Battle Beyond Earth: Resurrection (7 page)

He didn't know what he was expecting, but he prayed they wouldn't have to see it again. They could already see the charge building at the base of the mandibles protruding from the immense hull.

"We're getting hailed."

"Put them through," snapped Cohen.

The screen went black as it did before, and once again Jones could see what appeared as two eyes glowing in the darkness. It felt as though they were looking at him and growing wider with recognition. It was a sickening feeling to think he might be singled out, but there was no way he could tell for sure.

"I am Commander Cohen of the United Earth Navy and representative of the League of Four races. We do not come here with any hostile intentions, but we will defend ourselves when fired upon."

No response came.

"Resend that transmission in every language we have on record," she said to Nichols.

"Already done."

"What do you want from us?" Cohen asked.

They still weren't sure if they were even speaking to a sentient being or some kind of computer. But the motion of the lights appeared as eyes moving slightly before them, and it gave a sense of a living creature.

"What do you want from us?" she asked again.

Once again the transmission ended without a word, and they were left with the foreboding sight of the titanic vessel.

"What now?" Santos asked.

"Fire," replied Jones, "Don't wait, fire now while you still can."

Cohen hesitated, and just a few seconds later the energy reached the end of the maniples of the vast super weapon and joined. Cohen was speechless as she watched the beam of light burst out from the vessel and strike one of the destroyers off their port bow. The ship was blown apart into three pieces and smaller debris.

"All vessels engage target!" Cohen shouted, and her orders were quickly relayed.

The weapon systems once again opened fire, and they watched the screens as the fleet poured fire into the massive ship. They had no idea where or how to best target it, so they simply held position and opened up with everything they had. Bursts of energy from hidden weapon platforms aboard the enemy vessel opened fire on them, and for a moment it seemed the lone vessel was putting out as much fire as their entire fleet.

“Get us out of here…leave now while we still can!” Jones shouted at the Commander.

But she ignored him and turned back to the operations display.

“Have the Cholan vessels move to the stern of this thing and target its engines!”

Fire continued to pour into the ship, and they could feel the impacts at their feet as the whole ship was rocked by salvos from the mysterious craft. A light flashed before them, and Jones looked just in time to see the main gun blast another of the Human destroyers and destroy it in a single shot.

“We can’t stay here. We can’t beat this thing, Commander!”

“We must. Those are our orders,” she snapped.

Jones looked past the Commander and could see a number of shadowy outlines growing nearer.

“What the hell is that?”

Nichols brought up a display to show it was a wing of small vessels. They looked too large to be fighters and nothing like the object that boarded them before. These were craft with stubby wings and possibly a cockpit. The nose was more like a mining drill than the front of an aircraft. Jones didn’t know what was on board, but he knew just where they were heading.

“Do not let them reach us. Last time one of theirs got aboard, it nearly cost us all our lives.”

“Direct forward batteries now,” ordered Cohen.

The rain of fire obliterated two of the enemy craft, but another two passed within their firing solution and smashed into the hull of the Guam. Just as before, they felt no explosion, but warning lights and sirens flashed up on the hull breaches. Nichols was quick to direct the appropriate measures.

"Have we just been boarded?" Cohen asked.

Nichols was busy sealing off areas to patch up their hull.

"Have we been boarded?" she repeated in a stronger tone.

"I don't know."

Nichols was flicking through internal security monitors now. Several were not working, but they reached one that showed a ruined interior wall and part of the alien ship they had seen protruding through the breach. There was no movement for a second, but then what seemed like a double door slid inside the hull. Everyone watched out of mostly morbid curiosity and terror. They saw something move out into the light for just a moment. Nobody could tell what it was in the brief second they saw it, as the camera feed cut off.

"What the hell just happened?"

"Camera has been destroyed or deactivated," replied Nichols.

"Find another."

"They've been knocked out throughout most of the deck and elements above and below that position, Sir."

"Deploy drones, contain them!"

Nichols sent command orders on his screen to deploy the initial units.

"Let me go in," said Jones.

Cohen looked at him in surprise.

"You need eyes down there and someone to command the defence in person. You still have Captain Santos to hold and protect this position."

She quickly agreed and turned back to the battle before them. Jones rushed off the bridge and was glad to be able to do something rather than stand and watch helplessly as the fleet was torn apart. He raised his left arm and brought up the control orders for the Company he had been given. He sent the command for 1st Platoon to escort him and the others to his flanks.

Jones rushed into an elevator and hit the command for level five where he knew the enemy had breached. He was still alone when the doors closed, and he couldn't help but feel scared.

"Keep it together, keep it together," he whispered to himself.

He dropped the magazine from his rifle and pulled out another from his armour. He took one quick look to see it was filled with red tip armour piercing rounds, and then slammed it into the rifle. He knew they were not permitted for use about a ship, but he also knew they needed to survive.

He looked down at his compact and contour fit body armour. He'd always felt like a million credits in it, as he knew how much protection it provided against conventional weapons, but now knew how little it meant. About the only thing he could say for his equipment was that it was light and gave him great mobility.

The door to the elevator opened, and he found 1st Platoon waiting for him. Though they didn't make him feel any more comfortable or safe in the scenario. Having other Humans around gave a sense of safety, but the drones didn't provide the same factor. He knew it was purely psychological, but it still bothered him. The corridor ahead was broad and with only a few paths and doors off it. It reminded him of the urban combat training that he had practiced so many times, but he knew this was far worse. The ship was feeling like a dungeon now that he had to hunt some enemy far beyond their technology or understanding.

"1st Squad lead the way," he ordered, as he gave the command to the nearby platoons to close in on his console.

He had almost two hundred of the UEA’s finest drones at his command, more than he'd ever had in his career. He clung to that fact now, in the hope that it would mask his fear and see some hope of victory.

Gunfire rang out to his right flank, and he looked down at his console. The lights flashed where one of his platoons had made contact. He clicked to get a video feed from one of the drones, but it was being jammed.

 
"Damn it," he said to himself and carried on with one of the squads in front. He used the drones to screen and protect himself, just as he had been trained. With all of the soldiers before him, he could not see ahead. Instead, he watched the feed from the drone on point from the console on his arm. It was like watching a video game, and yet the risk to his life made him feel otherwise.

The ambient lighting suddenly cut out without warning.

"Halt," he ordered, and the platoon came to a standstill.

Red emergency lighting cut in, and for a moment Jones felt relieved, but that soon failed also, and they were left in complete darkness.

"NVGs on," he ordered.

He pressed a button on his console, and a visor slid down from his helmet that dropped down to nose height. Lights flickered, and suddenly everything was illuminated with a three-colour palette and almost perfect visibility.

I hate these things.

He remembered when his failed during a night training exercise the year before. Lights flashed in the corridor up ahead, and he looked back down at his console. The camera feed dropped to the ground as the drone was hit. Jones leapt to the side of the corridor and took shelter in one of the large support beams running along the corridor. White flashes of energy zipped down the corridor and struck several of the drones. Jones saw two of the impacts blow the drones apart, but he saw another drop motionless from a lesser impact to the shoulder, as if it had simply been switched off.

He hunkered down in the cover and controlled his unit from his console. From the foremost drone's camera he could just make out the enemy up ahead, but the flashes of their weapons made it hard to get a bearing on exactly what he was seeing. The drones were returning fire with controlled bursts, but they seemed to have little effect on their attackers. He looked at the GPS positioning of his drones and could see 1st Squad was almost gone, with just two still in action. He directed 2nd Squad to move forward, and for 2nd Platoon to move in on their left flank from a parallel corridor.

2nd Squad went forward without fear or hesitation. They were nothing more than machines, but Jones could not help feel the loss when several more were cut down, and he wondered if they could make any progress.

"Ah, hell," he said and decided to weigh into the fray. He got up and peered around the pillar enough to get a view of the enemy. They were just twenty metres ahead. He raised his rifle, flicked the selector onto flash, and pulled the trigger. He looked away for just a moment but knew he didn't have to notify the squad beside him. They were programmed to block visuals when any friendly flash device was fired.

The whole corridor lit up with a flash of white light. A second later, Jones had his rifle up beside the pillar and was taking aim at the nearest enemy. He was surprised to see there appeared to be just three of them. They walked on four mechanical crab-like legs, but with more of a humanoid-shaped upper body. They appeared to be entirely mechanical. Each of their forearms was one of their devastating ranged weapons, but looked like little more than steel tubes. They appeared stunned for a moment, and Jones took his chance.

He aimed at the centre mass of the middle soldier and fired a single shot, but he heard it ricochet off its torso armour.

"No way," he whispered and fired another two shots, achieving nothing more. The drones were firing volleys into the creatures now but achieving nothing of note. They returned fire and destroyed another five drones in their opening salvo. Jones once again took aim at the head this time and fired. The shot glanced off, and now he was more terrified than ever. It was then he noticed a small glowing green light in its lower torso. It was as good a target to try as any. He took aim and fired a shot. The first did nothing, so he fired two more, and watched with joy as the soldier went limp and collapsed to the deck.

"All units, aim for the light in the lower torso. It's the only place we can get through."

The drones redirected their fire, but they were still having trouble getting through with regular ammunition. Despite this, he watched with relief as the remaining two enemy soldiers retreated down a nearby corridor.

"We've got the first wave on the run. All units close in and bring them down!"

2nd Squad went ahead, and he finally got out from cover and followed them. He went forward with a new found confidence. He could hear gunfire from the platoon to their left flank beginning to engage the two enemy soldiers that were running from them. He took a bend and found they had been cornered in the corridor between the two units and were firing wildly into both sides. He joined in the fight and started firing bursts into one of the creatures, but he couldn't get an accurate shot on the weak point he needed. They were moving back and forth firing so wildly.

Jones stopped firing and took careful aim, slowly tracking his target and waiting for his opportunity. He thought he had found his shot and began squeezing the trigger when a red pulse flashed from one of the enemy’s weapons. It was so bright it blinded him for a split second. As he recovered, he noticed the ball of red light stop and erupt. It hit like a shockwave and launched him and the drones with him into the air. He was thrown two metres back, slammed into the deck, and slid until his shoulder smashed into one of the pillars.