AMP The Core (18 page)

I replied, "I didn’t know about the bunkers, Colonel. It was probably mentioned at some point, but I didn’t pick up on it."

A second troop carrier with five thousand Prassi soon disintegrated as its charge well was breached. Before I had the opportunity to reach the next ship, it began to drop down from orbit, just behind the hundreds of thousands of fighters that were now beginning their assault of the city of Nevil. I aimed my glove downward and followed right behind them.

The fighters swarmed through the ion inhibitor domes and began to fire upon the structures within the city. Buildings exploded and crumbled. The barren streets were soon lined with debris as the fighters unleashed a relentless barrage of ion bolts.

Return cannon fire from our defenses soon ensued, with the occasional fighter taking a direct hit and falling from the smoke-filling sky. Our medium defense cannons fired upon the larger ships as they descended upon Nevil. A Dakar destroyer erupted in flame as a pair of ion bolts found the ion conduit that fed its main cannon. I watched the large ship descend as in slow motion. It crashed hard into one of the open farming fields that surrounded the city.

The ion bolts continued to stream upwards, striking ship after ship as they moved towards the ground. One assault ship after another violently exploded. Our defenses were holding, but the assault was only beginning, and the bulk of the attacking ships had not yet left orbit.

Defense posts around the globe were reporting attacks, some with a significant number of ships. None were intended to open up a front as was the assault on Nevil. As I drifted aboard a Dakar cruiser, I was shocked to find the cargo hold full of ground troops. I sent the newly gathered intel to the Colonel, who immediately entered it into our defense profiling system. The Dakar discovery would add another two million potential ground troops to the already massive fleet.

The Dakar cruiser was soon racing towards the ground under the force of gravity as the ion feeds to its engines were cut off with a well-placed tungsten round from my glove. The cruiser crashed hard and crumpled into a flattened pile of debris as all those on board were no longer counted amongst the living.

After twenty minutes of relentless assaults by the Durian fleet, and rebuffs by our troops, the first Colossun troop carrier reached the ground. It landed in a field that smoked and burned with the debris of the hundred ships that had come before it. Large bay doors opened on its sides, and soldiers poured out onto the Gonta farmlands. Soon after, a second and then a third landed, emptying out their cargoes of fighting men and women.

As I turned my eyes upward, I was startled to see one of the Colossun mega-ships descending towards me. "Colonel, why would the Colossuns be dropping in supplies when their troops have not even secured a foothold?"

The Colonel replied, "Check those containers, Grange. Maybe we mistook those for supplies."

As I took in the Colonel’s words, the great ship moved through my position, revealing the contents of its immense cargo holds.

A surge of adrenaline shot through my veins as I had a sudden realization that I had seen those containers before. They had carried Colossun androids!

I yelled, "Colonel! Those container ships are full of the android soldiers! Try to concentrate your ground fire on those mega-ships!"

The first ship reached the ground after taking heavy fire. Massive bay doors opened down both the port and starboard sides, and the three-meter-tall android Colossun soldiers streamed out onto the abandoned Gonta farmland. The androids soon filled the field surrounding the ship. A quick scan from my BGS sensors placed the number at thirty-four thousand.

I spoke. "Colonel, how many of those mega-ships did we count?"

The Colonel replied, "Close to five hundred. That gives us over seventeen million of those androids that will possibly be on the ground. We are now counting upwards of twenty-seven million assault troops should they all reach dirt."

As I looked down upon the field, the swarm of androids began to sprint in the direction the first Colossun troops had taken. Ion fire from our defensive walls was already beginning to pound the onrushing troops. The Bulgar troops fired in a relentless barrage of ion bolts. I then began to see larger explosions pockmarking the fields as the troops advanced. The Bulgar had some type of explosive mortar rounds, and their aim was ridiculously on target. Colossun troops fell as the intense explosions erupted around them.

As the android troops followed in behind the now-scattering Colossun regulars, the Colossun ship countered with a new strategy of its own. Hundreds of smaller ion bolts flew from the mega-ship, taking out the mortar rounds while they were still in the air. The androids opened up with their blasters as they advanced towards the Bulgar defenses.

I dove straight down using my BHD glove and found myself stepping through the bulkhead wall of the ion charge well on the mega-ship. Three seconds later, her ion cannons went silent as a stream of ion particles ripped through her interior. The Bulgar mortars again reached their intended targets.

The Colonel’s air defenses knocked two additional troop ships from the sky before they could land and unload. The Colossun regulars were in disarray as the androids passed their position while continuing the assault.

As I looked upwards, I took note of the lack of ships coming down from overhead. Back down on the ground, the number of Colossun androids continued to be thinned out through precision mortar strikes as well as with relentless ion cannon fire.

The Colossun regulars were racing back towards their troop carrier in retreat. I again dove down, and with a single tungsten shot, the troop carrier burned as a stream of released ion particles shot out from the breached charge well. I then began my own barrage of ion bolts, targeted into the Colossun regulars as they hunkered down in a nearby field, watching their escape route burn.

Forty-eight minutes after the assault had begun, it had come to an abrupt end. The fields surrounding the city of Nevil smoked and burned with the wreckage of hundreds of the attacking ships. Thousands of bodies littered the killing fields in front of the Nevil defensive walls. The Durians had squandered their first attempt at gaining a foothold on Tresha’s surface. The Bulgar, despite their initial mistake, had survived the assault with minimal loss.

The swarms of enemy fighters continued to circle the skies above Nevil, pummeling every building, every structure. As the fighters laid waste to the city, the ion inhibitors remained intact. After the first ground assault by nearly ninety thousand troops, only a dozen Bulgar soldiers had been injured. Tresha was not going to be the easy target that the Durians had hoped.

The Swift continued to circle the globe, inflicting damage at a rapid but largely ineffective pace. The ships of the Durian-led fleet moved continuously, preventing anything more than the target of opportunity for the Swift’s computer to lock onto.

I floated over the city of Nevil, shooting at fighter after fighter as they swarmed about my position. The fighters’ size, speed, and weapons were no threat to my BGS suit. In the twenty minutes that passed between assaults, I had knocked nearly a hundred of the assault fighters from the sky. My efforts were hardly making progress. The fighters flew close to the ground, making themselves difficult targets for our ground cannons. When the next assault wave started, I was positioned in the city center.

The Colonel spoke. "Grange, a second invasion attempt is now under way. Do what you can to keep those troops from landing."

I replied, "I have the transports highlighted on my HUD, Colonel. I’ll focus my efforts on them, first."

I shot upwards and met the first of the ships as it descended. It was a Dakar destroyer without any troops aboard. As I moved towards it, my HUD lit up with the three hundred other similarly equipped ships that were falling in behind it. Twenty of the Colossun mega-container ships followed closely behind the tip of the spear.

The initial ships absorbed the ground-based cannon fire; explosions and fires raged across their decks, as they had been sent forward to lessen our initial blows to the troop ships. It was a strategy that worked, as the first of the Colossun android carriers settled in the fields surrounding Nevil, followed closely behind by a second and a third.

As I raced towards the nearest mega-ship, a strong ion bolt emerged from a mid-sized cannon on a Dakar ship just above me. The active skin on my BGS suit quickly shot to 70 percent capacity. The Durians had again altered their strategy. I now had to assume that my position could somehow be tracked.

I reached and disposed of the first mega-ship before the full load of androids could disembark. I looked at my HUD and shook my head as another twelve of the massive ships set down in the fields around me.

I raised the Colonel on the comm. "They just landed a half million androids, Colonel. I hope the Bulgar have more than those mortars going for them!"

The Colonel replied, "Just do what you can to stop them from unloading, Grange. The Bulgar are in for a real fight this time. If those mortars aren’t effective, we expect half a million of those androids to reach those walls. If it goes man to man, they will almost certainly be overrun."

I powered towards a transport as it approached the ground. It met with a quick death of ion destruction through fire and explosion. Nearly half of its cargo was taken out before it unloaded. The numbers, however, were quickly becoming too great for our efforts. The fields around me moved with soldiers as if a field of grain were being blown by the wind. I fired continuously as I flew towards the next ship.

My resolve was then emboldened as a familiar voice came over the comm. "Mr. Grange, this is York. I have Frost and a dozen others here with me. We will be assisting you in your efforts. The Colonel’s team is coordinating our targets; just follow the green markers on your HUD as the ones for you to hit."

I replied, "Those ships have medium cannon on them. I took a hit, and my active skin was nearly overwhelmed."

York maneuvered towards her first victim as she spoke. "The Colonel thinks that was a random shot that you just happened to float in front of, Mr. Grange. If not, then we will know soon enough."

The farm fields surrounding Nevil were soon filled with ion bolts zipping in both directions, explosions, smoldering debris, psychological warfare, and war cries of android assault troops. It was controlled chaos on all fronts. The twenty-meter-high Tantric walls that surrounded the Bulgar-inhabited city stood tall against the powerful onslaught of android warriors.

As the androids reached the walls, they began to pile on one another using the ones standing at the bottom to climb towards the top. Three times I heard alerts go out as a wall was temporarily breached. The Bulgar were fighting a fierce battle that I would have only expected out of our own troops. This wasn’t their world, but it was their war.

For three hours, the fighting moved from one section of wall to another as the Bulgar repelled the mechanical attackers time and again. The moment I felt encouraged that we were handily controlling the battlefield, another twenty Colossun mega-ships dropped down into the fields and began to dump their cargoes of fighting robots.

Those fresh troops were soon followed by another fifty Dakar and Prassi ships with assault troops all their own. My feelings of control were dashed as more than a million new soldiers hit the fields around Nevil. I took note of a large breach in the Bulgar perimeter and raced towards it with my BHD glove.

I landed on my stumps atop the wall, not far from where a multitude of Colossun androids were climbing up and over. I fired round after round of tungsten projectiles into the pile of androids stacked against the base of the wall. After a dozen such blasts, the android mob was routed and pushed back.

Several hundred android fighters were pinned down just inside the wall as those on top worked to stop a new pile from forming on either side of the outside wall. I powered up and flew towards the small horde just in time to see one of them backing against the base of the wall. Several seconds later, a bright white explosion signaled the energy packs of several androids being detonated all at once.

Where a high and very solid wall had once stood, there was now a crater with a ten-meter-wide breach just above it. The defensive walls surrounding Nevil had a Tantric plating on the outside. The inside construction was standard stone and concrete. The androids surrounding the outer wall were now streaming through. Blaster fire was concentrated on the breach, allowing further breaches over the top to form. The Bulgar were beginning to fall, and with their demise, the Durians would have their foothold on Tresha.

As the fight reached its bleakest point, a new counteroffensive began. York, Frost, and two others were on the ground. I soon joined their efforts. Within minutes the main assault had been halted and pushed back through the hole in the wall. Bulgar reinforcements had moved from the ground reserves to assist on the wall-top overruns.

The ebbs and flows of the battle continued for several hours. With every breach came a new counter surge to push them back.

The Colonel came over my comm. "Grange! We have another twenty of those mega-ships dropping down followed close behind by another hundred transports. I would gauge this as being their big push. Continue to inflict what damage you can, but I expect this to be a losing-sum game now. The minute I feel control is lost, we will be pulling you, York, and the others out to address other needs."

I replied as I looked back over the Bulgar fighters stretched out across the walls of Nevil, "So, that will be it? We will essentially be abandoning the Bulgar."

The Colonel spoke. "It’s not a decision that is made lightly, Grange. We have a war to fight, and we have to make the best use of the resources we have available. Sometimes that means making decisions that might not be popular at the time. It’s the burden that comes with being in command."

I replied, "Sorry, Colonel. I didn’t mean to imply anything. Just taking out my frustrations at the situation."

The Colonel again spoke. "I’ve known you long enough to know what your intentions are, Grange. Just keep kicking as much ass as you can out there. The battle for this planet is just getting under way. There will be plenty more to be frustrated with as it progresses."

I fired off two tungsten rounds, ripping apart four Colossun androids along with a half dozen who had joined in behind them. The android parts filled the crater at the wall breach.

York spoke. "We have a new wave of softer targets coming in! Aim low, and you have a good chance of taking multiples out with debris strikes on the ground in front of them!"

The tan armor of the Colossun androids was soon replaced by the dull gray armor of the Dakar regulars and the yellowish armor of the Prassi. The contrast with the deep blue armor of the Bulgar made target identification and selection easy. The regular troops suffered horribly where the Colossun androids had sometimes succeeded. The killing fields around Nevil were soon strewn with tens of thousands of dead and dying enemy soldiers.

My BGS suit worked to counter the effects of the anxiety I was feeling from the constant killing that was going on in front of me. My fingers ached from the constant pulling of the triggers on my weapons. I had last sensed that fatigue when fighting the Targ. Unlike the Targ, the Durians kept a constant pressure applied.

When the Dakar and Prassi fighters turned to flee the fields of death, a new collection of Colossun androids met them in their retreat. I watched in shock as the androids butchered their retreating partners, no doubt under the orders of the Durian high command.

I spoke. "York, you watching this?"

York replied, "I am, Sir. And I would expect nothing less from the Duke."

I came to the realization that I had not had a comm from the Duke since our last conversation on the massive cannon ships. "York, has the Duke been talking to you?"

York replied, "He has been constantly hailing me all day. I have his channel blocked, Sir."

I spoke. "Are you up for conversing with him? I would only ask that of you if you are able to keep information from him. He likes to let things slip out from time to time. I think he uses it to try to steer you in the direction he wants you to go. He will also try to trick information from you by dangling some juicy tidbit in front of you. Do you think you can handle his devious ways?"

York laughed. "I doubt that I would be good at the psychology game, Mr. Grange. If you feel there is something to be learned, however, I will give it a shot."

I replied, "Please do so, York. And don’t give him any indication of my health or whereabouts. I think he has a way to track us that has somehow been switched off in me. I’m not sure why or how, but I think he can no longer track me."

York agreed, and her comm was silent for the next several minutes.

As I focused my energies on a new wave of androids, York hailed me on the comm. "Sir, I spoke with the Duke. He was fishing for information on you, just as you predicted. After several attempts at prying that info from me, he gave up in a huff when I told him I was kicking the crap out of his crappy army. I think he has a short tolerance for people who are blunt with him, Sir."

I replied, "He does get agitated if he feels like you are onto him. If you can, talk to him every once in a while; he may throw you a bone to try to entice you into spilling your guts. He is watching the battle unfold from the other side. And I am certain he would love the interaction of a blow-by-blow account from the opposition. If you do choose to speak to him, just be careful with what you say."

I continued, "Has he been talking with Frost?"

York replied, "I think she has him blocked as well, Mr. Grange."

I closed out the conversation with York and moved on to Frost. "Has the Duke been attempting to contact you, Frost?"

Frost replied, "Constantly, Sir. He is real interesting to talk to until you realize his motive is to suck information out of you. He somehow makes you want to be his friend while he works you over."

I half laughed. "I can see how that would irritate you, Frost. You are the one usually playing the psych games with people. Anyway, I want you to occasionally answer that comm if you think you are up to a little intel gathering of your own."

Frost landed on the wall beside me and blinked in. "Name it, Sir. This constant pulling of the trigger gets boring. A distraction might do me some good."

I gave Frost the same speech as the one I had given York: keep the conversations short, watch what she said, and don’t offer any information on my health or whereabouts. Frost agreed just before blinking out.

As I turned my attention back to the onrushing android masses, I had to laugh at the demise of several hundred androids as they moved towards the breach in the wall. Frost was now hovering just behind them about fifty meters out from the wall. As they grouped together for their assault, she would obliterate them from behind with a tungsten round.

I had a sudden rush of panic as I realized my tungsten magazine only had eight shots remaining. "York! Frost! Pass it on for everyone to keep a count of their magazines! I’m almost out of rounds! I’ll be calling down the Swift for a reload. Everyone should get a top-off if they can."

I pulled the Swift from its fast orbit, and as I spent the last tungsten round, it was hovering just below me on the ground inside the Tantric wall. I jumped, drifted down, deactivated the skin, and dropped the rear hatch. The others lined up behind me as I had requested. The reloads were fast, but not fast enough to stop the next onrush of androids.

After a thirty-second break, I was again back up on the wall. The androids were once again rushing through the open section. We were relentless in the delivery of our new stockpiles of tungsten.

The Durians had once again changed tactics. This time, instead of standing and firing as they moved forward, they would move in tight groups of four where the front three were cannon fodder for the advancement of the fourth. As the androids moved deeper into the Bulgar’s ranks, our focus moved from the wall to the center of the compound. That single mistake sealed the fate of the Bulgar and of Nevil.

Four additional androids detonated themselves against the wall’s interior, opening a section more than sixty meters wide. A new onrush of soldiers forced their way through. There was no going back. New sections of the wall then began to fall.