility bordering on the impossible.

  “Get down!” Sergeant Stone shouted.

  Not one of them gave his words a moment’s consideration and dropped to the ground as though they expected all hell to break loose. Jack pushed his body down low, expecting a lance of heat at any moment that would melt his armor. Only the Sergeant stayed on his feet, as the massive black monolith appeared overhead. It could easily have been no more than a black cloud, but the hundreds of white dots flickering along its underside betrayed its true purpose.

  "It's the fleet, finally!" Corporal Frewyn said happily.

  The first barrage landed short of the machines but still managed to strike two Eques walkers from above. Then more fire came down, this time from two more ships, and then the entire fortification came under a rain of burning fire. Jack watched an entire squad of Thegns falling back, only to be cut into tiny pieces by hundreds of large caliber rounds. Explosive shells landed deep inside their formations while missiles arced down to strike the heavier pieces of equipment.

  "Incredible," said Jana.

  Jack smiled for the first time in days.

  "You can say that again."

  The enemy was not beaten, not by a long shot. Even as their formations were torn apart, they moved to find cover or closed with the marines. More Vanguards ran in from the right, along with a f
ormation of three Bulldogs, each filled with marines. The reinforcements spread out amongst the defenders, and the battle began to turn minutes before the site had been overrun. Now the rear walls and barricades had stabilized, and the machines were being pushed back to the shattered eastern walls of the Three Sisters. Jack and the others moved to follow the pursuit, but Sergeant Stone waved them back.

  "We aren't moving out of this compound. You stay here, and get ready for the next attack. This ain't over, nowhere near."

  He threw a glance at the group, quickly assessing their status and capacity. He had the basic information to hand via his visor, but there was a great difference between cool hard numbers and the reality of the situation.

  “Casualties?”

  Corporal Frewyn shook his head.

  “No, Sergeant, we’re okay here.”

  Sergeant Stone made to move, but the Corporal caught his eye.

  “Are we winning, Sergeant?”

  The shell came down twenty meters away and directly on top of a broken down Bulldog. The force of the blast smashed a hole inside the vehicle before sending its wheels, small turret, and onboard stores flying away in every direction. The Sergeant flipped over the dark overlay on his visor, but the transparent part stayed exactly where it was. He was taking no chances.

  “They hit the last two intact bridges with a Decurion assault. They managed to get a Bioray right over them before the Khreenk put the thing down. They’ve now put troops and combat robots at both ends. NHA and our marines hold the landing pads on the west bank.”

  “What about here, Sarge?” Jack asked.

  “Son, we’re still here. That’s all that matters.”

  He pointed at the small group.

  “Every hour we hold this line, is an hour that those bastards are stuck out there. We control access to the mountain, and that means we control the weapon. We need to buy time for General Rivers and the others.”

  Another pair of shells swept overhead, but this time the ground-based radar controlled interceptor guns were on target. Two missiles rushed up and exploded in the path of the shells. With a flash of light, they were gone, and small pieces of burning material dropped down over the base.