Star Crusades Nexus: Book 03 - Heroes of Helios (15 page)

General Rivers looked over his shoulder before speaking again.

“There are three main ethnic groups and then another known as the Zathee. It seems they’ve been actively supporting a movement to overthrow their government.”

Teresa nodded as if the news somehow made sense.

“So they are the attackers?”

General Rivers shrugged.

“Who knows? A year ago we’d never met a Helion, now we take their word for it. I’m sending a team to meet you. Get your marines ready, and follow them to the Ministry of Justice.”

“Understood,” said Teresa smartly.

She leaned out to switch off the screen when the realization of who was on the ship came to her.

“Jack,” she whispered.

Rivers nodded.

“Yes, his unit is on board. They were conducting a security operation to protect the Ambassador’s delegation aboard the ship. Now they’re losing altitude. We immediately lost contact with them, and our ship higher in orbit confirms they will break the atmosphere in less than ten minutes. We need to be ready.”

“For what?” Gun asked.

“They are coming down fast, and there is nowhere for a ship of her size to land. She’s going to crash, and the casualties will be catastrophic. We need to look after our people and stop this turning against us. Be ready and watch your backs, trust no one.”

With that, the image finally closed, and a series of emergency messages appeared one after the other on her secpad. Gun was already fully dressed, and this time he was carrying his modified L52 Mark II carbine. He reached down to his thigh and pulled on a hardened pouch. From within came a skeletal stock thermal shotgun that he tossed over to Teresa.

“You might need this.”

She checked the ammunition status and cocked the weapon ready. Her boots were already on her feet, and all that remained was her long black overcoat. She grabbed it and lurched for the door.

“Get them all together. I smell a double-cross.”

Gun grinned, an expression she’d seen so many times. Even so, having her old friend alongside once more filled her with confidence. There was nothing they couldn’t do.

“If they want a fight, they’ve come to the right people.”

* * *

The massive warship shuddered once more as it dropped from its holding orbit and toward the planet. Emergency harnesses had activated throughout the CIC, and for those standing, a number of grab handles and straps were all that stood between them and a spinning journey throughout the ship. The Captain and his officers were all busy, and only the XO seemed to have any time for the marines.

“Get our guests to the dorsal evacuation deck,” he said to Lieutenant Rossen.

Without hesitation, she acknowledged his order and marched to the door, grabbing another set of handles as the ship rocked. Jack watched her as she moved. He could see the fear on her face but also in the stiffness of her body language. Jack heard the Captain shouting orders, but most of it was too far away from him to understand. What he did spot though was the situation on the massive three-dimensional model. They were going down, and there were a number of other vessels nearby that seemed to be attacking them. The loud hailer system activated, instantly stopping Lieutenant Rossen in her tracks.

“This is the Captain. We’re under attack by unknown Helion vessels. Primary engines have been disabled, and we’re losing height. Prepare for emergency landing.”

Lieutenant Rossen was out of the door and signaling for the rest of the armored marines to follow. Jack’s squad didn’t hesitate, and as quickly as they had arrived, they were back in the main passageway. The tiny Helion delegation awaited their arrival, and as soon as Wictred was out, the group moved back along the length of the ship. The Helions talked amongst themselves, apart from the two younger females at the rear of the group. As they moved at a fast walk, Jack approached them.

“Hey, what’s going on?”

The one ignored him, but the other, the prettier of the two that had smiled at him upon their arrival, answered in almost perfect English.

“It must be the rebels. I…I don’t know why…”

Hunn heard her words and reached to grab her, but she nimbly avoided his reach and continued walking. He tried again, but Jack grabbed his fist and shook his head.

“Hunn, they’re our guests.”

“Yeah?” he argued indignantly, “Then why are we about to hit the ground?”

Jack tipped his head sideways slightly as he considered his friend’s words.

“You have a point.”

The small group followed the floor lighting up a raised ramp to the next level. Lieutenant Rossen led them from the front with four marines, and Jack’s group of four covering the rear. From his position so far back, Jack couldn’t tell if it was brave leadership or simply her desperation to escape the danger. Either way, they were making fast progress. They moved into an oval shaped chamber around which a dozen small circular doorways extended outward. The Lieutenant stopped and loomed back at them all.

“This is the dorsal evacuation deck. We will use it to escape, if we are able.”

Jack noticed the Helions were moving nervously, perhaps now realizing what danger they were in; all of them, apart from the Ambassador at any rate.

“What?” asked one of the Helions. It was the unfriendly girl that kept ignoring him.

“The Lieutenant is correct,” added Jack before the exasperated Lieutenant could speak.

Jack moved closer, leaving one hand on the wall for grip.

“The trouble is, ships of this design are not supposed to spend time in the atmosphere. They are deep space ships. If we crash through the atmosphere, there will be no safe way to escape.”

He looked at them, a serious expression forming on his tightening forehead.

“We’ll have to ride it out all the way down.”

The Helions became agitated at this news as if they suspected they were being lied to. One of the older members of the group even turned back to return to the core of the ship but was blocked by Wictred. The massive form of the Jötnar demanded both fear and respect from the diminutive Helions. Thai Qiu-Li could see what was happening and stepped nearer to them to help.

“They are right. If we eject during descent, the escape pods will burn up. We need to wait until we have decelerated enough to escape safely, or we can just wait till we land. We have to be patient.”

She nodded furiously as she spoke, doing her best to be understood. At the same time, Lieutenant Rossen activated one of the wall displays so they could see what was happening outside. A wide image appeared on the wall like a slit window, showing a view from the lower rear of the ship. They each watched in stunned silence as a dozen vessels from the size of small fighters up to heavy transports tried to move out of the way. Another group of vessels, this time much smaller were in a scattered formation and releasing volleys of fire into the rear of the vessel. There were black stripes on the wings of the craft.

“Who are they?” snapped Jack.

Again none of the Helions responded other than the young female. She examined the video feed closely.

“If this information is correct, then those are troops transports of the Helion military. I’ve seen them used before. They are very common.”

She hesitated before adding, “The markings are those of the Zathee rebels. Strange, how would they get access to this kind of equipment?”

Wictred coughed at the news.

“Who, in all of hell are the Zathee, and why attack us?”

The young Helion shook her head.

“I do not know. Perhaps they feel you are here to help us eradicate their last bands of warriors. You do seem to have more warriors than all of the five Powers combined.”

“Five? I thought with the T’Kari there were six?” asked Thai Qiu-Li.

One of the older Helions finally spoke.

“The T’Kari are a broken people. There is a reason we left them.”

Even Jack was surprised at the outburst, and also the revelation that the Helions had so little respect remaining for their allies and brothers. Hunn and Wictred looked even angrier at the news. Wictred moved to the Helion and sniffed him before looking to his comrade, Hunn.

“So, this is the worth of Helion friendship. When you are down, they abandon you.”

He turned and positioned his face just an arm’s length from the Helion’s unflinching face.

“I’ll remember that when the time comes.”

The warship shuddered once more, rattling and shaking along its entire length. The external feed had now shifted from one of dark space to that of fire and smoke as the mighty vessel dropped through the atmosphere. Their speed and the friction with the thin air covered the ship in flames as if they were descending to the core of a fiery planet like Prometheus.

“I don’t get it. Why have we dropped out of orbit so quickly?” asked Lieutenant Rossen. It appeared the question was rhetorical. Once again the voice of the XO blasted through the ship.

“This is the XO. Hostile forces are waiting in the lower atmosphere; this is a well-planned ambush by Helion forces. Gun crews to your stations. Abort evacuation procedures, and move into emergency descent secure locations. We’re going down. XO out.”

“No way, you’re kidding me!” laughed one of the other marines in an almost hysterical tone.

“Cut it out!” snapped Hunn.

The warrior was in no mood to listen to whining and ill discipline of frightened marines. Jack ignored them and pulled his personal secpad from his utility belt. After bypassing the locked security screen, he moved to the internal plan of the ship. It wasn’t complete and only showed him the emergency locations and those necessary for a marine to know when on duty. A few taps, and he’d accessed the three routes to safety. Lifting the device, he showed it to the Lieutenant. At the same time, the ship shuddered as it deployed its descent vanes and activated retro engines. One of the Helions staggered and lifted up only to crash into the wall. The rest managed to hold on as their speed dropped substantially.

“Look!” said Thai Qiu-Li.

The young woman pointed at the screen showing the external feeds. Gone were space and the burning streaks of flame from their descent, only to be replaced with the vast and detailed vista of the bustling surface of Helion.

“The Captain thinks he can land in the middle of this?”

The ship shook, but this time it was a heavy jolt as if being struck by something metal. Jack tapped the screen, and the image changed to the view from their left. A vessel about the size of a small cargo ship had moved alongside them and was firing into their hull. Jack shook his head angrily.

“Great, so if we eject now, we’ll be shot down.”

In answer to his question, a great stream of projectiles from the point-defense turrets opened fire in a devastating cloud of projectiles. Thousands of tiny but incredibly dense rounds ripped the vessel apart until it arced away wreathed in flames. Lifepods ejected from it as its crew tried to save themselves.

“Yeah, more like it,” said Wictred with a grin.

The ship twisted and rolled but not before sending a final blast, striking ANS Conqueror with such force that Jack and Lieutenant Rossen were thrown to the wall. The internal lights on the lifepods flashed with safety warnings, settling back down to green.

Lieutenant Rossen pointed at the screen and called over to the Ambassador.

“Ambassador, what’s going to happen? Where can we land safely?”

The Helions said nothing and stood there, speaking just among themselves. This time Wictred grabbed the most senior of the group and dragged him to the Lieutenant. She looked like she might reprimand him but decided against it, for now at the very least.

“Answer my question,” she said in a slow but firm voice.

“You will crash and probably kill thousands.”

Wictred placed his large fingers around his throat and squeezed just a little.

“Wrong answer. Where can we land?”

The Helion coughed and groaned. It took Jack to finally get something out of the alien leader.

“Just tell us the least populated area.”

He pointed off to the right on the screen at an area covered in thick fog.