by G J Moses
And then Gunner showed that he was good, very good at missile control. The destroyer, now rolling with the loss of the port engine, ran right into the next missile volley from the Lucky Strike. Only two missiles were stopped. When the smoke cleared, it showed the starboard side a smoldering wreck. Gunner had placed the missiles so they had a devastating effect, but did not destroy the destroyer.
The enemy destroyer now drifted aimlessly. Only minor defensive fire was sent against the fighters as they twisted and turned, racing down the sides of the destroyer, blasting away additional chunks of armor and equipment.
Now that the destroyer looked to be immobilized, Jeanne turned her attention to the suspected ore container vessel. That vessel looked to be trying to escape the immediate area. But as she watched, a new presence made itself known.
From the planet, missile after missile escaped the planet’s gravity well. These ancient missiles were huge, but very slow in contrast to current models. They would have been easy targets for a modern destroyer, but now, that the destroyer had been taken out of action, they ran unopposed. They raced towards the transport.
The ancient missiles did what their original inventor, so very long ago, had intended. They impacted against the side of the transport and exploded in a massive explosion. Missile after missile slammed into the side of the transport. Normally, it would have only taken a few missiles of this size to immobilize a capital ship, but this transport was gigantic.
Finally, the missiles being launched from the ground stopped. The transport, now a total wreck, shuddered under the impact from these last few missiles only to float lifelessly before slowly breaking up into large sections. Ship fragments and ore littered the immediate area with bodies here and there interspersed.
Spellbound watching the entire action, Jeanne was jolted out of her amazement when the flashing red strobe lights alerted her that they were about to land on the skin of the destroyer. Karter had already finished arming his weapon and checking his spare power magazines to make sure they were secure in their pouches.
Embarrassed for not paying attention, Jeanne quickly ran through her own arming procedures. Reaching under her seat, she grabbed her fusion rifle and half a dozen spare power magazines. Glancing sideways, Jeanne saw she was not the only one caught by surprise. Zeke was also caught flat footed but making up ground fast.
Slipping the spare power magazines into the pouches strategically placed around her Marine armor, Jeanne casually glanced around at the dozen Marines on the shuttle. She hoped that others had been caught the same state as herself and Zeke. What she saw made her chuckle in embarrassment.
The Marines, were locked, loaded and smiling at her through their faceplates. Blushing at being caught so flatfooted, she hoped that the tint on her faceplate covered up the sudden rush of blood to her face.
In sudden awareness, she noticed that each of these Marines had another half dozen power magazine’s strapped in two slings with pouches slung over their shoulders. The two slings crossed each chest to attach at the waist. Glancing closer, Jeanne saw that each pouch also had several hooks on the outside where larger than normal grenades were attached.
Just as she started to think this was overkill, she saw the tiny impressions on the top left side of their armor. All were different in shape and colors, but she recognized them for what they were. Karter, one of the best Marines she knew, had three of his own. Those impressions were indicative of medals awarded. Only a medal of the highest magnitude was allowed to be displayed on Marine armor. None of the Marines she was now looking at, had less than a half dozen, a good many had more. Again, Jeanne hoped her renewed blushing didn’t show through her faceplate.
Turning back towards Zeke, she saw him looking at her with a puzzled expression. Pinging Zeke for a private communication, she thought of what she had just seen while waiting for Zeke to acknowledge.
“What’s up Jeanne? I may be mistaken, but you look flustered.” asked Zeke when connected.
Leaning her head back against the bulkhead to help her relax, she was still unable to keep the surprise out of her voice. “I just noticed the decorations on the armor of the Marines in our shuttle. I have been around many systems and heads of state functions. And in all that time, I never saw a Marine having more than three medals of this caliber, Karter one of those rare examples. Yet, here are a dozen Marines, with six or more medals emblazoned on their armor. I must be reading them wrong.”
Zeke patted her armored hand. “No, you are not. Major Richards is very well regarded.’
Before he could continue, Jeanne interrupted Zeke to update him that Karter had updated her on Khaleesi’s demotion and why.
Sighing… Zeke continued. “I knew of Khaleesi before that action. Most RGN Naval officers in this sector do. Major Khaleesi did not rise in rank through any officers’ school, but through her own personal actions. As you know, getting to be a Marine Major that way is almost impossible.”
Squeezing her again before he continued. “If Khaleesi wanted to, her armor would show no less medals than any of these Marines, but she refuses to wear them. As you probably know from Karter, the Marines do not wear them to show off, but, as they laughingly once told me, for self-preservation. When seeing the medals, others, officers hopefully, are more open to listening to their suggestions. As they put it, it helps in keeping them alive. You would be surprised at some of their stories on how stupid some orders they were given.”
“If you look at her armor, as I said, you will not see any medals. She insists they are not needed; her Major stripes are all she needs. As far as the other Marines here, a good many have fought by her side before at some time. But the action at Yeplillon, cemented her in Marine legend, even if the RGN Naval brass thought otherwise. When she sent out her request for Marine staffing… well, let’s just say I was not disappointed.”
“Are all the Marines on the Lucky Strike of this caliber?” an impressed Jeanne queried.
“No, not all, these are the best in her company. I was informed by Khaleesi that if she could not be here personally, then she would send some who may be able to keep our foolish asses safe. Doubted it, but she was going to do her best. Oh, and I, her superior officer, was told, in no uncertain terms, it was not an option.” a smiling Zeke finished with. “And I thought it much safer at the time, not to argue with a very pissed off Marine.”
“I can understand that… Karter was not very happy with me when he heard I was going on this mission. We had one of those heated discussions ourselves. He only relented when I pointed out that at least he would be here with us unlike Khaleesi.” responded Jeanne.
Clang… Clang… Clang… echoed loudly through the interior of the shuttle followed by a jarring that threw all of them hard against their restraints followed by the sound of air rapidly escaping as the airlock cycled open where it slid into the side of the shuttle. The jarring had not finished when Jeanne felt the thumping made by armor boots.
“Ok people, we have guests waiting on us. Get your asses moving.” Karter shouted.
As Jeanne unlocked her harness and started to rise in weightlessness, she saw that the dozen Marines were already pouring out the open airlock. They had not waited for Karter; they knew what needed to be done.
Pushing ahead of Jeanne, Zeke, made a side comment as he passed her. “Sorry, I need to see the layout.”
Stepping out behind Zeke, she saw that the shuttle was parallel to a large ragged opening in the hull. The opening was obviously caused by an explosion of some kind. As the edges pointed inwards, it was definitely made from the outside.
When her armor AI sensed no gravity, it activated the magnetic soles of her boots. Not being used to this mode of movement, Jeanne was slower in getting to the opening. One of the two Marines stationed to watch over the shuttle, literally picked her up, ran to the opening upon where he flung her in.
Her armor AI again comes to her assistance. Instead of finding herself flopping onto the floor, she found herself still on
her feet against a wall in a partially destroyed hallway. Unfortunately, that did not stop her from sliding to her knees. With help from a very large Marine, Jeanne scrambled to her feet. Signaling thanks, Jeanne scanned her surroundings.
Each of the races Jeanne had met before, had ships that uniquely met their own needs.
The Furlaerans, where a clear example. They resembled the Megatherium’s from ancient Earth, but only a tenth of their size and weight. They may resemble an ancient sloth, but they did not move like one. They moved very quickly close to the ground and their ships were designed to meet this agility. Their ships did not have walls, but open spaces with huge support girders positioned throughout.
Here, though, the ship was very similar to humans and Sorath’s, the ceilings were slightly higher with wide hallways, but not as large as she thought it would be given the Chohish’s size. The Chohish would do much better with a more open type of passageway with their physique.
Now on her feet and moving, she saw Zeke a few yards ahead of her with Karter just beyond. The rest of the marines were advancing cautiously except for two that were sprinting to the next junction.
If everything had gone as planned, this was being mirrored at a dozen other locations around the ship.
It was obvious that they were not alone. Several dead Chohish littered the hallway. A few looked to have been close to whatever impacted the hull. Their corpses were mangled almost beyond recognition. Several more looked to have died from lack of air.
As she followed Zeke down the hall, Jeanne passed entrances to rooms that were obviously sleeping quarters or storage rooms. None of the rooms had doors to close them off. As they continued on, they were startled by a barrier sliding out of the wall behind them. The barrier stretched across the whole wall.
The barrier was thin but solid. Everyone crouched waiting to see what defensive weapon would appear. After a moment of no other activity, Karter informed them that the Marines left to watch over the shuttle believed it to be the ship’s response to the ships breach. The barrier was to stop the loss of air and pressure.
Even though it made sense, no one relaxed. They continued on but kept a wary eye on their rear. As they walked, they could all feel gravity returning.
Hustling to catch up with Zeke, who had paused for her, she marveled at the feel of power the armor filled her with. Once together, they sprinted up the hall. Just as they were about to catch up to Karter, Karter’s left hand raised up with a clenched fist, then dropped fast. They all knew this meant to stop and drop.
Dropping, she plastered herself hard against the wall. Looking down the hallway, she saw the two leading Marines, just shy of the hall junction, push their rifles, strapped in their slings, onto their back. Grabbing a grenade in each hand, they threw one of the two grenades to the opposing wall so they bounced off the walls and ricocheted down both hallways. Then, in one continuous motion, they flipped the second grenade to their throwing arm and repeated the process.
Hugging the floor as close to the wall as she could, Jeanne felt the force of the detonation of grenades. The floors and walls shook hard just after she felt the concussion and heard the sound. Smoke billowed out from the hall junction.
About to get up, Jeanne noticed that Karter had not changed his posture nor the signal to stay grounded. About to ask why, Jeanne felt another round of grenades go off.
It was then that Jeanne realized why. Two grenades, different timers. One to get any Chohish just around the corner and the other further down.
And while any surviving Chohish were disoriented, the Marines took advantage.
After the second grenade went off, the two Marines, ran around the corner where they started hosing the halls with fusion rifle fire. The first two were soon joined by a second pair.
Only after the firing stopped, did Karter signal to rise and continue. This time, Jeanne was on her feet and moving before Zeke.
Moving quickly down the hall, Karter pointed right.
Turning the corner, what Jeanne saw forced a gasp out of her. Taking a glance behind her, she saw a similar scene repeated. Both hallways were littered with Chohish bodies in a bulky flimsy airtight suit. They must have been waiting in ambush for them. Several of the Marines were making their way through the bodies in both hallways and firing a shot through the faceplate of any they were not sure were deceased, ensuring none were playing possum or would possibly come to.
Working his way around the bodies, Karter stopped to ask. “Captain… any particular direction?’.
“No idea, keep going until either we or one of the other groups find the Sovereign. It looks like this hall branches off to another pair of hallways, just go in whatever direction you feel is best. The question I should have asked before, we will be able to find our way back to our shuttle, no?”
“Yes, you have a tracker in your helmet. Just tell your helmet AI to take you home.” Karter told him just before Jeanne smacked Zeke’s arm for asking such a dumb question.
Moving slower now, as they knew that the enemy would have more elaborate ambushes. Again, several marines led the way with several more just behind.
Now pausing often while the marines inspected the rooms they passed more carefully, Jeanne turned to see who was bringing up the rear.
There were four marines. Two were facing backwards, moving silently even though they walked backwards.
The other pair, followed a bit behind her and Zeke. And it was only then, that she noticed something odd about all four of them. They were carrying more than just their rifles. Two were carrying a very large odd-looking rifle strapped on their backs while the other two were each pulling a medium sized metal container on small antigrav sleds that looked like an ammunition box with one hand while their other held their rifle. Puzzling, but she had no time to figure it out right now.
They continued on their way towards the next junction. This time as they reached the junction, the two lead Marines pulled two small metal balls from their one of their storage pockets. Activating a switch on the side of the unit, the units lifted into the air on small antigrav units.
These types of units were common and even used commercially. They were small, portable scanners with video feeds. Watching, Jeanne saw the two units rise to the ceiling and swing around the corners.
Suddenly, a small image lit up on top right in her helmet. It was split into two images showing both hallways. The hallway on the right was empty, but the one on the left was occupied by a half dozen Chohish in full space suits with clear helmets. These suits were not anything like the flimsy ones seen earlier. One of the Chohish in this group was much larger than the rest. It reminded her of the officer she saw earlier on the Lucky Strike.
All the Chohish were hunkered down behind barricades and the shimmer of force fields showed this would not be as easy to get past as the last time.
With no emotion in his voice, Karter asked on the open channel. “Captain Kinsley, do you need another officer?”
“Nope, got one, one is all I need.” answered Zeke, also with no emotion.
Watching Karter’s facial expressions through his darkened helmet, she would have sworn she saw him smile, just before he signaled to the four Marines at the junction.
Walking slowly next to Zeke, Jeanne saw that that the two lead Marines had swapped out with the other two. These Marines were a good bit larger in size and moved with a swiftness that belied their bulk.
The new lead Marines grabbed a couple of grenades from their harness. With a casualness belying the deadly situation they were in; they threw both grenades into the left hall.
After plastering herself against the wall, she waited for the explosions only to be surprised when heavy smoke comes billowing out from the hall. Checking the image of the hallway in her helmet, she saw nothing but white smoke.
And the Marines, they just stood there. “Smoke grenades? What the hell?” Straightening up, Jeanne looked at Karter to see what he was up to.
The smoke signaled the Chohish
to let loose with a barrage of fire. Fusion and laser fire slammed into the hallway edges and tore away large chunks of the wall.
Still, the Marines stood around nonchalantly, like they had no cares in the world.
It was only a few seconds, but it seemed like ages, when she heard a muffled explosion from the far end of the hall. At which point she heard Karter on the command channel, “Now!”
On her helmet monitor, still showing the images from the scanners even though it was difficult through the smoke, she saw the far-left wall had collapsed, or more accurately, been blown out right behind the enemy’s position. From the new opening, Jeanne watched as multiple grenades came flying through.
Now Jeanne felt the explosions. Not expecting it, she was jarred by the massive concussion and would have fallen if not for a huge Marine standing close to her. The Marine, braced with his feet spread, grabbed her arm to steady her.
And then the two lead Marines jumped into action. Both, using their magnetic soles, ran up the side of the wall to the ceiling. Hidden by the smoke, they swung their weapons around the corner to take aim with their rifles.
Still watching through the video feeds, Jeanne now realized why these particular Marines had taken point. Their rifles were oversized plasma rifles, which weighed a ton. Very few could carry one easily, even with enhanced strength provided by the armor. But, if you could, they sure packed a wallop.
When the Marines started firing, it was easy to tell. Plasma rifles made a very unique sound, deep and thunderous. Boomp, boomp, boomp, boomp… reverberated continuously through the air.
It was a long moment before all sound halted and an eerie silence descended on the area.
The monitor showed all the Chohish down except for the officer. He was leaning against the wall, obviously injured and stunned.
