by Ryk Brown
“He doesn’t have to!”
“I’m picking up a sixth shooter!” Specialist Faulds reported over comms.
“Two Blue Alpha One and Two are falling back to Alla!” Corporal Venezia announced, tapping Brummett on the shoulder. “I’ll cover you!” he added as he rose up and opened fire, alternating his bursts between the buildings to the right and left.
Specialist Brummett took off, running between vehicles, back in the direction they had come, passing two of them before turning around and opening fire himself. “Go!”
Corporal Venezia ceased fire, turning and running in a crouch between the vehicles, passing Brummett by one vehicle before turning and opening fire again. “Go!”
“Faulds! Prisk!” Sergeant Morano called over comms. “Can you get an angle on the rooftop shooters?”
“Negative,” Specialist Faulds replied. “Same problem. The rooftop shooters will cut us down before we get anywhere near.”
“They’re trying to keep us out of the buildings,” Corporal Venezia announced as he and Specialist Brummett finally reached safe cover.
“Two Gold Alpha is one block out, taking fire from two new shooters, rooftops, just east of the original targets.”
Captain Orrock exchanged worried glances with his copilot as his Digger touched down at LZ one eight two.
“You hearing this, Busby?” Corporal Wimpfen asked over comms as he and the other three members of One Blue Charlie squad ran up Digger Two’s aft cargo ramp.
“Yup,” Captain Orrock replied as he advanced his lift throttles; his Digger ascending once again.
“Whattaya say we do something about it?”
“What have you got in mind, Corporal?”
“Think you can fly this thing backwards?”
Captain Orrock looked over at his copilot again, smiling. “No problem,” he replied, yawing his ship around one hundred and eighty degrees as they climbed out.
“They’ve got us blocked on three sides,” Commander Kellen declared, pointing to the large tactical display on the wall of the makeshift command center. “Four rooftop shooters, four snipers, and all those breezeways… If they’re smart, they can keep us at bay for as long as they want.”
“What about the river on the west side?” the general wondered.
“There’s no egress point nearby,” the commander replied.
General Telles studied the display. “Why this location, and why at this particular time?”
“It’s one of the busiest parts of the city, and, at this time of day, everyone is out getting lunch. Lots of targets in the streets. Lots of panic.”
The general pointed at the panel of view screens displaying the various security cameras located all over the Orswellan business district. “This event is less than five minutes old, and the streets are practically empty already. This isn’t a sniper assault.” General Telles turned toward Sergeant Spira at the communications desk. “Contact the managers of every building in that area, and tell them to be ready to evacuate on our call.”
“Yes, sir,” the sergeant acknowledged.
“If we don’t take out those snipers, first, they’ll cut people down as they come out,” Commander Kellen warned.
A blue-white flash appeared just south of the center of the business district, revealing a Contra ship, flying backwards, its cargo ramp coming down. Two Ghatazhak soldiers walked carefully out onto the ramp; the mag-locks on their boots holding them firm against the wind. Once to the corners, they braced themselves and raised their weapons.
The snipers on the rooftops below immediately spotted the threat and turned to open fire, but it was too late.
Corporal Wimpfen and Specialist Samudio fired two shots each, dropping all four targets before any of them could defend themselves.
“Rooftop shooters are eliminated,” the corporal announced over comms, smiling.
“Badass, Corporal,” Captain Orrock congratulated from the cockpit. “Badass.”
“Two Gold Alpha, take the shooters in the windows,” Sergeant Morano’s voice called over their helmet comms as Corporal Venezia and Specialist Brummett continued to take fire. “Two Blue Alpha, advance and enter buildings when able. Two Blue Alpha One and Two take the north building; Three and Four, south.”
Corporal Venezia peered around the corner of the building as four Orswellans, trapped behind an abandoned vehicle, prepared to make a break for it. “STAY DOWN!” he yelled, gesturing at them with his left hand. Four laser blasts struck the corner of the building, showering him with chunks of concrete and forcing him to duck back. “I got four civilians trapped in the street,” he called over comms. “Polke! I need cover fire, now!”
“Twenty seconds!” Corporal Polke replied.
“STAY DOWN!” Corporal Venezia repeated, drawing more fire to himself.
“Two Gold Alpha, in position,” Corporal Polke reported as his squad reached their positions and opened up on the snipers in both buildings.
The areas around the windows, from which the snipers were firing, flashed as the incoming fire from the Ghatazhak impacted the buildings.
“They’re shielded!” Corporal Polke yelled. “Switch to full power!”
Bolts of plasma energy streaked from the other end of the street up to the snipers above. Corporal Venezia immediately stepped out from behind the corner of the building and ran toward the four trapped Orswellans. Laser fire, from the left and above, slammed into the ground around him as he zigzagged his way down the street, returning fire as he went.
Specialist Brummett also stepped out but, instead, darted across to the opposite corner as he too fired, hoping to draw the attack of at least one of the snipers away from his cohort.
Corporal Venezia dove behind the vehicle shielding the four terrified Orswellans. “How are you all doing?” he asked as he scrambled over to them. “I’m Corporal Venezia, and I’m going to get you all to safety,” he explained, laser fire continuing to pummel their position.
All four of them stared at the corporal as if he was crazy.
“They’ll kill us before we get halfway,” the elder of the two men insisted.
“We’ll be fine,” the corporal replied, smiling. “Trust me.”
The two women seemed to believe him, even if the men did not.
“Listen carefully,” he instructed as weapons fire peppered the roof of the vehicles around them. “I’m going to use my personal shield to protect us all, and we’re all going to walk quickly, but orderly, back to that corner, over there. All four of you will need to huddle together as we move, and I mean close. Like one big group hug, got it?” Three of them nodded, but one man was cowering down, flinching from the incoming fire. “Hey!” the corporal barked, tapping the guy on the head. “Are you listening?”
“Group hug!” the man repeated. “I got it!”
“You sure?” the corporal asked. “I’m going to be walking backward. If you go too fast, I won’t be able to protect you, and you’ll get cut down by those assholes. If you aren’t close enough together, they’ll cut you down from the sides. One big group hug!”
“You gotta move, Vinnie!” Specialist Brummett hollered as he continued firing toward the snipers. “Sooner or later, one of those bolts is gonna find its way through your cover!”
“We’re moving!” Corporal Venezia assured his partner. “You guys ready?” he asked the group, using the controller on his forearm to set his personal shield to its maximum spread. “On three… One……two……THREE!”
Corporal Venezia stood up, activating his personal shield as he rose, bringing his weapon up to fire on both sniper positions, one after the other. “GROUP HUG!” he barked over his shoulder as laser bolts bounced off his personal shield, causing it to flash brilliantly with each impact. “LET’S GO, LET’S GO, LET’S GO!”
All four of the trapped Orswellans rose, coming togeth
er clumsily. Immediately, one man let himself get too far from the others and was grazed in the arm by a laser bolt. He screamed out in pain, falling to his knees as the group began to move. One of the women grabbed him while, as a group, they baby-stepped away from their cover and toward the distant corner. She pulled the stricken man back to his feet, with the other man grabbing hold of him, as well, as the group continued to move.
Corporal Venezia stepped backward carefully, constantly checking on the group’s progress behind him as he fired away at the sniper positions. “THAT’S IT!” he barked. “YOU’RE DOING IT! STAY TOGETHER!” He glanced at his visor display, noting that his personal shield strength was already down to fifty percent. The maximum coverage and constant barrage of laser fire was quickly taking its toll. “LET’S PICK UP THE PACE, PEOPLE!” the corporal barked.
“How’s your shield strength, Vinnie?” Specialist Brummett asked as he, too, poured weapons fire into the two sniper positions, causing their shields to flash.
“Not good!”
The injured man lost step with the group, again exposing himself to the snipers. Two shots struck him, one in the shoulder, the other in the chest, dropping him.
“STAY TOGETHER!” Corporal Venezia ordered them, but his warnings fell on deaf ears.
One of the men tried to grab his fallen friend, taking a laser bolt to his left forearm, causing him to fall backwards, tripping up the entire group.
“Son of a bitch!” Corporal Venezia cursed, stopping and crouching to protect the entire group as best he could.
“VINNIE!” Brummett yelled, seeing the pileup.
“I’m down to thirty percent!” Corporal Venezia yelled.
“You gotta bail on them!”
Corporal Venezia glanced over his shoulder as a laser blast ricocheted off his armored, left combat boot. He could feel the heat penetrating his armor. Now both snipers were focused on him and him alone. If they got his shield down, they would all die.
With no one shooting at him now, Specialist Brummett activated his own personal shield and ran out to assist his fellow Ghatazhak. He cared little about the Orswellans and even less about the fallen one. His concern was with the life of his comrade.
Brummett crouched down next to Venezia to protect both him and the three remaining Orswellans. “Let’s get this done!”
“MOVE PEOPLE, MOVE!” the corporal barked as laser fire rained down upon them, lighting up both personal shields. “Twenty percent!”
Two streams of red-orange plasma joined in the assault on the sniper positions, but from the opposite end of the street. The effect was a slight reduction in the amount of laser fire they were taking, but not by much.
Suddenly, a third Ghatazhak appeared, taking position on Corporal Venezia’s right side, opposite Specialist Brummett. “Thought you two could use a little help!” Sergeant Morano exclaimed.
“What took you so fucking long?” Corporal Venezia joked as they continued backward, protecting the three remaining Orswellans.
“How low are you?”
“Ten percent!” the corporal replied.
“Step behind me, and shut your shield off!” the sergeant ordered. “Brumms, hold one!” he added.
Both men held their position for a few seconds, moving closer together as the corporal stepped back, joining in the group hug to guide them.
“Move!” Sergeant Morano ordered.
“Everyone together!” Corporal Venezia repeated to the group.
Sergeant Morano and Specialist Brummett continued their backward retreat toward the corner while Corporal Venezia, his armored back protecting the group, wrapped his arms around them, guiding them smoothly around the corner to safety.
“General!” Sergeant Spira yelled. “Six of eight building managers in the engagement area report that all their exits are locked, and they can’t get them opened!”
“They’re going to blow the buildings,” Commander Kellen realized.
General Telles was one step ahead of him. “Have the Diggers put anyone on the rooftops yet?”
“Negative, sir,” the sergeant replied. “Digger Two is about to.”
“Abort,” the general instructed.
“Digger Two, Digger Two,” the sergeant called over comms, “Abort! Abort! No one goes on the rooftops! Repeat! No one goes on the rooftops!”
“Digger Two, aborting insertion,” Captain Orrock acknowledged.
“Digger One, you copy the abort?”
“Roger that,” Captain Hosick replied. “We just jumped in, holding at fifty meters, just west of the engagement area.”
“Both Diggers are to blast the sniper positions,” General Telles ordered. “Maximum force. Blow holes in those buildings.”
“Diggers One and Two, Control,” Sergeant Spira called over comms. “Fire mission…”
“…Hit both sniper positions! Maximum force! Blow holes in the buildings if you have to! Just eliminate the targets!”
“Go!” Sergeant Morano instructed the three Orswellans. “Down the street and around the corner! Get as far away from here as you can!”
“Busby, I’ll take the east target,” Captain Hosick said over comms.
“I’ll take the west target,” Captain Orrock agreed.
“All Ghatazhak! Clear the area!” Sergeant Spira instructed. “Double-time it!”
“Let’s move!” Sergeant Morano yelled. Heading off in the same direction he had just sent the rescued Orswellans.
“You believe the snipers have the detonators?” Commander Kellen asked the general.
“I honestly do not know,” General Telles admitted. “If they do and we take them by surprise, we may have a chance to get those people out.”
“If not?” the commander wondered.
General Telles looked at the commander. “Then we’re going to have to step up our game.”
Captain Orrock guided his Digger up and over the rooftop, coming to a hover in a position allowing just enough room for the turret under their nose to get a clean line of sight on the sniper position across the street and a few floors down. “Let ‘em have it,” he instructed his copilot.
Lieutenant Westwood selected the sniper position, easily locking his weapon onto the energy field created by the sniper’s portable shields. “Target locked, max power…firing.”
Captain Orrock leaned forward just enough to see the sniper’s window become engulfed by a rapid barrage of plasma fire. The side of the building around the sniper’s window exploded, sending chunks of concrete flying outward as it fell to the empty streets below.
At the same time, Digger One, hovering over the building that Digger Two was targeting, also opened fire on the sniper’s position in the building below Digger Two.
After ten seconds of constant fire, Captain Orrock gave the order. “Cease-fire.”
The barrage stopped. When the smoke cleared a few seconds later, a massive hole, large enough to include parts of the floor above and below it, appeared where the window had once been. “Control, Digger One,” Captain Hosick called over comms. “Target eliminated.”
An explosion sounded to Captain Orrock’s left, causing him to turn his head. “Uh-oh…”
“Control, Digger Two,” Captain Orrock added. “Target eliminated.”
One after another, all eight buildings on Parker street— four on each side—exploded from within, collapsing to the ground in terrifying clouds of dust, debris, and fire that rose so quickly, it nearly engulfed the Diggers as they jumped away to safety.
Corporal Venezia and his men found themselves thrown forward by the shock wave, tossed against the building in front of them. Had it not been for their body armor and the assistive bodysuits, all three of them would have been killed.
The corporal shook off the blast, rising to his knees, looking about. “You okay, Sarge?”
“My ea
rs are ringing,” the sergeant replied, struggling to his feet, “but other than that…”
“Brummsy?”
“Nothing a nanite booster won’t cure,” the specialist replied, rolling over onto his back.
“…Fuck,” the sergeant cursed.
Corporal Venezia looked in the same direction as the sergeant, his expression crestfallen as he spotted the source of his dismay. Smashed against the wall, a few meters ahead of them, were the three Orswellans they had just rescued; their bodies torn apart by the shock wave and splattered on the wall. Had it not been for the remnants of their clothing, he would not have recognized them. After sighing, he declared, “We really need to find these fuckers and kill them all.”
“Agreed,” Sergeant Morano responded.
General Telles stared at the images of destruction being displayed by the few surviving security cameras in the area.
“What do we do now?” Sergeant Spira wondered, looking over at the general.
“We lock this fucking city down,” General Telles replied. “Everyone still alive goes home and stays there. Only vetted EMS, fire, and hospital staff will be allowed on the streets, but only with Ghatazhak escorts.”
“Martial law?” the commander asked.
“Ghatazhak martial law,” the general replied. “I will not give those bastards another target.”
* * *
Nathan entered instructions into their shuttle’s auto-flight system, preparing for their final jump into the SilTek system.
“We about ready?” Jessica asked as she stepped over the center console and wiggled her way into the copilot’s seat.
“I’ve got the final jump loaded, and we’ve just about finished decelerating to our initial approach speed,” Nathan replied as he activated the new auto-flight instructions.
“How far out is the arrival point?”
“I have no idea.”
