The Icarian Legacy Collected Edition: Brave Souls - First Strike (Volume 3)

by Kocho Trajchevski

  In one minute total of twenty rounds were fired at both ships. The rail guns fired forty pound projectiles at a speed of 2503m/s. It took them just seconds to reach both surprised ships. The smaller corvette literally shattered under the barrage. The frigate managed to hold but it lost its shields and had no defense against the next incoming projectiles that both battleships fired at it. In total, sixteen shells managed to hit the frigate. And right after them the next rounds fired from both cruisers arrived. Massive explosions rocked the ship as the shots impacted on the hull. In just seconds the engines took the brunt of the attack and the frigate lurched and started losing altitude.

  “Get us out of here. They have rail guns.”

  The crew managed to steer the ship raising it high in to the atmosphere but not before one of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornets opened up with its guns and launched its last AMRAAM missiles at it. The resulting explosion took out the last remaining power of the ship and destroyed the engines.

  The result of that was the uncontrollable tumble of the ship. The explosions that rocked the frigate and the resulting stress from the tumble killed most of the crew.

  The ships pilots managed to steer it away from the navy battle and direct it towards the mainland.

  Admiral Johnson looked at last enemy ship as it started falling towards the mainland after the AMMRAMs hit it. He then lowered his gaze and looked at the rest of the battle fleet that surrounded the carrier. His eyes face showed no emotion but deep he was broken as he saw the broken hulls of over twenty ships around him. Thousands of lives were lost.

  He turned towards Kirkpatrick. The young officer looked shaken but he was holding bravely.

  “Tell the First strike squadron to follow the wreck and inform the US marines based in Bondsteel base in Kosovo to prepare for an immediate mission. And call colonel Stevens on the bridge. This battle isn’t over yet.”

  Kirkpatrick just nodded and started issuing the orders.

  The admiral turned his gaze at large alien ship that was surrounded by a dozen ships. The two battleships and their escorts were trailing the large ship with its powerful guns prepared to open fire at the first sign of any danger.

  Both ships were scared. They took several powerful hits from the enemy ships as the enemy noticed that they are the mightiest ships. Two of the main guns on the Missouri were nothing but molten iron now and the battleship had a huge hole on its front side. Fire teams were putting down the fires on the deck. The Vanguard didn’t lose any of its guns but it had several holes along its length were the enemy fire hit. But both ships were operational. He couldn’t say that for eleven other ships. Seven ships were already sunken and hundreds of bodies were drifting in the sea. Rescue boats were searching for survivors among the bodies. Four ships were nothing more than broken and burning hulls and they were lost with all hands. The Georgia, Potemkin, Prince Royal, Athena, Napoleon, Dauntless and Victorious were now on the bottom of the sea, casualties of the conflict. The Queen Elizabeth, Sevastopol, Ataturk, J.F.K and Retender were burning wrecks, and ten more ships showed extensive damage. Even the Lincoln took several hits and suffered minor damage. The Kid and the Kinkaid showed signs of ruptured hulls and from fifty planes only seventeen were still flying. Four of them were now headed inland after the last burning wreck that was falling somewhere on the Balkans.

  He wiped the sweat that was running on his forehead and looked at the watch. Eleven minutes passed from the moment when the first shots in this battle were fired. Eleven minutes of hell. He knew that this will bring massive changes in the politic of the world. He looked again at the four ships that turned the tide of the battle. The Kid, the Kinkaid with their rail guns and the two battleships.

  Those ships were the future.

  “Sir Colonel Stevens reporting as ordered.”

  The admiral turned and looked at the man that stepped on the bridge and saluted him.

  Stevens was a mountain of a man. Two meters tall, broad shoulders; he was two hundred and fifty pounds of pure muscle and bone. A huge scar was clearly visible on his left cheek.

  And the admiral knew that under the uniform several more scars were hidden.

  Short black hear was hidden under the hat he was wearing. The gray eyes looked at the admiral with a cold look that was thirsty for revenge.

  He was the commanding officer of the navy seals contingent that was stationed on the carrier and his face now showed anger. The admiral knew the reason. It was not the loss of the ships that made the man standing before him angry. It was the loss of the Jimmy Carter and the two seal teams it carried onboard. He knew that the seals were a tightly bonded unit. And he was sure that the colonel knew every one of the dead Seals personally as well as almost the entire crew of the lost submarine.

  “I’m sorry for the death of your men sir.”

  “I’m sorry for the loss of your men as well colonel. But the day is not over yet. You will get a chance to revenge them.”

  The colonel looked at him.

  “Sir…?”

  “The hull of that ship may hold some of the enemy alive colonel. Whoever they are they attacked us without any provocation and from what we have seen they don’t have good intentions. I want you to go in there and capture that ship. If you can capture some of the bastards do so. We must learn who they are and where they came from. We must learn why they are here.”

  Stevens looked at him and saluted.

  “Yes sir. I was expecting that order sir. My men are ready.”

  “Go then. God be with you James.”

  “Thanks Bob.”

  A small smile appeared on the admiral’s face. Stevens was one of his oldest friends. They were friends for more than twenty years. He still remembered the first time they meet. It wasn’t the happiest day of his life and he still remembered the beating he received in the bar. That was until Stevens stepped in. In just thirty seconds he disabled all three marines without even breaking a sweat. He never learned his name that night. But the next day the colonel stepped in his office to report for his new assignment. He was just a lieutenant then. From that day they remained friends.

  “Give them hell James. Thousands died today by their hands. Give them hell.”

  The colonel turned before he exited from the bridge.

  “They will wish they were never born Bob. You have my word on that. You have my word.”

  After that he exited.

  Five minutes later the entire squad of seals was heading towards the alien ship.

  Forty Seals stood in the boats.

  And additional three SAS teams left the British ships as well. They were joined by more than three hundred marines from the rest of the ships.

  Stevens looked at the huge ship that lay ahead of them. Huge gaps were showing all over the hull of the alien ship where the missiles and the shells from the ships impacted. Smoke was coming out from several places. It was clear that fires were raging inside. He turned and looked at his men. They were the best of the best. Five seal teams, five teams of the most lethal unit in the world. And they were not alone. Three SAS teams and three hundred marines were also coming with them. He didn’t know what to expect inside but he was sure that nothing will stop them from achieving the objective.

  The seals were heading towards the huge hole that the battle ships made on the east side of the massive ship. The three SAS teams were coming on the same spot as well, while the marines were headed towards the launch bay.

  He strengthened the grip of the HK417 that he was carrying. He chose the NATO variant because of the larger 7.62×51mm cartridges it was using. Some of the Seals chose to keep their favorite M4A1 carbines with the smaller 5.56 mm cartridges. Not that those were the only weapons they were carrying. Every type of weapon and everything that they could take with them was here. Rocket launchers, shotguns and a whole bunch of other weapons were visible on the soldiers. They all carried weapons that used armor piercing ammunition.

  The boats finally reached the ship. Without saying a word all s
oldiers jumped on the hull and immediately spread out. At the same time the marines started entering the launch bay.

  “We don’t know what to expect inside so proceed slowly. Enough men died today. Let’s make sure that everyone else that dies is alien, shall we. Let’s clear this tub.”

  After this all sixty four man entered inside the ship.

  “Atkins you and your team take this corridor. Kelly your team will proceed on the opposite side. I want two teams on each level. Proceed with caution.”

  Without saying a word the teams separated.

  Atkins looked at the massive damage that the shells of the battleships inflicted. The explosion literally tore the section of the ship apart. He could see black blood spread out all over the deck were there were no holes. And body parts. It was not long till they found the first body and finally saw the face of their enemy.

  “Jesus they are big motherfuckers aren’t they sir.”

  Atkins turned towards Danielson.

  “I’d say big and ugly to.”

  They stopped to inspect the body. Atkins turned the dead alien to look at his face. The alien was clearly reptilian. He was two meters tall, and fairly bigger than a normal human. The round head had distinctive sharp teeth. A small nose and big black eyes that stared empty at his face. The alien had small black fur that covered its skin and small retracted ears that were literally inside the head. A helmet was standing nearby obviously fallen from the head when the shrapnel’s tore through the body of the alien. He was wearing some strange type of black colored armor. A pistol was tied on the belt on his right hand and a strange looking knife stood on the other side. Three huge holes were noticeable on his body. Two shrapnel’s penetrated in the chest and one in the stomach.

  The team studied the body for another thirty seconds and then continued heading deeper in the ship.

  Gun Ar looked around him. The rest of the legionaries lay dead all over. Just twenty arns ago the ship had a crew of more than four thousand legionaries. He looked at the sensors. That showed the life signs. Less than a thousand remained alive and most of them were wounded. And from the sensors he noticed that the humans boarded the ship. He noticed that a group of humans were moving along the hallway towards him. He noticed that a little further on this deck there were ten more alive legionaries. He took the rifle and went to find them. He knew that he will need their help to stop the approaching humans. If someone asked him yesterday whether he can kill a human soldier his answer would have been that that would be too easy. But after today, after the battle, he wasn’t so sure.

  As he was moving he came upon the rest of the legionaries in the hallways.

  “There are human soldiers onboard. We need to stop them and then we have to find a way to destroy the ship. We can’t allow it to fall in their hands.”

  One of the legionaries looked at him and after saluting he answered him.

  “The self-destruct is disabled and the computer core is destroyed. The ships weapons are not responding and most of them are destroyed as well. If we want to trigger a manual destruction we have to arm several torpedoes manually.”

  “Does anyone of you know how to do that?”

  The legionary that answered him previously came forward and just nodded with his head.

  Gun Ar looked at him and tuned around toward the rear from where he knew that the humans were coming.

  “We have human soldiers coming this way from behind me. We’ll have to pass through them in order to reach the torpedo room.”

  The legionaries stepped forward and raised their weapons.

  He looked at them. Their eyes showed determination. There was no fear. They all knew that there is no escape and that death was the only thing that awaited them. But that only made them more determined to succeed. Every legionary was taught from the day he stepped in service not to fear death, and to never give up. And they never did.

  Slowly the group moved forward with raised weapons ready to meet the human soldiers approaching them.

  Atkins looked ahead. Since they left the first dead alien they found dozens more. They were all dead, which didn’t come as a surprise considering the massive damage that the bombardment made on this level of the huge ship. The team advanced slowly through the damaged hallways. They maintained constant communication with the rest of the teams. So far no one reported contact with the enemy. All of the teams reported finding lots of bodies. The marines reported that the decks below the launch bay are flooded.

  As they neared the next set of rooms Atkins heard the steps of the coming legionaries. Without uttering a word he raised his hand and the team stopped. He motioned with his fingers and Henderson stepped up. He slowly and carefully looked in the next corridor.

  With his hand he gesticulated to the rest of the team.

  “Eleven soldiers, moving slow.”

  The rest of the team watched as he showed with hand signals and then quickly and quietly took good covering positions.

  Henderson with his fingers showed the location of the coming alien soldiers and then picked up two grenades.

  The dacarians were moving slowly divided in three teams. Gun Ar was at the rear of the formation together with the legionary that mentioned that he knows how to trigger the torpedoes to manually explode.

  Four legionaries were ahead and the others were couple of meters behind them. The front legionary stopped and turned towards them. As he was trying to show that he heard something ahead Henderson stepped from behind the corner and threw the grenades.

  Gun Ar noticed the human throwing the small objects towards them and instantly opened fire.

  “Take cover.”

  The legionaries started moving to covering positions but they never got the chance to reach them.

  Henderson threw the M67 grenades separately. One landed in the middle of the first group and the other fell almost on top of Gun Ar.

  The M67 fragmentation grenade had a casualty radius of fifteen meters and a killing radius of five. And both grenades fell in a distance between them of less than six meters and exploded almost at the same time.

  The dacarians were literally torn to pieces as hundreds of shrapnel’s tore through their armor and their bodies. And the humans immediately after the explosions started firing.

  Gun Ar didn’t even feel the pain as the grenade that exploded on top of him tore him to pieces and killed the other four legionaries that were close to him. In total nine of the legionaries died instantly and the other two were wounded and eliminated in the next second with several head shots from the human soldiers.

  Atkins looked at the carnage in front of his eyes as he moved forward. Henderson was at the point and Michaels and Fly were right behind him on the sides.

  “Let’s hope that they all die that easy.”

  He mumbled to himself.

  Major Jackson looked at the group of marines that was moving together with him. They were moving quickly through the decks towards what looked like the armory. So far all they found were dead bodies of the aliens. He knew that in the lower decks there were more dead aliens. But with them being aliens he wasn’t sure. Maybe they could breathe under water.

  All the lower decks were flooded. The fire from the torpedoes of the submarines according to the report he got tore a huge hole on the down side of the ship. It was a wonder how the ship didn’t sink.

  As the first marine closed in on the door that was leading to the other room he stopped. Three other marines joined him on both sides.

  The lead marine indicated with his hand that there are aliens inside. He motioned for the rest of the platoon to stop. With his fingers he indicated that there is a large group of aliens inside. Jackson moved behind him.

  He took a quick look through the door.

  The room was full of the aliens. There were dozens of bodies all over and several fires burned. He noticed that several of the aliens were working on couple of objects that looked like missiles. The others were dispersed all over. On the sides he noticed the load
ing tubes and he knew that his feeling was right. This was the armory of the ship. And it seemed that the aliens were trying to manually trigger an explosion.

  “I think they are trying to manually trigger some of those missiles to explode. I think that they don’t want us capturing this ship Lt.”

  The young lieutenant looked at him. He couldn’t have had more than twenty years but his face showed no fear. The blue eyes showed confidence. And they showed the wish for revenge. He felt that inner rage too. They all felt it. They all lost al lot of friends today and deep down he knew that more will die before the day ends. But now they had a chance to pay the enemy back for the deaths of their friends.

  As he was thinking more marines came. He looked at the group. He couldn’t see exactly how many enemy troops were inside the large chamber ahead of them but he knew that they were outnumbered at a ratio of almost two to one.

  “What’s the situation major?”

  “We have a large hostile force in the next room. From the looks of it there are at least eighty maybe even ninety enemy soldiers in the room. And they are trying to arm a missile and blow the ship.”

  “Then we must stop them sir.”

  “Yes. Notify the rest of the detachment for our position and call for reinforcements. And prepare the men for action.”

  “Yes sir.”

  The officer relayed the Intel over the radio and prepared the rest of the men for the coming firefight. The marines took positions around the walls. The first two threw smoke grenades and after that a dozen fragmentation grenades fly in the chamber. Huge explosions tore through the enemy ranks. The marines didn’t wait. As soon as the smoke spread and the grenades started exploding among the enemy ranks they rushed in firing.