Machine Gods (Star Crusades Nexus, Book 2) (2 page)

“Look!” said the technician.

He pointed at the
landers, and a column of figures moving off to the right on the
third display unit. The first of the group reached what looked like
a wall or perhaps an entry point to the compound. One of the shapes
staggered and then dropped to the ground. A white flash sent dust
out from the wall before the attackers unleashed a fusillade of
gunfire. They then continued into the breach as more and more
figures rushed out from the landers. Teresa slammed her fist down
onto the flat metal mounting near the display.

“
Damn it, they are
inside already. We’re going to be too late,” she muttered
bitterly.

Teresa
wiped her long black hair away from her face and
focused her efforts on the task at hand. She had a lot to worry
about these days and not just this operation. Being ex-military
though, she knew when it was time to switch off and to concentrate.
For the next few minutes, or however long this took, the operation
would be the only thing to occupy her mind. The screen to her left
showed four video feeds from the civilian compound that was home to
almost a thousand T’Kari. The ancient masonry was being blasted to
powder, as several teams of lightly colored Raiders rushed through
the complex. She tapped the driver on the shoulder.

“How much longer?”

“
Less than a minute.
When we hit the next bend, we’ll be at the breached
perimeter.”

“
Good,”
s
he replied calmly.

Teresa Morato then
turned her attention to the forward facing screen. Unlike most
civilian vehicles, the Bulldog had no windows or vision slits.
Instead, the entire front was a large display that showed camera
feeds in all directions from the vehicle. Teresa tapped the left
screen to bring up the layout of all three Bulldogs. They had been
heavily modified to carry her unique cargo, three teams of Jötnar
warriors. These three-meter tall synthetic creatures had been the
final generation of Biomechs created in the Uprising, but they had
become some of the most stalwart and courageous fighters in the
Alliance.

“
Okay, this is it.
Now remember, the compound is twenty
meters underground. We breach the perimeter and then take
the two entry points so that none of them can get out. One team per
breach and Gun’s hunting party.”

Gruff
acknowledgements came back from the other two vehicles. She glanced
over her shoulder and to the massive armored form of Gun.
He was the leader by rights of seniority of his
people, yet these last few months had been spending time filtering
groups of Jötnar to the APS private security firm. Officially, this
was just a way for them to earn money, but Teresa knew better than
that. He was using APS as a way of keeping his youngest warriors
experienced and ready. Not that Teresa minded; the two were close
friends with a long history. She smiled at him, and he returned it
with a slow nod.

Typical
Gun,
she thought.

“Ten seconds!” shouted the driver.

Teresa took a last calm breath before giving the
command.

“All teams, weapons free!”

The three armored
vehicles slid around the final bend and crashed through what
remained of the damaged perimeter fencing. It was a new addition to
the site, as were all the buildings on the surface. A dozen
corporations were already busy with their deals on these moons, and
she could see their motley collection of equipment, machines, and
vehicles all over the complex. But more importantly, they were
already burning. Teresa glimpsed the scanner built into the
display, noting that over thirty bodies had already been identified
in just a few seconds.

That’s
not why we’re here. W
e need
to get to the T’Kari, and fast!

The small armored
column
pushed onward and through the
outer section of the compound. This was the least developed part of
the site, and mainly consisted of a rough road and stacks of raw
materials, many of which had now toppled over. In the distance were
a number of thick, black smoke columns. They drifted upward in lazy
spirals, disappearing into the ink blackness of the sky. The effect
was mesmerizing, but Teresa was alert. She found the first target
before the computers could even differentiate them from the ground
clutter. Two Raider ships of T’Kari design were waiting out in the
open. Each was twice the size of an Alliance shuttle, and she
quickly estimated they could carry about fifty people, perhaps
more. Shapes moved about them, armored forms in lightly colored
plates of ballistic armor.

“
Raiders,”
s
he said under her breath.

Each Bulldog
was had a robotic turret mount fitted to the
topside of the vehicle. It was equipped with a pair of chain-fed
L48 cannons that fired the large 12.7mm caliber rounds previously
used in the Marine Corps. These projectiles were variable mode
charges that detonated on contact or proximity, depending on the
setting chosen. All three of them opened fire at the same time, and
the effect was devastating. Those Raiders caught out in the open
were shredded by the overwhelming firepower. A few returned fire;
but their rounds bounced harmlessly off the double layered plating
on the Bulldogs. They crashed through the Raiders and moved on and
toward the two entrances that led into the main compound. One
Bulldog continued firing at the Raiders foolish enough to not hide,
while the other two tore chunks of the two spacecraft sitting
impotently on the open landing pad. The ammunition did terrible
work at this range, and the two were quickly rendered useless by
the attack.

“
Good work, prepare
to dismount!” Teresa said, doing her best stay calm. Her pulse was
now pounding with nerves and excitement. She’d experienced battle
many times before, but the thrill it gave her had never left, not
even since leaving the Corps so many years before.

Do I miss it? Hell I do!

Her
B
ulldog screeched to a halt, and the
large armored door on the right dropped down to form a sturdy ramp
to the surface.

“Go!” roared Gun.

Gun was first out of
the Bulldog and running for the dark octagonal doorway that was cut
into the rock. It had already been badly damaged, presumably by the
Raiders. Teresa watched him from the camera feed in the vehicle. He
was inside the structure as the last of his team jumped down from
the ramp. She spotted the darkened doorway flash several times, and
then the other three were inside and following him in. Teresa
looked back to her bank of video screens; each showing multiple
feeds from the modified military armor all the operatives wore. As
private contractors, they made use of surplus military gear and
this was no exception. With the disbanding of the Jötnar Battalion,
a great deal of military equipment for their oversized bodies had
been sold off cheaply. Gun had been able to purchase large amounts
of it while the rest was melted down for scrap or bought by
companies like APS. Jötnar smiths on Prometheus and Hyperion had
produced aftermarket ballistic plates that were now fitted at key
points along the shoulder, chests, and elbows.

“Bravo and Charlie teams hold your positions. Alpha,
keep moving.”

Teresa moved her
eyes slightly to check on the status of the other two groups of
operatives. The second vehicle had deployed its four Jötnar
unit to the doorway recently entered by Gun. Two
moved inside a few meters while the other two took up their posts
on the outside. Teresa nodded in satisfaction and then looked over
to Charlie Team. They were at the second entrance but had stopped
and were looking around it.

“
Charlie One,
w
hat’s the problem?”

“
The door, it’s been
sealed from the inside,” came back the gruff sound of the team’s
leader.

Teresa scratched her
forehead as she rechecked the overhead plan of the compound.
According to the data supplied by the T’Kari, these were the only
two surface entrances on this side of the mountainside. There were
other shafts, but the next was six kilometers away.

“Understood.”

Dull yellow flashes danced about her screens around
the broken and burning equipment.

“
Ambush!” growled
Alpha One, and
the video feeds from each
of his squad blurred. At first Teresa almost panicked, but it was
nothing more than the Jötnar moving quickly. They spread out and
returned fire with their modified coilguns. Bright blasts of energy
slammed into dark shapes that looked out among the
compound.

“
Omega, it’s an
ambush!”

It was her codename
and one chosen for a number of reasons, not least because of her
stern attitude that she’d adopted in the company
, and the fact she was the last link in the chain of
command. There was nobody higher than her in APS when on
operations. She’d only returned to combat operation in the last six
months as their finances suffered in the drought of work. Even so,
Omega was the designation she often used in these operations, and
she was starting to like it.

“
Bulldogs,
ke
ep them busy!” she said in a calm and
controlled voice.

The two crews in
each of the small vehicles altered their positions slightly to
ensure the lighter armored rears of their Bulldogs were places away
from the gunfire. Even as they moved, the turrets on each tracked
around and opened fire with a devastating roar. Any of the Raiders
arrogant enough to move out of cover was instantly
shredded.

“
Thanks, Omega,”
s
aid the Jötnar leader of Team
Charlie.

“
Secure the site,
Bulldog T
hree will follow you for
support. We don’t need any more surprises.”

Just ten meters
inside the underground compound, and Gun was already feeling in his
element. He moved quickly but not too quickly. Gun and his people
had spent many years hunting the stray creatures on their jungle
world of Hyperion. They were fast and smart, frequently outwitting
their hunters. He’d seen a good number fall to ambushes or traps
laid out by the smarts ones. Of the Jötnar that survived such
ordeals, each would become wiser, stronger, and more useful to him.
As he rushed down the tunnel, he continually panned from side to
side, looking for signs of traps, hidden enemies, or concealed
weapons; another fifteen meters further inside, and he was rewarded
by a small shape on the left. He stopped, and the other three
Jötnar halted and took up defensive positions. They took aim with
their military issue coilguns, and one turned around to cover their
rear.

“
Alpha One here, I
have a defense mine
. They must have left
it on the way down.”

“
Show me,”
Teresa replied from the Bulldog on the
surface.

Gun shook his head
and
leaned in closer to the object. He
made sure not to move too close though, just enough to get a clear
view to show those topside.

“
Yeah, that’s okay.
Our data show that as a T’Kari shredder. You know what to
do.”

Gun nodded, reaching
down to his right thigh. Fitted to his armor with Velcro tabs were
a number of circular plates surrounded by ceramic teeth. He grabbed
one and pulled it from his leg. Gun then reached out and fitted it
onto the end of his coilgun and twisted to clip it to the muzzle.
The weapon instantly recognized the fitment of the device and
changed to a blank blast projectile. He took aim at the device on
the wall.

“Clear!”

With a firm pull on
the trigger, the coilgun sent a low power magnetic block to the
muzzle, striking the back of the plate with a thump. The plate in
turn discharged a sticky filament web that enveloped the device and
instantly froze solid. Immediately after firing, the plate detached
from the barrel and fell to the ground. The weapon flashed on the
readout and changed back to conventional projectiles.

“
Pacified,”
h
e said under his breath and then moved
on.

The tunnel continued
for a short distance further before reaching a large open hallway.
The walls were smooth and metallic
, and
overhead a number of yellow lights cast a sinister glow over the
whole area. At the far end was an arched entrance leading out into
what appeared to be a large open space.

Teresa continued,
“Alpha Team, that’s good progress. The archway leads to the plaza.
Our data from the T’Kari says that it is about the size of a
freighter hangar, with buildings and paths around the internal
structure. The habitation areas are interspersed with the
commercial zones. Be careful.”

Gun moved ahead
until he reached the archway. He peered through the opening and
into the plaza. It was lighter than he’d expected. Bodies littered
the ground
, and the sound of gunfire was
much louder. About twenty meters away stood a large bipedal
machine. Near to it were a dozen of the Raiders in their dark,
battle scarred armor. Another group of Raiders appeared in the far
distance, and between them they dragged a dozen T’Kari civilians,
some of who were not even in the suits Gun had always seen them
wear.

Interesting,
he thought with wry
amusement.