Barak smoothly drew his pistol and unloaded three large caliber rounds into the thing’s skull. All they did was cut bloody gashes in the hide. He swore. “Lieutenant!”
“On it, Sir.” The man fired off his cable. The Spike-grapnel burrowed into the beast’s back and the Lieutenant pulled. The beast started to peel off the trapped sergeant. The Lieutenant fired his other grapnel into the “ground” and pulled again, this time harder and with both arms. The beast flew back but pulled the sergeant with it.
The flying mass rammed into the Lieutenant, who was not properly anchored. All three bounced into the concrete, the Ring Jumpers accompanied by a great deal of sparks and rocky debris. Bleeding from deep wounds, the beast rose up on all four paws and growled. The Lieutenant retracted his grapnels from their holds. The beast leapt at him. The Lieutenant calmly raised his arm and opened his hand to the beast. There was a small flash, and then the beast was on top of the Ring Jumper. It didn’t move. Barak carefully walked over to the Lieutenant, and looked directly at the man’s visor.
“Are you going to just sit there all day, LT?”
“Just catching my breath, Sir.” The man sounded almost giddy. “I had a big breakfast you know.”
“You can rest when you’re dead. Peel that thing off you and get it iced. Important people are going to want to take a good look at it.”
“Right, Sir. Right away, Sir.” The Lieutenant pushed the massive thing off of himself. He called the nearest medical team to bag and tag the corpse. To Barak he said, “Kind of looks like a cross between a wolf and a Yeti doesn’t it?”
“You’ve seen a Yeti. Right.”
“You haven’t? Back in the day, my dad was stationed on Earth. He used to take us to Yellowstone whenever he had leave. To see the geysers and bears and… just the wild, I guess. Anyway, one morning when he was cooking up breakfast, he woke us up and pointed at the distance. Well, I looked through my binoculars and my dad told me that no human could move like that thing did… he said that no human he knew of looked anything like that.”
“I still call bullshit,” One of the other Ring Jumpers muttered.
“Your dad… what did he do?” Barak asked, ignoring the other man’s comment.
“He was a Vindicator; but his real love was science. He spent most of his time working in the bio-labs to help with crop production on the colonies, and he even developed a few cures for various diseases. So I figure he knows what he talks about when he decides to tell me something.”
“Right… Okay then," Barak agreed skeptically. "How close is that med team?”
The Lieutenant checked over the com. “ETA is about thirty seconds, Sir.”
“Good. As soon as they start working we get to head back to the ship. Better check on the status of your Sergeant.”
“I have his vitals on my HUD you know… fine… Right-O. I’m on it.” The man turned around to see the sergeant being supported by one of his comrades. The Lieutenant looked the man up and down, “Those repairs are coming out of your pay, you know.”
“We get paid? Am I dreaming?”
“Come on, Dave, sarcasm doesn’t suit you. Can’t you stand yet?”
“I’m getting there, Dimples.”
“Damn it man! That’s not my blasted call sign!”
The Sergeant shrugged and stood on his own power. “Oh, I know it. But tell you what, Dimples; I just like seeing how you react. It’s just so damned entertaining.”
“You are so getting latrine duty for the next month.” The Lieutenant warned.
“Yeah, because that happens anymore. Don’t make threats you can’t keep, Boss. What would I have to do? Watch the robots do their work? Boring, but not really much of a punishment.”
The Lieutenant chuckled quietly, “I hate you.” The Sergeant moved like he was taken aback.
“But big brother… I love you.”
While he was secretly amused, none of that amusement showed on Barak’s face. When you thought about it, it was rather odd when family members ended up serving in the same unit. He put the matter from his mind, the med team was starting to stuff the beast’s carcass into an oversized Cryo container. He gestured to his bodyguards to resume following him back to the shuttle.
“Lieutenant, how much weight is your armor rated to handle?” He inquired.
“Well over three tons, Sir. Why?”
“Well, I figure that if your brother was having trouble handling that thing then… it must one really tough beast. I’d hate to see one of those armored, it wouldn’t even need servos to enhance its strength to deal real damage.”
“I think you’re failing to take one thing into consideration, Sir.”
“Just what would that be Lieutenant?”
“My brother is a lazy cuss, and he was laughing the whole time it was trying to kill him.”
“I didn’t hear any laughter on the com channels or out loud.”
“He was using the team frequency, sir. Even command doesn’t bother to pick up those transmissions.”
“Right… right. I guess I’m just too used to working alone. Where is the rest of your squad?”
The Lieutenant shrugged, “Years of attrition and low recruitment rates meant that my squad was dismantled to fill out other squads. You’re looking at all that’s left of the fifth Ring Jumper Squadron. Even the Captain was put in charge of a different squad. But don’t worry, just because we’re all that’s left doesn’t mean that we’re the worst. In fact, my team pretty much had the best scores in training or on the missions.”
“Hm… Good enough for me. I’m glad you don’t have the same attitude problems as the rest of the Ring Jumpers. How would you like to be posted by Earth again? The High Sentinel is looking to expand the Specials Battalion and I like what I’ve seen of your team so far. Maybe I could help get you on one of the squads.”
“Really? Uh, I mean. Really, Sir? That would be amazing!” The Lieutenant got a hold of himself. “I mean, that would be great, sir. When would we be moving out? Whose squad would we be a part of?”
Barak smiled at the eagerness in the other man’s voice, “I’d like for you to come back to the Forge with my cousin and me in a few days. If you’ve got a lot of equipment, you might have to leave some behind for the next courier ship. Although, at this point, there aren’t any other squads looking for four members to fill them out. But it is lucky for you that I have some pull in high places. The Sentinel is looking for men to fill out the rest of the Specials Division. If he approves you, you could become a Captain. Plus, you’d get custom armor, better quarters, and a lot tougher missions. Think you can handle the responsibility?”
“Sir… I thank you for this chance to prove myself. I won’t let you down. I really won’t.”
“You’d better not; if you do then the High Sentinel might not listen to me anymore. And yes, he does seem to put a fair bit of weight in my recommendations. He sends me on his errands, he better give a damn about my opinions.” Barak took a breath. “I’ll leave it up to you to arrange everything for you and your men. We’ve got another day or two here while we collect more information. So… there you go. And if I’m going to present your case, I’d better know your name.”
“You know, it surprised me that we’ve spent pretty much all of today together and you hadn’t asked that.” The Lieutenant laughed. “I’m Kyle Tracyn. The sergeant is my younger brother David, and the other two are Damien Rang and Kyr’am Werda. We’ll do right by you, I promise.”
Barak nodded. “I don’t doubt it, now go wake up the pilot so we can rest and get back to work.”
A courier ship showed up two days later. Barak, his cousin, and the Ring Jumper team traveled back to Cronus station on it. Barak had copies of all the data collected. The search teams had also come across one bright spot in all the gloom, a young woman with a newborn baby. Even she didn’t know how they had survived, however, the search teams found her in a hidden cellar full of aromatics that may have covered her scent. Barak was making sure that she came back
to the Forge with him so that he could not only get as much information about this new enemy as he could, but so that he could make sure that girl and her child were taken care of.
12
June 18, 2289. Hades Base, Pluto
“Jam the doors!” Christoph ordered after all his men had broken through into the corridor. “Everyone, status reports.” He looked around at his men, visible only through the echo amplification enhancing his vision. In its base state, the armor of ShadowStealer squad was a matte black, hard enough to see in the current lightless circumstances, that limited visibility was compounded by their active camouflage and thermal seals.
“My guys are reporting in the green, Sir.” That was his lieutenant, Kael Rojhaz, a better X.O. you could not find anywhere. “Although we do seem to have a few rumpled plates so the active camo might not be perfect anymore.”
“We’ll deal with that when we have to. Sergeant, how’s your team holding up?”
“Preacher is reporting loss of his shoulder plate; says he had a run-in with one of those monsters before we got away.” Sergeant Vigo Rodriguez was a grizzled older man, with a cybernetic eye. The man reminded Christoph of his father’s best friend Telamon in more ways than one. “Other than that we’re in about the same shape as the Lt’s team.”
“Alright Ladies, break’s over.” Pounding had started coming from the door they had jammed shut. “Let’s get a move on until we reach a good choke point. Docking bays are on this level, right Kael?”
Kael ran even with his captain. “Yes sir. I think I saw a few transports that could hold us on the manifests for docking bay three.”
“Good. Vigo, once we reach that choke point, I want you to take Preacher, Reverend, and Deacon to docking bay three and secure us a ride.”
Christoph began reviewing schematics he had downloaded. There was a general embarking room before the corridors that spread out to each of the docking bays. It would be perfect for their holding action. He wanted Vigo to have plenty of time to warm the engines and do a preflight check – it wouldn’t do to get caught and possibly die because the engines stalled from a cold start.
It had all started so fast. Christoph had been meeting with the base commander about discipline for the men, as well as ways to reduce the friction between those troops and the researchers residing in the lower levels of the facility. Sensors had picked up contacts too big to be asteroids, but the thermal and EM profiles hadn’t matched anything on file. The commander had alerted the Charon to the presence of the contacts, ordered the bastion-class ship to investigate.
The mighty vessel never got the chance to do much more than maneuver into its approach vector. Two huge conical ships, each as large as the Charon, had come into Christoph’s view through a view port. One fired what looked like a… particle beam at the Charon. The shot missed, and the Charon began to return fire. Streams of blue fire poured into the first enemy vessel. Christoph had observed the Charon set the first enemy adrift, trailing melted debris and oxygen. Then the second vessel had let loose with its own particle cannon. The blinding white stream tore through the Charon from stem to stern. The burned out shell disintegrated before his eyes.
Christoph recognized trouble when it bit him. He ran to a wall panel and called up Kael on the com. “Get the men together and suited up, we’re under attack by unknown forces.”
“Say what? What happened, Sir?”
“The Charon has been destroyed by unknown enemies.” Christoph glanced over his shoulder. “They’re launching shuttles now. Get the men together and suited up. I’ll meet you in the rec room.”
“Got it, sir. It’d be nice if more squads were on the base, though.”
“If wishes were fishes…” He looked over at the base commander trying to organize… anything. “Spread the warning. I’m on my way.” Christoph ran out of Ops just before the bulkhead leading to it slammed shut. He would never find out that one of the enemy shuttles had breached the hull behind him.
*****
They were coming up on the embarkation room. Christoph had had his men seal every door and bulkhead behind them, but the enemies were getting through each door faster than the last. He sent Vigo and the other three on ahead. He turned to his demolitions expert.
“Prophet, you got anything to give them a surprise before they reach us?
“I got me a couple things… how big a boom do ye want?” the man asked cheerfully. He was already fiddling with devices on his belt.
“Anything big enough to give them a bad day but not kill us once we’re down the hall.”
“I think I can rig something up to please ye… Oh goody, I still got me good dets in me pouches. Just run along Cap’n, I’ll be ‘round shortly.”
“I don’t think so. Kael, get to the embarkation room. My team will catch up when Prophet’s done with his toy.”
“Yes Sir. Try not to die.”
“Will do; be ready to jam the door when we get there.”
Christoph and the other two members of his team marveled at the speed and surety with which Prophet set up his surprise in practically total darkness, echo amplification did have its limits and while it showed their surroundings, the detail still wasn’t that great. Christoph had to strain even to see the wires; he couldn’t even imagine how his man was doing such a delicate operation.
“Okay then. I’m good and finished. Try not to get too close to it. It’s set on proximity detonation. Goodbye darling. Do a good job fer yer pappy.”
“Alright, move. Move!” Christoph ordered. As they ran the hundred meters to the embarkation room, he remarked, “I ever tell you you’re a nut job, Prophet?”
“Couple o’ times, Sir. Always makes me day.”
They burst into the room and the door slammed shut behind them. Kael saluted, shrugged, and pointed to Cleric in the corner, caressing an experimental plasma cannon that was taller than he was. It was always comforting for him to know that his were men crazies even when death came a calling. Christoph gave out orders on how to proceed with their defense.
A rumbling suddenly shook the room. Dust filtered down from the ceiling. Parson lost his footing and bounced into some benches. They all bounced too high. Damn it, the enemy had finally taken out the artificial gravity. Even so, Christoph had made sure his men trained in low, and no-grav situations, that was why they were even out here in the first place.
“Alright, that blast should make them cautious for a few minutes, so now would be the time to double check anything you don’t want quitting when it counts.” Other than rounds from his pack-mounted rail gun, Christoph really wasn’t going to be able to contribute much to the first few exchanges. Most of his weaponry was for close work. In fact, most of the armament in the whole squad was for close work. Vibroblades in the knuckle plates, plasma knives for a last resort (the handles were stored on the underside of their bracers), the big blade on the right arm, and a few other nasty surprises.
Christoph reflected on their first contact with the enemy. It had been a tad different than any other combat he had seen. They had been hurrying towards the docking bays even then; of course, at the start of this engagement he had had three squads of Vindicators following his squad.
The corridor wall they had been passing exploded inward; flying debris had caught several Vindicators in vital areas, killing them. More had died when the beasts ploughed through the opening. Christoph had sent a round through one beast’s head before he had to concentrate on defending himself from the heavy armored figures following the beasts’ entrance.
While his squad exchanged fire with the enemy armors (Prophet started calling them ‘Snappers’ of all things. Like a snapping turtle, he had explained), the Vindicators had their hands full. Beast claws tore through their armor almost as easily as flesh. Beast fangs seemed to have no difficulty crushing their helmets or breastplates. One man managed to cut an animal’s throat before being crushed by the flailing thing. The remaining Vindicators eventually put the other beasts down, but not witho
ut more losses.
Prophet threw one of his special grenades; there was a short burst of white as it fused itself to an enemy figure before exploding in a torrent of fiery energy. The Guardians took the opportunity to escape.
They had hurried to the lower levels, only to find the researchers and scientists already slaughtered. Cleric picked up a cannon in one of the labs they searched. Other men picked up other toys. Making their way to the docking bay, it seemed like they encountered enemy forces whenever they were about to catch their breath. They made it through the skirmishes, but never without losses among the Vindicators. This was inspite the care the ShadowStealers took to be at the forefront of every battle.
*****
The pounding began at the door, pulling Christoph out of his reverie. Eventually the noise stopped, and sparks began to appear as the more intelligent enemies cut through the barrier. A piece fell to the ground, and a beast slammed into the gap, pushing armored figures aside, and widening the hole. It slammed into the gap again, this time pulling itself through. The enemies in armor began shouting in a language Christoph didn’t quite understand; it didn’t take a genius to know they were trying to stop it.
Cleric tested out his new cannon. A stream of scintillating white cut through the thing’s body, through the door, and through several of the armored figures before the energy dissipated. There was silence for a few seconds, an eternity in this situation. Again the white fire poured forth, inflicting heavy casualties. A third time it shot out, though it was decidedly weaker this time. Enemies pushed through the melted door.
“Charge is gone. Back to basics,” Cleric sighed.
ShadowStealer squad opened up with their rail guns. Even the toughest armor had trouble standing up to a projectile moving at several mach. Unfortunately, the squad only had limited amounts of ammunition, which was quickly depleting.
The empty icon appeared in the corner of Christoph’s HUD. He swore. Soon, the other guns fell silent. He double-clicked the com to signal the next step of the plan. Smoke began streaming from their armor. One or two men threw grenades through the melted door, as well as through the one leading to their escape route. The grenades billowed smoke of the same makeup as that streaming from their armor. The ShadowStealers activated their active camouflage for the first time in their encounters with this enemy.
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