Legacy (First Colony Book 3)

by Ken Lozito

  Connor nodded. “Lieutenant Daniels, do we have any comms capabilities?”

  Lieutenant Daniels had a cut on her forehead that one of the medics had just patched up. She peered at her console. “We have short-range comms capabilities, General.”

  “See if you can detect Bravo or Charlie stations. Don’t broadcast right now, but see if you can connect to their systems that are online,” Connor said.

  “We saw them get destroyed, sir,” Major Elder said quietly.

  “We saw them go offline. There was so much going on that we don’t have confirmation that they’re gone. We shouldn’t be here, and I won’t count anyone out just yet,” Connor said.

  Major Elder nodded, considering. “There could be other sections with survivors, but they might not have any way to reach us.”

  “That might be a blessing because the last thing we need is to start broadcasting our position. The Vemus Alpha might’ve passed us by, thinking we were dead,” Connor said.

  Major Elder frowned. “Why wouldn’t they just finish us off?”

  Connor shook his head. “I’m not sure. My best guess is that they thought we were no longer a threat, which means they could send a ship back to finish the job or capture survivors.”

  Major Elder’s face became grim. “Not the best position to be in. General, I’d like to assess the damage firsthand.”

  “That’s a good idea. We’ll split up. Send me an update via the comlink. We need critical systems back online. Hopefully a few maneuvering thrusters made it so we can at least stabilize our position,” Connor said.

  “I’ll make that my first stop, General,” Major Elder said.

  They spent the next few hours doing damage assessments, and Connor started to put together casualty reports, as well as lists of CDF soldiers that were simply missing. Connor divided his remaining soldiers into search parties to look for survivors and check ship systems. He left the Command Center to lead one of the search teams. They were still alive but far from out of the woods. For the moment they were on borrowed time.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  The only people left in Sierra were the ones who were going to fight and those supporting them. The last transport to Sanctuary had left over an hour earlier. Sean’s mother had been on it and he was told she was none too thrilled about it. His father had stuck with him ever since they’d learned the fate of Phoenix Station, but Sean was so focused on what he had to do that most of the time he forgot his father was there. They didn’t have enough AR-71s to distribute to the militia, but they did the best they could. Some of them were armed with a CAR-74 semiautomatic hunting rifle, and Sean wasn’t sure how effective they’d be against the Vemus. Certainly, the smaller Vemus soldiers would be vulnerable to the civilian rifle but definitely not the Vemus Alpha troops. Sean had seen those rise after being torn apart by incendiary rounds from an AR-71. The only time they stayed dead was when there was nothing left to come back to life. Even that wasn’t right. The Vemus had remarkable healing capabilities that New Earth scientists were at a loss to fully understand.

  Sean knew that fighting the Vemus would be like facing his worst nightmare, except this time he didn’t get to escape in a ship. This time the Vemus wouldn’t go away. The fighting would be close and he needed them to come into the city. There were only a select few who knew his plan in its entirety. He’d expected more resistance than he’d gotten, but it was no secret that Sean was amongst the foremost experts in dealing with this particular enemy. He didn’t feel like an expert—not by a long shot, which was what this whole mission was turning out to be.

  Sean powered off the small holoscreen in front of him and stepped away from the comms station. He’d established command units throughout the city so he wouldn’t be tied down to one place. His M-Viper sniper rifle rested against the wall beside him. He was one of the best shots in the entire Colonial Defense Force.

  Lieutenant Compton shifted his feet and looked at Sean as he turned around. “They’re as ready as they’ll ever be,” he said.

  “I just told Delphi and New Haven that they’re essentially on their own. I don’t know how Connor dealt with this every day for the past seven years,” Sean said with a sigh. He felt as if his head was going to burst.

  Lieutenant Compton nodded. “It’s one thing to take orders and it’s quite another to be giving them and making all the decisions. But I’m sure Majors Winters and Roberts will do their jobs.”

  “They’ll hold their respective cities as long as they can,” Sean said.

  They stood on one of the taller buildings in Sierra, which gave them a bird’s-eye view of the city. It was a few hours after sunrise and the Vemus Alpha was in geosynchronous orbit around New Earth. The ship had been there for hours, and Sean presumed it was identifying targets.

  “Major,” Lieutenant Owens called out to him. “My scope just lit up with a bunch of bogies, sir. We’ve got incoming.”

  Air raid alarms began blaring throughout the city and Sean opened a broadcast channel to his gun batteries. “Hold your fire until we have visual confirmation of the enemy. Conserve your ammo as much as you can.”

  Multiple cracks of thunder boomed throughout the clear sky and Sean peered up, along with everyone else. He felt his brows push forward as he squinted. The sky was full of large, fiery ships that must have come from the Vemus Alpha. The invasion had begun. Behind the ships were several large explosions that tore through the enemy vessels.

  “What is that?” Lieutenant Compton asked.

  Sean smiled. “That has to be from Lunar Base. Colonel Hayes must’ve authorized the attack, but he won’t be able to attack for long.”

  “Why not?” Lieutenant Compton asked.

  “He’s just lending us some support and reminding the Vemus that they’re not entirely unopposed. And now they’ll have to expend resources in order to investigate where that attack came from—” Sean said and was cut off by the loud sonic booms of enemy ships clearing Lunar Base’s attack.

  Hundreds of enemy ships streaked down toward Sierra, and the rail-cannon gun batteries began rapidly firing on the approaching ships. Sean watched as the heavy rail-cannons tore into the enemy ships. The high-velocity projectiles were made from a sixth-generation alien alloy they’d found in the abandoned alien ruins on the planet. The components to make the hardened alloy were plentiful and were comparable to what the NA Alliance military would have used.

  Some of the enemy ships began to lose control, slamming into each other as they veered off course.

  “Owens, start broadcasting the Vemus control signal,” Sean said.

  “Yes, Major. Broadcasting Vemus disruption signal now,” Lieutenant Owens said.

  Sean watched as hundreds of ships approached Sierra. They stayed in formation, which meant the Vemus disruption signal was no longer effective.

  “Shall I keep the signal going, Major?” Lieutenant Owens asked.

  “Yes, keep it going just in case, Lieutenant,” Sean said.

  The Vemus landing craft never returned fire. They just kept coming despite the damage the rail-cannon batteries were doing. At first, they crashed outside the city, but they were drawing steadily closer.

  “The ones behind the front line are breaking apart,” Lieutenant Compton said, pointing.

  Sean peered at the area, using his neural implants to temporarily enhance his view of the approaching ships.

  “They look like pods,” Sean said. “They’re using drop-pods!” he exclaimed and turned toward Owens. “Alert all commands that the Vemus are using drop-pods with a heavy concentration of troops coming toward the western side of the city.”

  “At once, Major,” Lieutenant Owens said.

  “Should we send in the mobile infantry units to bolster the west side of the city, sir?” Lieutenant Compton asked.

  “No,” Sean said, shaking his head. “They’re still coming down. The drop-pods are harder to hit and will only fire their retro-boosters at the last moment for a hard landing. Then, whate
ver’s inside comes out.”

  Sean’s father glanced at Director Mills before looking back at him. “How did you know all that?”

  “Connor made sure—” Sean said, then frowned. “He made sure I knew about NA Alliance military tactics,” he said, remembering how Connor would randomly drill him on military tactics that Sean wasn’t convinced he’d ever use. Sean had thought the bulk of their engagement with the Vemus would be in space. He’d been wrong, but Connor had known better. He’d tried to account for every conceivable attack scenario and had trained the Colonial Defense Force accordingly. How long had Connor been grooming him to lead the CDF ground forces?

  Sean watched as the rail-cannon batteries tried to target all the incoming drop-pods, but there were too many of them. He noted that many of the drop-pods were successfully landing in the areas outside the city.

  “Comms, send out an alert for infantry teams to target the retro-booster assembly on the drop-pods to prevent their thrusters from working,” Sean said.

  “Yes, Major,” Lieutenant Owens said.

  Sean looked at his father. “I’d intended to get you out of here, but—”

  “I’m not leaving, son,” his father said.

  “Fine, but I’m sending you to the east side of the city,” Sean said.

  Tobias opened his mouth to speak.

  “That’s not up for discussion,” Sean said and glanced over at a nearby soldier. “Corporal, take a squad and escort the governor to the east encampment.”

  Sean watched as his father was led away. The sounds of the rail-cannon batteries, in their unrelenting barrage against the Vemus invasion force, hadn’t slowed down. In fact, now the CDF infantry was firing their weapons at the drop-pods, which added to the sounds of wanton destruction. Drop-pods crashed into the ground and impact craters began to dot the landscape. The CDF soldiers hit the fuel lines, causing drop-pods to hit the ground in flaming wrecks, which became small explosions. Other drop-pods hit the ground without slowing down, the force of the impact shattering the pods and the Vemus soldiers inside them to bits. But still they came, and more of the drop-pods began to make it through to land safely. Some even landed inside the city walls. Upon landing, hatches opened up and large dark figures stalked out of the pods. CDF soldiers stationed on the rooftops above rained fire down on them. The Vemus returned fire, and white stun bolts blazed through the air. Some of the enemy were massive, easily twice as tall as Sean was. Their skin was a deep, dark purple that glistened in the light. Their rounded heads angled to a pointed snout, making them look anything but human.

  CDF fire teams worked together to bring them down using kinetic weapons to stall their advance or otherwise immobilize them and then thermite explosive rounds to burn away whatever was left.

  Multiple reports came in of Vemus forces gathering outside the city. A large explosion to the west snatched Sean’s attention.

  “That’s not ours,” Lieutenant Compton said.

  “Order the mobile infantry unit to the west side of the city. Get the Hellcats in the air to give air support,” Sean ordered.

  He’d held the Hellcats in reserve. The Vemus drop-pods and troop carriers seemed to have stopped. The skies were clear for the moment, but that could change at any time. The high-pitched whine of multiple Hellcats flying overhead filled the air as they streaked toward the west. Updates from New Haven and Delphi reported the Vemus using similar tactics, but the bulk of their forces were here at Sierra. The Vemus had correctly surmised that Sierra would be the most heavily defended.

  Carrying his M-Viper sniper rifle, Sean headed toward the barricade wall on the roof of the Field Ops Headquarters, which was centrally located in the city. He squatted down to set up his position and was immediately joined by a few other soldiers. He glanced at the soldier next to him and saw a wisp of blonde hair beneath the edges of the helmet.

  “Boone?” Sean asked.

  “I hope you’re still as good a shot as you used to be, Bling,” Field Ops Captain Donna Marten said. She’d been part of Search and Rescue and hadn’t left Field Ops.

  Sean hefted the M-Viper and rested the barrel on the barricade wall. “Better,” Sean said.

  Captain Marten arched an eyebrow. “Care to make a wager on it?”

  Sean grinned. “Can we get a couple of spotters?” he said.

  He’d ordered sniper units to the rooftops of the buildings and could already hear the distinct pop of an M-Viper being fired. They were three kilometers from the edge of the city and taking out a target at that range would be a challenge, but not beyond the capabilities of the M-Viper or Sean.

  “Loser buys drinks tonight,” Sean said.

  “Oh, you’re on, Major,” Field Ops Captain Marten said.

  Finding targets was relatively easy given that the Vemus were so big, and once on the ground, they moved toward the city in a dark wave. Sean peered down his scope, searching for a target beyond the edge of the city, but they moved so fast that he no sooner had a target than it was quickly out of sight. Sean focused ahead of one of the alphas and squeezed the trigger. The high-velocity round blazed toward the target at supersonic speed, and the head of the Vemus exploded like a melon on impact as the large body dropped to the ground. CDF soldiers who were much closer lobbed thermite charges to burn up the remains. Sean updated his nano-robotic ammunition to use incendiary rounds. This would give the CDF soldiers more time to mop up the remains so the Vemus couldn’t rise again.

  Sean picked another target and squeezed off a round, the incendiary ammunition streaking red through the air to reach its objective. The CDF infantry rotated between using incendiary rounds and regular kinetic rounds, which lasted longer. Sean had ordered them to conserve their ammo, but with so many Vemus storming the city he wasn’t sure how long they could last. Field Ops Captain Marten took down at least as many targets as Sean did, probably more. It felt good to see the enemy fall.

  Sean wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but he started to get an itch in the back of his mind that he was missing something. Backing away from the barricade, he motioned for another CDF soldier to take his place and he returned to the command area where there was a holographic display of Sierra. Computer systems piped in updates from the computing core deep within the building.

  Director Mills glanced at him. “What is it?”

  Sean frowned. “I feel like I’m missing something. Something important.”

  The Vemus were primarily attacking certain areas of the city. The drop-pods that landed inside the city were quickly dealt with by the mobile infantry units.

  He noted one of the seemingly quiet sectors of the city and picked one at random. “Ops, what’s the status of our recon drones in sector three?” Sean asked.

  Lieutenant Owens quickly brought up the status of the drones. They had so many deployed that they were grouped and tasked with specific sectors to patrol. The data provided from the drones were too much for any one person to keep track of, which was why they relied on the computer system to alert them to anomalies. Lieutenant Owens frowned. “Major, I’m showing a thirteen percent drop-off in drones reporting in from that sector. The drop-off occurred less than ten minutes ago.”

  “Who do we have in that area?” Sean asked.

  Lieutenant Compton quickly accessed the information on his workstation. “It’s mostly Field Ops and militia in that area, but Sergeant Brown is in the vicinity with a squad of CDF soldiers.”

  Sean opened a comlink to Sergeant Brown. “Sergeant, we’ve noticed a suspicious drop-off in recon drone activity in your vicinity. I need you to investigate whether there is enemy activity in your area.”

  The comlink channel opened, and Sean heard the sounds of a battle.

  “Sir, we’re under heavy attack. We need reinforcements. The Vemus are overwhelming our position!” Sergeant Brown shouted.

  Sean looked at Lieutenant Compton. “Alert the reserve Hellcat squadron and send them to sector three immediately.” He switched back to the comlink. “Air
support is on its way.”

  “We’ll hold out, sir,” Sergeant Brown said.

  “Why didn’t they tell us they were under attack?” Director Mills asked.

  “The attack probably came so suddenly that they didn’t have time to report it in,” Sean said. He studied the map of the city and the troop locations. “Send mobile infantry units thirty-six and thirty-seven to sector three. Do we have any satellite feeds? Can we track where the Vemus landed?”

  Lieutenant Owens shook her head. “The satellites were taken out when the Vemus attacked. Backups were supposed to move into position, but none have reported in yet.”

  Director Mills nodded, finally understanding. “You suspect that in addition to the assault on the city, they landed a few kilometers away.”

  “It’s what I would do,” Sean said.

  The recon drones failing to report in could only mean one thing. Those drones had been taken out so fast that they’d even failed to send in a destruction signal. Sean accessed one of the cameras on a tall building in sector three. Once it powered on, he put the live feed up for the rest of them to see. Vemus troops were staggering their approach, firing blue bolts of energy at Field Ops and militia soldiers.

  “Good god! That’s the east side of the city!" Director Mills said.

  Sean stared at the video feed. He’d sent his father to that area of the city, thinking it was safer. Instead, it was being overwhelmed by Vemus soldiers. Sean recalled that the Vemus had used blue bolts to overcome the Nexstar combat suit defenses. They were shooting to kill.

  The Vemus stormed the area, one group taking out the heavily armed soldiers while another pinned down the helpless combatants and spat a blackish goo onto their faces. They quickly moved on to the next person and did the same thing. The people with the blackish goo on their faces lay on the ground, their bodies going into convulsions that didn’t let up.

  Lieutenant Owens gasped. “What are they doing to them?”

  Sean felt his mouth drop open. “That’s how it spreads.”