Pax Imperia (The Redemption Trilogy) (43 page)

With a deafening
crack
that could be heard for several blocks, the loadbearing supports collapsed, causing the weight of the above building to come crashing down on the two floors, flattening them. The resultant explosion of dust and glass spread out across the surrounding area like a creeping storm cloud, depositing a fine layer of dust across everything.

Then all was still.

Everyone was shocked beyond belief at the epic destruction that had just been wrought; nobody could possibly have survived on the two collapsed floors. Then with a whirring noise, the mechanical monster pivoted around to bring the pulse cannon to bear on the opposite building.

Having just observed the destruction inflicted on the first building, the troops stationed in this one did not even hesitate. They abandoned their weapons and fled. Even then only a score made it to the emergency exits safe in the reinforced central core of the building. The rest were killed either outright by the stream of energised particles that cut down everything in their path; others by the exploding debris and shrapnel. Finally, those few unlucky enough to become trapped or not swift enough on foot to make it to the emergency stairwell were killed by the collapsing building.

Within the armoured exoskeleton Gunny reviewed the multitude of sensors built into the suit and, not detecting any further movement or life signs from within the two collapsed buildings, strode forward. Stepping over the temporary barricades quickly erected by the marines, he stepped out onto the road. In front of the only remaining building—what had once been the flawless façade for United Services, but now was nothing more than a shattered, dust-covered shell.

With a loud roar, the tank that had been parked in front of the building inched its way forward until it came to a rest a dozen feet away from Gunny. With a whirling noise the turret came around, until the long barrel was pointing directly at him. Raising his free hand, the other still tightly clutching the pulse rifle, powerful actuators came to life as Gunny motioned forward with his hand.

“Bring it on.”

*****

With another audible
ping
the elevator doors opened once again, however this time they were no longer on the ground floor, but the fifty-eighth. The roof. Cautiously peering around the door both men were relieved to find that, unlike the last time, the area was deserted.

“Time to go,” Jon said, taking one final look to make sure that they were indeed alone, before stepping out of the lift, the girl once again in his arms. The two of them had decided to alternate, as while she was a small sprite of a girl she was also very heavy.

Hurrying out across the roof, the pair headed in the direction of the far edge, when only a few dozen meters from their destination, a sharp voice rang out across the rooftop. “Freeze. Hold it right there, or we will open fire.”

With a curse, both men turned slowly, quick to notice the two guards approaching them from behind with their pulse rifles trained firmly on them. Considering their last encounter, and the subsequent order about not wanting any prisoners, neither of them raised their hands. Not that Jon could have done anyway, considering the heavy weight he carried.

“And we were so close,” Jon sighed, looking longingly at the edge of the building, still several meters distant. Close, but still far enough to ensure they would all die long before they got that far. Sighing he lowered his head so that he could whisper to the little girl in his arms. “Close your eyes and cover your ears, little one. You don’t need to see this.” He could feel the little girl trembling in his arms, but she did as he instructed, closing her eyes and putting her hands over her little ears. Jon looked up in time to observe the two guards raise their weapons, obviously having already received orders to shoot them on sight.

Meanwhile Paul raised his own hand, to wave them goodbye. His gaze not fixed on them, or their weapons, but on the small red-dots on both of their chests. “Bye,” he said, as both guards were simultaneously catapulted backwards, three-inch holes appearing through their chests.

The marine snipers, stationed on the opposing rooftop several hundred meters distant, fired high explosive, supersonic rounds. Hence it was a few seconds after both guards died that the sound from the shots finally echoed across the roof.

Without a second glance, Jon turned his back on the dead bodies and, taking a couple of steps forward, casually stepped off the ledge of the building—apparently into thin air. But in reality he stepped into his cloaked shuttle, which had been waiting there for just such an eventuality.

“I wish that you wouldn't do that,” Paul complained, stepping into the ship right behind him.

*****

Gunny took a step to the right, a few seconds later, with a whirl of actuators, the turret moved likewise, correcting its aim. A further step to the right and the tank did likewise. Gunny repeated the same sequence of events several more times, with the tank correcting its aim a few seconds later each time. After that Gunny grew tired of the game and stood stock-still.

“Very well, give it your best shot,” he called out over the suit’s amplified speakers, taunting the tank.

The tank vibrated ever so slightly, a clear indication it was preparing to fire. Gunny simply waited contemptuously. The tank’s barrel lowered its elevation by a couple of inches, the barrel of the gun now firmly focused on the chest plate of his powered assault armour.

“Oh, get on with it,” Gunny cried. “You’re not going to make a dent in this suit anyway,” he banged an armoured fist against the suit’s chest.

Positively vibrating with anger, the tank finally fired. Its massive main gun glowing white as the high-energy, ionised atoms tore apart the intervening air at the molecular level. Traveling almost at the speed of light, it took less than a millionth of a second to travel the seven meter distance to the target—which was no longer there. Gunny had simple stepped aside just before the tank fired. Instead the beam travelled on, a dozen meters further—into the lobby of United Stellar Services, completely gutting what remained of the ground floor. The blast itself instantly killing anybody unlucky enough to still be inside.

“Whoops,” Gunny laughed unrepentantly, turning his torso slightly to observe the burning wreckage behind him, all that remained of the once immaculate lobby. “I hope they don’t bill you for that.” Raising his own pulse cannon Gunny sighted down the barrel, although it was fairly hard to miss at that range, before firing. Once again the continuous stream of ionised plasma left the weapon, quickly enveloping the tank, sheathing it in a massive pyrotechnic display as the charged particles impacted the heavy armour, throwing off excess energy in the form of new high-energy particles, light and heat. After several seconds of this, Gunny finally ceased fire, to inspect the burnt out remains of the tank—

The bolt of pulse fire from the tank missed his armoured shoulder by a hairs breadth, and with a startled oath Gunny lowered his weapon. The tank stood precisely where it had been, completely unblemished from the onslaught of fire from Gunny’s pulse cannon.

Glancing at the weapon in his hand, Gunny discarded it in disgust. “I need to bring a bigger gun next time,” he muttered, scratching his head. Forgetting that the suit was still tracking his every movement it did likewise, with the rather comical effect of a nine-foot armoured exoskeleton standing in the middle of the road scratching its head. His musings were interrupted when he noticed the tank was once again moving.

Obviously realising this target was too mobile to hit, the turret started to once again swing around—this time to take aim at the remaining marines, all sheltering behind the burnt-out remains of a sole transport pod.

“No, no, no,” Gunny cried out, waving his hands, frantically trying to draw the tank’s attention back to him, as there was no more cover for the marines. They would be easy pickings for the tank. But the long barrel ignored him, continuing to ponderously swing around to bring its main gun to bear on the helpless marines.

With no weapon in his arsenal powerful enough to penetrate the dense armour protecting the tank, Gunny bent his knees and, with the powerful actuators in the leg joints assisting him, jumped the several feet up onto the deck of the tank. Hurrying forward, Gunny reached out, clamping a massive armoured fist around the barrel, as it continued to swing around, pulling with all the enhanced strength that the suit offered—but it was not enough. Unable to find any traction, his legs simply slipped across the smooth surface of the tank.

“Brace, brace, brace,” he shouted, and the powerful electromagnets built into the legs of the suit activated, clamping firmly to the deck of the tank. Designed for use in space boarding operations, they were designed to clamp onto the side of starships to stop the suit floating away. They were just as effective on the surface of the tank—but not enough. While the speed of the rotation had slowed, as the powerful suit actuators fought against the movement of the tank, slowly but surely the barrel came to rest on the marines. Gunny could feel the vibration through the barrel as it once again prepared to fire. Closing his eyes, he was helpless to stop the massacre that was about to unfold, as the tank fired.

The explosion was massive, as the beam travelled such a short distance. Gunny opened his eyes, already horrified at the scene of carnage he expected to see. Blinking, he was unable to believe what his eyes were showing him. For the beam had stopped several feet
short
of the marines. Even more incredibly, it seemed as if some invisible force field had descended from the heavens to encompass them, as the bolt was reflected back at the tank, away from the men. “Crap,” Gunny said, as the backlash from the blast swept over the tank, tossing him backwards to land on his side several meters away.

Like a mirage appearing on the distant horizon, the air in front of the tank started to ripple and waver. Then, with a bright flash of light, it appeared—the
Endless Light
hovering serenely over the scene, sparkling in the midday sun. Unconcernedly it started to swing around until it was facing the tank, like a soaring eagle hovering over its much smaller prey, for the tank seemed tiny when facing the much larger shuttle. For several seconds all was still as the two antagonists faced each other, as if each considering their next move.

Then, with a barely perceptible movement, the hull on either side of the shuttle started to retract, as it deployed its internal weapons pods, the dark instruments of death conflicting starkly with the pristine white hull of the ship. The silence was broken by a barely perceptible whine, as the electromagnets in the railguns powered up, then the first shell was ejected at several times the speed of sound. Firing dozens of rounds per second the sound was incredible at such short range, as each penetrated the sound barrier. Any window within a thousand meters that was not already broken instantly shattered from the repeated sonic booms.

The tank was thrown back into the side of the building by the force of the impacts, the kinetic energy of the repeated blows causing the tank to glow an angry red, before turning an incandescent white. The dense armour starting to warp and deform from the repeated impacts, but still it held. Finally the horrific noise came to an end, as the guns fell silent, but the echo kept spreading out across the already dazed city.

After a momentary hesitation, the shuttle drew back slightly, as if to give itself some space while it considered its next move. What this was became immediately obvious when its missile pods were deployed next. After a brief pause, one of the missiles leapt from the left pod, followed almost instantaneously by a second from the right. The two missiles streaked towards the tank, impacting almost simultaneously. Designed to penetrate the thick armour of warships, the super dense warheads penetrated deep into the tank’s armour before detonating. The resulting focused explosion was enough to breach the armour, the force of the explosion magnified within the close confines of the tank, until it reached the vehicle’s ammunition magazines. The tank exploded in a ball of white light, the explosion reaching several stories in height, the remains of the turret eventually being found several hundred meters away.

The shuttle hovered for several seconds longer, before finally angling its nose upwards, accelerating quickly away, leaving behind a scene of utter destruction all around it.

*****

The massive hangar bay doors started to ponderously close behind the
Endless Light
as it came in for a graceful landing on the flight deck of the
Relentless
. Jon was out of the shuttle the minute that the bay doors had completed their cycle, Harrison’s daughter still firmly in his arms. The doors to the hangar deck opened long before he reached them, as Admiral Romanov stepped out onto the flight deck. Her eyes widened in surprise at the sight of him, dishevelled, wearing a torn suit that was covered in blood, carrying a young girl in his arms.

“Jon, are you alright?” she asked in worried tones, taking in his appearance. “The data-nets have lit up all over Capella, reporting some sort of war going on down there. Who’s the girl?” she added.

“Take her for me, can you?” Jon said, gently disentangling the little girl’s arms from around his neck, depositing her in Anna’s arms. “She is Captain Harrison’s daughter. We found her down on Capella. Take her to medical and make sure that they give her a full check-up. She’s had a rough time of it down there. She probably could do with a hot meal, as I doubt that she has eaten in days.”

“Harrison’s daughter?” Anna replied in shock, hugging the little girl to her tightly, as if she was her own. With their pale, white skin and long, blond hair, from a distance the two could easily have been mistaken for mother and daughter. “What was she doing down there? Where is her mother?”

“Dead,” Jon said in a bleak tone of voice, fury smouldering in his eyes, tension clearly visible in his taunt body. “She had been murdered.”

“She’s dead?” Anna replied in disbelief, taking a step back in surprise, wavering on her feet for a moment.